3.67k reviews for:

Middlemarch

George Eliot

4.06 AVERAGE

slow-paced
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No

The characters are all very well-written, and the story speaks to readers today as it did when it was first published. She did a great job capturing the heart of her characters. I don’t give it a full five starts because it seemed to drag in some moments, and a few plot points and side characters lost my interest.
challenging reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
challenging slow-paced

listened to the audio book, narrated by Juliet Stevenson which was a master class in voices for different characters, wow. i am not sure i would have been able to read this in text form, the audio version made it easier to to follow. Long but glad to have finished it.
hopeful reflective slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes

 A brilliant and fascinating novel, one I've had on my shelf a long long time but only just gathered the strength to tackle and I'm so glad I did. In some respects this is a period drama like many others, with romance and comedies of manners; in other respects it is a history lesson, but rather than a simple description of decisions made by rulers and army generals we are instead shown the real-world impact of the times and its upheavals on a small part of the country. I find this a much more powerful way of delivering this, and a much truer snapshot of a time and a place..

George/Mary was an author who was very present as a narrator, she also was a great philosopher and I really enjoy reading her prose and thoughts and I made note of more passages that resonated with me from this book than perhaps any other I have ever read.

In terms of ranking I would give this a 4.5 if goodreads would allow, but there was just something slight missing in my emotional connection to the story and characters that stopped me putting it down as a 5* instead of a 4*, something I couldn't quite pinpoint. Maybe there wasn't enough conflict or enough of a villain for my taste, maybe it could've been a tiny bit shorter in places, I'm unsure.

That being said I did really enjoy all the characters, whether I liked or disliked I thought they were incredibly well drawn and so much more well rounded than most authors could ever achieve. Caleb Garth and Fred Vincy were personal favourites and I was very happy with their endings. In fact all the Garth's were great, I could read about them forever. Meanwhile Casaubon was a terrible bore and I was even happier with his ending (died halfway through the tale thank God). Dorothea was another favourite, a much more complex female lead than found in most period dramas. I loved her principled stances, even if when coupled with youthful naivety it did lead her into a terrible marriage choice. Her lack of desire to conform was admirable and the way she wasn't presented as some perfectly virtuous and 'innocent' (/chaste) woman but a real, complete person with flaws and feelings etc. Rosamond was a great character aswell, I liked that her marriage was not a happy ending but almost the beginning of her story and her difficulties. Again, bucking trends and telling a truer story. I could go on and on about each of the dozens of other characters but no-one wants to read that.

This will be a very hard book to move on from, I was reading for a long time and felt very firmly entrenched in Middlemarch, I am just happy it was wrapped up so well in the finale so I have enough closure to move on to other books! 
challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
fullfatdotgov's profile picture

fullfatdotgov's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH

Sorry babe it was too boring

Fikk kjærlighetssorg av at den er slutt.

harvison's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 48%

I tried. I tried. I tried. I couldn't get into the writing style.