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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ending kind of dragged.
Enjoyed it overall tho.
Enjoyed it overall tho.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Antisemitism
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Enjoyed the feminist elements. Some compelling characterisation and dramatic passages, but overall it was too long and slow in places. I had to reread pages where I’d lost concentration and I sometimes struggled to follow what was going on because of the language / context. I did read other books alongside this, which may not have helped.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
funny
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
But what we call our despair is often only the painful eagerness of unfed hope
loving all the science and politics - it feels so comprehensive in its contemporary references, set so firmly in time but in a different way to how we often think about this in modern work - often contemporary references for modern work are not handled well and are thought of as “cringe” - and i can’t see modern science translating well in this way either? but it works really well in middlemarch. as a side note, i was surprised by just how many science references eliot includes & understands as a victorian woman - but maybe these were common knowledge at the time, i don’t know.
An eminent philosopher among my friends, who can dignify your ugly furniture by lifting it into the serene light of science, has shown me this pregnant little fact. Your pier-glass or extensive surface of polished steel made to be rubbed by a housemaid, will be minutely and multitudinously scratched in all directions; but place now against it a lighted candle as a centre of illumination, and lo! The scratches will seem to arrange themselves in a fine series of concentric circles round that little sun. It is demonstrable that the scratches are going everywhere impartially, and it is only your candle which produces the flattering illusion of a concentric arrangement, its light falling with an exclusive optical selection. These things are a parable. The scratches are events, and the candle is the egoism of any person now absent …
the world eliot creates feels so expansive and whole. ‘sense of place’ doesn’t quite cover just how strong this effect is. not just in the breadth of contemporary references, but in the vast network of interpersonal relationships and range of characters explored. the characters aren’t diverse in the modern sense of the term but the range of personalities and perspectives explored was beyond impressive. the depth of emotion & perspective achieved for so many (& very different!) characters is incredible - eliot has a deep understanding of the human condition. there’s not necessarily a strong moral undertone, but dorothea, especially, taught me a lot.
the writing, too, is beautiful & often surprisingly funny. i can’t even comprehend how one would go about writing something like this. but nothing happens - that’s not generally a problem for me, because i love in depth character exploration & i wouldn’t say it hindered my enjoyment of the book.
There are episodes in most men's lives in which their highest qualities can only cast a deterring shadow over the objects that fill their inward vision: Lydgate's tender-heartedness was present just then only as a dread lest he should offend against it, not as an emotion that swayed him to tenderness
middlemarch is a masterpiece. i do not question why many consider it the best novel ever written. but frankly i don’t think i’d read it again, which is a shame because i really do think i got a lot out of it. the lack of plot, very long text, and incredibly slow pace do make it a daunting read - even as someone who generally reaches for books with those features - despite the genius of the writing itself. and that’s the only reason it sits firmly at 4.5 stars rather than 5 for me.
That was a wrong thing for you to say, that you would have had nothing to try for. If we had lost our own chief good, other people's good would remain, and that is worth trying for. Some can be happy. I seemed to see that more clearly than ever, when I was the most wretched. I can hardly think how I could have borne the trouble, if that feeling had not come to me to make strength.
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
man, my professor wasn't kidding. the ending of this novel really does change your life. coming out as the #1 dorothea supporter now (yeah, that's right move over, will!)