My rating:

add to my books

read book

Middlemarch

by George Eliot, Megan McDaniel (Illustrator), Lynne Sharon Schwartz (Introduction), Lynn Sharon Schwartz (Introduction)

3.90 · rating details · 20,662 ratings · 1,904 reviews

Often called the greatest nineteenth-century British novelist, George Eliot (the pen name of Mary Ann Evans) created in Middlemarch a vast panorama of life in a provincial Midlands town. At the story’s center stands the intellectual and idealistic Dorothea Brooke—a character who in many ways resembles Eliot herself. But the very qualities that set Dorothea apart from the m...more

Paperback, 848 pages

Published April 1st 2003 by Barnes & Noble Classics (first published 1871)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

This book is currently not featured on any Listopia lists. Add this book to your favorite list »

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 41,285)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Sep 27, 2007

Stephanie rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, greatfnwriting

I'm thoroughly embarrassed to admit that this book was first recommended to me by my stalker. Subsequently, I avoided MIDDLEMARCH like the plague, because it became associated with this creepy guy who thought the fastest way to my heart was to stare at me, follow me home, and leave obscene messages on my voice mail.

Flash forward 2 years, when I'm purusing yet another of my favorite tomes, THE BOOK OF LISTS. I'm intrigued to see that the one book that consistently turns up on the "...more

like 95 likes

· see review

Aug 21, 2010

Elizabeth rated it

· review of another edition

Recommended to Elizabeth by: Virginia Woolf but Jessica made me do it

Shelves: in-by-of-england, tam-lin, reviewed, 2009, victorians-and-wannabes, virginia-woolf-recommends

Oh, my constant companion, the time has come for us to part. How shall I bear it? What will this estrangement do to me? George, please, tell me how can I go on?

I am feeling a little melodramatic. It may be that George Eliot has been my constant companion for two months and now that we are done, I am not sure, really, how to get back my old reading life. Middlemarch is that good, and that bad. I read this book everywhere: five states, four airports, trains, taxis, at home, in hotels,...more

like 57 likes

· see review

Aug 21, 2007

Siobhan rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: everyone alive.

Best. Goddamned. Book. Ever.

Seriously, this shit's bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S. 750 pages in, and you're still being surprised. It's 800 pages long and EVERY SINGLE PAGE ADVANCES THE PLOT. You cannot believe it until you read it.

This is a writer's book. By which I mean, and I say this with love, that if you write, but you do not love Middlemarch with everything that's in you, then stop writing. Yesterday.

like 55 likes

· see review

Jul 25, 2011

Alex rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, reading-through-history, victorian, particularly-drunk-reviews, coralie-bickford-smith-covers

Middlemarch is a towering achievement. It's tough to find words strong enough to describe it; I mean, I just finished Madame Bovary and called it "perfect," so where do I go from there? Middlemarch is almost three times as long and it's still perfect; that's more impressive. But Anna Karenina is pretty close to perfect too, so here's the best I can do:

George Eliot is better than Tolstoy.

Tolstoy is a realistic writer: his characters are real, complicated people w...more

like 14 likes

· see review

Jul 11, 2008

Martine rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: british, favourites, film, historical-fiction, nineteenth-century, psychological-drama

Widely regarded as the quintessential Victorian novel, Middlemarch is a superb study of life among the upper and upper middle classes of a fictional rural community in 1830s England. It takes 900 pages to draw its conclusions, but they're 900 pages of some of the richest realist writing nineteenth-century literature has to offer, full of insights into society, human nature, what to do in life when one can't quite make one's dreams come true, and how to make a marriage work. I've seen it describe...moreWidely regarded as the quintessential Victorian novel, Middlemarch is a superb study of life among the upper and upper middle classes of a fictional rural community in 1830s England. It takes 900 pages to draw its conclusions, but they're 900 pages of some of the richest realist writing nineteenth-century literature has to offer, full of insights into society, human nature, what to do in life when one can't quite make one's dreams come true, and how to make a marriage work. I've seen it described as a book everyone should read before getting married, and I agree -- all the lessons you need to learn about human relationships are in here, and much more besides.

