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3.66k reviews for:
Middlemarch: (Barnes & Noble Collectible Editions) (Barnes & Noble Leatherbound Classics)
George Eliot
4.06 AVERAGE
3.66k reviews for:
Middlemarch: (Barnes & Noble Collectible Editions) (Barnes & Noble Leatherbound Classics)
George Eliot
4.06 AVERAGE
This is a lovely, complex, charming, deep, funny, absorbing novel of the changing emotional, political and social landscape of late 18th century England. One of the best commentaries on human nature to ever arise out of Western lit. As someone else wrote of Middlemarch in goodreads, "I read this book to remind me who I am."
So in the re-reading 14 years later, Middlemarch lost one star. The first volume is great and funny-- the second volume gets a little melodramatic. I was tired of the angel, tired of the salt of the earth. Tired of hearing the sweetness of Dorothea's voice extolled and how she "spoke simply." Tired of hearing about heads (whether flower-like or just 'seen in perfection') perched on the top of stem-like necks. Excited to read something more modern next. I still think this is an amazing and immersive novel. I'm also feeling pretty great about not living in a small town in England in... 1828-1830 I think? I was more interested in the historical backdrop and class politics this time around than the first time I read it I think.
What I enjoyed More than re-reading Middlemarch-- Rebecca Mead's My Life in Middlemarch!
What I enjoyed More than re-reading Middlemarch-- Rebecca Mead's My Life in Middlemarch!
I feel bad that I didn’t love this! Parts of this were funny and engaging, parts of it were a complete slog. Big love to Caleb Garth and Mrs. Vincy, though, because I found nearly everyone else irritating. I guess I’m just not a Victorian girl!
I finished!! Reading this was a nearly half year long project that I originally anticipated would take 8 weeks. 100 pages per week? Easy! Well, not so much. Starting out, this was a dense book, and I quickly turned to chapter summaries to help me understand what I just read. This did get easier but it was usually difficult for me to focus on this book in the evening, and was mostly read in the morning with coffee in hand. Even through the end, I would misread a sentence and end up misunderstanding a plot point. I do wish I had been able to complete this in a more compact period, because the beginning of this book feels like so very long ago. That said, I did really enjoy the book and it had some very good dramatic moments around the middle and the end. I don’t know that I’d agree it’s the best English novel of all time, but if you like hefty English lit, I recommend it.
I buddy-read this with my boyfriend, and also followed along with the Literary Disco podcast episodes from this summer.
I buddy-read this with my boyfriend, and also followed along with the Literary Disco podcast episodes from this summer.
There are certainly some things I could appreciate about Middlemarch. But for the most part ... it was a slog. Perhaps if I had read it at a different time in my life (although I have tried several different times over the years and given up) - perhaps if I had never seen the BBC mini-series so I wouldn't have known which storylines were only ever going to annoy me. I don't know.
I grew up in a small, provincial town and cannot remember a time when I wasn't itching to get out of there. And that's how I felt about this book. I wanted to slap characters for their ridiculous conformity and others I wanted to rescue by getting them the hell out of that town before their lives took a turn for the disastrous. Bullies and sycophants. Very few characters I could appreciate.
It makes me sad, as I have read and loved other books by George Eliot in my life. But not this one. Nope. I would not have finished it if I hadn't been reading it with a group and felt somehow compelled to slog on through to the end so I could say I'd done it.
Barely 3 stars. I'm feeling generous.
I grew up in a small, provincial town and cannot remember a time when I wasn't itching to get out of there. And that's how I felt about this book. I wanted to slap characters for their ridiculous conformity and others I wanted to rescue by getting them the hell out of that town before their lives took a turn for the disastrous. Bullies and sycophants. Very few characters I could appreciate.
It makes me sad, as I have read and loved other books by George Eliot in my life. But not this one. Nope. I would not have finished it if I hadn't been reading it with a group and felt somehow compelled to slog on through to the end so I could say I'd done it.
Barely 3 stars. I'm feeling generous.
Jeez, where to begin - and why bother, since it's probably all been said before? I guess I'll just say that, without committing myself to a position, I take no issue with the various authorities that have called Middlemarch the greatest book written in English.
MAN, this book felt like it took forever to finish. And I guess it did take a month and a half!
There were chunks (maybe about a third of the book) where I really connected to the story and felt the author's words in my bones. I found about a third of the story entertaining enough. However, that final third was ROUGH. I either didn't know what the author was writing about (due to the old-fashioned, overly-flowery language), or I got the gist, but didn't find it interesting (see: sections about the dissolution of parliament, for example).
ANYWAY, the ending was quite good and won me over enough to rate this 4/5 stars. I'm going to quote the final sentences below, since they struck a chord (not a spoiler):
Her full nature, like that river of which Cyrus broke the strength, spent itself in channels which had no great name on the earth. But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive, for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on un-historic 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.
There were chunks (maybe about a third of the book) where I really connected to the story and felt the author's words in my bones. I found about a third of the story entertaining enough. However, that final third was ROUGH. I either didn't know what the author was writing about (due to the old-fashioned, overly-flowery language), or I got the gist, but didn't find it interesting (see: sections about the dissolution of parliament, for example).
ANYWAY, the ending was quite good and won me over enough to rate this 4/5 stars. I'm going to quote the final sentences below, since they struck a chord (not a spoiler):
Her full nature, like that river of which Cyrus broke the strength, spent itself in channels which had no great name on the earth. But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive, for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on un-historic 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.
"What do we live for, if it not to make life less difficult to each other?" Dorothea, chapter 72
☝️New life motto.
I can understand why many don't finish this, but I'm glad that I did. It's not often I start off with one opinion on a character and end with another entirely, and I don't believe my opinion changed because the character changed but because I understood her better after spending 900 pages together.
☝️New life motto.
I can understand why many don't finish this, but I'm glad that I did. It's not often I start off with one opinion on a character and end with another entirely, and I don't believe my opinion changed because the character changed but because I understood her better after spending 900 pages together.
**DNF at 35%. This review only reflects what I have read so far**
3.5 stars.
I jumped between listening to the audiobook and reading the ebook; I highly recommend the audiobook (the narrator does a great job of giving distinct voices to different characters).
Classics is NOT my genre but I keep giving them a chance just in case. I'm sad/disappointed about DNFing this book because I was REALLY getting into the story and it's so rare for me to find a classic I enjoy. The ultimate reason why I decided to stop reading it is because the writing kept "telling" instead of "showing". There were large chunks of unnecessary information and long descriptions that didn't contribute to the story and it irritated me more than anything. I feel that if the book was half the length, it could have been a 4-5 star read.
3.5 stars.
I jumped between listening to the audiobook and reading the ebook; I highly recommend the audiobook (the narrator does a great job of giving distinct voices to different characters).
Classics is NOT my genre but I keep giving them a chance just in case. I'm sad/disappointed about DNFing this book because I was REALLY getting into the story and it's so rare for me to find a classic I enjoy. The ultimate reason why I decided to stop reading it is because the writing kept "telling" instead of "showing". There were large chunks of unnecessary information and long descriptions that didn't contribute to the story and it irritated me more than anything. I feel that if the book was half the length, it could have been a 4-5 star read.