Reviews tagging 'Antisemitism'

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

24 reviews

thewillowwood's review against another edition

dark inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I loved this book. It has many flaws, to be sure, but it was one that I felt deeply connected to throughout.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Terminal illness, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Mental illness, Antisemitism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Confinement, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation

pugluver11's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I wasn't expecting to like this book as much as I did! I loved how Bronte described the settings. The descriptions were so detailed that it was like painting a picture in my mind. The characters are so developed that I feel like I know these people. Sometimes, I found myself relating to some of the feelings Jane had. I think this book read more like a literary fiction than a romance. The more I read, the more I became invested in Jane and her character development. Of course, because iy was written in the 1800s, there are some parts that reflect the narrow views of that time. Due to the slow pacing, I had to knock it down half a star. Overall, this was a nearly perfect book. 

UPDATE: Originally rated 4.5 but had to come back and give it 5 stars. I'm constantly comparing other books against this one!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Racism and Antisemitism

amybetch's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

I just expected more of a payoff from the plotline with the first Mrs. Rochester, it's also hard to overlook how race is handled in the book and also a lot of the offhand, witty comments to other marginalized communities.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Racial slurs and Antisemitism

annapox's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Racial slurs, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Colonisation

sarafinley's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Racism and Antisemitism

yantastical's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny informative inspiring mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Death

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Incest, and Misogyny

Minor: Antisemitism

directorpurry's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Most of my thoughts are better suited to a series of academic literary analysis/research papers, so I'll do my best to cut those. I will also attempt to ease the other side that might just turn into heated keyboard smashing.

I forgot how much I enjoy this book. I really did. The first time I read Jane Eyre was in high school. And then in college I read Wide Sargasso Sea (and hated it, but that's for another review). But this reading left a much stronger impression on me, both of the negatives and the positives.
The pacing of this novel can be questionable. Far too much time is spent following Jane through Lowood School, and similarly on her love for the Rivers siblings. Many of the characters are quite dislikable - Rochester is rude and sometimes scary, St. John Rivers is straight up abusive by our standards, and Helen Burns is annoyingly preachy and almost disgustingly pious. Another critique from a modern perspective, but I forgot about the religious aspect, which was a personal annoyance as a non-Christian. There was also a fair amount of casual racism and anti-Semitism, a hallmark of the time period.
But I found I didn't care. The writing of Jane Eyre is some of the most gorgeous prose I've read in a while. It flows wonderfully and heatedly. Rochester's speech before Jane leaves is probably my favorite passage in the novel because the words are so wonderful.

The Brönte sisters are (somewhat) well-known for their hatred of Jane Austen. Although I won't be doing the full comparison I might wish to do, I couldn't help but think about the similarities of the two writers, having just finished Pride and Prejudice last week (again). Even as they go about their message in opposite ways, there are definitely some very similar themes. They even equally mark certain character quirks for the reader's inspection. I'll leave those thoughts unfinished for the time being (but HMU if you want to talk Brönte/Austen discourse lol) but there is certainly more to say on the subject.

I love Jane Eyre. Until Rochester entered the page I thought this would be a 3 star read, because I had forgotten so much of the prose. 
If I'm being entirely honest, it would harm no one if when attempting to read this for pleasure, you skim up until Jane enters Thornfield, which is where the real power of the writing begins.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Medical trauma, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Antisemitism and Classism

Minor: Slavery and Death of parent

tempus_edax_rerum's review against another edition

mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Misogyny, and Antisemitism

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

mme_carton's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Antisemitism, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

twentyventi's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

I had never read Jane Eyre all the way through until now. Such a beautifully written book - Charlotte Bronte’s writing is so evocative, and there are so many gems of dialogue between her characters. The reader is attached to Jane Eyre from the start, a reliable and worthy narrator of her story.

Note: There is definitely some expression of views towards race within this book which is unfortunately not uncommon in books written during this time period/within English literature. It’s a shame as it is not at all relevant or necessary to the plot of the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, and Suicide

Minor: Racism and Antisemitism