Reviews - Middlemarch | The StoryGraph

3.67k reviews for:

Middlemarch

George Eliot

4.06 AVERAGE

amandaslibrary_'s review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging hopeful reflective tense 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

gapes1009's review against another edition

4.5

medium-paced

theanswerisbooks's review against another edition

4.0

I noticed before I started reading it that a lot of people in their reviews noted that Middlemarch was "a writer's book." This seemed sort of silly to me, but now I understand it. George Eliot is the master of creating fully realized, inner lives for all of her characters, even the most blamable ones. In fact, she's so good at it that it becomes the focus of the book itself. Middlemarch isn't so much a traditional novel as it is a study of a community and all its spidery, weaving interpersonal connections.

The length of the book is somewhat to its detriment. I know that if I hadn't been reading this for my exams I probably would have put it down after the first 150 pages or so and never thought twice about it, but because I pushed through, I ended up getting to know these characters better than I know most people. I kind of fell in love with them, and with the quiet, assured way that Eliot writes about them. I've got to be honest with you about that one: did not see it coming.

Like [b:Vanity Fair|5797|Vanity Fair|William Makepeace Thackeray|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1288896273s/5797.jpg|1057468], another famously long 19th century novel, Middlemarch was serialized, and it's original audience would have read it in increments over a period of years, and like the stretched out serialization of a great TV show, this would have made it both less overwhelming, and easier for readers to feel like these characters were part of their everyday lives as well, and not just characters in a book that you read once for a couple of weeks. So, all in all, it was worth it.