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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
Too hefty to read on a Kindle. Will retry at some point with a physical book..
Oh, gosh. What do you say about Middlemarch that hasn't already been said? The character work is exquisite, and I really came to care about everyone in the story, although I'll admit a special fondness for Dorothea. It did drag in places, as it dealt with parts of the storyline that I didn't care as much about, but I still very much enjoyed the experience. I think my favorite part was how very optimistic it ends up being, despite being grounded in the realities of the time. I'd love to read more of George Eliot's works in the future.
So I finally finished it. It took almost an entire month, but I did it. It actually wasn’t a bad read, but it was such a long read that it was painful at times. Thankfully it counts for my 2013 Tea and Books and Mount TBR Challenges and for The Classics Club.
Looking back, I’ve realized that this novel is sort of like a proto-’Love Actually’ – in that it is a network of love stories with interconnecting people who are only revealed slowly throughout the book. I felt the author did a great job at this even if it did cause me no end of frustration for the first couple hundred pages. I kept asking myself where this book was going and why the sisters from the beginning of the novel just disappeared, but they eventually reappeared and tied the story together.
Although the book clocks in at over 880 pages, it didn’t feel as if it were 880 pages. I believe this is a credit to the story and the language the author used. Her writing was not difficult to read and there were many beautiful passages and great descriptions, just look at how many quotes there are in my Additional Quotes section below. The one line that just made me laugh and think oh wow that’s me was
Looking back, I’ve realized that this novel is sort of like a proto-’Love Actually’ – in that it is a network of love stories with interconnecting people who are only revealed slowly throughout the book. I felt the author did a great job at this even if it did cause me no end of frustration for the first couple hundred pages. I kept asking myself where this book was going and why the sisters from the beginning of the novel just disappeared, but they eventually reappeared and tied the story together.
Although the book clocks in at over 880 pages, it didn’t feel as if it were 880 pages. I believe this is a credit to the story and the language the author used. Her writing was not difficult to read and there were many beautiful passages and great descriptions, just look at how many quotes there are in my Additional Quotes section below. The one line that just made me laugh and think oh wow that’s me was
“When a conversation has taken a wrong turn for us, we only get farther and farther into the swamp of awkwardness.” (146)
It is just the perfect description of what happens when I pretty much ever open my mouth. I mentally thought ‘honey I’m mired in the swamp of awkwardness and am like the swamp lights (will-o’-the-wisps) that trick you into the swamp and then you die because you get lost, but without the death and lots of awkwardness.’
Continue reading on my book blog at geoffwhaley.com.
Am I losing my tolerance for classic literature? I certainly hope not.
I liked a lot about this book, but I found myself feeling very similarly to how I did back in college when I read Moby Dick, which was that a good story was buried under SO MUCH NEEDLESS TRIPE! Seriously, “George Eliot”, did we need all those pages of meaninglessness? However, being a literature teacher I understand that the point was to comment and preserve the spirit of the time. I appreciate that aspect.
Much like her best character, Dorothea Casaubon, Mary Anne Evans (George Eliot) was a woman who saw the frivolity of what it was to be a woman in the 1800s. She does a fantastic job of encapsulating it and commenting on it in a tone that reveals her feelings. Her characters are rich. Their problems, however, are SO inaccessible to a 21st century reader. I rolled my eyes so far into the back of my head I thought they’d stay that way. Haha.
Three stars might be harsh, but just for the needless size of this novel I felt it was more of a burden than it was fun.
I liked a lot about this book, but I found myself feeling very similarly to how I did back in college when I read Moby Dick, which was that a good story was buried under SO MUCH NEEDLESS TRIPE! Seriously, “George Eliot”, did we need all those pages of meaninglessness? However, being a literature teacher I understand that the point was to comment and preserve the spirit of the time. I appreciate that aspect.
Much like her best character, Dorothea Casaubon, Mary Anne Evans (George Eliot) was a woman who saw the frivolity of what it was to be a woman in the 1800s. She does a fantastic job of encapsulating it and commenting on it in a tone that reveals her feelings. Her characters are rich. Their problems, however, are SO inaccessible to a 21st century reader. I rolled my eyes so far into the back of my head I thought they’d stay that way. Haha.
