Following the tremendous popular success of Jane Eyre, which earned her lifelong notoriety as a moral revolutionary, Charlotte Bront&eum... read full description
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Apr 07, 2009
Alison
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Apr 20, 2009
Ayu
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Compared with other novels by Charlotte Bronte, Shirley is the toughest one for me to read. Narrated through third person POV, it is not easy to get acquainted with the novel. Another reason is because there are too many characters to remember. However, it is still a distinguished novel from the Victorian era. It might not be as enjoyable as Jane Eyre yet it is rich in characterizations and theme.
The novel is set in Napoleon era, in a village where machinery just enters the society. More...
The novel is set in Napoleon era, in a village where machinery just enters the society. More...
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Jul 20, 2009
Sherien
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Charlotte Bronte reminds us—readers that Shirley is “…something unromantic as Monday morning” (chapter 1). Well I found it true because I see Shirley more as a social novel than a romance. The social background depicts the Napoleonic War and the industrial depression caused by it. This is where I found hard to get to the core of the book because I do not have a wide knowledge about that historical-social background. Another thing that is hard for me to get through is that this book seems to have
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Jun 24, 2011
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May 13, 2011
Aura
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Dec 17, 2009
Friend the Girl
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Ahh, Shirley . . . I must read this book once a year, because it affects me so profoundly when I do read it. Though the heroine of Shirley is actually named Caroline, and she isn't a swashbuckling dame or a fiery temptress or really even anything remarkable, she makes for a remarkable read and is surrounded by brilliant people and events. It's a chaotic time in England during the height of the Napoleonic Wars and timid Caroline's world is turned upside-down, but the events that really hook me ar
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Jan 02, 2012
Greenjasminetea
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Aug 18, 2011
Tania
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I found that I had a difficult time getting into this novel. The first 200 pages (maybe a bit less) were absolute torture. The only thing that made me get through the beginning section was that I liked the characters of Caroline and Robert. This novel is as much, or more, Caroline's story as Shirley's, actually. I'm quite sure that if someone were to do an analysis of which character (Shirley/Caroline) had the most "air time" in the book, Caroline would come out on top. The book is abo
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Apr 15, 2011
Yvann
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I battled with myself through the first two thirds of the book to keep reading, and it was only a day stuck ill in bed that gave me the opportunity to finish it. I suppose the foreword gave me plenty of warning, claiming that the book is as “unromantic as a Monday morning”, but still.
Shirley is set in the West Riding of Yorkshire in the early nineteenth century, in a collection of villages suffering religious division, economic hardship due to the Napoleonic War and the start of indus More...
Shirley is set in the West Riding of Yorkshire in the early nineteenth century, in a collection of villages suffering religious division, economic hardship due to the Napoleonic War and the start of indus More...
Dec 06, 2009
Maria Grazia
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It took me quite a long time to finish this novel by Charlotte Bronte and it is not because I didn’t like it. I started it in a moment of frantic work and ended up reading only few pages a day , at night, when I was completely exhausted. So I went through the first 100 pages in … two months … but I’ve finished reading the other 442 in the last few days. While reading a book, I suffer from what I call “professional distortion”, I mean, I cannot simply enjoy the reading getting involved in the sto
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May 31, 2011
Marie
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Coming from an obssessive Brontë devotee who has read all of their works, this was the one that I read last. I tried, several times, to read it, but my interest always wained. Having said that, I am thrilled to have finally finished it and was really impressed with Charlottte's attempt at writing in the third person omniscient...her only attept with regard to her novels, though the technique was prevelant in her juvenilia. "Shirley" is set during the Napoleonic war as England is strug
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May 14, 2009
Tricia
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This is a great story about Caroline.
There are many characters in this story, but I never felt like there were too many, they only added to the richness.
At times I felt like sweet Caroline was a bit of a sap in how she wouldn't give up on her love for Robert. He was a bit of a frustrating character. The book alluded to a dark side to him, but in the end we only saw virtue. I kept trying to see where his dark side would take him, but it wasn't really there. Only a desire for fairnes More...
There are many characters in this story, but I never felt like there were too many, they only added to the richness.
At times I felt like sweet Caroline was a bit of a sap in how she wouldn't give up on her love for Robert. He was a bit of a frustrating character. The book alluded to a dark side to him, but in the end we only saw virtue. I kept trying to see where his dark side would take him, but it wasn't really there. Only a desire for fairnes More...
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Dec 31, 2010
Ann
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Set in a woolen mill town in Yorkshire during the Napoleonic Wars, Shirley is the story of the beautiful heiress, Shirley Keeldar, her close friend, Caroline Helstone, impoverished mill owner Robert Moore, and his brother, Louis, who is tutor to Shirley's relatives, the Sympsons, and who is her former tutor as well.
In some ways, I was reminded of North and South by Brontë's friend Elizabeth Gaskell; especially in regards to the background of labor unrest in a woolen mill town. Howeve More...
