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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
Okay, at first I was like 'I can stand this' and didn't really care one way or another about this book. I've been enjoying reading all of the Victorian era books and this was just another one of those. And then we were introduced to Maggie, who was reading a book about the devil. Yep, I was sold.
Even though Maggie is a bit weepy at times and her life is chaotic as anything, she's still a strong character and I like her. That's how I felt through the middle of the book.
But that ending. I did not expect that ending. I think that ending was epic, but I did not expect that. Still, I really enjoyed the book.
Even though Maggie is a bit weepy at times and her life is chaotic as anything, she's still a strong character and I like her. That's how I felt through the middle of the book.
But that ending. I did not expect that ending. I think that ending was epic, but I did not expect that. Still, I really enjoyed the book.
Let me be clear. This is definitely a five star book, but I hated it oh so much. How can that be? Well, there are so many parts of this book that are beyond beautiful to read. There are many spots in the book that cause me to stop and contemplate so many common life themes. I could just imagine any number of thesis papers that I could have created from some of the themes thrown out in this story. There were spots in this book where I was moved by flutter-worthy sentiments spoken by a few of the characters. I was thrown through the ecstasy of those feelings of first love and the tragedy when that love is torn away. But at the end of the book I couldn't sit back in wonder and ponder on the beauty of what I had just finished. No. Instead I felt like smashing my kindle against my wall or discovering some way to reach into a story written a hundred and fifty years ago and wring the necks of a few characters. Erg!!!! I was so angry by the end of this book. I didn't finish this book with sadness. It was pure anger. What great life lesson was I meant to pull from the incidents in this story? What greater good was reached because I immersed myself in the lives of these simple people from a small village who fictionally lived so long ago? Frustration. That's what I felt coursing through my veins. But maybe because Eliot was able to create such strong reactions in me it pointed toward the brilliance of her writing in this story. I don't know. All I can do is share some of my thoughts after finishing this story. I will try to do this without any major spoilers, but it will be hard, so read on at your own risk if you don't want to get any ideas about the ending of this book.
If you are looking for a fast paced book that takes you breathlessly from beginning to end this is not the book for you. Like the meandering floss of the book title, this book gently winds from moment to moment, painting deep pictures of the characters who populate the pages of the book. In many ways it might have been possible to eliminate some scenes from the beginning chapters of the book, but having them in the book really did help to develop the characters to a point where later actions became understandable and even expected in some ways.
Maggie is the main character of this story, and her story begins when she is a young, impulsive girl who follows the passions of her heart as she spends her days with her mother, father, and beloved brother Tom at their home on the floss. She does not fit into any of the roles of conformity that her mother and aunts would wish for her to fill. Many paragraphs in these early chapters involve the aunts and mother despairing over her dark features and coarse behaviors. Maggie is independent and strong willed, characteristics that were not admired in girls or women in those days. Despite the criticism of her family Maggie remained strong. She had an amazing love for her older brother, Tom, who treated her coldly at times, quick to condemn and slow to forgive her shortcomings -- and yet she threw her love to him over and over again. All of Maggie's zeal for live is squashed suddenly when her father makes some foolish and prideful decisions that lead to bankruptcy and the loss of the family mill. This throws the once comfortable family into poverty and dependence on the charity of others. Maggie's father is devastated by the losses and falls into a stupor that lasts many years. Tom is pulled out of his schooling so that he can head out into the world to restore the family to solvency. Maggie's once happy and ideal childhood is abruptly ended at the age of thirteen as she faces the grim world of her future. In the midst of this great sorrow Maggie finds a religious book that speaks to her as nothing else has in her difficulties. She throws herself into religious devotion with unwavering firmness. She believes that the hope for reward in the world to come and abandonment of thoughts for herself or worldly things will ease the pain of the present. She does not hope for happiness for herself, merely peace. I thought that Eliot's discussion of the importance of religious devotion for those who are suffering in this world was fascinating. She spoke of the difference of the religious devotion of the rich and comfortable who use religious as a force of habit and public communion, while the poor in spirit, health, or wealth cling to religion as their lifeline that keeps them above the water as they fight to make their way through the difficulties of this world. Religion to those like Maggie who are in the midst of extreme suffering is absolutely essential to their soundness of mind in this world. It was an interesting theme to ponder as I read.