Three stars might be harsh, but just for the needless size of this novel I felt it was more of a burden than it was fun.
Oh what a great novel. I read this 12 years ago for a writing class and enjoyed it, but never would have imagined reading it again. Rebecca Mead's book persuaded me to take the time to reread it. I'm very happy I did as I enjoyed it even more the second time around. The experience has convinced me to start rereading more books, which I hope to do in the upcoming year.
welcome to...MIDDLEMARCH MARCH.
this book is a calm cool and collected 880 pages long, so elle and i will be tackling three chapters a day...every day for this whole month.
join us as we melt our minds. i love a project!
DAY 1: CHAPTERS 1-3
immediately i am having fun. approx 30 pages per day for 31 days currently seems like the perfect way to read a book, i am walking on sunshine, i am breathing rainbows or whatever.
this is beautifully written and a whole blast. i'm gonna live forever.
DAY 2: CHAPTERS 4-6
somehow i have been cursed with reading not one, but two books about the devil's work on earth (beautiful twenty-something women marrying random dudes in their 40s) at the same time.
gotta give it up, though: i'm not even at the 10% mark and i'm invested enough to do all but scream NOOOO at the pages.
DAY 3: CHAPTERS 7-9
listen to this roast: "He has got no good red blood in his body [...] Somebody put a drop under a magnifying-glass, and it was all semicolons and parentheses."
insanely good.
i like this will ladislaw character!
DAY 4: CHAPTERS 10-12
there's like a full page of dialogue in this about how dumb men look playing the flute and in other words i think i am in love with this book.
DAY 5: CHAPTERS 13-15
i could read about rosy for 100 years. i could read about dodo for 50 years. i could read about will for 25 years. i am reaching the end of my patience with mr. old man husband and dr. boring guy.
DAY 6: CHAPTERS 16-18
for the first time thus far, i almost missed a day.
you may be tempted to say "emma, it hasn't even been a week, how are you already almost missing days" and to that i would respond a) i'm doing a WHOLE OTHER PROJECT right now and b) i'm lazy.
technically it's 1:19 a.m. and thereby i did miss a day, but i ascribe to my own calendar, which is whenever i'm awake it's one day and then when i go to bed and wake up it becomes the next.
this was very trying (three in a row of the more town politics-y chapters) but i did it in spite of dawning sleepiness.
DAY 7: CHAPTERS 19-21
AND WE'RE BACK TO DODO AND LADISLAW!
that sounds like a truly unlistenable indie band.
anyway, after all those chapters about chaplaincies and town doctors, it's a treat beyond words to read about these two again. speaking of treat beyond words, i just remembered i have Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate-Covered Cherries™️...hang on, middlemarch. let me get my priorities in order.
oh man i'm having so much fun. 1,000 pages of dodo and ladislaw dialogue, please and thanks.
DAY 8: CHAPTERS 22-24
i've straight up been looking forward to this since i put it down yesterday. i don't want to jinx anything buuuuut...if this level of fun keeps up we may just have a 5 star on our hands.
we have now entered Book 3, which has the cheery and promising title "Waiting for Death." i'm in heaven.
DAY 9: CHAPTERS 25-27
27 is my favorite number. just a fun fact.
this fred vincy character sure is a ding-dong, and a bit of a jerkoff to boot.
chapter 26 uses the phrase "to be caught tripping," a moment which i imagine is what people mean when they say a timeless classic.
DAY 10: CHAPTERS 28-30
wow. can you believe it! almost a third done already.
time flies when you're assigning books to yourself like homework.
relatedly: best homework ever. this rules.
DAY 11: CHAPTERS 31-33
anyone else as stunned as i am that i haven't yet missed a day?
if you aren't you should be. do not believe in me.
a cliffhanger!!!!!!!!
