Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.65k reviews for:
Middlemarch: (Barnes & Noble Collectible Editions) (Barnes & Noble Leatherbound Classics)
George Eliot
4.06 AVERAGE
3.65k reviews for:
Middlemarch: (Barnes & Noble Collectible Editions) (Barnes & Noble Leatherbound Classics)
George Eliot
4.06 AVERAGE
A lovely novel but be warned, it's very, very long!
900 pages of closely observed, perfect brilliance. Middlemarch has it all.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
relaxing
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
amazing way to start the year
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I suspected I would like Middlemarch, but I was worried about comprehension because of the language and historical/cultural references. Some passages went over my head, though just as many seemed to describe particular situations perfectly and appear timeless in their universality. I love it when authors manage to pin a moment with their descriptions. I had the impression that societal change would be a prominent message in the novel, and while labor rights, housing, religion, politics, and industrialization were present, I mainly consumed the book as a story of neighbors being human and messy, making mistakes and living their lives with commentary on gender roles, the true cost of marriage, religiosity, and class. I don’t reread often, but I would pick this book up again if I were ever in the mood. There is so much that I can imagine appreciating different sections at different stages in my life. And plenty to forget to make the next reading experience seem new.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Racial slurs
2,25⭐️
unfortunately, this story didn't steal my heart :(
unfortunately, this story didn't steal my heart :(
Set in 19th century provincial England, Middlemarch creates many memorable characters with interwoven lives as it explores transpersonal relationships, "the saving influence of a noble nature," and the difference it makes when someone believes in us. "Someone highly susceptible to the contemplation of a fine act has said, that it produces a sort of regenerating shudder through the frame, and makes one feel ready to begin a new life."
Writers read this for: characterization — A compelling interwoven character study, in Middlemarch George Eliot uses several techniques to good-effect, to create all the vivid characters (Dorothea Brooke, Celia, Sir James Chettam, Will Ladislaw, Raffles, Bulstrode, Lydgate, Rosamond, Mary Garth, Fred Vincy etc.). The relationships and clashes of character create tension and drive the plot. Eliot shows the characters through physical description, via their actions and dialog, and by revealing their feelings, motivations, and principles. She also describes them by showing their relations and reactions to each other. Frequently, she illustrates a great deal of character in a single line: "To say that Mr. Raffles' manner was rather excited would be only one mode of saying that it was evening." and "Almost any other man than Caleb Garth might have been tempted to linger on the spot...".
Pairs well with: Tolstoy's Anna Karenina (set in Moscow in the vicinity and published in 1878), which contains similar subject matter and themes to Middlemarch (set outside of London and published in 1871); Peter Singer's The Life You Can Save: Acting Now to End Global Poverty (a non-fiction book in simpatico with Dorothea Brooke's humanitarian thinking and the ideas of social justice explored in Middlemarch).
Recommended reading for: singles contemplating marriage; fans of 19th century Victorian novels
Odd note: One of the reasons given for Will Ladislaw's dislike of Dorothea's husband Edward Casaubon is his dislike of the bent of Causaubon's studies "Thoth and Dagon--that sort of thing" as Mr. Brooke puts it
My new favorite protagonist: Dorothea Brooke, naive and constrained by her time period, yet with a noble character concerned with social justice.
Quotes about Dorothea:
"There are natures in which, if they love us, we are conscious of having a sort of baptism and consecration; they bind us over to rectitude and purity by their pure belief about us; and our sins become the worst kind of sacrilege which tears down the invisible altar of trust."
"But that simplicity of hers, holding up an ideal for others in her believing conception of them, was one of the great powers of her womanhood."
"They were not thin hands, or small hands; but powerful, feminine maternal hands."
"But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs."
Dorothea's quotes:
"I should like to make life beautiful--I mean everybody's life...It spoils my enjoyment of anything when I am made to think that most people are shut out from it." — Dorothea
"Failure after long perseverance is much grander than never to have a striving good enough to be called failure." — Dorothea
"I still think that the greater part of the world is mistaken about many things. Surely one may be sane and yet think so, since the greater part of the world has often had to come round from its opinion." — Dorothea
"What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult to each other?" — Dorothea
"Trouble is so hear to bear, is it not?--How can we live and think that any one has trouble--piercing trouble--and we could help them, and never try?" — Dorothea
"I have no longings. I mean for myself. Except that I should like not to have so much more than my share without doing anything for others. But I have a belief of my own, and it comforts me...That by desiring what is perfectly good, even when we don't quite know what it is and cannot do what we would, we are part of the divine power against evil--widening the skirts of light and making the struggle with darkness narrower... It is my life. I try not to have desires merely for myself, because they may not be good for others, and I have too much already." — Dorothea
Writers read this for: characterization — A compelling interwoven character study, in Middlemarch George Eliot uses several techniques to good-effect, to create all the vivid characters (Dorothea Brooke, Celia, Sir James Chettam, Will Ladislaw, Raffles, Bulstrode, Lydgate, Rosamond, Mary Garth, Fred Vincy etc.). The relationships and clashes of character create tension and drive the plot. Eliot shows the characters through physical description, via their actions and dialog, and by revealing their feelings, motivations, and principles. She also describes them by showing their relations and reactions to each other. Frequently, she illustrates a great deal of character in a single line: "To say that Mr. Raffles' manner was rather excited would be only one mode of saying that it was evening." and "Almost any other man than Caleb Garth might have been tempted to linger on the spot...".