As Maggie grows older, firm in her new religious devotion, she abandons the passion that drove her as a young girl. She does not throw herself into reading wonderful books. She does not shoot for higher objectives. She pushes herself to remain content with her lot in life, and she does this by shutting herself off to the possibility of anything better. In the midst of this life, so different from that she began as a young girl, Maggie becomes reacquainted with a young man from her past. Phillip Wakem is the son of her father's hated rival, the man who now owns the mill and was the cause of her family's downfall. Maggie's father hates Mr. Wakem with all of his heart, so much so that he refuses to forgive the man, even on his deathbed. He forbids his family from having any sort of interaction with the Wakem family. Phillip has a hunchback and is physically weak, but he is mentally acute. Before the Tulliver's family downfall he and Tom were together in school. Maggie first met him in that setting, and she was kinder to him than any other person had ever been. She was fascinated with the stories he could tell and his mastery of wonderful school subjects. But after the bankruptcy all communication between the two ended. Years later when Maggie is a young woman she meets Phillip again, and they begin a clandestine acquaintance. No one from either family can know that they meet, but they meet nonetheless. During these meetings Phillip is instrumental in bringing Maggie out of the shell that she has forced herself into. He remembers her as the impulsive and strong girl of her youth, and he knows that that girl still exists in the woman. He encourages her to put off the restrictions she has set for herself and become all that she can be. He helps Maggie to see that she is not resigning herself to fate, she is preventing herself from living the life she is meant to have. These meetings are beautiful to read. I absolutely love Phillip. What a sweet man! And he loves Maggie completely. She is all that he ever dreamed of. She brings him joy that he never thought would be his in this life. While others look at him and see his deformity, Maggie sees the wonderful man behind it. I can't say it enough. I love Phillip! Maggie would love to marry Phillip, but Tom forbids it. Well, he doesn't really forbid it. He simply says that he will have nothing to do with Maggie if she chooses to align herself with the son of a hated rival. This makes absolutely no sense to me, but despite Tom's horrible treatment of Maggie and Phillip's wonderful treatment, Maggie chooses to avoid marriage and further communication with Phillip so that she can keep her relationship with her brother.
Tom is really a simple young man. There is not a lot to explain about Tom. He sees the world in very simple terms, and because of his narrow views of life he is unable to process anything that flies outside his understanding. For Tom things either make perfect sense, or they are wrong, and if they are wrong then they are often evil and to be avoided. As Eliot describes, "Tom was a nature which had a sort of superstitious repugnance to everything exceptional." Maggie was an exceptional woman. Phillip was an exceptional man. The circumstances of their love and connection was definitely exceptional. Tom couldn't handle it, and his way of handling the problem was to cut it off. At first as I read about Tom I felt great pity for him and his ridiculous world view, but by the end of the book I felt little more than anger toward him. He was so full of pride in his own opinions that he thought little of the opinions of those around him. While Maggie was overly obsessed with the feelings of everyone else and helping them to be happy, Tom was only interested in his own thoughts. He prevented Maggie's happiness in too many circumstances, from his interactions with her as a girl when she adored him without end to his interactions with her as an adult when he used that same love and affection she felt to influence her to deprive herself of any true joy or happiness. He was a horrible character, but I did appreciate him as a character because he was never really pure evil. There were layers to his personality. It was clear exactly why he was making his decisions, even though I did not agree with them. He didn't mean to do wrong. He was trying to do what was right. He was just wrong and couldn't examine himself properly to see that.