DAY 12: CHAPTERS 34-36
we are now entering book 4: three love problems.
my guesses for the three titular issues in question:
1) Dodo's Old Man Husband Is The Worst And His Young Artist Cousin Rules
2) Mary Garth Deserves Better Than Fred Vincy But Will Probably End Up With Him
3) Somehow Middlemarch's Hottest Single Is Engaged To Some Poor Guy. No Thanks, As A Reader
next book is called "THE DEAD HAND," very ominously, and we're getting some foreshadowing as to what that means here on the day of featherstone's funeral.
technically that's a spoiler but i don't think "oldest character dying in a sprawling 1000 page novel" is much of a twist.
already today is so long and i'm not even halfway through the first of the three chapters but!!! "There would be a satisfaction in being buried by Mr. Cadwallader, whose very name offered a fine opportunity for pronouncing wrongly if you liked."
this is so funny. and i haven't even mentioned yet that there's an oft-referenced place called Freshitt.
okay and: “I dare say Dodo likes it: she is fond of melancholy things and ugly people.” me using dating apps.
DAY 13: CHAPTERS 37-39
okay. i am suddenly multiple days behind.
in my defense: on sunday i took medical leave of reading (so scared of slumping again) and yesterday i was equal parts busy and anxious, and thereby effectively illiterate.
but the good news is: today is a 9 chapter day!!! (it is really a reflection of how much fun i'm having that this is good news, instead of the sickening impact of procrastination.)
"Each looked at the other as if they had been two flowers which had opened then and there." golly.
this is a very witty and smart and beautifully written book, and the nicest thing i can say about it is that there are approx 100,000 characters and i'm not having that much trouble remembering them. huge praise.
DAY 14: CHAPTERS 40-42
haha. chapter xl.
“The lad is of age and must get his bread.” was this published YESTERDAY? i'm losing my damn mind
current character ranking:
1) dodo
2) will
3) rosamond
4) mary
5) fred
6) celia
any of these guys as the focus: good with me. when we open up a chapter and i see the dreaded word "lydgate"...a different story!
DAY 15: CHAPTERS 43-45
as very witty people in the comments pointed out: IT'S THE MIDDLE OF MIDDLEMARCH MARCH. the ides, even.
it is also now BOOK V: THE DEAD HAND, a badass title that only grows more badass because of the aforementioned foreshadowing.
nothing is more badass than foreshadowing.
I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS. ROSAMOND IS SUDDENLY LIVING WITH AND MARRIED TO AND ACQUAINTED WITH THE FAMILY OF LYDGATE. WHAT THE HELL KIND OF PACING IS THIS. NARY A SINGLE WEDDING SCENE IN THIS DAMN BOOK IN WHICH 3 WEDDINGS HAVE TAKEN PLACE AMONG MAJOR CHARACTERS.
casaubon and lydgate can be exiled from this book, as far as i'm concerned, for their respective crimes of being a butthole and being boring.
DAY 16: CHAPTERS 46-48
it's the best time of the day!
will ladislaw, a pro-union pro-democracy king. also the first recorded instance of a floor person.
this is also such a perfect example of the Every Good Heterosexual Romance Involves The Man Liking The Woman Way More. i'm once again having a blast.
I JUST GASPED AT THE END OF THIS CHAPTER. OH LA VACHE.
DAY 17: CHAPTERS 49-51
i love this book so much (reading it earlier in the day than usual for i can't wait reasons) but it is SO FRUSTRATING SOMETIMES. when a once-major character has a baby I DON'T WANT TO FIND OUT THROUGH A PASSING LINE OF DIALOGUE.
jeez. tangled webs here in middlemarch.
DAY 18: CHAPTERS 52-54
ugh! i like the vicar better for mary than dumb old fred vincy. sure, he's 5th in my character rankings, but i rank, like, the mad hatter pretty highly too. doesn't mean i'd wanna marry the guy.
was just thinking "ah, don't know if i have a long bulstrode section in me..." and then after two paragraphs this book straight up says "enough." i'm in love
aaaaand onto book 6: THE WIDOW AND THE WIFE. ok.
three months have suddenly just passed without will and dodo even glimpsing each other, meanwhile if i go like 10 days without seeing someone i'm dating i assume we're ghosting each other.
how times have changed.
goddamn i am yearning! this book is so f*ckin' good.
DAY 19: CHAPTERS 55-57
okay. so i missed a day. in my defense i was drunk for like 90% of the friday to saturday block of this week, for reasons of "It Was 70 Degrees And St Patrick's Day Weekend And I Am Young And Hot."
aaaand i missed another day. i read one chapter but i was very hungover and had also drunkenly bought basketball tickets so time was limited.
