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Loading... Middlemarch (Penguin Classics) (original 1872; edition 2003)by George Eliot (Author), Rosemary Ashton (Editor), Rosemary Ashton (Editor), Rosemary Ashton (Introduction)
Work InformationMiddlemarch by George Eliot (1872)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. Put off reading Middlemarch for fear it would be too much like 18th c books that don't usually appeal to me, but this audio version kept me walking for hours! It is not just about the agonies of women trying to find marriage partners but it is an excellent feminist account of the mores of the time with insights into the present day. And the story is so compelling I couldn't wait to get back to it just to find out who did what next! ( ) We all have to exert ourselves a little to keep sane. (Mrs Cadwallader to Dorothea p.391) My particular 1956 edition started falling apart just as I began to read it. By page 40 there were pages everywhere so I switched to an audio book masterfully (if I can use such a gendered word) read by Juliet Stevenson. Here I should quote George Eliot (Anna Evans), I am not sure that the greatest man of his age, if ever that solitary superlative existed... This wry moment of confidence between writer and reader characterizes what I love about Eliot's wonderful writing. First, the understated distance between the author and her characters. Second, the precision of her sentences. Third, the gentle and sympathetic humour which leads to gleeful chuckling on my side of the page. Before I opened Middlemarch I was concerned that I'd be overwhelmed by another 'bonnet novel' of dubious interest, but almost immediately I found that I was in a different space altogether. Something timeless about the insights into character and situation. This is a wonderful book in which the story is merely incidental to the beautifully articulated and extraordinary perceptions of the author. I chuckled my way through this narrative with a mixture of joy and awe
It was a little bit of a challenge to tackle this book. I put it off reading for some time, but I am so glad that I finally picked it up and read it. I would highly advise listening to the audiobook version by naxos with Julius Stevenson as the reader. I have found in my personal reading, when working my way through a 19th century English literature book, that the audio version helps me get into the mindset and language of that time period. Juliet Stevenson is probably one of the finest readers I have come across. She especially does an excellent job with all the different character voices. As for the book itself. George Elliott really shines with her observations of human nature, psychology, and exploring those avenues through her characters and their relationships. The plot slowly works its way along a path that never really bores you. By the end of the book you will have grown to care so much about the interactions with each character that you will be turning pages, and finding new time in your life to read further. 900 pages is daunting, but by the end of the book you could keep on reading a few more hundred pages. If you like character development, this book is for you. Put it on your TBR, and find the time sometime in the future where you can explore the debts of George Elliott's world in Middlemarch. I have more of a taste for fantasy and adventure than for this type of novel of manners and social description, but I was prodded to read this by all of the fawning references in book reviews and literary notes. I was repaid with a long immersion in the country of 1832 England (the possible passage of the first Parliament reform bill is the subject of several episodes in the book), and remained interested to the end in the fates of the characters. Dorothea and her regrettable marriage to the rigid and self-absorbed Casaubon form the armature of the book, around which the other characters are arrayed. Dorothea in the end achieves some happiness despite Casaubon's spite from the grave. As a physician I was very interested by Dr. Lydgate, his medical theories and the practices of his fellows, and the very well described symptoms and psychologies of his patients. I knew how it is to have judgement hooded by beauty, and to suffer the consequences, not of debt, but of loss of reputation. I identified with the head down and diligent Caleb Garth, and I thought Fred Vincy was the luckiest of the characters, with the most witty, steady and engaging fiancé. The older, less impulsive and idealistic characters are either noble, like Mr. Farebrother, or compromised, like Bulstrode. It took me about 3 weeks of reading most days for an hour or more to finish, but I was carried along by the