Then there is Stephen Guest, unofficially betrothed to Maggie's cousin, Lucy. Lucy is a sweetheart. She is in appearance and personality all that Maggie is not. Lucy is fair skinned. She is sweet and demure in her interactions with others. She fits perfectly into the mold her family wishes her to occupy. Despite their differences, Lucy and Maggie get along wonderfully. Lucy introduces Maggie to Stephen, having no idea that he would think of her as anything other than a sweet cousin. Lucy's plans involve working conditions so that Maggie and Phillip can find happiness together. What she doesn't see is that Stephen has fallen madly in love with Maggie, and Maggie seems to be drawn to him as well. The two of them make a good show of avoiding one another so that they don't hurt Lucy or Phillip by betraying promises made earlier. Lucy doesn't see what is going on, but Phillip does. Stephen flies to Maggie with unbridled passion, declaring his undying love for her and begging her to be his wife. He has no qualms with abandoning his earlier advances to Lucy in order to follow his heart. Maggie resists him, but it tears her apart to do so.
That leads to the disastrous events at the end of the novel. Stephen is not thinking very clearly, and for a time, neither is Maggie. Maggie debates with herself over and over, and finally decides that duty trumps passion and desire. Her heart might be drawn to Stephen, and his to her, but ultimately that does not matter -- their duty to others is more important. This was absolutely heart-wrenching and even infuriating to read. Oh, how Maggie made me angry during these events! She says, "That seems right -- at first; but when I look further I'm sure that it is not right. Faithfulness and constancy mean something else besides doing what is easiest and pleasantest to ourselves. They mean renouncing whatever is opposed to the reliance others have in us -- whatever would cause misery to those whom the course of our lives has made dependent on us." She decides that her duty to Phillip and Lucy demands that she give up the desire of her heart (although, honestly, I'm not entirely sure that Stephen would have met the desires of her heart; she was being a bit impulsive in her actions toward him). But by making this choice she did not ease anyone else's suffering. Lucy and Phillip were still unhappy. Her family was still somewhat disgraced in the town. Stephen was absolutely devastated. And Maggie was miserable. She had not one ounce of happiness. Thrown out of her home by her scum of a brother, despised by society, and eventually even turned away by the village curate, one of the only people who believed in her, Maggie seems to be doomed to a life of sadness and emptiness. She is so messed up in her theories of life that she still refuses to welcome either Phillip or Stephen when they thrown life lines to her. It was so upsetting to read this.
And then there is the ending. What can I say about it? It was definitely no happy ending. But to make matters worse, it wasn't even a just ending. It was just pure tragedy. Life had taken this smart, energetic, girl who was full of life and enthusiasm, chewed her up and spit her out with nothing other than two sad young men to mourn the loss. I did not end this reading feeling any sort of redeeming hope for the future. Instead I saw only bitterness for the misfortune of the past. Maggie spent her life pushing for the happiness of others, and it only ended in her unhappiness and misfortune. How fitting that the very floss that brought her such supreme joy throughout her life would be the means of squashing that life from her, just as many of those who she strove to please in her life eventually pushed her to ruin and despair. Completely depressing! So, after finishing this story I can honestly say that it was a wonderful story. There is beauty in so many passages and wonderful themes throughout. But this is no book to read when I want to find hope and beauty in the world around me. This is a serious buzz kill of a book. I hate to say it, but I'm going to have to find some completely sappy happily-ever-after story to wash down the bitter taste of this novel. Will I read it again? Probably. It is a well-written and engaging story that makes me think of issues beyond myself. However, I'm going to make sure I at least watch a few Jane Austen movies while I'm reading so I can keep my happy face on.
If you are looking for a fast paced book that takes you breathlessly from beginning to end this is not the book for you. Like the meandering floss of the book title, this book gently winds from moment to moment, painting deep pictures of the characters who populate the pages of the book. In many ways it might have been possible to eliminate some scenes from the beginning chapters of the book, but having them in the book really did help to develop the characters to a point where later actions became understandable and even expected in some ways.
