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3.67k reviews for:
Middlemarch: (Barnes & Noble Collectible Editions) (Barnes & Noble Leatherbound Classics)
George Eliot
4.06 AVERAGE
3.67k reviews for:
Middlemarch: (Barnes & Noble Collectible Editions) (Barnes & Noble Leatherbound Classics)
George Eliot
4.06 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Such a ride, this novel. I admire Eliot a lot for what she does and how she does it. I've never read anything like it, which is why I'm logging it even though it doesn't really seem like a text I would read recreationally. I think it needs a revisit for me to even grasp what's going on in terms of the moment and all of the references. Really fascinating, more than anything else. I will say that even after the term ended, I had to finish it!
Middlemarch is simply the finest British novel I know.
Unhappily ever after...
Set just before the Reform Act of 1832, Eliot uses the better off residents of the provincial town of Middlemarch to muse on the state of society at a point of change. It is basically a series of character studies, showing how the social interactions of life lead, in most people, to a permanent state of change: sometimes growth, sometimes diminution. There is no overarching plot to speak of, though several of the characters have their own stories which appear and disappear as the book roves over subjects as diverse as the building of the railroads, the state of medicine, the position of women in society, the conduct of politics.
By the time I got to page 150, I was beginning to think that dying of boredom would be a blessed release. The constant repetition and the impersonal telling of every detail rather than allowing the characters to reveal themselves through their own actions and interactions made it feel like sheer drudgery to get through. Gritting my teeth and struggling on, I found it slowly improved so that eventually I became reasonably immersed in the various lives that were slowly, oh, so slowly, being lived out on the pages. But having made it all the way to the final page, despite admiring the ambition and some of the execution, I will not be joining the legions of people who think this is the greatest novel in the English language.
There is no doubt about the depth of the characterisation nor the profound insight Eliot gives into the fallibilities and foibles of human nature. Clearly not a fan of the happy-ever-after of so many novels of the period, Eliot instead shows marriage as the beginning of the story for many of her characters and then follows them as they have to readjust their expectations when experience crashes brutally down on their hopes and dreams. It’s all very realistic, of course; hence, very depressing. I’ve always assumed that Darcy and Lizzie probably found that neither was quite as perfect as they seemed to each other on that day when they declared their mutual love, but I was always happy that Austen didn’t make me witness the inevitable disillusion. There’s such a thing as too much realism.
It’s hard to know who the major character is supposed to be. For the first section it appears it will be Dorothea, an idealistic young woman who wishes to find a way to be useful in a society that expects women of her class to be merely decorative. But then quite suddenly, just as one has become invested in her story, she disappears for hundreds of pages and idealistic young Dr Lydgate becomes the focus. The informative introduction in my Oxford World’s Classic edition, by David Russell, tells me that in fact the book started as two separate stories which Eliot later decided to merge, and I was quite glad to know that since it explained why the structure felt so out of synch until about halfway through. Both Dorothea and Lydgate find they have married people who don’t live up to their high ideals and so spend much of their time being miserable. (In an Austen novel, they’d have married each other and lived happily ever after. What’s so wrong with that?)
I enjoyed the portrayal of the society of the town considerably more. While Eliot deals mostly with her own class, she occasionally gives glimpses of the common people, showing how their way of life was being changed by the increasing industrialisation of the time. She doesn’t delve in depth into this nor into the major political changes that were happening, presumably assuming that her contemporary audience would be well aware of these aspects. But she does show that the landowning classes were conscious of the increasing mood of resentment among the lower orders, with the fear of social unrest rumbling in the background. Like Dickens, she gives an indication of how the classes may live apart but are inextricably connected and, also like him, she suggests clearly that those who have ignore those who have not at their own peril.
Overall, I didn’t enjoy this nearly as much as I’d hoped. I suspect it’s simply a matter of outlook on life – I’m a glass-half-full kind of person and I got the distinct impression that Eliot’s glass was at least half empty. I missed Dickens’ anger and exuberance, and Austen’s wit. This felt flatter – more like reportage than storytelling. However, I did admire the subtlety of the characterisation and the intelligence of her observations of society. A book that engaged my intellect more than my emotions and, in the end, failed to make me care about the outcomes for the people with whom I’d spent so much time. 3½ stars for me, so rounded up.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Oxford World’s Classics.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
Set just before the Reform Act of 1832, Eliot uses the better off residents of the provincial town of Middlemarch to muse on the state of society at a point of change. It is basically a series of character studies, showing how the social interactions of life lead, in most people, to a permanent state of change: sometimes growth, sometimes diminution. There is no overarching plot to speak of, though several of the characters have their own stories which appear and disappear as the book roves over subjects as diverse as the building of the railroads, the state of medicine, the position of women in society, the conduct of politics.
By the time I got to page 150, I was beginning to think that dying of boredom would be a blessed release. The constant repetition and the impersonal telling of every detail rather than allowing the characters to reveal themselves through their own actions and interactions made it feel like sheer drudgery to get through. Gritting my teeth and struggling on, I found it slowly improved so that eventually I became reasonably immersed in the various lives that were slowly, oh, so slowly, being lived out on the pages. But having made it all the way to the final page, despite admiring the ambition and some of the execution, I will not be joining the legions of people who think this is the greatest novel in the English language.
There is no doubt about the depth of the characterisation nor the profound insight Eliot gives into the fallibilities and foibles of human nature. Clearly not a fan of the happy-ever-after of so many novels of the period, Eliot instead shows marriage as the beginning of the story for many of her characters and then follows them as they have to readjust their expectations when experience crashes brutally down on their hopes and dreams. It’s all very realistic, of course; hence, very depressing. I’ve always assumed that Darcy and Lizzie probably found that neither was quite as perfect as they seemed to each other on that day when they declared their mutual love, but I was always happy that Austen didn’t make me witness the inevitable disillusion. There’s such a thing as too much realism.
