Reviews

Adam Bede by George Eliot

showell's review against another edition

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3.0

I originally ranked this as a 4 star novel, because:
1) many many glorious sentences
2) ultimately a good story (and relatively rare to find a woman like Hetty treated as anything other than a one dimensional object in Victorian lit)
3) some very funny moments (I'm a sucker for snark)
4) George Eliot

But in the end, I cranked it down to three, because:
1) too much exposition, including a few too many odes to the English peasant
2) slow start
3) I find the character of Seth Bede to be fairly unbelievable.

Still, well worth reading.

gmp's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

4.5

nnjack68's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

The romantic ending made no sense.  It just seemed like an afterthought.  Dinah is a very poorly developed character. 

bwood95's review

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emotional informative lighthearted reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

perjacxis's review against another edition

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3.0

Oh Hetty!

zpuacz's review

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emotional reflective slow-paced

3.5

soniapage's review against another edition

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4.0

Not only a tragic story but also a close study of rural life. The characters are fully developed and we see so many likenesses to people today.

andersenhannah02's review against another edition

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5.0

George Eliot is a fantastic writer and I am so glad that I got the chance to read this. I have so many mixed feelings, and I am honestly not sure what to think about the ending. I highly recommend you give this a try, and I would love to hear your thoughts.

bupdaddy's review against another edition

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3.0

I was likin' this book pretty well, what with all the slamming on them Methodists and their humble dress and whatnot, but the end wrapped up too prettily.

Specifically, Dinah had the hots for Adam for so long, and he'd never thought of her. The day he finds out she likes him, he's head-over-heels totally soul-mates 4ever! And he has to convince her to marry him, without me being convinced of why he'd suddenly love her and not be looking on the rebound for the next hot thing that's right under his nose.

And conveniently, Hetty died in the last couple of sentences in passing, very obligingly, and besides it'd be totally AWKWARD for her to still be around while Adam and Dinah make sho 'nuff hot luv.

Still, I liked it OK. Eliot has a decent sense of humor, and the story was interesting enough, if artificial in the unwinding.

becca_g_powell's review against another edition

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5.0

Just lovely. I'm always amazed at Eliot's gift of making words work together in impossibly perfect ways. She knows how to write a sentence, and this book is full of them. It's absolutely beautiful. Beware if you read books for plot - It will take you a few hundred pages to get to a really interesting one. Instead, just take your time and soak up the pastoral imagery and poetic phrases. The story will be interesting enough when you get to it, but it takes a true craftsman to draw her reader deep into her book even while nothing much is going on.