8 chapter day it is!!!
some fun mary and fred action happening. maybe i will have time to turn Team Fred before the end of this.
DAY 20: CHAPTERS 58-60
immediately this set started out by saying lydgate hates his cousin because his haircut is lame. maybe i'll do a 180 on lydgate, too, because that f*ckin rules.
oh my god and it says the same cousin isn't actually hot but girls think he is because of his mustache. i love that this million year old book has the same opinions as the average tiktoker.
oh my god and: “If he got his head broken, I might look at it with interest, not before.” PLEASE
this project is really testing my roman numeral reading ability.
DAY 21: CHAPTERS 61-63
oh man. drama alert.
oh god. chapter 61: drama. chapter 62: yearning. onto BOOK 7: TWO TEMPTATIONS.
ugh. i was trying so hard to like lydgate but him being an asshole immediately on the heels of a perfect dodo / will chapter is too much to bear.
DAY 22: CHAPTERS 64-66
read over 100 pages of this yesterday. now i feel invincible going in for what will surely be, like, 22.
rosamond is a complete and utter b*tch and i love it.
DAY 23: CHAPTERS 67-69
hehe.
this was like...all bulstrode. rude.
DAY 24: CHAPTERS 70-72
ugh. more bulstrode. at least he's doing crimes.
and i guess we have to kill the time somehow until will and dodo can see each other again.
onto book eight: SUNSET AND SUNRISE.
it's giving ethan hawke.
“And, of course, men know best about everything, except what women know better.” so true bestie
DAY 25: CHAPTERS 73-75
oh thank god, will ladislaw is coming back. i can't deal with all this bulstrode and lydgate action, even if i do keep getting the opportunity to see rosy be an absolutely divine asshole because of it.
DAY 26: CHAPTERS 76-78
this set of chapters is so dramatic that i just explained the entire plot of this 900 page book to my sister just to try to indicate the massive yearning angsty payoff of dodo and will seeing each other again under unintended circumstances.
i am having so much fun it's hard to stop!!!
DAY 27: CHAPTERS 79-81
I AM GOING THROUGH IT, EMOTIONALLY SPEAKING.
DAY 28: CHAPTERS 82-84
AAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!
honestly in my heart of hearts i find this kinda anticlimactic but still.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
actually i take it back. it's nice just the way it is.
DAY 29: CHAPTERS 85-87
folks, we are nearing the end and i have to say...I DON'T WANNA.
don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened, or whatever, i guess, ugh.
also now realizing it's been about a hundred years since we last heard from fred and mary. we're down to the last seconds, george eliot!
thereeee they are.
all the star crossed dodo-and-will stuff is lovely, but this is so good too: "I don’t think either of us could spare the other, or like any one else better, however much we might admire them. It would make too great a difference to us—like seeing all the old places altered, and changing the name for everything."
and it's over. i didn't know it was finishing today!!! i'm going to cry.
OVERALL
this is a funny, wry, smart, witty, political, historically significant, educating, romantic, beautifully written, basically perfect book.
it is worth each and every one of its 880 pages and i would have kept reading far more!
rating: 5
-------------------
tbr review
am very into pretending i want to read super-long books lately
this book is a calm cool and collected 880 pages long, so elle and i will be tackling three chapters a day...every day for this whole month.
join us as we melt our minds. i love a project!
DAY 1: CHAPTERS 1-3
immediately i am having fun. approx 30 pages per day for 31 days currently seems like the perfect way to read a book, i am walking on sunshine, i am breathing rainbows or whatever.
this is beautifully written and a whole blast. i'm gonna live forever.
DAY 2: CHAPTERS 4-6
somehow i have been cursed with reading not one, but two books about the devil's work on earth (beautiful twenty-something women marrying random dudes in their 40s) at the same time.
gotta give it up, though: i'm not even at the 10% mark and i'm invested enough to do all but scream NOOOO at the pages.
DAY 3: CHAPTERS 7-9
listen to this roast: "He has got no good red blood in his body [...] Somebody put a drop under a magnifying-glass, and it was all semicolons and parentheses."
insanely good.
i like this will ladislaw character!
