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A review by thenovelbook
Middlemarch by George Eliot
3.0
Whew! This book is long! I liked many of the main characters and was interested in their stories, but the novel did feel wordy to me and too bogged down in small town politics.
I'm sure that many well-read people recognize some sort of genius in all that, but it didn't suit me to have so many asides. I didn't want to know so much about the internal craftiness of the pious hypocrite Bulstrode, or the gossip of the local doctors and politicians. In general, I don't believe in abridgement, but I would be a huge fan of a Middlemarch abridgement!!
However, that aside, I liked Dorothea, the earnest and passionate young woman who believes that marriage to a serious older man will give her a sense of purpose... she's wrong, but even though the reader deplores her choice, one never exults in her suffering. She may be misguided, but she's got potential. I also liked Ladislaw, her husband's cousin who comes into her life like a breath of fresh air. I didn't think he was terribly well defined as a character, but I liked him.
I also had a tolerable interest in Lydgate, the young doctor who gets entangled with Rosamond, and the maze of trouble they get into by marrying without a strong foundation. It's sad, but cautionary.
Anyway, I wouldn't read this a second time, but I'm ready for the movie! Time to hunt down the miniseries from the 90s!
I'm sure that many well-read people recognize some sort of genius in all that, but it didn't suit me to have so many asides. I didn't want to know so much about the internal craftiness of the pious hypocrite Bulstrode, or the gossip of the local doctors and politicians. In general, I don't believe in abridgement, but I would be a huge fan of a Middlemarch abridgement!!
However, that aside, I liked Dorothea, the earnest and passionate young woman who believes that marriage to a serious older man will give her a sense of purpose... she's wrong, but even though the reader deplores her choice, one never exults in her suffering. She may be misguided, but she's got potential. I also liked Ladislaw, her husband's cousin who comes into her life like a breath of fresh air. I didn't think he was terribly well defined as a character, but I liked him.
I also had a tolerable interest in Lydgate, the young doctor who gets entangled with Rosamond, and the maze of trouble they get into by marrying without a strong foundation. It's sad, but cautionary.
Anyway, I wouldn't read this a second time, but I'm ready for the movie! Time to hunt down the miniseries from the 90s!