Wide Sargasso Sea.
As soon as I started reading this book I liked it. I liked the way the language and style the book was written in did not confuse me and was easy to read. I also like the way it does not take it forever to get into the main story.
I started to read wide Sargasso Sea before Jane Eyre, therefore hadn’t a clue as the background from which the story came. After the class discussion i got the impression that, having read Jane Eyre first Wide Sargasso Sea is not so highly thought of. But I have to disagree, perhaps this is because I read it first, or perhaps just because I found it an easier and better read (by the way I only read the first part before I stopped to read Jane Eyre).
In this first part the story is told from the view of a young Antoinette. It tells of her life growing up in Coulibri. Sometimes it sweeps past things that we would have seen to have been important stages of her life, her father leaving for example, and at other times goes into great detail about the little things like her ‘friend’ stealing pennies from her. But we as a reader begin to see that these are the things that Antoinette sees as important and this is why she is recalling them to us, also this are the moments where she probably learns the most.
In many ways this book Has string links to Jane Eyre and not just by having the same characters. It uses many of the same themes such as all the unpleasant things that keep happening in the children’s lives and also the theme of religion. Throughout both books the characters are being taught about religion from other characters and their own experiences. Also the writing style in some cases is quite similar. Rhys will often spend a few lines describing a single thing that seems pretty insignificant just like Bronte does in Jane Eyre. However the descriptions in Wide Sargasso Sea, in my opinion, are a lot easier and more pleasant to read. For example “one was snaky looking, another like an octopus with brown tentacles bare of leaves hanging from a twisted root. “
1 comment:
You present your views on the book clearly. The quotation you give at the end, can you say more about it? Do you think the fragmentary nature of the novel's opening allows the reader more room to explore the text. Is this better than JE because the reader has to work through the gaps? It explores how our minds work? It gets the reader involved in the structure of the narrative. Definitely a modern novel.
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