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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It’s the perfect novel in form, structure, character and authorial voice. My third reading and it is better - and different - every time. Virginia Woolf was right.
the victorians had so much to say all the time why was this book so thick. but i loved it???? i read this in an episodic structure so at the end of every day for nearly a month i would read some part of it and it felt so perfect. out of all the stories, dorothea escaping from the clutches of her scholartyrannicalmisogynist husband and marrying someone she loves, and someone we ALL love, will, made me the most
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
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
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
informative
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:
Yes
Middlemarch is an exploration of small town country life in nineteenth Century England. Its really an account of daily life. It’s messy, layered and full of people trying their best and sometimes failing.
The depth of character is astounding. Even minor characters get a backstory. This obviously contributes to the books length. There are marriages, misunderstandings, political ambitions, money matters, moral issues and gossip, oh so much gossip.
Dorothea Brooke, just wants to be educated and to do good in the world but isn’t the best judge of character. In fact, marries the most boring man alive, with a hidden mean streak. Lydgate, is a doctor with big dreams, but zero financial sense. Bulstrode is a banker with a hint of scandal. Rosamond also has big dreams and no one better stand in her way. Fred means well, but is just the laziest person.
I read this book in small chunks, rather than binging and it took me over a month to read. This book is very much a slow burn and for me, the small chunks made it easier to get through the slower parts.
Clearly George Eliot had a lot of knowledge as the book is filled with allusions, historical and references.
I think what makes this book so good is the realistic way in which normal, very flawed people try to live decent lives in a town where outsiders will never fit in and where everybody knows everyone.
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
slow-paced