theProfessor

Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings: J.R.R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, Charles Williams | Philip Zaleski

Anyone else partaking in the #TolkienBirthdayToast? At 9 pm, I'll have the tagged book in one hand and a whisky in the other! #TheProfessor #BooksAndBooze

Daisey I‘ll be starting The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and enjoying a toast! 11mo

25 likes1 comment

EadieB

The Professor | Cathy Perkins

Day 25 - #Professor #AcrossApril
#TheProfessor #CathyPerkins

I read and enjoyed this in 2012!

Eggs

Eggs 👏🏻📚😳📚💗 5y

EadieB @Eggs Thanks! 5y

38 likes2 comments

VioletMoonBooks

Jane Eyre | Charlotte Bront�

Happy Birthday to Charlotte Brontë ?????
#JaneEyre #HappyBirthday #CharlotteBronte #Villette #TheProfessor #book #books #bookcollection #bookcollector #bookcase #bookcases #bookcover #bookcovers #bookcoverdesign #bookcoverdesigner #bookclub #bookclubs #bookvibe #bookvibes #bookvsfilm #bookvsmovie #bookbag #bookbags #bookbinding #bookbeau #bookblog #bookblogger #bookbackpack #bookbackpacks #Classics #Fiction #Romance #HistoricalFiction ???

37 likes

BookishMe

The Professor: A Tale | Charlotte Bront�

It's Monday noon and I am setting my stopwatch.
Goal - 30 hours of reading by Friday midnight
#24B4Extend brought to you by @SumisBooks and @Andrew65
Continuing with #theProfessor on audio while I cook lunch

Andrew65 Good luck 😊👍 5y

BookishMe @Andrew65 thank you ;D 5y

DieAReader I‘m sticking to my original goals 🤞🏻😬 Hopefully tomorrow is a better reading day. Good luck!! 📚🥰 5y

BookishMe @SquidgetsRoom thank yous 💗💗 5y

42 likes4 comments

erzascarletbookgasm

The Professor: A Tale | Charlotte Bront�

pick

I have mixed feelings for the book, essentially an unusual love story from a male‘s perspective. I haven‘t read Villette, so can‘t see any connections. The sometimes moralising narrative of William was tiresome, & the partial dialogues in French with no translations was inconvenient. In spite of these, & also the prejudices against Catholics & non-English nationals, 👇

#theprofessor

erzascarletbookgasm (cont.) it‘s interesting how William strives to be independent, I liked that Frances is portrayed as progressive, & of course the prose is gorgeous. 5y

Leftcoastzen 😻 5y

batsy Nice review! I highly recommend Villette 🙂 And I love the art. 5y

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erzascarletbookgasm @batsy I hope to get to it soonish. 🤞😅 How are you keeping, friend? 5y

batsy @erzascarletbookgasm We're doing OK here, thank you. How are you? ❤️ This is a website that some people have started to help out anyone during the lockdown or to offer help, might prove useful kitajaga.us 😘 5y

merelybookish I love those Dulac illustrations! It was definitely not Bronte at her best but even a bad Bronte is interesting! And I echo @batsy You should definitely read Villette! Glad you joined the readalong! 5y

69 likes6 comments

AvidReader25

The Professor: A Tale | Charlotte Bront�

so-so

It‘s clear this is Charlotte‘s first effort at writing a novel, but you can see the seeds of her talent in the way she crafts sentences. I do think the story of a teacher in Brussels is stronger when she reworks it from the female point of view in Villette.

The main character is a bit insufferable and annoying. The romance fell flat for me as I never understood what Frances saw in him. Regardless, it‘s Brontë, so it‘s worth reading. #theprofessor

AvidReader25 My favorite quote from it: “In sunshine, in prosperity, the flowers are very well; but how many wet days are there in life—November seasons of disaster, when a man‘s hearth and home would be cold indeed, without the clear, cheering gleam of intellect.” (edited) 5y

emz711 All those Jane Eyres! So great. I have one copy but I've always wanted a nicer looking one 5y

AvidReader25 @emz711 It‘s the only book I collect multiple copies of. 💙 5y

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erzascarletbookgasm Great review 👍 5y

batsy Her writing is brilliant. That's a lovely quote that I liked, too. And I agree, Frances deserves better! 5y

AvidReader25 @batsy She does! I‘m grateful I read Jane Eyre before this. It made me appreciate how she grew as a writer. 5y

