Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (audiobook)
I enjoyed this book but I didn't love it. I never really felt connected with any of the characters. I'm not sure if that was a function of the narrator (good but not great, and gave everyone a condescending tone) or the writing since I've never actually read the text of this book. I felt like an observer, an outsider, rather than part of the story.
Jane's trials and tribulations were realistic enough, but ending up with her relatives and inheriting a fortune required a fair bit of suspension of disbelief. It was just too much coincidence for me to accept without cynicism. And Mr. Rochester...ugh...what a horrible character. What Jane saw in him I'll never understand. I found nothing redeeming in him at all.
Still, it was an entertaining story for the most part and Bronte certainly has a gift for language. Her descriptions of the setting were wonderful and vivid. I enjoyed it, but it doesn't even come close to Austen's books in my opinion.
Jane's trials and tribulations were realistic enough, but ending up with her relatives and inheriting a fortune required a fair bit of suspension of disbelief. It was just too much coincidence for me to accept without cynicism. And Mr. Rochester...ugh...what a horrible character. What Jane saw in him I'll never understand. I found nothing redeeming in him at all.
Still, it was an entertaining story for the most part and Bronte certainly has a gift for language. Her descriptions of the setting were wonderful and vivid. I enjoyed it, but it doesn't even come close to Austen's books in my opinion.