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A review by krysm
Daniel Deronda by George Eliot
4.0
FOREWARNING: Somewhat major plot spoilers, so please be aware if you haven't read the book. Thank you!
Daniel Deronda by George Eliot
Gwendolen Harleth, when she finds out that her family has lost their source of income, marries for money so she can support her family. But quickly, her marriage turns sour and sad. Before she was married, she met an interesting man named Daniel Deronda, who is thought to be the cousin of her future husband, although it's not entirely clear. Daniel himself does not know who his parents are, and his quest to find out the truth will lead to interesting discoveries. After her marriage, Gwendolen seeks advice from Daniel, as she is unhappy and torn. Daniel guides her with the best of his knowledge, but he too has his own struggles- after he saves a girl from drowning herself, he becomes involved in her life, and her own quest to find her brother and mother. Daniel becomes the friend of Mordecai, a Jew who is passionate about his faith, and soon what he learns from Mordecai will help him on his journey to find out the truth about his history...
My Thoughts:
I personally found the character of Daniel very interesting. He's so careful to not offend anyone with his words, so thoughtful considerate and he has this amazing inner world that finds beauty in the plain things. I don't approve of the 'married woman with a male person she talks to that is not her husband' bit, but I love how Daniel advised Gwendolen to look around at others, and despite her own suffering to reach out to others, to use her talents to make others happy, even if her own life is going wrong. To tell you the truth I wasn't expecting that.
Mirah's story I found too was personally more interesting then Gwendolen's, although I am not saying that I did not enjoy her side of things. As with most books where there is many different characters, their lives and personal plots weave together to create the overall book. You cannot separate them no matter how you try. I enjoyed reading how Gwendolen faced different situations and seeing how much she grew in the end. It was encouraging and left me with quite a bit of hope for her.
What I did not exactly like about it, however, was that Gwendolen came to depend upon Daniel in such a way that people automatically assumed she'd marry him when her husband died. I do not think it is very God honouring when a young lady marries older man whether by force or choice, marriage is unhappy, she finds confidante in young, unmarried man her age who falls in love with her, older husband dies somehow and he marries her, etc. (Although in this case he does not marry her). Granted, in this book, it's not as horrible as I first thought, but it is there, especially on Gwendolen's side of things. It started out as a simple her feeling he did not approve of her, and as such, she wants to know why. This leads into at the most four or five other encounters- most of the time he's advising her as to how to change, etc. It slips into something more for Gwendolen, though, and Deronda knows something is happening and doesn't like it, but feels that he should not abandon her as he's the only one that she has told that her marriage is going wrong. (Problem there, she should of told her mother, but perhaps she was thinking she didn't want to burden her Mother or make her uneasy as Mr. Grandcourt might not like it....) After Mr. Grandcourt's death, people begin to immediately presume she'll marry Deronda, which shows just how noticeable it was. Even Mr. Grandcourt was feeling something akin to jealousy. And so he should. He might of been a villain but he was the one she married. This is probably a natural portrayal of how it works in the world- it starts out with a meeting where you may genuinely have reasons for discussing something....and then it becomes where one or both parties have a dependence upon the other person that should only be on their spouse. I'm not sure what would happen in Gwendolen's situation, but I think it'd be safe to say she should of talked to her Mother, because I strongly believe it's never right to have a person of the opposite gender be the one you depend on when you're married unless he/she is a sibling/father, etc.
Thankfully the problems in Gwendolen's marriage, while it's still clear there is something wrong, are not shown in much detail and are mainly emotional....nothing as to what the mini-series apparently shows. I was quite glad of this.
All in all, I'd probably rate it 4 stars. I did honestly enjoy it, parts of the storyline where very intriguing and interesting. Throughout my reading of the book I kept up a discussion of it with my Mother, and that was helpful. I really didn't feel right even reading a book that possibly could of dealt with that, without her knowing. Besides, we talk about so much, it was only natural I'd want her ideas of Daniel Deronda.
Daniel Deronda by George Eliot
Gwendolen Harleth, when she finds out that her family has lost their source of income, marries for money so she can support her family. But quickly, her marriage turns sour and sad. Before she was married, she met an interesting man named Daniel Deronda, who is thought to be the cousin of her future husband, although it's not entirely clear. Daniel himself does not know who his parents are, and his quest to find out the truth will lead to interesting discoveries. After her marriage, Gwendolen seeks advice from Daniel, as she is unhappy and torn. Daniel guides her with the best of his knowledge, but he too has his own struggles- after he saves a girl from drowning herself, he becomes involved in her life, and her own quest to find her brother and mother. Daniel becomes the friend of Mordecai, a Jew who is passionate about his faith, and soon what he learns from Mordecai will help him on his journey to find out the truth about his history...
My Thoughts:
I personally found the character of Daniel very interesting. He's so careful to not offend anyone with his words, so thoughtful considerate and he has this amazing inner world that finds beauty in the plain things. I don't approve of the 'married woman with a male person she talks to that is not her husband' bit, but I love how Daniel advised Gwendolen to look around at others, and despite her own suffering to reach out to others, to use her talents to make others happy, even if her own life is going wrong. To tell you the truth I wasn't expecting that.
Mirah's story I found too was personally more interesting then Gwendolen's, although I am not saying that I did not enjoy her side of things. As with most books where there is many different characters, their lives and personal plots weave together to create the overall book. You cannot separate them no matter how you try. I enjoyed reading how Gwendolen faced different situations and seeing how much she grew in the end. It was encouraging and left me with quite a bit of hope for her.
What I did not exactly like about it, however, was that Gwendolen came to depend upon Daniel in such a way that people automatically assumed she'd marry him when her husband died. I do not think it is very God honouring when a young lady marries older man whether by force or choice, marriage is unhappy, she finds confidante in young, unmarried man her age who falls in love with her, older husband dies somehow and he marries her, etc. (Although in this case he does not marry her). Granted, in this book, it's not as horrible as I first thought, but it is there, especially on Gwendolen's side of things. It started out as a simple her feeling he did not approve of her, and as such, she wants to know why. This leads into at the most four or five other encounters- most of the time he's advising her as to how to change, etc. It slips into something more for Gwendolen, though, and Deronda knows something is happening and doesn't like it, but feels that he should not abandon her as he's the only one that she has told that her marriage is going wrong. (Problem there, she should of told her mother, but perhaps she was thinking she didn't want to burden her Mother or make her uneasy as Mr. Grandcourt might not like it....) After Mr. Grandcourt's death, people begin to immediately presume she'll marry Deronda, which shows just how noticeable it was. Even Mr. Grandcourt was feeling something akin to jealousy. And so he should. He might of been a villain but he was the one she married. This is probably a natural portrayal of how it works in the world- it starts out with a meeting where you may genuinely have reasons for discussing something....and then it becomes where one or both parties have a dependence upon the other person that should only be on their spouse. I'm not sure what would happen in Gwendolen's situation, but I think it'd be safe to say she should of talked to her Mother, because I strongly believe it's never right to have a person of the opposite gender be the one you depend on when you're married unless he/she is a sibling/father, etc.
Thankfully the problems in Gwendolen's marriage, while it's still clear there is something wrong, are not shown in much detail and are mainly emotional....nothing as to what the mini-series apparently shows. I was quite glad of this.
All in all, I'd probably rate it 4 stars. I did honestly enjoy it, parts of the storyline where very intriguing and interesting. Throughout my reading of the book I kept up a discussion of it with my Mother, and that was helpful. I really didn't feel right even reading a book that possibly could of dealt with that, without her knowing. Besides, we talk about so much, it was only natural I'd want her ideas of Daniel Deronda.