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geniusscientist's review against another edition
1.0
Yyyyyyeah no.
Anne Brontë was the daughter of a clergyman who worked as a governess for a time. This book is about the daughter of a clergyman who works as a governess for a time. If I hadn't known the author's background, I might have been okay with the protagonist being oh-so good and perfect and kind and moral. I might have thought that I was supposed to be critical of how perfect she is. But since I do, I think that Anne Brontë thinks an awful lot of herself.
Everyone she encounters (except, of course, for her family and the requisite love interest -- who is a clergyman, natch) is cruel and insipid and thoughtless and haughty et cetera et cetera. She is so much BETTER than all of them, don't you see? Only Agnes and her boring Mr. Whatever (I finished it less than three hours ago and have already forgotten -- Mr. Winston? Mr. Watkins?) are kind and thoughtful and Good.
I mean, the other Brontë books I have read (Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre), I didn't like either. And those pretty much enraged me because the people in them were so, so, so so horrible. I guess I'm glad that the people in this book weren't so so so so horrible (except for the kids in the first bit, who delight in finding nests full of baby birds so that they can torture them to death in interesting ways, but they weren't around for too long, thank goodness) as all that. They're mostly thoughtless and arrogant, as opposed to being actively unpleasant and, like, rape-y. But that only means that they're also super boring.
This book was boring. Don't bother. Oh, but it was short! That was good.
Anne Brontë was the daughter of a clergyman who worked as a governess for a time. This book is about the daughter of a clergyman who works as a governess for a time. If I hadn't known the author's background, I might have been okay with the protagonist being oh-so good and perfect and kind and moral. I might have thought that I was supposed to be critical of how perfect she is. But since I do, I think that Anne Brontë thinks an awful lot of herself.
Everyone she encounters (except, of course, for her family and the requisite love interest -- who is a clergyman, natch) is cruel and insipid and thoughtless and haughty et cetera et cetera. She is so much BETTER than all of them, don't you see? Only Agnes and her boring Mr. Whatever (I finished it less than three hours ago and have already forgotten -- Mr. Winston? Mr. Watkins?) are kind and thoughtful and Good.
I mean, the other Brontë books I have read (Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre), I didn't like either. And those pretty much enraged me because the people in them were so, so, so so horrible. I guess I'm glad that the people in this book weren't so so so so horrible (except for the kids in the first bit, who delight in finding nests full of baby birds so that they can torture them to death in interesting ways, but they weren't around for too long, thank goodness) as all that. They're mostly thoughtless and arrogant, as opposed to being actively unpleasant and, like, rape-y. But that only means that they're also super boring.
This book was boring. Don't bother. Oh, but it was short! That was good.
christineunabridged's review against another edition
4.0
The beginning was crazy boring a d the main character seems super judgmental and bitter but the end was sweet and the theme of enduring and faith will bless you and that poor ugly people just need to be steadfast was pretty prevalent. Which I like but then again it just seemed like that is the only theme by the Brontë sisters.
mtolivier's review against another edition
4.0
Agnes had some very difficult charges as a governess! In this book which is thought to be largely autobiographical, I was glad that Agnes was able to find some happiness.
persnickety9's review against another edition
5.0
I am genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. "Jane Eyre" is my absolute favorite book, and I didn't think Anne could get anywhere near Charlotte's writing, but I was very wrong. Anne also created a very wonderful and strong female character, but very different from Charlotte's Jane. The best way I can describe Agnes is sweet and gentle, which is obviously a reflection of Anne herself. I enjoyed that this edition of her story gives a biography of the girls' lives, so it provides some insight. Agnes is in her own right a female heroine of sorts, and it was an easy and enjoyable read. You really want Agnes to succeed, mainly because she doesn't come across as self righteous and quite a few times even points out her own flaws, so she's really quite likable.
All in all, I really enjoyed this book, and I'm very happy I gave another Bronte a chance.
All in all, I really enjoyed this book, and I'm very happy I gave another Bronte a chance.
vickyoyarzun's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Siento que esta fue una lectura que me llegó al corazón y no he visto muchas reseñas en español, así que voy a hacer un esfuerzo para esclarecer de qué va y por qué me gustó tanto.
Desde el principio, sentí una enorme empatía por Agnes, una joven de 18 años que decide trabajar como institutriz para ayudar a su familia, la cual atraviesa dificultades económicas. Lo que empieza como un intento de independencia pronto se convierte en una serie de desafíos: soledad, desprecio y un trabajo en el que su autoridad es constantemente ignorada.