In some ways, I was reminded of North and South by Brontë's friend Elizabeth Gaskell; especially in regards to the background of labor unrest in a woolen mill town. Howeve More...
Aug 23, 2009
James
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Shirley is Charlotte Brontë's only historical novel and in that her most topical one. Written at a time of social unrest, it is set during the period of the Napoleonic Wars, when economic hardship led to riots in the woollen district of Yorkshire. A mill-owner, Robert Moore, is determined to introduce new machinery despite fierce opposition from his workers; he ignores their suffering, and puts his own life at risk. Robert sees marriage to the wealthy Shirley Keeldar as the solution to his diffi
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Jul 23, 2011
Highland-dreamer
rated it:
3 stars seemed too few, yet 4 seems a bit much..
There were many flaws with this book, but bottom line, before I knew it I was half-way through the novel and wanting to read more. There is something about the Bronte sisters and their writing that keeps me turning the pages. Parts of the book were "boring", though that's not quite the right word. Irrelevant, or unnecessary, are better ones. I just skipped over those to get to the main plot points. It is vastly different from Jane E More...
There were many flaws with this book, but bottom line, before I knew it I was half-way through the novel and wanting to read more. There is something about the Bronte sisters and their writing that keeps me turning the pages. Parts of the book were "boring", though that's not quite the right word. Irrelevant, or unnecessary, are better ones. I just skipped over those to get to the main plot points. It is vastly different from Jane E More...
Mar 12, 2011
Pattiwan
rated it:
3 stars seemed too few, yet 4 seems a bit much..
There were many flaws with this book, but bottom line, before I knew it I was half-way through the novel and wanting to read more. There is something about the Bronte sisters and their writing that keeps me turning the pages. Parts of the book were "boring", though that's not quite the right word. Irrelevant, or unnecessary, are better ones. I just skipped over those to get to the main plot points. It is vastly different from Jane E More...
There were many flaws with this book, but bottom line, before I knew it I was half-way through the novel and wanting to read more. There is something about the Bronte sisters and their writing that keeps me turning the pages. Parts of the book were "boring", though that's not quite the right word. Irrelevant, or unnecessary, are better ones. I just skipped over those to get to the main plot points. It is vastly different from Jane E More...
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Dec 28, 2009
Jain
rated it:
What a painfully dull book! It starts out great; the opening line is an exemplar of wit and style, and while Bronte can't sustain that note for long, she follows it up with a number of excellent, funny, insightful scenes about small town life.
After a few tantalizing chapters of that and of the developing feud between a local mill-owner and a band of Luddites, however, Bronte settles the focus of her novel on several of her blandest characters and on their predictable--and often depre More...
After a few tantalizing chapters of that and of the developing feud between a local mill-owner and a band of Luddites, however, Bronte settles the focus of her novel on several of her blandest characters and on their predictable--and often depre More...
Dec 16, 2010
Derek
rated it:
It's not exactly a novel in the usual 19th century sense. It pretty much lacks plot, changes direction several times, loses track of characters, runs on way too long and is used as a platform for a platter-load of mini-essays. And the title character first appears on page 274.
So why 5 stars? Because it may be the most beautifully written work I've read. Every word is exactly chosen, exactly placed and adds to the cumulative effect of its sentence and paragraph. This may sound too prec More...
So why 5 stars? Because it may be the most beautifully written work I've read. Every word is exactly chosen, exactly placed and adds to the cumulative effect of its sentence and paragraph. This may sound too prec More...
Jul 31, 2010
David
rated it:
It's a long time since I read this book, and the fact that I remember little of it but the enormous contribution it made to my stock of obscure vocabulary suggests that it didn't make that big an impression on me. I do however remember being impressed by the fact that, in spite of looking to all intents and purposes like a Fanny Burney-style society novel, it was set in the melee of the Luddite era, giving it the kind of historical backbone that appealed to me. Perhaps the most difficult thing a
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Sep 21, 2010
Sarah
rated it:
Well, for my 500th read book on goodreads, I decided to pick something that I'd been saving for a while, and I settled on Shirley, which was the last Charlotte Brontë novel I had left to read.
Shirley is full of my favorite Charlotte Brontë things, namely feminist social agitation and characters who step outside their expected gender roles. Shirley is obviously the best part of Shirley--she deserves a spot on the list of greatest characters of all time. Supposedly Charlotte told Eliza More...
Shirley is full of my favorite Charlotte Brontë things, namely feminist social agitation and characters who step outside their expected gender roles. Shirley is obviously the best part of Shirley--she deserves a spot on the list of greatest characters of all time. Supposedly Charlotte told Eliza More...
