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sherrimc 's review for:
Middlemarch
by George Eliot
I tried reading this book a couple of years ago and never got very far. The story was fine, the writing was good, but it just wasn’t grabbing me, so I inched along, and then languished and then put it down all together and moved on to other things. In the couple of years that followed, I kept stumbling across references to Middlemarch in things I read with various sources going so far as to claim it was the “greatest English novel.” Sheesh. Greatest English novel?! So my pride and curiosity demanded that I give it another shot.
For my second attempt, I decided that I would let Julia Stevenson read it to me (she narrates an Audible version). That decision made all the difference. Stevenson’s voice is fantastic. Her tone, inflections, pauses, etc., bring the book’s characters to life. She doesn’t just read; she acts. The depth of what she does is impressive because she only has her voice to do it. Stevenson does voices for stodgy, old British men better than anyone, including stodgy, old British men (and this book has its fair share). After listening to Stevenson for more than 35 hours, I don’t know if I can say it is the greatest English novel of all time, but then again, I don’t think I am equipped to judge that. What I can say, is that I am so glad I gave it a second shot because it is an incredible book, and I would have missed so much had I walked away and never returned.
Without giving away too much or going into much detail about the plot and characters, I just want to say a few things. For my friends who are particularly captivated by love triangles (you know who you are) there are lots of them, and some of them even overlap (does that make them Venn diagrams rather than triangles?) Also, the book is astonishingly modern given that it was written in 1871-72. When I say modern, I mean psychologically as well as socially. Eliot is adept at laying out the inner thoughts and dialogue of her characters and contrasting that with reality. In doing this she shows how people are really more influenced by their own expectations, interpretations, and desires than they are by what is actually happening. Eliot illustrates how this can have disastrous consequences in love and marriage when the person is more in love with her idea of another person and what that person can do for her than with the actual person. All this is so impressive if you consider the history of psychology. To give some context, Freud had yet to publish any of his work when this book was written. The book is also socially modern in that it recognizes that women have the same ambitions and desire for work and purpose that men have, but that social mores and restrictions often stifle these things leaving talents untapped and general feelings of frustration and malaise.
The book’s plot is engaging even if it gets off to a slow start. Eliot takes her time introducing her characters (and there are many), but it is worth the wait. Because she takes her time, the reader is witness to deep and moving changes that are worked on some of the characters over the course of the book, bringing increased self-awareness and personal growth. As the book proceeds, the plot builds tension and speed until it is racing along with several last minute twists and turns leaving the reader guessing and hoping for a satisfying end.
For my second attempt, I decided that I would let Julia Stevenson read it to me (she narrates an Audible version). That decision made all the difference. Stevenson’s voice is fantastic. Her tone, inflections, pauses, etc., bring the book’s characters to life. She doesn’t just read; she acts. The depth of what she does is impressive because she only has her voice to do it. Stevenson does voices for stodgy, old British men better than anyone, including stodgy, old British men (and this book has its fair share). After listening to Stevenson for more than 35 hours, I don’t know if I can say it is the greatest English novel of all time, but then again, I don’t think I am equipped to judge that. What I can say, is that I am so glad I gave it a second shot because it is an incredible book, and I would have missed so much had I walked away and never returned.
Without giving away too much or going into much detail about the plot and characters, I just want to say a few things. For my friends who are particularly captivated by love triangles (you know who you are) there are lots of them, and some of them even overlap (does that make them Venn diagrams rather than triangles?) Also, the book is astonishingly modern given that it was written in 1871-72. When I say modern, I mean psychologically as well as socially. Eliot is adept at laying out the inner thoughts and dialogue of her characters and contrasting that with reality. In doing this she shows how people are really more influenced by their own expectations, interpretations, and desires than they are by what is actually happening. Eliot illustrates how this can have disastrous consequences in love and marriage when the person is more in love with her idea of another person and what that person can do for her than with the actual person. All this is so impressive if you consider the history of psychology. To give some context, Freud had yet to publish any of his work when this book was written. The book is also socially modern in that it recognizes that women have the same ambitions and desire for work and purpose that men have, but that social mores and restrictions often stifle these things leaving talents untapped and general feelings of frustration and malaise.
The book’s plot is engaging even if it gets off to a slow start. Eliot takes her time introducing her characters (and there are many), but it is worth the wait. Because she takes her time, the reader is witness to deep and moving changes that are worked on some of the characters over the course of the book, bringing increased self-awareness and personal growth. As the book proceeds, the plot builds tension and speed until it is racing along with several last minute twists and turns leaving the reader guessing and hoping for a satisfying end.