Paperback, 810 pages
English language
Published Dec. 16, 2003 by Barnes & Noble Classics.
Enter the provincial town of Middlemarch, circa 1830, where the individual destinies of tradespeople, middle classes, and country gentry shape and are shaped by the community
I'm glad I read it. There was a hot minute (hour) where I thought it all was going to end badly, which made me realize I really cared about it all.
Can't believe this absolute unit of a book doesn't have many reviews. Tons of vibrant characters, loads of twisty plots, and all presented in incisive and delightful prose. It's MASSIVE and took me literal months to finish, but it's so worth it!
Honestly, there's no mainline, just many subplots braided like garlic.
I have to give Eliot props for meticulously constructing "provincial life" in exacting - sometimes excruciating - detail, yet always with a light hand. The various plots deal with all the circumstances listed on the tin. The characters seem at turns real enough to step off the page and too stiff to bend with the paper they're printed on.
Did I like it? No. I read it as part of my read a classic a month goal for 2023. I wanted to see what this book was about and to study the story structure and Eliot's technique.
Did I learn anything? I don't know. Maybe. The style and tone, the loose relationship with the reader that he shares with Melville's Moby Dick. The use of recurring themes in different subplots - sometimes each looking at the same circumstance from an …
Honestly, there's no mainline, just many subplots braided like garlic.
I have to give Eliot props for meticulously constructing "provincial life" in exacting - sometimes excruciating - detail, yet always with a light hand. The various plots deal with all the circumstances listed on the tin. The characters seem at turns real enough to step off the page and too stiff to bend with the paper they're printed on.
Did I like it? No. I read it as part of my read a classic a month goal for 2023. I wanted to see what this book was about and to study the story structure and Eliot's technique.
Did I learn anything? I don't know. Maybe. The style and tone, the loose relationship with the reader that he shares with Melville's Moby Dick. The use of recurring themes in different subplots - sometimes each looking at the same circumstance from an opposing perspective.
Recommended - But
Set aside some time for this one. It's rare for me to need more than 2 days for a novel. This one took over eight.