DAY 4: CHAPTERS 10-12
there's like a full page of dialogue in this about how dumb men look playing the flute and in other words i think i am in love with this book.
DAY 5: CHAPTERS 13-15
i could read about rosy for 100 years. i could read about dodo for 50 years. i could read about will for 25 years. i am reaching the end of my patience with mr. old man husband and dr. boring guy.
DAY 6: CHAPTERS 16-18
for the first time thus far, i almost missed a day.
you may be tempted to say "emma, it hasn't even been a week, how are you already almost missing days" and to that i would respond a) i'm doing a WHOLE OTHER PROJECT right now and b) i'm lazy.
technically it's 1:19 a.m. and thereby i did miss a day, but i ascribe to my own calendar, which is whenever i'm awake it's one day and then when i go to bed and wake up it becomes the next.
this was very trying (three in a row of the more town politics-y chapters) but i did it in spite of dawning sleepiness.
DAY 7: CHAPTERS 19-21
AND WE'RE BACK TO DODO AND LADISLAW!
that sounds like a truly unlistenable indie band.
anyway, after all those chapters about chaplaincies and town doctors, it's a treat beyond words to read about these two again. speaking of treat beyond words, i just remembered i have Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate-Covered Cherries™️...hang on, middlemarch. let me get my priorities in order.
oh man i'm having so much fun. 1,000 pages of dodo and ladislaw dialogue, please and thanks.
DAY 8: CHAPTERS 22-24
i've straight up been looking forward to this since i put it down yesterday. i don't want to jinx anything buuuuut...if this level of fun keeps up we may just have a 5 star on our hands.
we have now entered Book 3, which has the cheery and promising title "Waiting for Death." i'm in heaven.
DAY 9: CHAPTERS 25-27
27 is my favorite number. just a fun fact.
this fred vincy character sure is a ding-dong, and a bit of a jerkoff to boot.
chapter 26 uses the phrase "to be caught tripping," a moment which i imagine is what people mean when they say a timeless classic.
DAY 10: CHAPTERS 28-30
wow. can you believe it! almost a third done already.
time flies when you're assigning books to yourself like homework.
relatedly: best homework ever. this rules.
DAY 11: CHAPTERS 31-33
anyone else as stunned as i am that i haven't yet missed a day?
if you aren't you should be. do not believe in me.
a cliffhanger!!!!!!!!
DAY 12: CHAPTERS 34-36
we are now entering book 4: three love problems.
my guesses for the three titular issues in question:
1) Dodo's Old Man Husband Is The Worst And His Young Artist Cousin Rules
2) Mary Garth Deserves Better Than Fred Vincy But Will Probably End Up With Him
3) Somehow Middlemarch's Hottest Single Is Engaged To Some Poor Guy. No Thanks, As A Reader
next book is called "THE DEAD HAND," very ominously, and we're getting some foreshadowing as to what that means here on the day of featherstone's funeral.
technically that's a spoiler but i don't think "oldest character dying in a sprawling 1000 page novel" is much of a twist.
already today is so long and i'm not even halfway through the first of the three chapters but!!! "There would be a satisfaction in being buried by Mr. Cadwallader, whose very name offered a fine opportunity for pronouncing wrongly if you liked."
this is so funny. and i haven't even mentioned yet that there's an oft-referenced place called Freshitt.
okay and: “I dare say Dodo likes it: she is fond of melancholy things and ugly people.” me using dating apps.
DAY 13: CHAPTERS 37-39
okay. i am suddenly multiple days behind.
in my defense: on sunday i took medical leave of reading (so scared of slumping again) and yesterday i was equal parts busy and anxious, and thereby effectively illiterate.
but the good news is: today is a 9 chapter day!!! (it is really a reflection of how much fun i'm having that this is good news, instead of the sickening impact of procrastination.)
"Each looked at the other as if they had been two flowers which had opened then and there." golly.
this is a very witty and smart and beautifully written book, and the nicest thing i can say about it is that there are approx 100,000 characters and i'm not having that much trouble remembering them. huge praise.
DAY 14: CHAPTERS 40-42
haha. chapter xl.
