Wide Sargasso Sea (Penguin Student Editions)
by Jean Rhys
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Book Summary Information
Author: Jean RhysIntroduction: Hilary Jenkins
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-11
ISBN: 0140818030
Number of pages: 192
Publisher: Penguin Books, Limited (UK)
Book Reviews of Wide Sargasso Sea (Penguin Student Editions)
Book Review: Masterful work is spellbinding
Summary: 5 Stars
I came upon this book raw: I didn't know anything about it, didn't know of its fame, did not know that it has become canonical. To me, it was only a dusty book on the library shelf. But when I began reading the book, it was clear that I had stumbled upon something of great value.
The "Wide Sargasso Sea" by Jean Rhys is well-deserving of its newfound stature. The book is beautiful and haunting from start to finish. It is dreamlike in its tone. The tale becomes nightmarish, though, as Rhys masterfully overlays the confused rationalism of Rochester, the jungle of Jamaica, the troubled youth of Antoinette, and the maddening backdrop of newly outlawed slavery.
Rochester is a man of reason and masculinity: things are to be known, owned, measured, and governed. He can scarcely fathom a world which resists his ideas about rationality, and poses its own rejoinders. And what of this mad world he despises? It is the seething confusion of enslavement and empire: the black magic and savagery Rochester fears are products of his own elite brand of Englishness.
The narrative, which changes between the minds of Rochester and Antoinette, is deeply fair to both. Contrary the remarks of other reviewers, Rochester is not a "pig" until he falls into his own kind of madness: Rhys is straightforward and even sympathetic with the Englishman's ethics and perspective. Each voice in fact humanizes: this is a book about paradigmatic collisions and the legacy of violence. Rhys has not taken a cheap shot at Eurocentric masculinist culture. This is no mere political commentary of cardboard dramatists: this is a work of literature, all the more haunting because the characters are so believable.
Although originally unaware of the novel's recent accolades, I was bowled over by this remarkable work. "Wide Sargasso Sea" is a great work of art, not only for its beautiful language and compelling story, but for its penetration of repression and rationality. I agree with those who have placed this work on this lists of great novels. May it be discovered for generations to come.
Summary of Wide Sargasso Sea (Penguin Student Editions)
Jean Rhys' late, literary masterpiece "Wide Sargasso Sea" was inspired by Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, and is set in the lush, beguiling landscape of Jamaica in the 1830s. Born into an oppressive, colonialist society, Creole heiress Antoinette Cosway meets a young Englishman who is drawn to her innocent sensuality and beauty. After their marriage the rumours begin, poisoning her husband against her. Caught between his demands and her own precarious sense of belonging, Antoinette is driven towards madness.Historical Books
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