I had this from Penguing in July, and now read it. It is, for sure, a difficult book.

Consider that I am not English mothertongue, but anyway, it's a bit of difficult for everybody I guess. It's a nice book, anyway!

In my opinion it really is the best book written by Joice. There are a lot of allusions to religion, philosophy, literature, and every chapter handle a different style of writing.

I think I will read it again, giving it more time, because it need a lot of attention.

Thanx for sharing culture!

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I was a little disappointed to receive Wide Sargasso Sea to review, as I had hoped to get a novel I had not read. However, as soon as I begun the book this feeling ebbed away. Jean Rhys’ narrative is briskly paced and entices the reader on. The novel itself is short and can easily be read in one sitting. The introduction and notes with this edition are clear and pertinent and helped me to appreciate more of the subtitles of Rhys’ complex work second time around.

Wide Sargasso Sea forms an imagined prequel to Charlotte Bronte’s famous masterpiece ‘Jane Eyre’. Prequels and sequels to literary classics, particularly Jane Austen’s work, have become increasingly popular in recent years. Wide Sargasso Sea stands apart from this genre - whilst Rhys draws inspiration from Bronte’s story she does not seek to imitate her. Wide Sargasso Sea is unashamedly modern in its style.

The story is split into three parts: the first an evocative first person description by Antoinette Cosway, a Creole heiress, of her childhood and adolescence in Jamaica; the second an account from the perspective of her newly wed husband detailing the disintegration of their marriage; in the final part Antoinette returns as narrator and the reader follows her descent into insanity.

It is by no means necessary to have knowledge of ‘Jane Eyre’ to enjoy the novel, Rhys’ tale stands confidently alone and deserves the recognition as a Modern Classic. Those familiar ‘Jane Eyre’ will find themselves looking at Bronte’s work with fresh eyes, keen to reread and reinterpret.

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Cousin Pons, Honore de Balzac

Forming part of The Human Comedy, Cousin Pons explores Balzac's familiar themes of social pressure, greed, modernity and humanity nature through the character of Pons, a gentle elderly bachelor with two weaknesses, antiques and fine food.

Despised by his relatives for his poverty and his gluttony, Pons becomes the object of their attentions when they discover that his art collection is valuable.

This is a moving study of human greed and cruelty, with Pons and his kind-hearted friend Schmucke at its heart. Neither man wishes to harm anyone: both are anxious to help and please, yet their decency is at odds with the world around them which prized wealth and status over character and honour.

Bleak, yes, almost satirical, this is a tragedy of the helpless.

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