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A review by sullyfitz
Daniel Deronda by George Eliot
4.0
I had never heard of this particular book by by George Eliot who is more well known for having written Middlemarch but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Two obvious themes are explored concurrently... the role of women and Jews in the mid 19th century English society governed by rich white Christian men. The two main characters (Gwendolyn Harleth and Daniel Deronda) and a few of the secondary characters are well drawn. The rest are just background material. The book is well written in sections, but tends to get bogged down during Jacob's monologues as he tries to describe the essence of Jewishness. His speech is passionate without basis... and one enjoys his enthusiasm but doesn't quite understand why.
In some ways the characters were two black and white, with no shades of gray. Mr. Grandcourt, Gwendolyn's husband, was clearly the egocentric bad guy, and Daniel the empathetic, all seeing, ever understanding friend to all. themes of nature vs nurture ran throughout the story. With regards to the story, there were a few plot twists, but they would be pretty obvious to the densest of readers.
Having said all this, I enjoyed the book for the deliberation of the characters... Gwendolyn desperately wants to avoid the trappings of marriage and to be able to live her own life in the exciting way that men of her era are able to... yet she still is trapped by marriage. Daniel is searching for the truth of his past... having never known his true mother or father, he too is looking for direction, and truth. Both tales are timeless.
In some ways the characters were two black and white, with no shades of gray. Mr. Grandcourt, Gwendolyn's husband, was clearly the egocentric bad guy, and Daniel the empathetic, all seeing, ever understanding friend to all. themes of nature vs nurture ran throughout the story. With regards to the story, there were a few plot twists, but they would be pretty obvious to the densest of readers.
Having said all this, I enjoyed the book for the deliberation of the characters... Gwendolyn desperately wants to avoid the trappings of marriage and to be able to live her own life in the exciting way that men of her era are able to... yet she still is trapped by marriage. Daniel is searching for the truth of his past... having never known his true mother or father, he too is looking for direction, and truth. Both tales are timeless.