To a large extent, the success of Middlemarch is due to its characterisation. A character-driven novel if ever I saw one, Middlemarch features some of the most memorable characters Eliot ever came up with: an earnest young lady who wishes to make a difference; her husband, a petty and jealous scholar; a hot-tempered doctor who is a little ahead of his time; his wife, a living embodiment of the fact that pretty girls don't always make the best spouses; a pious banker who is not the good Christian he has always professed to be; his nephew, who desperately wishes to win the heart of the girl he loves despite his mounting gambling debts; a talented outsider who doesn't quite know how to make the most of his gifts -- they're all here, and they're described in admirable detail. Like a scientist, Eliot puts her characters under a microscope, describing their every flaw and weakness, but always in a sympathetic way; even her worst characters have redeeming features, which makes it very easy to take an interest in their vicissitudes. Like an anthropologist, she then puts her characters into a socio-cultural context, showing the whole through the parts and the parts through the whole. The historical background (political changes, the industrial revolution, new medical theories) is magnificently drawn, and the stories (there are many here) are as fine as they come, featuring love triangles, thwarted prospects, intrigue, political aspirations, blackmail, gossip, characters meddling in other people's lives from beyond the grave, and a clash between old values and modern science and technology. Granted, the book takes a while to hit its stride, but once it does, it's unputdownable.

As for shortcomings, one could say that Eliot is occasionally a tad too intellectual for her own good. Frightfully well-read herself, she sometimes has her characters refer to things which seem a bit outside their scope. Likewise, she occasionally loses herself in technical and political details which slightly detract from the main stories, and takes so much time setting the scene for the great developments which are to follow later that the first half of the book is a tad dull. The second half is brilliant, though -- up there with the great French and Russian realist classics of the period, and then some. It's not the easiest read, but a patient reader will be amply rewarded for his/her trouble, especially if he/she takes the trouble the read the book more than once. Middlemarch is one of those books which yield new gems every time one reads them, and I cherish it for that.(less)

like 31 likes

· see review

view all 7 comments

Martine Kelly, I think you're right about Eliot and Dorothea. Dorothea definitely is the closest thing to Eliot herself. Still, I would have liked to see Elio...more
Jul 13, 2008 02:05pm

Whit Oh Lord, I don't have to read it again do I? You mean that their are people who read this amazing and remarkable book twice?
Dec 16, 2009 11:45am

Oct 10, 2007

Phil rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: The jackanapes and mongrels who need to learn that people aren't so bad as they seem.

When I finished reading this book, I wrote in the front of it that 'This is the most rewarding book you will ever read' and left it on a bookshelf in Fiji, dreaming that someone would go through the effort of reading the whole thing based only on my comment. I doubt anyone's picked it up since then; Fiji is a strange and frightening place.

I spake the truth, though. It strikes me that most of those who've read Middlemarch these days are hapless souls who resent it as the mammoth task ...moreWhen I finished reading this book, I wrote in the front of it that 'This is the most rewarding book you will ever read' and left it on a bookshelf in Fiji, dreaming that someone would go through the effort of reading the whole thing based only on my comment. I doubt anyone's picked it up since then; Fiji is a strange and frightening place.

I spake the truth, though. It strikes me that most of those who've read Middlemarch these days are hapless souls who resent it as the mammoth task some crooked professor set them at university. I read it for myself, unwittingly, and was pleasantly surprised. George Eliot conjures a massive spectrum of characters, and gets into the head of every major player in the novel. We are shown what motivates the most despicable figures as well as those we are drawn to, and as a result there is no one in this book who you cannot relate to in some way or another, or at the very least understand. In my opinion that is what makes it such a grand read: George Eliot understood people. She shows you that everyone thinks in their own way, and it makes it hard to judge anyone when you can observe this.

