Love letters from a poet.
What can you expect?
I was sure to get heartfelt, emotional epistels about their love, but I was a little disappointed.
Robert Burns aka Sylvander was wonderful as bewitched poet besodden by the looks and character of the object of his desire, Clarinda. He's as subtle a poet as he is winning over his love.
Clarinda is equally skilled in language and emotions, although she has a tendency to fall back to religion themes, which become tedious, which I felt Sylvander thought so too.
A great love affair, they have been called. Suspicion arise if they ever had the chance to act upon their words, which I think they have. Lust always finds a way.
In the second half of the book, Clarinda suffers from a guilty conscience and religion is the thread throughout the correspondence, which eventually ends with their enstrangement.
This novel has been recommended to me, by someone I could compare to the poet. Always head over heels in love, but as naive in knowing its true meaning.
Clarinda is the wisest of them both. Passion is a tricky thing and with her reluctance to freely give in to the poet's charms she has won my respect. Even if she throws in her religious beliefs to tip the scales, she still chooses to keep her distance.
This book had been on my shelf quite some time. When I finally picked it for reading, it took me quite some time to finish it.
In the end I'm glad I've read it, but it wasn't a life changing read or a very entertaining one. Ae Fond Kiss is more for people wanting to delve deeper into Robert Burns personal history, but since I'm not into poetry, yet, the meaning is a little lost to me.
I still prefer Romeo and Juliet to this love story. Nothing is as great as love lost amidst serious casualties.
I'm giving this 6 out of 10, because while it wasn't great, it wasn't awful either. I'd best describe its emotions as lukewarm.
