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3.63k reviews for:
Middlemarch: (Barnes & Noble Collectible Editions) (Barnes & Noble Leatherbound Classics)
George Eliot
4.06 AVERAGE
3.63k reviews for:
Middlemarch: (Barnes & Noble Collectible Editions) (Barnes & Noble Leatherbound Classics)
George Eliot
4.06 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Such a long listen (audible 31hours). Fascinating insight into the intrigues of the era
reflective
medium-paced
For a novel written long before the modern concept of marriage evolved, Middlemarch is a surprisingly modern take on marriage and the ways in which our lives are bound (for better and worse) with the partner whom we choose.
The novel's twin protagonists Lydgate and Dorothea both marry badly - one out of youthful passion, one out of the need to be useful in a society where women had no use except as mothers or ornaments. But only one of them gets a second chance: when Dorothea chooses Ladislaw, she chooses a partner who will carry her as she carries him. Lydgate is not so lucky. His marriage is never a partnership, and he dies young and full of regret.
Not that Rosamund is completely to blame for her selfishness; in Middlemarch, Eliot reminds us, women have no larger place in the world, so it's no surprise they turn inward. Even Dorothea, with all her ambition and plans and money, is prevented from doing anything with her fortune because, as a woman, she can't make more money (and grow a philanthropic legacy), nor is she educated enough to be the scholar she hoped Causabon would be. For most of the book, she attempts to push her money onto the men in her life because she wants to do something good but cannot. When she gives up Causabon's money to marry Ladislaw, one gets the sense that she sees their relationship (specifically, her relationship to him) as her one chance to make a difference, since she can't make that difference herself.
When I first read this novel many years ago, I was deeply affected by the last scene between Bulstrode and his wife after his dark past is revealed. I romanticized the silence of their last scene as a marriage so intimate that neither communication nor forgiveness was necessary. What a misreading! This time around, I saw the dark side of their shared grief: they may cry together, but the lack of truth between them prevents any understanding or forgiveness. "She could not say 'How much is only slander and false suspicion?' and he did not say 'I am innocent.'" Could not, did not; their communication exists as a lack, and they are left to live alone, together.
In each of these narratives, marriage isn't just about duty or reproduction or financial support - or even romantic love. A good marriage, for Eliot, is about support, fulfillment, communication, truthfulness, and shared hopes even in the face of great challenges - a definition that is just as relevant today.
The novel's twin protagonists Lydgate and Dorothea both marry badly - one out of youthful passion, one out of the need to be useful in a society where women had no use except as mothers or ornaments. But only one of them gets a second chance: when Dorothea chooses Ladislaw, she chooses a partner who will carry her as she carries him. Lydgate is not so lucky. His marriage is never a partnership, and he dies young and full of regret.
Not that Rosamund is completely to blame for her selfishness; in Middlemarch, Eliot reminds us, women have no larger place in the world, so it's no surprise they turn inward. Even Dorothea, with all her ambition and plans and money, is prevented from doing anything with her fortune because, as a woman, she can't make more money (and grow a philanthropic legacy), nor is she educated enough to be the scholar she hoped Causabon would be. For most of the book, she attempts to push her money onto the men in her life because she wants to do something good but cannot. When she gives up Causabon's money to marry Ladislaw, one gets the sense that she sees their relationship (specifically, her relationship to him) as her one chance to make a difference, since she can't make that difference herself.
When I first read this novel many years ago, I was deeply affected by the last scene between Bulstrode and his wife after his dark past is revealed. I romanticized the silence of their last scene as a marriage so intimate that neither communication nor forgiveness was necessary. What a misreading! This time around, I saw the dark side of their shared grief: they may cry together, but the lack of truth between them prevents any understanding or forgiveness. "She could not say 'How much is only slander and false suspicion?' and he did not say 'I am innocent.'" Could not, did not; their communication exists as a lack, and they are left to live alone, together.
