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gaia76's review against another edition
4.0
Un classico romanzo vittoriano. Stole scorrevole e edizione curata ne fanno un testo imperdibile per gli amanti del genere
eososray's review against another edition
2.0
It was too long, too moralistic and the women too pathetic for me to like this book much. And the very long drawn out double death scene was just ridiculous.
*A small note about the audiobook, which was downloaded from Librivox. This version was read as a collaboration, which means that the reader can change from chapter to chapter. So from male to female reader and one of them also has an Aussie accent. I found it worked okay for me but it can be disconcerting to switch readers all the time, especially as some were faster or slower and some were better readers, with a few being rather flat in tone.
*A small note about the audiobook, which was downloaded from Librivox. This version was read as a collaboration, which means that the reader can change from chapter to chapter. So from male to female reader and one of them also has an Aussie accent. I found it worked okay for me but it can be disconcerting to switch readers all the time, especially as some were faster or slower and some were better readers, with a few being rather flat in tone.
casscassg's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
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alysian_fields's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
anthvl82's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
sarahcoller's review against another edition
3.0
Apparently there is a racier, slang-ridden first edition of this that was later edited to be more "appropriate". I'm not sure which version I got but it was terribly tedious. It really took about 200 pages before it became the least bit interesting and then it was just one ridiculous impossibility after another after that. Why am I giving it three stars? Because it's sort of like a super cruddy soap opera---it goes on and on so unbelievably that you can't help but be hooked and by the time you realize you've been had, you're emotionally invested and have to keep at it. The morals of the story are 100% right on and I'm impressed to see a woman writing about a strong, Godly, sensitive, leader of a husband and father, but it does all seem a bit far-fetched. Still, this was on the "Best 100 Books List" published in 1899 so I suppose it was dear to at least a generation or two.
I was not at all pleased with the way it ended---I really wanted "Madame Vine" to have a happier ending. There were several memorable moments and lines that I appreciated. This was my favorite:
"The very hour of her departure she awoke to what she had done...Oh, reader, believe me! Lady--wife--mother! Should you ever be tempted to abandon your home, so will you awake. Whatever trials may be the lot of your married life, though they may magnify themselves to your crushed spirits as beyond the endurance of woman to bear, resolve to bear them; fall down upon your knees and pray to be enabled to bear them; pray for patience; pray for strength to resist the demon that would urge you to escape; bear unto death , rather than forfeit your fair name and your good conscience; for be assured that the alternative, if you rush on to it, will be found far worse than death."
This book hit home a little and maybe I'm expressing that in my cynical attitude. I was that kid from that family whose mother/wife ran off with another man. All has been forgiven but can't be forgotten and sometimes the grief is overwhelming. I can't help but wonder how our world would look now had the Victorian sense of morals and duty been promoted into the 20th and 21st centuries.
I was not at all pleased with the way it ended---I really wanted "Madame Vine" to have a happier ending. There were several memorable moments and lines that I appreciated. This was my favorite:
"The very hour of her departure she awoke to what she had done...Oh, reader, believe me! Lady--wife--mother! Should you ever be tempted to abandon your home, so will you awake. Whatever trials may be the lot of your married life, though they may magnify themselves to your crushed spirits as beyond the endurance of woman to bear, resolve to bear them; fall down upon your knees and pray to be enabled to bear them; pray for patience; pray for strength to resist the demon that would urge you to escape; bear unto death , rather than forfeit your fair name and your good conscience; for be assured that the alternative, if you rush on to it, will be found far worse than death."
This book hit home a little and maybe I'm expressing that in my cynical attitude. I was that kid from that family whose mother/wife ran off with another man. All has been forgiven but can't be forgotten and sometimes the grief is overwhelming. I can't help but wonder how our world would look now had the Victorian sense of morals and duty been promoted into the 20th and 21st centuries.
rach_eb's review against another edition
3.0
Wow, what a wild ride. This seems to be going for a Middlemarch-esque narrator effect, but it comes off like Middlemarch would if it was super salacious and lacked its subtlety and nuance. I do appreciate the scandal of it all, but the moralizing got tiresome and the plot was just a liiiiittle too unbelievable for me (a husband not recognizing his wife because of colored glasses and baggy clothes? Really?).
laurenjpegler's review against another edition
3.0
quite slow but a really good story! don’t think the audiobook was for me tho…
saralynnburnett's review against another edition
5.0
Have you met a book that you carry around all day and pull out of your purse to eagerly read at every moment you can spare? I've met a few and this is one of them. I even found myself reaching for it while stuck in traffic! (terrible, I know). East Lynne is the very definition of a Victorian sensation novel - murder, disguise, exile, deception, a love triangle, humor, a horrific train accident, - it had it all. I hesitate to talk about any plot details because this book launches right into the drama in the first chapter... just read it, you won't regret it. I can't for the life of me figure out why this book isn't more widely read since it has all the twists of a Wilkie Collins novel and the lovely conversational tone of an Anthony Trollope book. I wish I could find more Ellen Wood books available in print but I can't seem to!