“The lad is of age and must get his bread.” was this published YESTERDAY? i'm losing my damn mind
current character ranking:
1) dodo
2) will
3) rosamond
4) mary
5) fred
6) celia
any of these guys as the focus: good with me. when we open up a chapter and i see the dreaded word "lydgate"...a different story!
DAY 15: CHAPTERS 43-45
as very witty people in the comments pointed out: IT'S THE MIDDLE OF MIDDLEMARCH MARCH. the ides, even.
it is also now BOOK V: THE DEAD HAND, a badass title that only grows more badass because of the aforementioned foreshadowing.
nothing is more badass than foreshadowing.
I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS. ROSAMOND IS SUDDENLY LIVING WITH AND MARRIED TO AND ACQUAINTED WITH THE FAMILY OF LYDGATE. WHAT THE HELL KIND OF PACING IS THIS. NARY A SINGLE WEDDING SCENE IN THIS DAMN BOOK IN WHICH 3 WEDDINGS HAVE TAKEN PLACE AMONG MAJOR CHARACTERS.
casaubon and lydgate can be exiled from this book, as far as i'm concerned, for their respective crimes of being a butthole and being boring.
DAY 16: CHAPTERS 46-48
it's the best time of the day!
will ladislaw, a pro-union pro-democracy king. also the first recorded instance of a floor person.
this is also such a perfect example of the Every Good Heterosexual Romance Involves The Man Liking The Woman Way More. i'm once again having a blast.
I JUST GASPED AT THE END OF THIS CHAPTER. OH LA VACHE.
DAY 17: CHAPTERS 49-51
i love this book so much (reading it earlier in the day than usual for i can't wait reasons) but it is SO FRUSTRATING SOMETIMES. when a once-major character has a baby I DON'T WANT TO FIND OUT THROUGH A PASSING LINE OF DIALOGUE.
jeez. tangled webs here in middlemarch.
DAY 18: CHAPTERS 52-54
ugh! i like the vicar better for mary than dumb old fred vincy. sure, he's 5th in my character rankings, but i rank, like, the mad hatter pretty highly too. doesn't mean i'd wanna marry the guy.
was just thinking "ah, don't know if i have a long bulstrode section in me..." and then after two paragraphs this book straight up says "enough." i'm in love
aaaaand onto book 6: THE WIDOW AND THE WIFE. ok.
three months have suddenly just passed without will and dodo even glimpsing each other, meanwhile if i go like 10 days without seeing someone i'm dating i assume we're ghosting each other.
how times have changed.
goddamn i am yearning! this book is so f*ckin' good.
DAY 19: CHAPTERS 55-57
okay. so i missed a day. in my defense i was drunk for like 90% of the friday to saturday block of this week, for reasons of "It Was 70 Degrees And St Patrick's Day Weekend And I Am Young And Hot."
aaaand i missed another day. i read one chapter but i was very hungover and had also drunkenly bought basketball tickets so time was limited.
8 chapter day it is!!!
some fun mary and fred action happening. maybe i will have time to turn Team Fred before the end of this.
DAY 20: CHAPTERS 58-60
immediately this set started out by saying lydgate hates his cousin because his haircut is lame. maybe i'll do a 180 on lydgate, too, because that f*ckin rules.
oh my god and it says the same cousin isn't actually hot but girls think he is because of his mustache. i love that this million year old book has the same opinions as the average tiktoker.
oh my god and: “If he got his head broken, I might look at it with interest, not before.” PLEASE
this project is really testing my roman numeral reading ability.
DAY 21: CHAPTERS 61-63
oh man. drama alert.
oh god. chapter 61: drama. chapter 62: yearning. onto BOOK 7: TWO TEMPTATIONS.
ugh. i was trying so hard to like lydgate but him being an asshole immediately on the heels of a perfect dodo / will chapter is too much to bear.
DAY 22: CHAPTERS 64-66
read over 100 pages of this yesterday. now i feel invincible going in for what will surely be, like, 22.
rosamond is a complete and utter b*tch and i love it.
DAY 23: CHAPTERS 67-69
hehe.
this was like...all bulstrode. rude.
DAY 24: CHAPTERS 70-72
ugh. more bulstrode. at least he's doing crimes.
and i guess we have to kill the time somehow until will and dodo can see each other again.
onto book eight: SUNSET AND SUNRISE.
it's giving ethan hawke.
