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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I enjoyed reading this book, for the most part, but had some problems with it, obviously. I've come to the conclusion that I just don't really care for these victorian novels. They are somewhat boring to me as nothing ever really happens and I have a hard time relating to the mindset of the characters. George Eliot tends to be long winded and go on and on describing something to the point of becoming boring. So, Maggie loves her brother more than anything, and yes, thats generally how younger sisters feel about their big brothers when they are children, but there comes a time when a young girl matures and takes off the rose colored glasses of youth and she can finally see the person her big brother has become and she naturally gives up her childish sentimental feelings for a more balanced and realistic appraisal. That never happens in The Mill on the Floss. Maggie never can view Tom as the self righteous, cold and critical jerk he is to her. She was supposed to be so intelligent and curious about life but she came off as a retiring nincompoop who could never make up her mind. She bends over backwards time and time again so that her brother will be happy and respect and love her but he never does. He can not because he just had no respect for her as a woman, as a thinking, feeling human being. He just forever saw her as silly Magsie. The ending was weak and felt like a cop out. That tom and Maggie should die in each others arms was just creepy, not moving. Weak sauce.
Well, it wasn't quite perfect--that is to say I loved the early childhood sections, identified so closely with Maggie's struggles to please others, which always backfired on her, but, as the kids grew and their stories diverged and the father's never quite adequately explained lawsuits ruined the family and the disparate threads of the narrative spread out they kind of lost me for a while--but the ending is so startlingly beautiful and such a wonderful way to bring the river metaphor to a perfectly satisfying end I just have to give it five stars. Also, as I've said before, any book that makes me cry. I finished the last page with the tears streaming, looked up at my wife, and said, "Fuck this book." High praise indeed. It really made me suffer. I felt like I was a third man visiting Maggie Tulliver's grave as the years waned, the moss and grass grew up over it, and that I always will be from now on. For the reader outlives even the oldest characters of a novel.
Reading Middlemarch in my late teens was a turning point: it was when reading moved from a fun hobby to being something that offered emotional sustenance. This may have partly been because I was in a country far away from home - perhaps the novel just kept me grounded by allowing me to wallow in my native English.
With The Mill on the Floss, it was a joy yet again to experience Eliot's sharp but warmly compassionate insights into human nature. The characters seem to have been created with love, which makes them relatable, but the clear eye with which they are drawn prompted reflection on the insights they offered into personal experience. There were also some lovely turns of phrase: Philip felt indifference as a child of the south feels the chill air of a northern spring. (an example which might help me overcome an irritable prejudice against similes).
However, at times I found this a gruelling read. While Eliot's wider reflections on the world can be enlightening, or outline an idea more eloquently than you could imagine, some of the lengthier aphorising was difficult to wade through.
So, was I disappointed by this second Eliot experience? Some years have passed, so perhaps some of what I take from a book has changed. If this review has sounded somewhat cold, then perhaps it reflects my experience reading the novel: I found moments of reading joy, but these were kept at a distance by what was at times an overwhelmingly intellectual read.
With The Mill on the Floss, it was a joy yet again to experience Eliot's sharp but warmly compassionate insights into human nature. The characters seem to have been created with love, which makes them relatable, but the clear eye with which they are drawn prompted reflection on the insights they offered into personal experience. There were also some lovely turns of phrase: Philip felt indifference as a child of the south feels the chill air of a northern spring. (an example which might help me overcome an irritable prejudice against similes).
However, at times I found this a gruelling read. While Eliot's wider reflections on the world can be enlightening, or outline an idea more eloquently than you could imagine, some of the lengthier aphorising was difficult to wade through.
So, was I disappointed by this second Eliot experience? Some years have passed, so perhaps some of what I take from a book has changed. If this review has sounded somewhat cold, then perhaps it reflects my experience reading the novel: I found moments of reading joy, but these were kept at a distance by what was at times an overwhelmingly intellectual read.
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
I didn’t know anything about this book going into it and I think that made it really exciting and made me want to read on. I loved the style of prose, it reeled me in and I adored watching Maggie grow up. I think this is such an insight into all the trappings of being a girl in the era where it’s set and it makes me grateful to have all the freedom I do in the modern age. I would recommend to anyone who loves classics, love stories, family drama or beautiful writing.
Terza possibilità per questa autrice, e forse comincio ad ingranare con lei.
Per la prima volta, non mi dispiace la protagonista e, anche se ammantata di una moralità che la stessa autrice non crede possibile nel mondo reale, ha i suoi difetti, che la rendono umana e più simpatica.
Il finale del romanzo è stato coerente con l'intera vicenda e non mi è dispiaciuto, per quanto triste.
La versione audio era molto lenta, più della narrazione stessa, e ho dovuto velocizzare l'audio ma, a parte questo, è stata apprezzabile.
Per la prima volta, non mi dispiace la protagonista e, anche se ammantata di una moralità che la stessa autrice non crede possibile nel mondo reale, ha i suoi difetti, che la rendono umana e più simpatica.
Il finale del romanzo è stato coerente con l'intera vicenda e non mi è dispiaciuto, per quanto triste.
La versione audio era molto lenta, più della narrazione stessa, e ho dovuto velocizzare l'audio ma, a parte questo, è stata apprezzabile.
idk how to rate this book as i read it for my master’s thesis…but i actually really enjoyed it!! some parts; especially about the stephen dude truly annoyed me but i think there were some very interesting moments and conversation about society, family, women and men (during that era) and i actually had fun reading it at times…it was interesting to dive into this era, especially as it was historically accurate (obviously) and its also one of the most interesting eras (in my opinion) when it comes down to women and their history/choices….
classics are hard to read, and this was NOT easy but i think if you enjoy good literature it is worth a try!
classics are hard to read, and this was NOT easy but i think if you enjoy good literature it is worth a try!
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Whenever you read a Jane Austen book you can rely on happy endings for everyone, or at least everyone who deserves it. This book is the exact opposite. The ending is insanely depressing.
The characters are brilliant though. They leap off the page and you can imagine them so clearly. And in case anyone ever wondered if our ancestors were capable of sarcasm and snarkiness, or yes indeed they were as this book illustrates.
Probably my favorite part was relatively early on, when the protagonist Maggie, as a child, runs away to join the "gypsies." (I realize the term is derogatory, but that is the term in the book.) The way George Eliot managed to describe them is amazing. It's clear that they find the whole situation hilarious, but are smart enough not to directly laugh at Maggie because that would probably make her run off again and they want to get her safely home. The whole interaction is just so vivid.
The characters are brilliant though. They leap off the page and you can imagine them so clearly. And in case anyone ever wondered if our ancestors were capable of sarcasm and snarkiness, or yes indeed they were as this book illustrates.
Probably my favorite part was relatively early on, when the protagonist Maggie, as a child, runs away to join the "gypsies." (I realize the term is derogatory, but that is the term in the book.) The way George Eliot managed to describe them is amazing. It's clear that they find the whole situation hilarious, but are smart enough not to directly laugh at Maggie because that would probably make her run off again and they want to get her safely home. The whole interaction is just so vivid.