Bronte, probablemente por su propia experiencia como institutriz, es capaz de construir de una manera muy clara los obstáculos de esta profesión. Para estas familias adineradas son prácticamente invisibles, alguien sin voz ni derechos, atrapada en una posición que no es ni parte del servicio ni parte de la familia. Es frustrante ver cómo los niños a los que debe educar son malcriados y crueles, y cómo sus padres simplemente la ven como un objeto más en la casa. En más de un momento sentí rabia por ella, porque realmente no puede defenderse, además intenta genuinamente cuidar a los jóvenes que tanto abusan de ella…
Otro punto que fue eje en la narrativa fue la mirada crítica a la religión. La autora, muestra dos figuras eclesiásticas muy distintas: por un lado, el señor Hatfield, un clérigo vanidoso que solo busca impresionar a la alta sociedad; por otro, el señor Weston, un hombre de verdad íntegro, que dedica su vida a ayudar a los más necesitados. Este contraste es clave en la historia, porque refuerza el tema central de la novela: la lucha entre la apariencia y la autenticidad, entre lo que se espera de uno y lo que uno realmente es.
En medio de toda la dureza de la vida de Agnes, su relación con Weston es un pequeño rayo de luz. No es un romance apasionado ni exagerado, pero eso es precisamente lo que lo hace tan bonito. Sus encuentros son breves, pero llenos de significado. Weston no es un héroe que viene a "rescatar" a Agnes, sino alguien que la entiende y la respeta, lo cual es un respiro en un mundo que parece empeñado en menospreciarla. Admito que estas escenas fueron mis favoritas, porque después de tantas dificultades, ver a Agnes encontrar un poco de felicidad me hacía seguir leyendo con más ganas.
A través de una narración honesta y sin adornos (porque eso es sincera, transparente…), Anne nos muestra la realidad de muchas mujeres de su tiempo, y aunque la novela fue escrita en el siglo XIX, muchos de sus temas siguen vigentes hoy.
Desde el principio, sentí una enorme empatía por Agnes, una joven de 18 años que decide trabajar como institutriz para ayudar a su familia, la cual atraviesa dificultades económicas. Lo que empieza como un intento de independencia pronto se convierte en una serie de desafíos: soledad, desprecio y un trabajo en el que su autoridad es constantemente ignorada.
Bronte, probablemente por su propia experiencia como institutriz, es capaz de construir de una manera muy clara los obstáculos de esta profesión. Para estas familias adineradas son prácticamente invisibles, alguien sin voz ni derechos, atrapada en una posición que no es ni parte del servicio ni parte de la familia. Es frustrante ver cómo los niños a los que debe educar son malcriados y crueles, y cómo sus padres simplemente la ven como un objeto más en la casa. En más de un momento sentí rabia por ella, porque realmente no puede defenderse, además intenta genuinamente cuidar a los jóvenes que tanto abusan de ella…
Otro punto que fue eje en la narrativa fue la mirada crítica a la religión. La autora, muestra dos figuras eclesiásticas muy distintas: por un lado, el señor Hatfield, un clérigo vanidoso que solo busca impresionar a la alta sociedad; por otro, el señor Weston, un hombre de verdad íntegro, que dedica su vida a ayudar a los más necesitados. Este contraste es clave en la historia, porque refuerza el tema central de la novela: la lucha entre la apariencia y la autenticidad, entre lo que se espera de uno y lo que uno realmente es.
En medio de toda la dureza de la vida de Agnes, su relación con Weston es un pequeño rayo de luz. No es un romance apasionado ni exagerado, pero eso es precisamente lo que lo hace tan bonito. Sus encuentros son breves, pero llenos de significado. Weston no es un héroe que viene a "rescatar" a Agnes, sino alguien que la entiende y la respeta, lo cual es un respiro en un mundo que parece empeñado en menospreciarla. Admito que estas escenas fueron mis favoritas, porque después de tantas dificultades, ver a Agnes encontrar un poco de felicidad me hacía seguir leyendo con más ganas.
A través de una narración honesta y sin adornos (porque eso es sincera, transparente…), Anne nos muestra la realidad de muchas mujeres de su tiempo, y aunque la novela fue escrita en el siglo XIX, muchos de sus temas siguen vigentes hoy.
marigold_bookshelf's review against another edition
4.0
I picked up this copy of Agnes Grey, the first novel by Anne Brontë, in the very same house where she lived and wrote, in what is now the Brontë Parsonage Museum in the Yorkshire town of Haworth. I found myself back there again to research my family history, since at least four generations of my direct ancestors lived in Haworth. Some of them, contemporaries of the Brontë sisters, were baptised by the Reverend Patrick Brontë himself.
