Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
My least favorite of George Eliot's novels. Her writing is still great, but the plot is not great. Stephen is not really developed as a character, and it ruins the rest of the book and the rest of the well-developed characters. The entire Stephen relationship comes out of nowhere and is unexplained--why does Maggie feel anything for him, he is vain and has no good qualities, most of what Stephen says to Maggie is guilt tripping her, but he never explains why he loves her. There is no reason given why either one of them love each other, and Maggie's actions didn't bring any happiness to those she was supposedly helping.
Make it 3.5 for the ending. But with all its flaws, it's still George Eliot.
adventurous
emotional
reflective
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
I really liked this until the (I realize now) notoriously unsatisfying ending. It has interesting insights into aspirations, heartbreaks, and investment strategies of the working and midddle-class in Linconshire. Maggie is a lovable but increasingly frustrating character. Some aspects of the love triangle seemed a little absurd -- and especially hard to believe near the end. That said, if it had had a different ending, I would have overlooked a lot of absurdities and monologues about tablecloths.
Rating 1.5/5
I do not like gloomy books, and this is a gloomy book. I also do not like books where characters do stupid things knowing they're stupid, and that happens here too.
Eliot is a very insightful writer, with an amazing grasp of human character, and it's no different in this book. The characters are complex and she gets into their minds in a way many other writers couldn't possibly do, but her sense of human strengths and weaknesses doesn't keep this book from being plodding and irritating, and ultimately disappointing.
I really liked the first few pages. Eliot's depiction of passionate young Maggie Tulliver and her self-righteous brother Tom felt very true to life. Their sibling squabbles felt relatable, but Maggie's intensely passionate nature and Tom's self-righteousness got irritating. Most of the other characters were irritating too, and don't get me started on Stephen and all that stuff. I dislike when authors write obviously doomed relationships that are clearly going to hurt the people involved and other people, yet the people involved indulge in them anyway. When I'm sitting there saying 'this is going to end badly' and then it does, I get annoyed, because I want characters not to do stupid things like that. When you know something is a stupid idea, maybe don't do it?
Another thing that irritates me about this book is that you know early on how it's going to end. There's only one way it CAN end, being a Victorian novel and dealing with the subject matter it deals with. Eliot foreshadows the ending very early on. It's sort of set up as redemption, but it's not at all satisfying. It's kind of a cop out, really.
Definitely not Eliot's best work. It drags for ages and then the ending is really abrupt. I'll stick with Middlemarch.
I do not like gloomy books, and this is a gloomy book. I also do not like books where characters do stupid things knowing they're stupid, and that happens here too.
Eliot is a very insightful writer, with an amazing grasp of human character, and it's no different in this book. The characters are complex and she gets into their minds in a way many other writers couldn't possibly do, but her sense of human strengths and weaknesses doesn't keep this book from being plodding and irritating, and ultimately disappointing.
I really liked the first few pages. Eliot's depiction of passionate young Maggie Tulliver and her self-righteous brother Tom felt very true to life. Their sibling squabbles felt relatable, but Maggie's intensely passionate nature and Tom's self-righteousness got irritating. Most of the other characters were irritating too, and don't get me started on Stephen and all that stuff. I dislike when authors write obviously doomed relationships that are clearly going to hurt the people involved and other people, yet the people involved indulge in them anyway. When I'm sitting there saying 'this is going to end badly' and then it does, I get annoyed, because I want characters not to do stupid things like that. When you know something is a stupid idea, maybe don't do it?
Another thing that irritates me about this book is that you know early on how it's going to end. There's only one way it CAN end, being a Victorian novel and dealing with the subject matter it deals with. Eliot foreshadows the ending very early on. It's sort of set up as redemption, but it's not at all satisfying. It's kind of a cop out, really.
Definitely not Eliot's best work. It drags for ages and then the ending is really abrupt. I'll stick with Middlemarch.
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
What a sad depressing life Maggie lived.
If you like Dickens and particularly, Little Dorrit, you'll love this. I didn't, I dont like the writing style not the ending so I didn't like this either because there's a lot of Dickens in this story.
If you like Dickens and particularly, Little Dorrit, you'll love this. I didn't, I dont like the writing style not the ending so I didn't like this either because there's a lot of Dickens in this story.