Villette

About a month ago, I finished reading Shirley. It took quite some time, but I guess I was making good progress for someone who reads only during train journeys. The novel ended the way it began - without grandeur; yet, it proved to be a deeply emotional read.

A couple of weeks ago, I started on another Charlotte Brontë novel, her last, Villette. Like Shirley, I had started and stalled on reading this book several times previously. This was, however, due to the extensive use of French phrases and whole sentences in the conversations in the text. (I could've ignored the parts I can't understand, but it would not do!) At first, I bought a mini English-French dictionary so that I could do the translations, but it was too tedious, and the French grammar proved to be beyond the dictionary alone. In university, I took a semester of beginner's French class and then, attempted to read Villette again. It was still too tedious. Argh!

After the many failed attempts, here I am again, and I am quite determined to finish reading Villette this time. J'espère que je réussirai. Souhaitez-moi la chance! (what?)