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3.64k reviews for:
Middlemarch: (Barnes & Noble Collectible Editions) (Barnes & Noble Leatherbound Classics)
George Eliot
4.06 AVERAGE
3.64k reviews for:
Middlemarch: (Barnes & Noble Collectible Editions) (Barnes & Noble Leatherbound Classics)
George Eliot
4.06 AVERAGE
Truly a masterpiece in human nature.
But if Celia and Rosamund have no haters, I’m dead.
But if Celia and Rosamund have no haters, I’m dead.
challenging
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
That was a monstrosity of book to read through. I almost gave up 200 pages in and struggled until 500 pages in. I had always wanted to read the book because of all the praise people had toward Middlemarch. It is well written, but it could be fewer words to say what she has to say rather than pages of pages of same thing. Am I glad I finish it? Yes, so I can be done with it. At least I only paid $3 for the book, and I’m gonna donate it.
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I've just finished this book and all I can say is -amazing! I don't usually give 5 stars to "classics" as there is always some part of the novel that I feel is lost through time but I honestly can't fault this novel and I feel like it really hasn't aged through time (despite me not understanding some of the references). The most well rounded and human characters I've read in a long time- particular in fiction from that period- a brilliant sense of irony that actually made me laugh out loud, and a extremely slow burn love story (900 pages!!) that I became very emotionally invested in.
Longer review to follow but I can say that this book is A Classic.
Longer review to follow but I can say that this book is A Classic.
"Who that cares much to know the history of man, and how the mysterious mixture behaves under the varying experiments of Time, has not dwelt, at least briefly, on the life of Saint Theresa, has not smiled with some gentleness at the thought of the little girl walking forth one morning hand-in-hand with her still smaller brother, to go and seek martyrdom in the country of the Moors? Out they toddled from rugged Avila, wide-eyed and helpless-looking as two fawns, but with human hearts, already beating to a national idea; until domestic reality met them in the shape of uncles, and turned them back from their great resolve. That child-pilgrimage was a fit beginning. Theresa's passionate, ideal nature demanded an epic life: what were many-volumed romances of chivalry and the social conquests of a brilliant girl to her? Her flame quickly burned up that light fuel; and, fed from within, soared after some illimitable satisfaction, some object which would never justify weariness, which would reconcile self-despair with the rapturous consciousness of life beyond self. She found her epos in the reform of a religious order.
That Spanish woman who lived three hundred years ago, was certainly not the last of her kind. Many Theresas have been born who found for themselves no epic life wherein there was a constant unfolding of far-resonant action; perhaps only a life of mistakes, the offspring of a certain spiritual grandeur ill-matched with the meanness of opportunity; perhaps a tragic failure which found no sacred poet and sank unwept into oblivion."
A tremendous novel.
That Spanish woman who lived three hundred years ago, was certainly not the last of her kind. Many Theresas have been born who found for themselves no epic life wherein there was a constant unfolding of far-resonant action; perhaps only a life of mistakes, the offspring of a certain spiritual grandeur ill-matched with the meanness of opportunity; perhaps a tragic failure which found no sacred poet and sank unwept into oblivion."
A tremendous novel.
Right up there with Jane Eyre as one of my favorite books ever...
"Ah, een beetje zoals Jane Austen," dacht ik toen ik dit boek begon te lezen. Ook George Eliot steekt immers wel wat humor in haar boek. Maar na een tijdje moest ik toch mijn eerste indruk herzien. George Eliot is veel gedetailleerder in haar personages (en de sociale klassen), in het tonen van de samenleving en de relaties onderling. Ze is ook een stuk meedogenlozer tegen haar personages.
Het resultaat is een knap weefwerk, waar je dankzij het taalgebruik dat nog steeds modern genoeg aanvoelt, en uiteraard ook dankzij de lengte van het boek, helemaal ingezogen wordt.
Ik twijfel tussen 3 en 4 sterren, maar uiteindelijk ga ik voor 4 omwille van de nuance waarmee de personages geschetst zijn, zelfs een oppervlakkig personage zoals Rosamund krijgt voldoende uitdieping. (Over Dorothea zwijg ik even, dat is een halve heilige, maar dat was nu eenmaal het punt zoals het einde mooi bewijst).
Het resultaat is een knap weefwerk, waar je dankzij het taalgebruik dat nog steeds modern genoeg aanvoelt, en uiteraard ook dankzij de lengte van het boek, helemaal ingezogen wordt.
Ik twijfel tussen 3 en 4 sterren, maar uiteindelijk ga ik voor 4 omwille van de nuance waarmee de personages geschetst zijn, zelfs een oppervlakkig personage zoals Rosamund krijgt voldoende uitdieping. (Over Dorothea zwijg ik even, dat is een halve heilige, maar dat was nu eenmaal het punt zoals het einde mooi bewijst).
challenging
emotional
hopeful
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
Wow what a beautiful book and wonderful characters! The writing is so witty and had me laughing out loud too many times to count. Optimistic, feminist, and surprisingly modern, this book reminds you to see the best in others and the impact small acts of good can have. I will miss these characters dearly and have learned quite a bit from them. Love love love
Finally finished over the summer (2014). Of course a classic. Two things that struck me. It is very funny at times at the expense of almost all the characters. And that idealistic characters always are flawed because of their ideals which makes them blind to reality.