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Jan 09, 2009
Stuart
rated it:
This is actually my favorite of all of Charlotte's books, and despite the general stance that it isn't as well developed or polished as her other works I actually find it very mature and by far the most epic and social in its scope. Though not on par with MIDDLEMARCH it is in a similar vein, with hints of Hugo and Dickens in both the subject matter and cast of characters. All three of the principles are compelling, finely drawn folks and Catherine's transformation, the most complete arc in the n
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Jul 15, 2010
Sarah
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Holy moly. When they printed the charming edition I got from the library, circa 1926, apparently minutia of British sociopolitical history were such laughably common knowledge that they scoffed at explanatory footnotes. As a result, I read the first 11 pages like I needed reading remediation. I think there was a textile mill, and some kind of Industrial Revolution machinery update, hence unemployment, so then exporting was illegal, and then angry mobs, plus some kind of religious issues cruci
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Aug 04, 2009
Starfish
rated it:
The thing everyone says about Shirley is that it's not as good as Jane Eyre. That it's over-ambitious, weak in parts, overly moralistic. It is all that, but I still found a lot to like regardless.
Charlotte's trying to write a social novel, and while she pokes fun at reader's expecting a lesson, she is trying very hard to illustrate the dangers of the gulf between rich and poor. She never quite manages to pull it together though, as her characters are too extreme to ring true. They'r More...
Charlotte's trying to write a social novel, and while she pokes fun at reader's expecting a lesson, she is trying very hard to illustrate the dangers of the gulf between rich and poor. She never quite manages to pull it together though, as her characters are too extreme to ring true. They'r More...
Jun 12, 2009
skein
rated it:
... Charlotte Bronte said she wrote Shirley as a view of Emily Bronte as she may-have-been, under ideal circumstances. I find myself grateful that circumstances were not perfect. Shirley seems a pale, almost lifeless tribute.
Or maybe Charlotte was too damn hopeless to describe her sister accurately: if I remember right, Branwell, Anne, and Emily all died during the writing of it.
*
My goodness, Charlotte becomes dialectical at times. She's all over the place. Jane Ey More...
Or maybe Charlotte was too damn hopeless to describe her sister accurately: if I remember right, Branwell, Anne, and Emily all died during the writing of it.
*
My goodness, Charlotte becomes dialectical at times. She's all over the place. Jane Ey More...
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Feb 01, 2010
Gricel
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It is difficult to describe Shirley; it is unlike Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, or The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, but there is something of each them in the story. Social issues concerning the lives of women, advancements in manufacturing, charity, and war abound in the novel, but these set the background, not the action of the tale. If I had to draw a comparison, I would compare Shirley to Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South, particularly in its treatment of the relationship between workers and m
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Feb 25, 2011
Mali
rated it:
This book was like taking a long hot bath; invigorating and relaxing.
The social complexities were intriguing. I felt the frustrations and the heart ache. I enjoyed the seemingly unimportant details, little windows into the futures of certain inconsequential characters.
I'm not usually one to enjoy an author that speaks to the audience as Bronte did all too often, it used to shock me out of the book (the only problem I had with Austen's Mansfield Park), but the way that she did More...
The social complexities were intriguing. I felt the frustrations and the heart ache. I enjoyed the seemingly unimportant details, little windows into the futures of certain inconsequential characters.
I'm not usually one to enjoy an author that speaks to the audience as Bronte did all too often, it used to shock me out of the book (the only problem I had with Austen's Mansfield Park), but the way that she did More...
Mar 26, 2010
Kylie
rated it:
I can't go on with this book. I've been reading it for months and I'm literally only 250 pages into it. I am really disappointed, because I thought it was going to be as exciting as Jane Eyre, but it's just dull. It's about conflicts in a village because of what I would call England's Industrial Revolution. The only conflict that happens is early on in the book when a man named Moore's milling machines were destroyed, but even there there was hardly any drama. Basically the 200 pages after that
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Oct 09, 2011
Tara
rated it:
This is a strange, difficult read, and doesn't capture the imagination as instantly as Jane Eyre. The omniscient narrator reminds me of a male Victorian author like Thackeray, an interesting choice given that the main characters are female, and Bronte deals with women's position in society. The plot and characters are well-drawn and there is some excellent writing here if you look hard enough. But I felt the subplot of industrial unrest wasn't as compelling because it was overshadowed by Charlot
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Sep 26, 2009
Nathalie
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I chose to read this book because I have enjoyed previous Bronté books. I found this one strange because the first half of the book goes by before the main character is introduced. I was also annoyed by the author's butting in during the telling of the story. Either it is a first person told story or it isn't. The characters were all well drawn and I was interested in what happened to them. Sometimes I found the emotions over explained. I relearned from this book what I have long ago learned fro
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Aug 24, 2011
Milena
rated it:
I think perhaps I may, at times, judge poor Charlotte Bronte too harshly; perhaps because I always approach her lesser-known books with the memory of how much I adored Jane Eyre. Shirley begins promisingly; her brilliant description of the three comical curates filled me with confidence for the novel.
However, I felt that on the whole Shirley lacked a certain something; at times the plot was too drawn out, and the characters, though convincingly drawn, unlikeable. I felt no real sympa More...
However, I felt that on the whole Shirley lacked a certain something; at times the plot was too drawn out, and the characters, though convincingly drawn, unlikeable. I felt no real sympa More...