Though it is that lasting impression of how we might perceive one another that really makes Middlemarch stand out, the story itself is continually interesting for its sheer breadth. George Eliot set out to give a panoramic view of a provincial town, and she achieves this incredibly. It is a long read, but every step in the story builds up to the picture of the whole. Sometimes I found myself confused as to how I'd ended up in a situation where I was reading what should essentially have amounted to little more a 19th Century soap opera, but what confused me was that I was enjoying it so much. I was desperate to know what would become of these marriages and debts and everything inbetween. This is such a detailed character study that you become genuinely interested in their lives, no matter how mundane the details might appear if you stepped back and really thought about it.

Middlemarch is not a book for everyone, I imagine. The insight George Eliot shows might bore rather interest many. But it interests me like hell, so a pox on the naysayers.(less)

like 20 likes

· see review

Aug 24, 2009

Sandybanks rated it

Shelves: british-literature, classics, doorstoppers, 5-star-reads, 2009, bbc-big-reads, victorian-lit, eliot

" We mortals, men and women, devour many a disappointment between breakfast and dinner-time..."

Delusions, self-induced or otherwise, form the central theme that runs through Middlemarch. Dorothea Brooke, thirsting for knowledge and a meaningful occupation, deludes herself that she would gain those things by marrying Casaubon, a cold, obsessive scholar more than twice her age. Casaubon himself is mired in self-delusion about his life-long research, which Dorothea soon finds...more" We mortals, men and women, devour many a disappointment between breakfast and dinner-time..."

Delusions, self-induced or otherwise, form the central theme that runs through Middlemarch. Dorothea Brooke, thirsting for knowledge and a meaningful occupation, deludes herself that she would gain those things by marrying Casaubon, a cold, obsessive scholar more than twice her age. Casaubon himself is mired in self-delusion about his life-long research, which Dorothea soon finds out to be obsolete. The idealistic Lydgate deludes himself that by marrying the pretty but high-maintenance Rosamond Vincy he would gain both beauty and love, without having to give up the ideals that he lives for. Rosamond's delusion is that by marrying Lydgate, whose fledgling medical profession she despises, but whose aristocratic connections she covets, she would gain status while being maintained at the high standards that she has gotten used to. Bulstrode, MIddlemarch's banker and pious benefactor, has successfully deluded the whole town of his decidedly unpious past before it came back with a vengeance in the form of a certain Mr. Raffles. Mr. Brooke, who champions the liberal spirit of the Reform Act, is under the delusion that by merely being idealistic, he has changed the world, while neglecting to reform his own estate. The main interest of the novel consists of seeing how these very human characters cope with the consequences of their delusions.

Dorothea soon realizes that Casaubon and his work are not what she thought they were, but she holds up her end of the bargain by being a loyal spouse to him, though her heart sinks when she imagines the loveless and futile years that stretch out before her. Casaubon's sudden death mercifully terminates the disastrous marriage, and Dorothea's integrity, after further trials and tribulations, is ultimately rewarded by her finding love with Will Ladislaw. Lydgate discovers how his love of a pretty face slowly compromises his ideals and ends up in mediocrity, very far from what he aims for as a young medical reformer. Rosamond selfishly persists in her delusions without any regard for what it costs her husband. She finally gets what she wants, but at what price? Bulstrode's past misdeeds eventually catch up with him and destroy the life that he has so painstakingly constructed in Middlemarch. Mr. Brooke's political dilletantism never change the world, but it successfully opens up a path to meaningful occupation for an otherwise aimless young man.

Meanwhile, all of these characters' struggles are contrasted with the Garths' earthy integrity. Mr. Garth is an estate manager who does his job capably and honorably, without any pretensions to status or unearned wealth. Fred Vincy and Mary Garth are the only couple that is not under any delusions of each other's characters and goes on to a long and happy union.