27 likes6 comments

merelybookish

The Professor: A Tale | Charlotte Bront�

pick

A fuzzy image of Edward Dulac's illustration for #TheProfessor. Frances at her aunt's grave.
This book is not my (or anyone's) favourite Charlotte Bronte novel. The story is stunted by our narrator, the not-very-likable William (who never feels quite real.) Even he knows Frances is the star but we are stuck with his perspective. We only get to see her through him. The story is much better as Villette! That said, the ending surprised me. ⬇️

merelybookish And no matter what, Charlotte Bronte's writing makes me swoon. Although the book as a whole did not quite hang together, I loved her passages describing a battle with hypochondria or when Frances reveals the elfin nature beneath her careful calm demeanor. CB has a way of describing the emotional life in ways I find irresistible. 5y

merelybookish Thanks to everyone who joined me in reading it this month! Maybe next year we can tackle some of her juvenilia. 5y

merelybookish Also @batsy @Lcsmcat @jewright thoughts on the ending? 5y

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jewright I know they are adults, but, as a teacher, I still have a bit of an ick factor with the teacher marrying his student. The ending takes us so far in the future. That‘s interesting and different than many books. 5y

erzascarletbookgasm I‘m slightly more than 50% in, I find William unlikeable too! 5y

erzascarletbookgasm Oh, they married?? Argh I shouldn‘t have read the comments 🙈 5y

batsy I found the ending unexpected and interesting because Bronte wasn't content to leave Frances' story aside. There's something utopic in her imagining of the union of two minds in love, working and building something together (regardless of how little William deserves Frances; I found him problematic in a lot of ways, too). 5y

merelybookish @erzascarletbookgasm Oops. Sorry should have done some spoilers. But I don't think it's a spoiler to say William doesn't improve with time. 5y

merelybookish @jewright Yes. And that she continues to call him Monsieur. 🙄 The ending surprised me I guess because it was happy. And the focus on their son Victor. 5y

merelybookish @batsy Yes I was surprised that it seemed happy. I guess Villette had me expecting something more bittersweet. I was also surprised by the introduction of a son. And how he gets the last word. 5y

AvidReader25 @merelybookish I agree about CB‘s writing! William was a weak protagonist, but there were still passages of her‘s that I just loved. 5y

merelybookish @AvidReader25 Her writing is so gorgeous. Just took her a while to figure out characters and plot. 5y

erzascarletbookgasm @merelybookish I was surprised how quickly time passed after their marriage (10 years) and they had Victor. I liked that Hunsden became their family friend. 5y

68 likes13 comments

merelybookish

The Professor: A Tale | Charlotte Bront�

A lovers' meetup in a graveyard. Just one of the reasons I love Charlotte Bronte! 🖤👻
I tried to find pictures of the Protestant cemetery in Brussels. Apparently it's gone. But I did find this interesting post about Charlotte's connection to it. #theprofessor
Http://BrusselsBronte.blogspot.com/2008/12/ongoing-brussels-research.html?m=1

Blaire I need to get started on this read!! It‘s sitting on my dresser. 😬 5y

AvidReader25 What a great article! Thanks for sharing it! 5y

92 likes2 comments

batsy

The Professor: A Tale | Charlotte Bront�

pick

Charlotte Bronte's first novel, published posthumously, is both imperfect & intriguing. The themes that begin to crystallise her later work, Villette (& to some degree Jane Eyre) are evident here. She uses a male protagonist & the representation is heartfelt but also a bit of a caricature; her writing is beautiful & the obsession with freedom, meaningful work, & love as a meeting of minds, bodies, & souls is one that I've always loved in her work.

batsy I had issues with some of the views: anti-Catholicism, nationalist xenophobia, & William & Frances are guilty of taking a grim view of "old maids". But the latter is perhaps an unconscious strand in Charlotte's work: it seemed like love & passion burned deeply in her, but the flipside is to risk becoming an attic wife or to be the old maid that pines forever. A problematic book, then, but all the more interesting for its problems. #theprofessor 5y

zezeki I really like your review, great analysis. 5y

Suet624 What is an attic wife? 5y

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batsy @zezeki Thank you! ❤️ 5y

sudi Great review 👍 5y

batsy @Suet624 LOL sorry Sue, that's the problem of not having enough characters to explain in detail. If you haven't read Jane Eyre that's a bit of a spoiler 😅 5y

batsy @sudi Thank you 😘 5y

TrishB Great review 👍🏻 5y

Suet624 Oh! Right! Of course! (Just waking up over here.) 5y

Lcsmcat Excellent review! You caught at some of the things that bothered me that I hadn‘t mentioned. And yet, thematically, it so very Charlotte Brontë. 5y

erzascarletbookgasm In-depth analysis, and as always fabulous review 👍 5y

merelybookish Excellent! Still haven't finished but glad you liked it, in spite of its issues. Hard not to compare it to Villette but written from the opposite perspectives. 5y

batsy @TrishB Thanks! ❤️ @erzascarletbookgasm Thank you J and I hope you're enjoying it! 5y

batsy @Lcsmcat @merelybookish Thank you! And thanks for getting us going, Margot :) I loved the insights it gave into her mind when you see where her influences lead her. 5y

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