The novel is narrated by Agnes Grey who, like Anne, was the daughter of a parson. After her father makes an unfortunate investment through which the family lose the little money they have, Agnes leaves home to work as a governess. The novel has strong autobiographical links to Anne’s own life, since she too was employed as a governess.
The novel deals with numerous social themes, particularly class, highlighting the lack of empathy shown by those of higher social status towards the poorer, and of marriage as a means toward greater wealth and social mobility. Ultimately, however, it is also a delightful and slowly but beautifully paced romantic novel that I would not hesitate to recommend.
The novel is narrated by Agnes Grey who, like Anne, was the daughter of a parson. After her father makes an unfortunate investment through which the family lose the little money they have, Agnes leaves home to work as a governess. The novel has strong autobiographical links to Anne’s own life, since she too was employed as a governess.
The novel deals with numerous social themes, particularly class, highlighting the lack of empathy shown by those of higher social status towards the poorer, and of marriage as a means toward greater wealth and social mobility. Ultimately, however, it is also a delightful and slowly but beautifully paced romantic novel that I would not hesitate to recommend.
emmamorris_lovesreading's review against another edition
4.0
I am not sure why I'd never read this before - although, full disclosure I listened to this on Audible and I loved ever page Emilia Fox read. Well, maybe not every page that bit with the birds nest and all the awful charges/ children made me want to slap them. But I really did enjoy it! Thoroughly recommend.
nicktraynor's review against another edition
4.0
Really more of a novella than a novel, and with an ending that was fairly contrived and too hasty, it nevertheless captured the struggle and the romance that epitomise the tremendous heights of storytelling that Anne and Charlotte Brontë attained. Thoroughly intelligent and an exercise in humility for the reader, Anne here matches Charlotte’s prodigious vocabulary.
During much of the book, Agnes came across as a constant whiner, especially considering the fact that, 170 years later, the nature of employment is still as petty and circumscribed as what she describes. I have wondered if the protagonist’s name is a play on agnus dei, “the lamb of god who takes away the sins of the world”, and I think there is good reason for such a supposition: Agnes is certainly the victim and whipping girl of the iniquity of her host families. As scholars have noted, this work is a political and social statement about the treatment of servants, and governesses in particular, at the time of its writing.
I think that I haven’t cried whilst reading since 2001, and the passage where Mrs Grey explains her grief at the passing of her husband and friend, moved me thus. “He is mistaken in supposing that I can regret… the thirty years I have passed in the company of my best and dearest friend… but I was made for him, and he for me; and I can no more repent the hours, days, years of happiness we have spent together, and which neither could have had without the other, than I can the privilege of having been his nurse in sickness, and his comfort in affliction.” I don’t know how the Brontës came to such a profound understanding of love’s bonds, but their expression of it – in several of their novels – is poetical beauty exemplified, and a triumph of the written word.
During much of the book, Agnes came across as a constant whiner, especially considering the fact that, 170 years later, the nature of employment is still as petty and circumscribed as what she describes. I have wondered if the protagonist’s name is a play on agnus dei, “the lamb of god who takes away the sins of the world”, and I think there is good reason for such a supposition: Agnes is certainly the victim and whipping girl of the iniquity of her host families. As scholars have noted, this work is a political and social statement about the treatment of servants, and governesses in particular, at the time of its writing.
I think that I haven’t cried whilst reading since 2001, and the passage where Mrs Grey explains her grief at the passing of her husband and friend, moved me thus. “He is mistaken in supposing that I can regret… the thirty years I have passed in the company of my best and dearest friend… but I was made for him, and he for me; and I can no more repent the hours, days, years of happiness we have spent together, and which neither could have had without the other, than I can the privilege of having been his nurse in sickness, and his comfort in affliction.” I don’t know how the Brontës came to such a profound understanding of love’s bonds, but their expression of it – in several of their novels – is poetical beauty exemplified, and a triumph of the written word.
cmccollum's review against another edition
4.0
Trim and tidy, there are no big surprises here but the writing is thoughtful and provides neat insight on the life of a governess. Anne wrote Agnes from her own experience and you get a sense of her quiet poise and resolution.
markludmon's review against another edition
4.0
A highly readable story of a woman's difficult experiences of being a governess - a job she is poorly suited to. Although a simple narrative, it reveals the lot of single educated women in the 19th century, based on Anne Brontë's own experiences.