Maggie is the main character of this story, and her story begins when she is a young, impulsive girl who follows the passions of her heart as she spends her days with her mother, father, and beloved brother Tom at their home on the floss. She does not fit into any of the roles of conformity that her mother and aunts would wish for her to fill. Many paragraphs in these early chapters involve the aunts and mother despairing over her dark features and coarse behaviors. Maggie is independent and strong willed, characteristics that were not admired in girls or women in those days. Despite the criticism of her family Maggie remained strong. She had an amazing love for her older brother, Tom, who treated her coldly at times, quick to condemn and slow to forgive her shortcomings -- and yet she threw her love to him over and over again. All of Maggie's zeal for live is squashed suddenly when her father makes some foolish and prideful decisions that lead to bankruptcy and the loss of the family mill. This throws the once comfortable family into poverty and dependence on the charity of others. Maggie's father is devastated by the losses and falls into a stupor that lasts many years. Tom is pulled out of his schooling so that he can head out into the world to restore the family to solvency. Maggie's once happy and ideal childhood is abruptly ended at the age of thirteen as she faces the grim world of her future. In the midst of this great sorrow Maggie finds a religious book that speaks to her as nothing else has in her difficulties. She throws herself into religious devotion with unwavering firmness. She believes that the hope for reward in the world to come and abandonment of thoughts for herself or worldly things will ease the pain of the present. She does not hope for happiness for herself, merely peace. I thought that Eliot's discussion of the importance of religious devotion for those who are suffering in this world was fascinating. She spoke of the difference of the religious devotion of the rich and comfortable who use religious as a force of habit and public communion, while the poor in spirit, health, or wealth cling to religion as their lifeline that keeps them above the water as they fight to make their way through the difficulties of this world. Religion to those like Maggie who are in the midst of extreme suffering is absolutely essential to their soundness of mind in this world. It was an interesting theme to ponder as I read.
As Maggie grows older, firm in her new religious devotion, she abandons the passion that drove her as a young girl. She does not throw herself into reading wonderful books. She does not shoot for higher objectives. She pushes herself to remain content with her lot in life, and she does this by shutting herself off to the possibility of anything better. In the midst of this life, so different from that she began as a young girl, Maggie becomes reacquainted with a young man from her past. Phillip Wakem is the son of her father's hated rival, the man who now owns the mill and was the cause of her family's downfall. Maggie's father hates Mr. Wakem with all of his heart, so much so that he refuses to forgive the man, even on his deathbed. He forbids his family from having any sort of interaction with the Wakem family. Phillip has a hunchback and is physically weak, but he is mentally acute. Before the Tulliver's family downfall he and Tom were together in school. Maggie first met him in that setting, and she was kinder to him than any other person had ever been. She was fascinated with the stories he could tell and his mastery of wonderful school subjects. But after the bankruptcy all communication between the two ended. Years later when Maggie is a young woman she meets Phillip again, and they begin a clandestine acquaintance. No one from either family can know that they meet, but they meet nonetheless. During these meetings Phillip is instrumental in bringing Maggie out of the shell that she has forced herself into. He remembers her as the impulsive and strong girl of her youth, and he knows that that girl still exists in the woman. He encourages her to put off the restrictions she has set for herself and become all that she can be. He helps Maggie to see that she is not resigning herself to fate, she is preventing herself from living the life she is meant to have. These meetings are beautiful to read. I absolutely love Phillip. What a sweet man! And he loves Maggie completely. She is all that he ever dreamed of. She brings him joy that he never thought would be his in this life. While others look at him and see his deformity, Maggie sees the wonderful man behind it. I can't say it enough. I love Phillip! Maggie would love to marry Phillip, but Tom forbids it. Well, he doesn't really forbid it. He simply says that he will have nothing to do with Maggie if she chooses to align herself with the son of a hated rival. This makes absolutely no sense to me, but despite Tom's horrible treatment of Maggie and Phillip's wonderful treatment, Maggie chooses to avoid marriage and further communication with Phillip so that she can keep her relationship with her brother.
