From the Bookshelf of Never too Late to Read Classics…

Wide Sargasso Sea

Jean Rhys

Start date: August 1, 2018

Finish date: August 31, 2018

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What Members Thought

Jan 16, 2023 Chrissie rated it really liked it

Shelves: hf, 2023-read, philo-psychol, england, race, love, magic, legimus, relationships, caribbean

This surprised me in a very good way. I like it much more than Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, for which it is a sort of retelling. In Rhys’ book, we get into the head of the “crazy woman up in the attic”. Everyone says you need not have read Jane Eyre to appreciate Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea. This is true, but you have much, much more to think about if you have read it. I think you will enjoy Rhys’ more if you have read Brontë’s. There is quite a bit to compare between the two!

I very much like Rhys’ This surprised me in a very good way. I like it much more than Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, for which it is a sort of retelling. In Rhys’ book, we get into the head of the “crazy woman up in the attic”. Everyone says you need not have read Jane Eyre to appreciate Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea. This is true, but you have much, much more to think about if you have read it. I think you will enjoy Rhys’ more if you have read Brontë’s. There is quite a bit to compare between the two!

I very much like Rhys’ prose style. I like how it captures the atmosphere of the Caribbean. The story is primarily set in Jamaica and Dominica, starting in the 1830s. The story finishes up in England, at Jane Eyre’s Thornfield Hall. Timewise, Rhys moves the story about a decade or two earlier. The language is vibrant, briming over with colorful landscapes and scenery. The flowers, the dresses, the night skies are brilliant. You hear the sounds of the forest, smell the fragrance of flowers blooming at night, feel the textures of moths, cloths, mud, powdery and sticky surfaces and the heat of a fire. The writing is sensual. I very much like this.

Rhys is a master at conveying fear. Fear becomes palpable.

The writing demands one’s full attention; it keeps you thinking. Who is talking? Who is expressing their thoughts now? Why does he or she think that? Is that which is being said the truth? Is there just one truth or several?

One central theme is sanity. Who is the more crazy? Here I am thinking particularly of Rochester and his first wife. What reasons do each have for despising the other and why has their relationship changed? There are so many questions Rhys pushes us to consider.

The book focuses on race, language, cultural differences, superstitions and magic versus reality. Can people of different cultures fully understand one another? How does one define home? Also, feminism and a woman’s place in a man’s world. The book may be viewed as a sharp criticism of colonialism. What I am trying to get across is this--you can discuss this book in relation to a wide range of topics. I have touched upon just a few.

Gerrie Ferguson reads the audiobook I listened to. She has a clear, strong voice. Four stars for her narration. Am I different from others in needing to listen awhile to a narrator? I need to acclimatize myself to a narrator’s style and way of speaking.

The version for the book I listened to had interesting notes. I do wish the notes had been read when they applied rather than at the end.

It helps to know French. The patois spoken is a rub off of the French colonial influence. English, French and Spanish held power and influence in different areas. No wonder cultural similarities and differences are a central theme.

This book offers lots to think about and is very well written. The prose is not ordinary. It’s unique, one of a kind. It shines. ...more

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Apr 14, 2021 Karen added it

Shelves: 1001, travel-2021

I'm not going rate this book because I am not fond of retellings, I would much prefer to reread the original. However, I did like the setting in Jamaica, and thoroughly enjoyed Rhys' narrative. ...more

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