Eliot's writing is infused with penetrating insights into human nature without ever losing compassion and understanding for their frailties and errors, a quality that she shares with Tolstoy. She never sentimentalizes her characters, except perhaps for the idealized Garths. They are all believably human, and they drive the narrative instead of the other way around. Eliot also has a great eye for the ludicruous and her wicked sense of humor constantly enlivens what could have been a ponderous account of provincial English life. One may read Middlemarch for the portrait of a Midlands town on the cusp of industrial revolution in 19th century England, which Eliot admirably delivers, but ultimately it is Eliot's insight into the universal human condition that makes it eternally relevant.

Finally, this book is a profoundly wise, if rather melancholic, reflection on the loss of youthful hopes and ambitions, and their replacement by the more realistic (and inevitable) compromises of maturity. Which, Eliot says, is not a bad thing in itself, as " the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs".

(less)

like 21 likes

· see review

May 28, 2007

Rachel rated it

· review of another edition

Middlemarch may look like 1000 pages of repressed English people who won't do exciting things, but in fact, it's a thrill ride (if the ride were called "Class Consciousness and How it Will Kill Your Love Life and Your Business"). This book has more action than all three Pirates movies. George Eliot was not messing around.

like 9 likes

· see review

Sep 10, 2011

Christopher H. rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: victorian-literature, british-literature, historical-fiction, george-eliot, my-western-canon, favorite-rereads, british-authors-translators, favorites, read-in-2011

I have just finished reading Middlemarch, and this pretty much completes my reading of George Eliot's major works. Middlemarch truly is quite the sublime novel from start to finish. At first blush one has this sense of simply being immersed in a rather quiet and pastoral story, but there's really very much more going on here as one turns the pages.It is a story of rural England during the period of great reforms in politics, religion, agriculture, manufacturing, medicine, and even transportati...moreI have just finished reading Middlemarch, and this pretty much completes my reading of George Eliot's major works. Middlemarch truly is quite the sublime novel from start to finish. At first blush one has this sense of simply being immersed in a rather quiet and pastoral story, but there's really very much more going on here as one turns the pages.It is a story of rural England during the period of great reforms in politics, religion, agriculture, manufacturing, medicine, and even transportation. Mostly though, it is the story of human beings, and what it means to be human.

Eliot gives us a wonderful cast of characters in Middlemarch, and they cut across all class lines from the landed gentry, tradesmen and women, and the simple country rustics that work the land and work in the manor houses. While perhaps Dickensian in cast, the peoples that populate the novel are not laden with the satire or comedy of a Dickens or Thackeray novel. No, these are all people that we can relate to even in this modern age. These are your neighbors, some rich, some poor; these are your physicians; your pastors; your shopkeepers, and so forth. The people of Middlemarch are your family, friends, and acquaintances and become even more so as the novel moves along.

As much as I truly enjoyed the plots in Eliot's Adam Bede, The Mill on the Floss, and Silas Marner, I'd have to say that Eliot "kicked it up a notch" in Middlemarch. This is a stately, sedate, sophisticated, and complexly elegant novel. It really does demand the reader's full dedication and attention as it is read too, much like I found when I read her last novel Daniel Deronda. Boy, is it worth the extra effort, and one can't help but find oneself savoring the pacing and structure of the novel as Eliot lays out the tale.

Eliot herself compares one of her primary characters, Dorothea Brooke, to St. Theresa de Avila. She is a genuinely decent human being who very much cares for the welfare of all of those around her, including even the man she marries early in the novel--Edward Casaubon. Interestingly, at least to me, that through the novel there was an almost tidal 'ebb and flow' of how the reader viewed many of the characters. The one exception was Dorothea, as she always stayed above the fray and maintains her 'saintliness'. I suppose that some could say that maybe Dorothea's saintliness was laid on a bit thick, but I think the character of Dorothea and her actions are important in helping to bring home the novel's overall message and moral impact. I think that this was also true in different degrees with some of the other characters, such as Tertius Lydgate, Rev. Farebrother, Caleb Garth, his wife, and their daughter Mary Garth. Perhaps the most powerful aspect of the novel though is Eliot's ability to make her readers empathize and even sympathize with the characters that are not so likeable, e.g., Bulstrode or Casaubon.

