Agnes Grey in Catching up on Classics (and lots more!)

May 13, 2010 Christy B rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, fiction, the-brontes

When venturing forth on Anne's work, I decided to start with Agnes Grey, rather than her more popular The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. Agnes Grey is more autobiographical.

One of the things I noticed that differentiated Anne from her sisters was she was more to the point, more realistic in her writing. There was no taking the long way around, she got you to the point good and fast, yet without missing the sights along the way.

Agnes Grey is the story of a young woman basically forced to become a gover ...more

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Dec 09, 2018 Nadine in NY Jones rated it it was ok

Shelves: classic, audio, 1001-books

Agnes Grey is no Mary Poppins!! She completely lost control of her first set of charges (they attempted to throw her bag in the fire and her writing desk out the window!) and she was a snooty bitch to her second set of charges. She goes on about how awful the family and neighbors are for looking down on her, but SHE spends most of her time looking down on the servants for being uneducated and beneath her and the family for being so superficial. She complains about the most ridiculous things and Agnes Grey is no Mary Poppins!! She completely lost control of her first set of charges (they attempted to throw her bag in the fire and her writing desk out the window!) and she was a snooty bitch to her second set of charges. She goes on about how awful the family and neighbors are for looking down on her, but SHE spends most of her time looking down on the servants for being uneducated and beneath her and the family for being so superficial. She complains about the most ridiculous things and never actually asks for what she needs (and certainly never asks for what she wants). Agnes would NEVER marry a chimney sweep, that's for sure!

Anne writes Agnes as perfect, of course - she's a complete Mary Sue. I saw her as a passive-aggressive bitch, though.

But the book is redeemed by some excellent writing in some spots.

Setting aside the boredom of the eye-roll-worthy non-romance:

When we had surmounted the acclivity, I was about to withdraw my arm from his, but by a slight tightening of the elbow was tacitly informed that such was not his will, and accordingly desisted. Discoursing on different subjects, we entered the town, and passed through several streets.

(Oh! His elbow squeezed me!!)

There is real passion simmering beneath the surface, here in this transporting description if a family of rooks at sunset:

The shadow of this wall soon took possession of the whole of the ground as far as I could see, forcing the golden sunlight to retreat inch by inch, and at last take refuge in the very tops of the trees. Ere long, even they were left in shadow—the shadow of the distant hills, or of the earth itself; and, in sympathy for the busy citizens of the rookery, I regretted to see their habitation, so lately bathed in glorious light, reduced to the sombre, work-a-day hue of the lower world, or of my own world within. For a moment, such birds as soared above the rest might still receive the lustre on their wings, which imparted to their sable plumage the hue and brilliance of deep red gold; at last, that too departed.

... and in this description of the seaside just after dawn:

no language can describe the effect of the deep, clear azure of the sky and ocean, the bright morning sunshine on the semicircular barrier of craggy cliffs surmounted by green swelling hills, and on the smooth, wide sands, and the low rocks out at sea—looking, with their clothing of weeds and moss, like little grass-grown islands—and above all, on the brilliant, sparkling waves. And then, the unspeakable purity—and freshness of the air! There was just enough heat to enhance the value of the breeze, and just enough wind to keep the whole sea in motion, to make the waves come bounding to the shore, foaming and sparkling, as if wild with glee. Nothing else was stirring—no living creature was visible besides myself. My footsteps were the first to press the firm, unbroken sands;—nothing before had trampled them since last night’s flowing tide had obliterated the deepest marks of yesterday, and left them fair and even, except where the subsiding water had left behind it the traces of dimpled pools and little running streams.

But Anne never sets that passion loose for her characters. Of course, we all know she finally manages it in Wildfell. ...more

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Aug 26, 2009 Laura rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: victorians, audio-books, classics, 1001-books-you-must-read-before-you, read-2009

Available at LibriVox. This audio version has too many and distinct narrators, pity.

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Sep 22, 2017 Kelly_Hunsaker_reads ... rated it liked it

Shelves: classics, 1001-books, vic-lit

I enjoyed Agnes Gray more than I did The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, which I know is quite different than most. I found this one slightly more feminist in feeling and I liked the protagonist more. Agnes was very real and felt quite modern despite the very antiquated views on child discipline.

But Anne's books both left me disappointed after having been so intrigued and enchanted by Wuthering Heights. I think the next Bronte book I read will be Jane Eyre and I am hopeful that I will love it as much a ...more

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Jun 29, 2008 Jennifer rated it liked it

This book is a nice companion to reading Jane Eyre, as it elucidates the probable reality of the governess trade, though perhaps not regarding the lovely Adele ;)

What I chiefly remember is the anger and frustration that shines through in the prose, which is pretty clearly a thinly disguised diary of the author's experiences in the trade. Refreshing! ...more

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Apr 18, 2007 Suvi rated it it was ok

Shelves: _book-shelf, _great-britain, novels, 1800s

Found this really numbing and pointless. Not even the romantic scenes stirred my experience and that is a lot to say from me. Comparing this to Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights is like comparing wood to ice cream.

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