Middlemarch

So I am reading Middlemarch now. I am almost through The Dead Hand. I decided to read it because whenever I told people that I loved the Victorians, the next question was, "What do you think of Middlemarch?"

The novel does have great scope, and it is an interesting portrait of Victorian Society. However, it does not enthrall me the way some novels from that period do.

So far I like Mill on the Floss better. I also enjoyed Daniel Deronda more. Will someone, maybe some professor, enlighten me?

Joseph Epstein has a review of Gertrude Himmelfarb's forthcoming book on George Eliot and Daniel Deronda.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000%5C000%5C016%5C572uoajm...

I can't wait to read the new Himmelfarb.

I just picked up Middlemarch. I decided to read it for reasons identical to yours.

The first chapter, about the sisters dividing up their dead mother's jewelry, has captivated me. I kept picturing the contents of my own mother's jewelry box, and remembering the fascination it used to hold for me when I was a child.

I recently watched the BBC production o Middlemarch on a DVD i borrowed from the library: it was labeled Season 1. So,is there more to the story? It seemed to me to be complete. 8^)

Finally someone to talk to! I can't wait until you get a little further Zilpha!

I finished Middlemarch very recently and found this thread in the conversation links. I absolutely loved it, but it was my first foray into Eliot, so I can't compare it to The Mill on the Floss or Daniel Deronda--the latter, I think, will be my next Eliot read. Maybe in Jan or Feb.

I have a review of Middlemarch here:
http://www.librarything.com/work/10108/reviews/52194997

I'd be very interested in your thoughts & how much you think my estimation of Middlemarch matches up with Eliot's other work.

I also just finished the miniseries (6 episodes, Vanye? then it's the whole thing), which I thought was excellent overall. I always have little nitpicks, but I feel this miniseries deserves more press than it gets.

edit: spelling

>6

What a wonderful review. As a footnote, I think Eliot got the sympathetic vibration idea from David Hume.

I've read only Silas Marner, Mill on the Floss, and this one: I think this is probably her best, though if they're all excellent in some way, there isn't much profit in declaring a winner.