Pairs well with: Tolstoy's Anna Karenina (set in Moscow in the vicinity and published in 1878), which contains similar subject matter and themes to Middlemarch (set outside of London and published in 1871); Peter Singer's The Life You Can Save: Acting Now to End Global Poverty (a non-fiction book in simpatico with Dorothea Brooke's humanitarian thinking and the ideas of social justice explored in Middlemarch).
Recommended reading for: singles contemplating marriage; fans of 19th century Victorian novels
Odd note: One of the reasons given for Will Ladislaw's dislike of Dorothea's husband Edward Casaubon is his dislike of the bent of Causaubon's studies "Thoth and Dagon--that sort of thing" as Mr. Brooke puts it
My new favorite protagonist: Dorothea Brooke, naive and constrained by her time period, yet with a noble character concerned with social justice.
Quotes about Dorothea:
"There are natures in which, if they love us, we are conscious of having a sort of baptism and consecration; they bind us over to rectitude and purity by their pure belief about us; and our sins become the worst kind of sacrilege which tears down the invisible altar of trust."
"But that simplicity of hers, holding up an ideal for others in her believing conception of them, was one of the great powers of her womanhood."
"They were not thin hands, or small hands; but powerful, feminine maternal hands."
"But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs."
Dorothea's quotes:
"I should like to make life beautiful--I mean everybody's life...It spoils my enjoyment of anything when I am made to think that most people are shut out from it." — Dorothea
"Failure after long perseverance is much grander than never to have a striving good enough to be called failure." — Dorothea
"I still think that the greater part of the world is mistaken about many things. Surely one may be sane and yet think so, since the greater part of the world has often had to come round from its opinion." — Dorothea
"What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult to each other?" — Dorothea
"Trouble is so hear to bear, is it not?--How can we live and think that any one has trouble--piercing trouble--and we could help them, and never try?" — Dorothea
"I have no longings. I mean for myself. Except that I should like not to have so much more than my share without doing anything for others. But I have a belief of my own, and it comforts me...That by desiring what is perfectly good, even when we don't quite know what it is and cannot do what we would, we are part of the divine power against evil--widening the skirts of light and making the struggle with darkness narrower... It is my life. I try not to have desires merely for myself, because they may not be good for others, and I have too much already." — Dorothea
This is the second book I read on my Kindle. I had tried to read it several times over the years, but wasn't ever able to get very far. I think primarily due to the vocabulary. On almost every page, I had to stop to look up at least on word. Along comes the Kindle, and with the more convenient ability to look up words that it has, I was able to finally finish the book.
As to the book itself--it's long. It's kind of amazing that the mores, the speech, the dress were those of less than a 150 years ago. But it was worth the effort to get a glimpse into that time and that culture.
As to the book itself--it's long. It's kind of amazing that the mores, the speech, the dress were those of less than a 150 years ago. But it was worth the effort to get a glimpse into that time and that culture.
“The great safeguard of society and of domestic life was, that opinions were not acted on. Sane people did what their neighbors did, so that if any lunatics were at large, one might know and avoid them.”
Middlemarch is a masterpiece.
Middlemarch is a masterpiece.
One reason I love this book so much is that the women are fully realized. All of the characters are drawn with such love, and it's not that they're all angels, but there are several folks here to admire and wish to emulate. Mr. and Mrs. Garth are as good a match as any #relationshipgoals out there.
a beautiful book of many multitudes which is hilarious and romantic and moving and filled with witty social commentary, but is mainly a thoughtful & timeless exploration of marriage and the lives of ordinary people during times of upheaval and struggle. dorothea, rosamond, and mary are three of literature’s greatest heroines and only three of an incredible cast of characters. will ladislaw girl 4 life <3