“And, of course, men know best about everything, except what women know better.” so true bestie
DAY 25: CHAPTERS 73-75
oh thank god, will ladislaw is coming back. i can't deal with all this bulstrode and lydgate action, even if i do keep getting the opportunity to see rosy be an absolutely divine asshole because of it.
DAY 26: CHAPTERS 76-78
this set of chapters is so dramatic that i just explained the entire plot of this 900 page book to my sister just to try to indicate the massive yearning angsty payoff of dodo and will seeing each other again under unintended circumstances.
i am having so much fun it's hard to stop!!!
DAY 27: CHAPTERS 79-81
I AM GOING THROUGH IT, EMOTIONALLY SPEAKING.
DAY 28: CHAPTERS 82-84
AAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!
honestly in my heart of hearts i find this kinda anticlimactic but still.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
actually i take it back. it's nice just the way it is.
DAY 29: CHAPTERS 85-87
folks, we are nearing the end and i have to say...I DON'T WANNA.
don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened, or whatever, i guess, ugh.
also now realizing it's been about a hundred years since we last heard from fred and mary. we're down to the last seconds, george eliot!
thereeee they are.
all the star crossed dodo-and-will stuff is lovely, but this is so good too: "I don’t think either of us could spare the other, or like any one else better, however much we might admire them. It would make too great a difference to us—like seeing all the old places altered, and changing the name for everything."
and it's over. i didn't know it was finishing today!!! i'm going to cry.
OVERALL
this is a funny, wry, smart, witty, political, historically significant, educating, romantic, beautifully written, basically perfect book.
it is worth each and every one of its 880 pages and i would have kept reading far more!
rating: 5
-------------------
tbr review
am very into pretending i want to read super-long books lately
"Explain! Tell a man to explain how he dropped into hell! Explain my preference! I never had a preference for her, any more than I have a preference for breathing. No other woman exists by the side of her. I would rather touch her hand if it were dead, than I would touch any other woman's living."
Every time I finish a book this big, I feel like giving myself a tiny medal.
Middlemarch was quite a journey. It might be weird to say this, but the structure kinda reminded me of Anna Karenina, in a sense that it was a large picture of a specific community, told through a multitude of characters and their always intertwining lives. Of course, it was fundamentally different location-wise and mentality-wise.
My favourite character was Dorothea, and I was actually really surprised when Willothea (I made up their ship name, just go with it) ended up being endgame. For quite a while I seriously thought the ship was damaged beyond repair, but I'm glad they got their happy ending, after over 600 pages of pain and angst. Fred and Mary also had a really cute epilogue and Rosamond pretty much stayed true to her bossy and spoiled self till the end
‘Certainly those determining acts of her life were not ideally beautiful. They were the mixed result of a young and noble impulse struggling amidst the conditions of an imperfect social state, in which great feelings will often take the aspect of error, and great faith the aspect of illusion.’
‘It is a narrow mind which cannot look at a subject from various points of view.’
‘If we had a keen vision and feeling of all ordinary human life, it would be like hearing the grass grow and the squirrel’s heart beat, and we should die of that roar which lies on the other side of silence.’
‘Who shall tell what may be the effect of writing? If it happens to have been cut in stone, though it lie face downmost for ages on a forsaken beach, or ‘rest quietly under the drums and tramplings of many conquests,’ it may end up letting us into the secret of usurpations and other scandals gossiped about long empires ago: — this world being apparently a huge whispering-gallery.’
‘Who can now how much of his most inward life is made up of the thoughts he believes other men to have about him, until that fabric of opinion is threatened with ruin?’
‘There was light piercing into the room. She opened her curtains, and looked out towards the bit of road that lay in view, with fields beyond, outside the entrance-gates. On the road there was a man with a bundle on his back and a woman carrying her baby; in the field she could see figures moving — perhaps the shepherd with his dog. Far off in the bending sky was the pearly light; and she felt the largeness of the world and the manifold wakings of men to labour and endurance. She was part of that involuntary, palpitating life, and could neither look out on it from her luxurious shelter as a mere spectator, nor hide her eyes in selfish complaining.’
‘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.’