complex prose, difficult vocabulary, and Eliot's wit, insight and cleverness. Belongs to Publisher SeriesEveryman's Library (854-855) Gouden Reeks (6) — 13 more Modern Library Giant (isbn) Oneworld Classics (125) Penguin Clothbound Classics (2011) Penguin English Library, 2012 series (2012-09) Perpetua reeks (72) Is contained inThe Works of George Eliot: Vol. I - Adam Bede, The Mill on the Floss, Romola; Vol. II -- Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial life, Daniel Deronda; Vol. III -- Felix Holt, The Radical, Silas Marner, The Lifted Veil, Brother Jacob,Scenes from Clerical Life by George Eliot (indirect) 90 Masterpieces You Must Read (Vol.1): Novels, Poetry, Plays, Short Stories, Essays, Psychology & Philosophy by Various George Eliot Six Pack - Middlemarch, Daniel Deronda, Silas Marner, The Lifted Veil, The Mill on the Floss and Adam Bede by George Eliot Works of George Eliot. The Mill on the Floss, Daniel Deronda, Adam Bede, Middlemarch, The Lifted Veil & more. (mobi) by George Eliot George Eliot's Works: Adam Bede/Daniel Deronda/Felix Holt and Clerical Life/Middlemarch/Mill on the Floss/Romola (6 vols) by George Eliot Novels of George Eliot in Five Volumes with Illustrations: Adam Bede; The Mill in the Floss; Silas Marner; Clerical Life; Felix Holt; Middlemarch by George Eliot George Elliot Works: 7 books - Middlemarch, Adam Bede, Daniel Deronda, Romola, Impressions of Theophrastus Such..., Silas Marner, Felix Holt, the Radical (George Elliot Works, 7 of ? in set) by George Elliot George Eliot Collection: The Complete Novels, Short Stories, Poems and Essays (Middlemarch, Daniel Deronda, Scenes of Clerical Life, Adam Bede, The Lifted Veil...) by George Eliot The Works of George Eliot, Cabinet Edition, 19 volumes: Adam Bede; Romola; Middlemarch; Mill on the Floss; Daniel Deronda; Scenes of Clerical Life; ... by George Eliot George Eliot's Works (Six Volumes): Adam Bede, Scenes of Clerical Life, Middlemarch, The Mill On the Floss, Daniel Deronda, Felix Holt (The Radical), The Spanish Gypsy, Jubal and Other Poems, Romola, Theophrastus Such by George Eliot The Complete Novels of George Eliot - All 9 Novels in One Edition: Adam Bede, The Lifted Veil, The Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner, Romola, Brother Jacob, ... the Radical, Middlemarch & Daniel Deronda by George Eliot George Eliot's Works 5 Volumes Romola,The Mill On The Floss,Middlemarch,Daniel Deronda,Felix Holt by George Eliot ContainsHas the adaptationThe Graphic Canon, Vol. 2: From "Kubla Khan" to the Bronte Sisters to The Picture of Dorian Gray by Russ Kick Is abridged inHas as a reference guide/companionHas as a studyThe Things That Matter: What Seven Classic Novels Have to Say About the Stages of Life by Edward Mendelson Philosophy and the Novel: Philosophical Aspects of "Middlemarch", "Anna Karenina", "The Brothers Karamazov", "A la Recherche du Temps Perdu" by Peter Jones George Eliot: Adam Bede, Mill on the Floss, Middlemarch (Icon Reader's Guides to Essential Criticism) by Lucie Armitt The Business of the Novel: Economics, Aesthetics and the Case of Middlemarch (Literary Texts and the Popular Marketplace) by Simon R. Frost Middlemarch from Notebook to Novel : A Study of George Eliot's Creative Method (Illinois Studies in Language and Literat by Jerome Beaty Thalia Book Club: Rereading Middlemarch with Jennifer Egan, Siri Hustvedt and Margot Livesey by Jennifer Egan Sisters in Literature: Female Sexuality in "Antigone", "Middlemarch", Howards End" and "Women in Love" by Masako Hirai Has as a supplementHas as a commentary on the textHas as a student's study guideHas as a teacher's guideAwardsDistinctionsNotable Lists
Classic Literature.
Fiction.
HTML: Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life is exactly what it claims. Its multiple plots center around the inhabitants of a fictitious Midlands town and their evolving relationships to each other. It is critical of social class, ambition and marriage, and religion. It is commonly considered one of the masterpieces of English writing, and Virginia Woolf described it as "the magnificent book that, with all its imperfections, is one of the few English novels written for grown-up people". .No library descriptions found.
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.8Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Victorian period 1837-1900LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. Penguin Australia3 editions of this book were published by Penguin Australia. Editions: 0141439548, 0141199792, 0143123815 Tantor Media2 editions of this book were published by Tantor Media. Editions: 1400102162, 1400108632 Urban RomanticsAn edition of this book was published by Urban Romantics. |