Great reading on those quiet Sunday evenings. The historical perspectives and timelines are the best part; really helps you understand the progression of literature as we know it. The Norton series (western literature) was used often in highschool for me, but I had quite narrow historical perspectives back then; this book has helped change that. I would also recommend Glimpes of World History by J. Nehru. Though it can be at times tedious, it is good accompaniment to this Norton anthology.

This book is very fascinating to read if you're insterested in early Greek and Roman culture. The many stories and translations make the reading easy and fun. I would recommend this book to anyone!

This book has it all! This is the GREATEST collection of books ever printed!

I have used this book for several years as a text in Composition classes. I even used it in writing classes in Africa. It's a "multicultural" text. The wonderful choices (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama) show that no matter who you are, you can use the powerful tool of the English language to write about your own experiences. Seems obvious, but perhaps not. Great writing suggestions, too, just about a perfect book. It's too expensive, of course. But in the end, worth it. I wish they'd come out with a third edition!

Charlotte Bronte writes with a depth of voice rarely known in English - nay, even World literature. Her earlier novel, JANE EYRE, is in fact one of my most beloved novels of all time.

Her novel VILLETTE is almost wholly the story of an evolution - a remarkable enlightening, filled with the inner vivid color of one individual human soul. The reader follows that soul past loss of family and fortune during childhood, afterwards making its way over the English Channel to a position earning bread in a school for girls. While in this position, said soul must confront invasive jealousy, intense debilitating loneliness, self-absorbed and egotistic friendship, passion for a suitor out of reach, the alarm of ghostly spectres, and the pristine touch of unconditional love.

Initially I must say that Lucy Snow, confoundedly endearing heroine of VILLETTE, is no Jane Eyre: No. Not by any stretch of the imagination. She is, in many ways, quite the opposite. Lucy radically refrains wherein Jane restlessly yearns; Lucy's narration is demure and reticent, while Jane's is warm and open; in turn, the mettle of their respective heroes reflects sharp contrast as well: underneath surface fallibilities, Lucy's is painstakingly unveiled as a most pure moralistic ideal, whereas Jane's is possessed of ominous, deep-seated flaws despite a desperate heart of gold. Fate and providence, too, share sharply divergent roles in these two stories. Hence it must without further ado be disclosed that Charlotte Bronte's final novel was, overall, for me an arduous task to read. Indeed it was! - But I do say this in the very best sense of that word.

Critically, I must say it was a challenge because of the overwhelming amount of French dialogue. I realize that French was to some degree a universal language in Victorian England -quite fluently deciphered, read and spoken amongst the educated population...so I cannot on that note accuse the author of prosaic snobbery. However, as an American in the 21st century, I cannot deny that my tentative knowledge of the French language to some extent limited my absorption of the dialogue. However, this was only a small disadvantage - as I believe the gist is still there despite all.

Moreover, Lucy has an alluring, yet baffling personality- I love her, but cannot for the life of me understand her. This tale is more of an inwardly emotional journey than anything eventfully climaxing or epically engaging. Plot-wise, this merely treks the path of a young English woman completely alone in the world gaining her livelihood in a girls' school on the European continent. Affecting the treads of that path are those, come by choice or obligation, closest to her: her voyeuristic employer Madame Beck, friends - privileged & affectionate childhood companion Polly and vain & frivolous fellow student Ginerva - the handsome & winsome Dr. John, and temperamental & eccentric professor M. Paul. It's truly an inward journey- a seeking and finding of one's own identity: the heroine - enthralled in a life as outwardly oppressive as it is inwardly rich - is undeniably endearing, her story wrought with so many sparkles of pain, so few of bliss.

Without doubt, the hand of providence - of God - is omnipresent in JANE EYRE. In VILLETTE, it is conspicuously absent. For me, to elaborate on this point would take thousands of more words - words which I am, fortunately, too lazy to write right now. I can only say that, after reading both novels, one may be able to see this point as glaringly apparent.

Though my love for VILLETTE is nowhere near so great as my love for JANE EYRE, I must allow that it is in certain respects a greater literary achievement for Charlotte Bronte. The writing herein persistently touches genius, and the characters are meticulously drawn and unforsakenly human.

More endearing than Jane Eyre, and a darker study, Lucy Snowe embodies all the despair, depression, and heart-turnings of the plain woman. Compare her to Ginerva and she is unbeautiful, to Paulina and she is unaccomplished. But still she dares to hope in Dr. John's affections, and is deeply touched by M. Paul's friendship, the first real friendship which can sustain her troubled soul. Charlotte Bronte's last character deals with the lost-and-found families, the other-worldly interruptions, the choices of acting on her own or doing as bid, and repressed passion in the true Bronte heroine style. There is a connection here for each reader, a chance to feel as Lucy does, to hope and to anticipate, to let go and despair. For me, the novel ends differently with each reading, depending on my own life at the time (now you must read it, just to find out what I mean). I would highly recommend this novel for any serious literature student or any lover of the Brontes.

Everybody knows and loves Jane Eyre, but hardly anybody has ever heard of Charlotte Brontë's later novel Villette. Is this because Villette simply does not have the literary quality of Jane Eyre? Most certainly not. Could it be because Villette is not as romantic? Now there you have a point. Villette is darker, more realistic. It is also much more personal and autobiographic than Jane Eyre and ultimately a more powerful novel. Charlotte Brontë drew on her own experiences as a teacher at a private boarding school for girls in Brussels. There she fell passionately in love with one of her fellow teachers - a married man, so the whole affair was doomed from the beginning.

In Villette Charlotte Brontë created an alter ego, Lucy Snowe, who teaches at a similar school. She looks mousy (always wears grey for instance) but hides an inner life of violent emotions and passions, for which the very restricted school environment offers no proper outlet. There is one person, however - a male fellow teacher - who seems to recognize Lucy for what she really is. Now, will this be the beginning finally of happiness or of something else?

Villette is a very convincing and moving novel about the inner landscape of a Victorian woman whose life it seems was destined to be spent in constantly repressing her feelings and struggling against isolation. Deserves a wide audience.

Does this anthology include the short story entitled "The Most Dangerous Game?"