HomeGroupsTalkMoreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
Loading...

Wide Sargasso Sea (1966)

by Jean Rhys

Other authors: See the other authors section.

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
8,1472411,004 (3.55)788
Jean Rhys's late masterpiece Wide Sargasso Sea was inspired by Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, and is set in the lush, beguiling landscape of Jamaica in the 1830s. Cover design by Coralie Bickford-Smith.
all members
▾Members
Recently added byjmdunc54, femmedyke, private library, Rizoomes, aissareads, cyborgpulsebooks, charlottekow, ebobka, eliza_murph
Legacy LibrariesGraham Greene
▾Tags
▾LibraryThing Recommendations
▾Member recommendations
  1. 272
    Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (aces, kjuliff)
    kjuliff: Mr. Rochester
  2. 71
    The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination by Sandra M. Gilbert (Imprinted)
  3. 20
    Near to the Wild Heart by Clarice Lispector (Petroglyph)
    Petroglyph: Even though Near to the wild heart was written some twenty years prior to Wide Sargasso Sea, these two share numerous features: the interior monologue, the lyricism, the heroine mostly living inside her skull, the central character who doesn’t see a way out of their mental frustrations with life. Lispector kicked all that up a few notches, but to me these two belong close together on my mental shelves.… (more)
  4. 42
    March by Geraldine Brooks (CGlanovsky)
    CGlanovsky: Classic stories (Little Women/Jane Eyre) re-imagined through the experiences of characters who are important to the plot while being almost entirely unseen.
  5. 20
    The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (Philosofiction)
  6. 20
    Grendel by John Gardner (CGlanovsky)
    CGlanovsky: Classics retold to give voice to silent characters important to their plots.
  7. 10
    After Mrs Rochester by Polly Teale (srdr)
    srdr: This brilliant drama illuminates the themes that run through Jean Rhys's life, Wide Sargasso Sea, and Jane Eyre.
  8. 00
    Journey to the End of the Night by Louis-Ferdinand Céline (Cecilturtle)
    Cecilturtle: colonialisme
  9. 22
    Tell My Horse: Voodoo and Life in Haiti and Jamaica by Zora Neale Hurston (cammykitty)
  10. 00
    A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen (lucy.depalma)
  11. 01
    Bug-Jargal by Victor Hugo (Medicinos)
    Medicinos: Bug-Jargal décrit une société antillaise basée sur l'exploitation des esclaves qui éclate lorsque ces derniers se rebellent. La prisonnière des Sargasses décrit une société analogue après la rébellion.
  12. 02
    Blessed Is the Fruit by Robert Antoni (IsolaBlue)
  13. 02
    Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry (GlebtheDancer)
    GlebtheDancer: Dark, foreboding, claustrophobic feel. Self-destruction of central character. Similar prose styles.
  14. 03
    Signed, Mata Hari: A Novel by Yannick Murphy (Anonymous user)
    Anonymous user: Lush depiction of tropics with natives playing important roles, women "bought" and tragic endings
▾Lists
» 69 more
1960s (14)
AP Lit (36)
▾Will you like it?
Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

▾Conversations (About links)

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 788 mentions

▾Member reviews
English (232)  Spanish (2)  French (2)  Italian (1)  Catalan (1)  Portuguese (Portugal) (1)  Dutch (1)  All languages (240)
date ▼ | votes
Showing 1-5 of 232 (next | show all)
The thing that I found so striking as I read this was how subtle the writing is and how much breath flows through its 171 pages. The themes of power/control/hatred/safety are prominent. Much can also be said about the feeling of being in-between (colonial generations, nationalities, race, etc.) A lot to ponder, and definitely something I will want reread in the future. ( )
  psalva | Sep 3, 2023 |
The author brings to light the most mysterious character from Jane Eyre, Rochester's wife. She is a young woman from a Caribbean family whose family's past will be used against her by her husband. The author portrays a society so driven by hatred that it literally can drive a woman out of her mind. ( )
  Kristelh | Sep 2, 2023 |
If you are a fan of Jane Eyre and ever wondered what the story was with Rochester and his “madwoman” in the attic this is a must read. Absolutely fabulous characters, I think this was really creatively crafted - and I dig that she shows a different aspect of Rochester than what Bronte wrote. ( )
  Andy5185 | Jul 9, 2023 |
If I could unread this one I probably would. The writing was disjointed, and did not vibe with me at all. The characters felt shallow. The themes were a bit too heavy handed (colonialism bad), and the character assassination of Rochester from Jane Eyre was kind of a bummer. ( )
  Andjhostet | Jul 4, 2023 |
One more on the Modern Library list of the 100 best American works of fiction in the 20th century that I hadn't read. It is usually reviewed as the story of the first Mrs. Rochester in Jane Eyre, and that may have been some stimulus to the author, but it is not a necessary element of the story. The protagonist cracks up slowly during the course of the events depicted and in a lush tropical Caribbean background replete with racism, continental vs island social clashes, voodoo and various human short-comings. Some reviewers have complained that these things are not a cause of insanity, but it is a work of art, not a medical text - and I think there must be some autobiographical component. ( )
  markm2315 | Jul 1, 2023 |
date ▼ | votes
Showing 1-5 of 232 (next | show all)
?
▾Published reviews
▾Other authors