Tom is really a simple young man. There is not a lot to explain about Tom. He sees the world in very simple terms, and because of his narrow views of life he is unable to process anything that flies outside his understanding. For Tom things either make perfect sense, or they are wrong, and if they are wrong then they are often evil and to be avoided. As Eliot describes, "Tom was a nature which had a sort of superstitious repugnance to everything exceptional." Maggie was an exceptional woman. Phillip was an exceptional man. The circumstances of their love and connection was definitely exceptional. Tom couldn't handle it, and his way of handling the problem was to cut it off. At first as I read about Tom I felt great pity for him and his ridiculous world view, but by the end of the book I felt little more than anger toward him. He was so full of pride in his own opinions that he thought little of the opinions of those around him. While Maggie was overly obsessed with the feelings of everyone else and helping them to be happy, Tom was only interested in his own thoughts. He prevented Maggie's happiness in too many circumstances, from his interactions with her as a girl when she adored him without end to his interactions with her as an adult when he used that same love and affection she felt to influence her to deprive herself of any true joy or happiness. He was a horrible character, but I did appreciate him as a character because he was never really pure evil. There were layers to his personality. It was clear exactly why he was making his decisions, even though I did not agree with them. He didn't mean to do wrong. He was trying to do what was right. He was just wrong and couldn't examine himself properly to see that.
Then there is Stephen Guest, unofficially betrothed to Maggie's cousin, Lucy. Lucy is a sweetheart. She is in appearance and personality all that Maggie is not. Lucy is fair skinned. She is sweet and demure in her interactions with others. She fits perfectly into the mold her family wishes her to occupy. Despite their differences, Lucy and Maggie get along wonderfully. Lucy introduces Maggie to Stephen, having no idea that he would think of her as anything other than a sweet cousin. Lucy's plans involve working conditions so that Maggie and Phillip can find happiness together. What she doesn't see is that Stephen has fallen madly in love with Maggie, and Maggie seems to be drawn to him as well. The two of them make a good show of avoiding one another so that they don't hurt Lucy or Phillip by betraying promises made earlier. Lucy doesn't see what is going on, but Phillip does. Stephen flies to Maggie with unbridled passion, declaring his undying love for her and begging her to be his wife. He has no qualms with abandoning his earlier advances to Lucy in order to follow his heart. Maggie resists him, but it tears her apart to do so.
That leads to the disastrous events at the end of the novel. Stephen is not thinking very clearly, and for a time, neither is Maggie. Maggie debates with herself over and over, and finally decides that duty trumps passion and desire. Her heart might be drawn to Stephen, and his to her, but ultimately that does not matter -- their duty to others is more important. This was absolutely heart-wrenching and even infuriating to read. Oh, how Maggie made me angry during these events! She says, "That seems right -- at first; but when I look further I'm sure that it is not right. Faithfulness and constancy mean something else besides doing what is easiest and pleasantest to ourselves. They mean renouncing whatever is opposed to the reliance others have in us -- whatever would cause misery to those whom the course of our lives has made dependent on us." She decides that her duty to Phillip and Lucy demands that she give up the desire of her heart (although, honestly, I'm not entirely sure that Stephen would have met the desires of her heart; she was being a bit impulsive in her actions toward him). But by making this choice she did not ease anyone else's suffering. Lucy and Phillip were still unhappy. Her family was still somewhat disgraced in the town. Stephen was absolutely devastated. And Maggie was miserable. She had not one ounce of happiness. Thrown out of her home by her scum of a brother, despised by society, and eventually even turned away by the village curate, one of the only people who believed in her, Maggie seems to be doomed to a life of sadness and emptiness. She is so messed up in her theories of life that she still refuses to welcome either Phillip or Stephen when they thrown life lines to her. It was so upsetting to read this.