In each of these narratives, marriage isn't just about duty or reproduction or financial support - or even romantic love. A good marriage, for Eliot, is about support, fulfillment, communication, truthfulness, and shared hopes even in the face of great challenges - a definition that is just as relevant today.
Fantastic book. I cried reading the last chapter.
So much has been said in the reviews here, and consequently I find I have little to add. I read this in college and hated it. I suspect I hated it because I had fun things to do and this book is REALLY LONG. I am not sure though how it should have been shortened. I recently noted in another review (for [b:Asymmetry|35297339|Asymmetry|Lisa Halliday|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1524238425s/35297339.jpg|56664184]) that great editors often write exceptionally crafted books with nothing remotely extraneous left in the text. I think this qualifies. 905 pages of necessary. I rotated between listening and reading this book, and the audiobook time means I finished this before winter, I found I kept returning to the text to reread. Every word does matter, and that level of focus is not possible for me with audio.
So read the other reviews that will tell you this is about the most perfectly crafted novel in the English language. It is. The story is complex, funny, tragic, mundane, honest, and deeply gratifying. I need to re-read it soon, though I typically do not re-read. (I also cannot imagine how anyone thought a man had written this, but that is another conversation.)
So read the other reviews that will tell you this is about the most perfectly crafted novel in the English language. It is. The story is complex, funny, tragic, mundane, honest, and deeply gratifying. I need to re-read it soon, though I typically do not re-read. (I also cannot imagine how anyone thought a man had written this, but that is another conversation.)
OMG it’s so long! There are so many beautiful passages about what it’s like to be young and in love, or just a human in general. It’s amazing to feel that connection with the characters even though it was written almost 150 years ago. People are people. To make the book feel less overwhelming, I broke it into the eight “books” the author differentiates. If I were recommending it, I would suggest read it in four parts. There were so many characters and side stories that splitting it up so much made it hard to follow.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
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
Middlemarch speaks for itself. Ostensibly this is a historical novel set in a country town and the surrounding rural area. What makes it resonate today is the characters and their dilemmas. These could be easily transposed to modern settings and would still ring true. Then there is the plotting which engages the reader throughout. Perhaps Eliot's greatest achievement is the fact that the two principal characters - Dorothea Brooke/Casaubon and Tertius Lydgate - who would so clearly make a "dream team", never go beyond a professional and later brother/sister-in-law relationship and yet the veracity of the story is thereby confirmed and satisfies the reader (although perhaps leaving them a little regretful).
Although Dorothea has a burning social conscience and Lydgate finds his poorer patients of greater interest, Eliot does not investigate real rural poverty but focuses on what she understands best namely the impact of money, or lack of it, on the middle class: Mr Farebrother, initially obliged to play whist for money, Fred Vincy's dashed expectations, Lydgate's overwhelming money problems and the dreadful secret behind Mr Bulstrode's wealth. Also, while the setting is rural, with the exception of Dorothea's sojourn in Rome, the landscape and environment has a secondary place in the novel to the characters themselves, their thoughts, words and actions. With more active intervention of the narrator than would be expected today, these are revealed through the plot with consummate skill. This involvement of the narrator is a key element of the novel, which adds a slightly didactic element but also enriches the story.
Above all Middlemarch is a good read and to be enjoyed accordingly.
Although Dorothea has a burning social conscience and Lydgate finds his poorer patients of greater interest, Eliot does not investigate real rural poverty but focuses on what she understands best namely the impact of money, or lack of it, on the middle class: Mr Farebrother, initially obliged to play whist for money, Fred Vincy's dashed expectations, Lydgate's overwhelming money problems and the dreadful secret behind Mr Bulstrode's wealth. Also, while the setting is rural, with the exception of Dorothea's sojourn in Rome, the landscape and environment has a secondary place in the novel to the characters themselves, their thoughts, words and actions. With more active intervention of the narrator than would be expected today, these are revealed through the plot with consummate skill. This involvement of the narrator is a key element of the novel, which adds a slightly didactic element but also enriches the story.
Above all Middlemarch is a good read and to be enjoyed accordingly.