I was intrigued by the "never before published"

Now I know why it was never before published.

Its disjointed, selfindulgent and just...rambling. Its only a baby novel and I couldn't get a 3rd in without starting to skip pages....then by halfway I just put it down for good.

I liked the first chapter, but by half the way through the book I failed to see any reincorporation of these characters to the rest of the book.

Charlotte Bronte may be a reknowned author but sometimes even these can create duds that should not see the light of day.

I gave it a 2 because of the 1st chapter.

RELEASE NOTES:

Released at the February meetup at the James Squire Brew House on Kings Wharf.

I agree with Pixette. I started this book right after picking it up at Meetup. I read a few chapters on the way home on the train and earlier today. It's not my thing. I'm going to stop reading it and pass it on to someone else. Now on to the other three books that I grabbed at Meetup!

RELEASE NOTES:

On the BC shelf.

Picked this up from GoGo while on the scrounge for some others, and thought it wouldnt hurt to read something by a 'classical' author! Although, judging by previous comments, we'll see.

Some points on this book...
1. It took me *ages* to get into the 1830's style of speech and writing, and I found myself constantly re-reading the same passage as my concentration was going - but I persevered.
2. the introduction about the discovery of CB's lost texts was interesting, even if to understand that this was just a part of a large saga being written about many characters over a long (it seems) period of time. Countries with histories very unique, even if they did seem similar to England at the time.
3. I've never read Jane Eyre before (WHAAAAAAAAAAT?) so I cant compare the writing of it (I really intend to get a copy!)
4. As I [happily] continued with the book (um, i nearly _did_ put it down for good a few times) I got more into the 'vibe' of it, and was happy to trot along with the story.
5. I found it interesting in a linguistic way, seeing words used which we use today eg 'scum' refering to rioters, and also there was a word 'physiognomy' refering to a man's facial features, which is obviously where the word fizzog comes from - you mean you have never used that word before?!
6. Yes it was very wordy, and also I found the range of knowledge on all kinds of events covered was interesting (wars, affection, clothing fashions, politics etc) - we are told CB was writing these texts from a young teenager into her early 20's, and that herself and her sisters and brother read a lot - quite an achievement 170 years ago.

So all in all, even though I took a while to get started, and yes, some of the story seemed disjointed, (bit like this journal actually...) I got some thing from it, and I even found another Angrian saga called "Mina Laury" which I have on Mt TBR. That one is about Zamorna's mistress.

Will probably take it back to the GoGo as hunnyb expressed an interest in it.

RELEASE NOTES:

Back on to the shelf. Hunnyb - do you still want this one?!

Picked it up at the Go-go along with a coffee. It really can't be that bad, can it? (The book, not the coffee. The coffee was excellent).

Hey, I didn't think it was too bad. An interesting comparison to Jane Eyre(Littlemave, I am sending you a copy!!) - definitely much more light-hearted and frivolous. I think the trick is not to take it too seriously (not implying that anyone has!) - it's a really good testament to Bronte's imagination. She convincingly creates this new, bizarre world - I enjoyed it.

Being sent to Littlemave so she can pass it on further. Yay :)

Thanks for the return, hunnyb, picked it up last Tuesday - now on to futurecat for linguistic critisism...

23/4 - in the mail finally!

Thanks littlemave! I was really puzzled about what this was when I found it in my letterbox - the envelope seemed far too small to contain a book (and definitely too small for TimTams!!!), and I couldn't think what else you'd be sending me. But lo and behold, it was a book after all!

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For such a short book, Stancliffe's Hotel took me an incredibly long time to finish! It's probably because I'd read a couple of pages, get bored, and pick up another book... But I did persevere, and finally made it to the end.

As the preface points out, the trouble with juvenalia and unpublished work is that, well, it's not that good - that's generally why it never got published. And as what are now known as the Glass Town writings were never meant to be published, being just an amusement the Brontës came up with for themselves, they've obviously never been polished the way their "real" writing would have been. Add to that the fact that this story is just a small part of a whole, and it makes for pretty unsatisfying reading, really.

However, it was interesting to read it, just from a historical viewpoint - both to see the non-public voice of a great author, and for all the interesting little details of fashion etc. (Note for Littlemave: in the 19th Century, there was actually a science of physiognomy - physiognomists beleived that the shape of someone's face could tell you all about their character).

Lytteltonwitch has had her eye on this book for a while, because it's just the right size to fit in a geocache...

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picked up at lunch today,will be saved for geocaching.

RELEASE NOTES:

Left in geocache 'Bon Voyage'

Caught book while Geo-caching so will be dropped off in another caching

CAUGHT IN CHRISTCHURCH NEW ZEALAND

Enjoying it so far.

CAUGHT IN CHRISTCHURCH CANTERBURY NEW ZEALAND