» Add other authors (86 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Rhys, Jean—primary authorall editionsconfirmed
Ashworth, AndreaIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Daunt, ChrisIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Dorsman-Vos, W.A.Translatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Mooney, BelIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Smith, AngelaEditorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Wilks, SueCover photographsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Wyndham, FrancisIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
▾Series and work relationships
▾Awards and Honors
view history
▾Common Knowledge
You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Wide Sargasso Sea
Original title
Wide Sargasso Sea
Alternative titles
Information from the Dutch Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language.
De wijde Sargasso Zee
Original publication date
1966
People/Characters
Edward Rochester
Antoinette Cosway (aka Bertha Rochester, née Mason)
Christophine
Grace Poole
Annette Cosway
Important places
Caribbean Region
Coulibri
Jamaica
Martinique, France
Spanish Town, Jamaica
Important events
Slavery Abolition Act (1833)
Related movies
Wide Sargasso Sea (1993 | IMDb)
Wide Sargasso Sea (2006 | IMDb)
Awards and honors
Time's All-Time 100 Novels selection
The Modern Library's 100 Best Novels: The Board's List (094)
Radcliffe Publishing Course Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century (81)
WH Smith Literary Award (1967)
Guardian 1000 (Love)
Epigraph
Dedication
First words
They say when trouble comes close ranks, and so the white people did.
Quotations
'If you are buried under a flamboyant tree,' I said, 'your soul is lifted up when it flowers. Everyone wants that.'
The saints we hear about were all very beautiful and wealthy. All were loved by rich and handsome young men.
Reality might disconcert her, bewilder her, hurt her, but it would not be reality. It would be only a mistake, a misfortune, a wrong path taken, her fixed ideas would never change.
'So between you I often wonder who I am and where is my country and where do I belong and why was I ever born at all.'
'You can pretend for a long time, but one day it all falls away and you are alone.'
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Wyndham, Francis
Original language
English
Canonical DDC/MDS
823.912
Canonical LCC
PR6035.H96
▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English

None

▾Book descriptions
Jean Rhys's late masterpiece Wide Sargasso Sea was inspired by Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre, and is set in the lush, beguiling landscape of Jamaica in the 1830s. Cover design by Coralie Bickford-Smith.
▾Library descriptions

No library descriptions found.

?
▾LibraryThing members' description
Book description
Haiku summary

Popular covers

Quick Links

Amazon.com (direct)
Abebooks.com
Amazon Kindle (0 editions)
Audible (0 editions)
CD Audiobook (0 editions)
Project Gutenberg (0 editions)
Google Books — Loading...
WorldCat

Genres

Melvil Decimal System (DDC)

823.912Literature › English & Old English literatures › English fiction › Modern Period › 1901-1999 › 1901-1945

LC Classification

PR6035.H96Language and Literature › English › English Literature › 1900-1960

Rating

Average: (3.55)
0.5 7
1 48
1.5 10
2 189
2.5 49
3 456
3.5 136
4 591
4.5 66
5 299

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

Penguin Australia

2 editions of this book were published by Penguin Australia.

Editions: 0141182857, 0241951550

W.W. Norton

An edition of this book was published by W.W. Norton.

» Publisher information page

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 194,946,440 books! | Top bar: Always visible
Copyright LibraryThing and/or members of LibraryThing, authors, publishers, libraries, cover designers, Amazon, Bol, Bruna, etc.