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simpmor 's review for:
Middlemarch
by George Eliot
A brilliant and fascinating novel, one I've had on my shelf a long long time but only just gathered the strength to tackle and I'm so glad I did. In some respects this is a period drama like many others, with romance and comedies of manners; in other respects it is a history lesson, but rather than a simple description of decisions made by rulers and army generals we are instead shown the real-world impact of the times and its upheavals on a small part of the country. I find this a much more powerful way of delivering this, and a much truer snapshot of a time and a place..
George/Mary was an author who was very present as a narrator, she also was a great philosopher and I really enjoy reading her prose and thoughts and I made note of more passages that resonated with me from this book than perhaps any other I have ever read.
In terms of ranking I would give this a 4.5 if goodreads would allow, but there was just something slight missing in my emotional connection to the story and characters that stopped me putting it down as a 5* instead of a 4*, something I couldn't quite pinpoint. Maybe there wasn't enough conflict or enough of a villain for my taste, maybe it could've been a tiny bit shorter in places, I'm unsure.
That being said I did really enjoy all the characters, whether I liked or disliked I thought they were incredibly well drawn and so much more well rounded than most authors could ever achieve. Caleb Garth and Fred Vincy were personal favourites and I was very happy with their endings. In fact all the Garth's were great, I could read about them forever. Meanwhile Casaubon was a terrible bore and I was even happier with his ending (died halfway through the tale thank God). Dorothea was another favourite, a much more complex female lead than found in most period dramas. I loved her principled stances, even if when coupled with youthful naivety it did lead her into a terrible marriage choice. Her lack of desire to conform was admirable and the way she wasn't presented as some perfectly virtuous and 'innocent' (/chaste) woman but a real, complete person with flaws and feelings etc. Rosamond was a great character aswell, I liked that her marriage was not a happy ending but almost the beginning of her story and her difficulties. Again, bucking trends and telling a truer story. I could go on and on about each of the dozens of other characters but no-one wants to read that.
This will be a very hard book to move on from, I was reading for a long time and felt very firmly entrenched in Middlemarch, I am just happy it was wrapped up so well in the finale so I have enough closure to move on to other books!
George/Mary was an author who was very present as a narrator, she also was a great philosopher and I really enjoy reading her prose and thoughts and I made note of more passages that resonated with me from this book than perhaps any other I have ever read.
In terms of ranking I would give this a 4.5 if goodreads would allow, but there was just something slight missing in my emotional connection to the story and characters that stopped me putting it down as a 5* instead of a 4*, something I couldn't quite pinpoint. Maybe there wasn't enough conflict or enough of a villain for my taste, maybe it could've been a tiny bit shorter in places, I'm unsure.
That being said I did really enjoy all the characters, whether I liked or disliked I thought they were incredibly well drawn and so much more well rounded than most authors could ever achieve. Caleb Garth and Fred Vincy were personal favourites and I was very happy with their endings. In fact all the Garth's were great, I could read about them forever. Meanwhile Casaubon was a terrible bore and I was even happier with his ending (died halfway through the tale thank God). Dorothea was another favourite, a much more complex female lead than found in most period dramas. I loved her principled stances, even if when coupled with youthful naivety it did lead her into a terrible marriage choice. Her lack of desire to conform was admirable and the way she wasn't presented as some perfectly virtuous and 'innocent' (/chaste) woman but a real, complete person with flaws and feelings etc. Rosamond was a great character aswell, I liked that her marriage was not a happy ending but almost the beginning of her story and her difficulties. Again, bucking trends and telling a truer story. I could go on and on about each of the dozens of other characters but no-one wants to read that.
This will be a very hard book to move on from, I was reading for a long time and felt very firmly entrenched in Middlemarch, I am just happy it was wrapped up so well in the finale so I have enough closure to move on to other books!