It’s hard to know who the major character is supposed to be. For the first section it appears it will be Dorothea, an idealistic young woman who wishes to find a way to be useful in a society that expects women of her class to be merely decorative. But then quite suddenly, just as one has become invested in her story, she disappears for hundreds of pages and idealistic young Dr Lydgate becomes the focus. The informative introduction in my Oxford World’s Classic edition, by David Russell, tells me that in fact the book started as two separate stories which Eliot later decided to merge, and I was quite glad to know that since it explained why the structure felt so out of synch until about halfway through. Both Dorothea and Lydgate find they have married people who don’t live up to their high ideals and so spend much of their time being miserable. (In an Austen novel, they’d have married each other and lived happily ever after. What’s so wrong with that?)
I enjoyed the portrayal of the society of the town considerably more. While Eliot deals mostly with her own class, she occasionally gives glimpses of the common people, showing how their way of life was being changed by the increasing industrialisation of the time. She doesn’t delve in depth into this nor into the major political changes that were happening, presumably assuming that her contemporary audience would be well aware of these aspects. But she does show that the landowning classes were conscious of the increasing mood of resentment among the lower orders, with the fear of social unrest rumbling in the background. Like Dickens, she gives an indication of how the classes may live apart but are inextricably connected and, also like him, she suggests clearly that those who have ignore those who have not at their own peril.
Overall, I didn’t enjoy this nearly as much as I’d hoped. I suspect it’s simply a matter of outlook on life – I’m a glass-half-full kind of person and I got the distinct impression that Eliot’s glass was at least half empty. I missed Dickens’ anger and exuberance, and Austen’s wit. This felt flatter – more like reportage than storytelling. However, I did admire the subtlety of the characterisation and the intelligence of her observations of society. A book that engaged my intellect more than my emotions and, in the end, failed to make me care about the outcomes for the people with whom I’d spent so much time. 3½ stars for me, so rounded up.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Oxford World’s Classics.
www.fictionfanblog.wordpress.com
“Most men lead lives of quiet desperation.” -Henry David Thoreau
“And I’m gonna tell you about that quiet desperation for 800 pages.” -George Eliot
————————
I’m amending my review which I don’t think I’ve ever done because a year after finishing Middlemarch it has stayed with me. I gave it 5 stars. I would up it to 6 now.
Middlemarch was published in 1872. I met all of these characters in real life 100 years later. I even married one.
This book has the insight of age and experience but, unfortunately, it was one I didn’t pick up until I made the mistakes on my own. George Eliot understands and portrays the human condition better than most poets, philosophers and psychiatrists that I have read.
Going on my Top 10 list and maybe to the very top.
“And I’m gonna tell you about that quiet desperation for 800 pages.” -George Eliot
————————
I’m amending my review which I don’t think I’ve ever done because a year after finishing Middlemarch it has stayed with me. I gave it 5 stars. I would up it to 6 now.
Middlemarch was published in 1872. I met all of these characters in real life 100 years later. I even married one.
This book has the insight of age and experience but, unfortunately, it was one I didn’t pick up until I made the mistakes on my own. George Eliot understands and portrays the human condition better than most poets, philosophers and psychiatrists that I have read.
Going on my Top 10 list and maybe to the very top.
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
I remember finishing Jane Eyre (I read it in college) and thinking that another reading experience would pale in comparison to reading Bronte. I was pleasantly surprised when I read Middlemarch. This book really is the quintessential Victorian novel. It has a compelling storyline, interesting characters and powerful social commentary. Don't let the sheer size of the novel deter you. It has all of the elements that makes Bronte and even Austen, so compelling. The only issue is that I read this on my kindle and this particular version is not well formatted. Even so, it did not deter me from enjoying this novel.
Slow start, so I was very skeptical about liking it. However, about a third of the way in, I was hooked, and in the end, I loved it.
I was not expecting this book to be a "page turner". A very insightful book.
informative
reflective
relaxing
slow-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
Wow, I can't believe I've finally finished this! I started reading this at the beginning of the year with the aim to read a part a month and this style of reading really worked to keep me looking forward to coming back to these characters and not be bogged down. Yes, this was probably overly long with many plot points feeling like they were treading water for the majority of the book. But, this type of ensemble story was still quite unique for the time and George Eliot handles it masterfully.
There were some characters (Fred and Mary!) who I loved and couldn't wait to get back to. Others (Rosamund and Will!) tried my patience but each were unique and I was invested in their stories. There were also some great moments of intrigue and twists that I didn't expect. I love how the fate of each of the characters were so entwined through various marriages and agreements and the plot was just overall very smart and engaging.
However, what I really missed from this was more of a sense of context. This is, after all, a Historical Fiction novel being set around 40 years before it was written. I was hoping to learn more about the Reform Act which in the end didn't really end up affecting the characters that much. Some of that wider context would have just elevated this novel in addition to all the great character work. I am glad that I have read this classic and I think it is one that will stay with me.
There were some characters (Fred and Mary!) who I loved and couldn't wait to get back to. Others (Rosamund and Will!) tried my patience but each were unique and I was invested in their stories. There were also some great moments of intrigue and twists that I didn't expect. I love how the fate of each of the characters were so entwined through various marriages and agreements and the plot was just overall very smart and engaging.
However, what I really missed from this was more of a sense of context. This is, after all, a Historical Fiction novel being set around 40 years before it was written. I was hoping to learn more about the Reform Act which in the end didn't really end up affecting the characters that much. Some of that wider context would have just elevated this novel in addition to all the great character work. I am glad that I have read this classic and I think it is one that will stay with me.