The French Lieutenant's Woman: Candle #8

First comment: Sometimes "they" are right...you can't go home again. I read this book in college some twenty years ago or so and I remember thinking it was great. I don't know if that had anything to do with the influence of the professor. The course was taught by one of my all-time favorites. But I remember having a greater compassion for Sarah and Charles at the time and understanding the fragility of love and all that. This time around--rereading it for my Birth Year Reading Challenge--not so much. I actually got a bit exasperated with Charles' infatuation and rejection of Ernestina. I was also a bit outraged by Charles' denunciation of Sarah in the second ending. Blaming everything on her "manipulation" of him seems to me a bit of a cop-out. He's the one who kept going back for more. And with all the talk (both within the story and in the narrative asides) about "duty," it would have been nice if he had remembered his towards his intended. This is another one (like The Green Man) that I am glad to have gotten over and done with. Previous rating on Visual Bookshelf: four out of five stars. This time around: two out of five. Onward to The Andromeda Strain!