And then there is the ending. What can I say about it? It was definitely no happy ending. But to make matters worse, it wasn't even a just ending. It was just pure tragedy. Life had taken this smart, energetic, girl who was full of life and enthusiasm, chewed her up and spit her out with nothing other than two sad young men to mourn the loss. I did not end this reading feeling any sort of redeeming hope for the future. Instead I saw only bitterness for the misfortune of the past. Maggie spent her life pushing for the happiness of others, and it only ended in her unhappiness and misfortune. How fitting that the very floss that brought her such supreme joy throughout her life would be the means of squashing that life from her, just as many of those who she strove to please in her life eventually pushed her to ruin and despair. Completely depressing! So, after finishing this story I can honestly say that it was a wonderful story. There is beauty in so many passages and wonderful themes throughout. But this is no book to read when I want to find hope and beauty in the world around me. This is a serious buzz kill of a book. I hate to say it, but I'm going to have to find some completely sappy happily-ever-after story to wash down the bitter taste of this novel. Will I read it again? Probably. It is a well-written and engaging story that makes me think of issues beyond myself. However, I'm going to make sure I at least watch a few Jane Austen movies while I'm reading so I can keep my happy face on.
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
It took me a while to finish this. The overall story was very well told and interesting, but throughout the 7 (!) books, there were too many lengths for my taste.
A very enjoyable classic novel. I would say I thoroughly enjoyed it, but I was unable to separate my 21st century sensibilities from the context of the period it was written, therefore I absolutely despised some of the characters and their dubious ideas about consent and female independence. With that being said, this book was full of colourful characters, and a must for anyone who enjoys Victorian literature.
Coronavirus made me read this book. No, I'm serious. I hadn't had the time for a book like this in awhile, or at least I didn't think I did. I started out reading it thinking it'd be an incredibly boring representation of rural English life in the 19th century. And it was. But it was also more. The more I read the more I became entranced in the life-long stories of Maggie and Tom. George Eliot was ahead of her time, there's no doubt, but also nothing has changed. Relations between the 'genders' still mirrors today. Women are still oppressed and treated as a commodity. Men still get away with literally everything. George Eliot is a brilliant author, and very few people will ever read this book. It's a shame, it's boring in so many ways to our modern sensibilities that desire instant gratification and quickly advancing plots, but this book, like life, can be slow at times. And it is about rather mundane people in a mundane part of England, St. Ogg's. But if you crack open this book you will be transported to a time and place that in George Eliot's world, existed. And she does such an excellent job of inviting you there. Now I move onto Middlemarch.
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
it's been a minute since I have liked a character like I liked Maggie Tulliver.
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I did not expect that ending.
I really enjoyed this book, by 60% of the book I was almost screaming "what's next?"
By the 75% I didn't know of I wanted to keep reading but still couldn't put the book down...
By the end of the book, I wanted to hug Maggie & Tom so much because in the end... They were never happy... Not really... At least they "forgot everything" and came to peace with each other...
Ended up shedding a few tears.
Philip Wakem is my favourite character and he has become one of my favourite characters from the Victorian era.
I really enjoyed this book, by 60% of the book I was almost screaming "what's next?"
By the 75% I didn't know of I wanted to keep reading but still couldn't put the book down...
By the end of the book, I wanted to hug Maggie & Tom so much because in the end... They were never happy... Not really... At least they "forgot everything" and came to peace with each other...
Ended up shedding a few tears.
Philip Wakem is my favourite character and he has become one of my favourite characters from the Victorian era.
You need a little patience to worm yourself into this one (I say to my fellow bookclub members who I hope all read this book!), but the payoff is worth it. Maggie is a wonderful and complicated and frustrating and endearing character and the last third of the book just boils with feelings and emotions and philosophies of being human and love and nasty looks from the neighbors. I'm still not sure how I feel about the ending -- really excited to talk this one out.