***Group Read: Middlemarch Books 7-8

Here is the exciting conclusion of Middlemarch! What did you think of Books 7-8? How did you like the book overall?

I just finished Book 7, and it was quite exciting. The whole scandal coming out and the end of Raffles. I like Dorothea more and more. I am ready for the exciting conclusion of Middlemarch.
--BJ

Finished it yesterday evening. Outstanding. What a great ending. I am definitely looking forward to more of Eliot.

I am on the last book and I have to admit I did peak at the last couple of pages but one to the finish.

I just finished the book this morning. I had things to do, but I put them on hold until I could read to the end. I loved this book. The more I read, the more I liked it. I found the ending totally satisfying. I think the characters were amazingly believable. I agree that I will also want to read more of her books.
--BJ

I really enjoyed the book and it will go on my to be re-read pile maybe in a couple of years. But I really liked that the ending because I was not left wondering how something or a relationship was going to turn out in the furture. So like billiejean I was very pleased with the ending.

I finished this book while on vacation, and I am having a hard time coming up with comments about individual books, so I guess I will briefly summarize my thoughts here.

I always have problems reading a book that is all hyped up, because then I have exceedingly high expectations about it. I was talking to a co-worker about this book and he adores it, but part of that was reading it in a college lit class where you dissect all the symbolism and uncover the hidden meaning of the work. But of course he couldn't remember one example to share with me : )

I liked several aspects of the book, like the amount of detail that went into the characters and their relationships, and the quality of writing. I have an internal foible with tidy endings…while reading the book, I long for a nice wrap up to all the story lines, but then once I finish I often wish that more of the ending was left up to my imagination so I can think about the possibilities for as long as I want.

Overall, I gave the book a 3 star rating and I blame myself for not liking it more. It’s just that I wanted, and expected, to be WOWED and I wasn’t.

I am glad to hear that others enjoyed it more!

~ Alicia

Don't blame yourself for not liking it more. Everyone has a different opinion, which I think is good. And you had lots of good points. Thanks for joining in the read. :)
--BJ

#7 I sometimes feel that way also my best example is Cather in the Rye for the life of me I can not understand why everyone thinks this book is so wonderful. All I could see is a teenager walking around mad at the world complaining about everything. The only other book that I really didnt like from the 1001 list is How the Dead Live by Will Self that one was also a really big disappointment also.

I think I am the only person who has not read Catcher in the Rye.
--BJ

It was one of the first books that I read this year right after I found the 1001 Books list.

At the end of Middlemarch I was left thinking that Dorothea had become an insufferably Good Person and that this was what enabled her to make what were, for the time, two bad marriages and still be our heroine. But her relentless kindness and helpfulness to everybody just became too much to take. I also found it terribly sad at the end that Lydgate ends up thinking himself a failure even as his dreadful wife thinks him a success (although a tribulation).

I also wondered if Dorothea would have remained so dreadfully good if she hadn't been relieved of her first marriage by a convenient death. In a way, she was not tested in the way Lydgate is.

All of the machinations with Bulstrode, Raffles, Lydgate and Ladislaw were at once terribly improbable and absolutely delightful in the best Victorian fiction manner. Altogether a very satisfying book, although perhaps not destined to be a favorite.