Finally, I have to again say that somehow I really think that George Eliot had to have been some sort of inspiration for, or influence upon, the later works of Thomas Hardy. I really do see a somewhat similar approach to realism and naturalism in the works of these two important authors. While Eliot's novels don't showcase the impact of Fate or Chance perhaps as prominently as Hardy, they both inject a big dose of reality in the day-to-day lives of their characters. Bad things do happen to good and bad people alike, just like Life. The beauty of Middlemarch is that it depicts the indomitable Human spirit at its finest (and, dare I say, at its worst at times too). Those who wish to do good can; and for those who don't, well they get caught out.

Great book! I highly recommend reading this novel. I have to be honest and fess up that I tried to read this book off and on for 20+ years, and it just never took with me. I was finally able to sink my teeth (and brain) into it and just let myself become immersed in the peoples and landscape of Middlemarch, and what a profoundly satisfying and enriching experience it has been. In all reality, I think that I am at a point in my reading and comprehension these days that I was finally ready for what Virginia Woolf described as "one of the few English novels written for grown-up people." I do look forward to re-reading it again at some point and thinking about the messages and lessons of this rich novel that George Eliot has crafted and left us.(less)

like 6 likes

· see review

Oct 07, 2010

Manny rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: older-men-younger-women, the-goodreads-experience

Since it's still Stalker Week here on Goodreads, I decided to create a new shelf, which I've called older-men-younger-women. I hope that's neutral enough that I won't get flagged. My criterion is simple: a relationship between a man and a much younger woman needs to play an important part in the story.

Well, as I was saying to Meredith, I knew ahead of time that Twilight and Lolita would be there. I trust we've already absorbed all the lessons that can usefully be drawn from these boo...more

like 18 likes

· see review

Jul 16, 2011

El rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 1001-books-list, late19th-centurylit, big-effing-books

This is the book that I would answer if I were hypothetically asked what book could have single-handedly become the reason that my relationship would ever fall apart. More so than Infinite Jest or Proust, other examples of books that have consumed or are consuming my life in one way or another. I didn't realize I had a reading problem until I realized that my boyfriend was unpacking around me; literally unpacking boxes right from under my feet - while I sat there and turned the pages. Or when...moreThis is the book that I would answer if I were hypothetically asked what book could have single-handedly become the reason that my relationship would ever fall apart. More so than Infinite Jest or Proust, other examples of books that have consumed or are consuming my life in one way or another. I didn't realize I had a reading problem until I realized that my boyfriend was unpacking around me; literally unpacking boxes right from under my feet - while I sat there and turned the pages. Or when I realized the house was suddenly quiet because he had taken the dogs out for a walk. He could have lit his face on fire and I'm not entirely sure I would have even noticed. Even while I was helping with the moving, or at work doing work-y types of things - I was usually thinking about Middlemarch. So, people in my daily life? The glazed look on my face, all of the, "I'm sorry, what did you say"'s? It was because of this book. And there's not even a good reason for that.

Infinite Jest is the kind of book that it seems okay to let the rest of your life fall apart around you as you read it. It seems appropriate to become one of those people while reading Infinite Jest. It lends itself to that sort of behavior. But George Eliot? Middlemarch? Pshaw! I would have said before I read it. Are you kidding me? Get a life, woman!

But, dude. I totally became that person. Admitting there is a problem is the first step to seeking help. So I'm here. Seeking help.

Just like Infinite Jest it's a book that could be re-read numerous times and you'd probably get something different out of it each time. That Eliot was a whip-smart woman, and I bemoan the fact that I just don't know enough about history at times to keep up with a brain like hers. The notes in the end were exceptionally helpful, though annoying at times when they pointed out chronological mistakes - like the characters couldn't possibly have known about a certain popular book yet because in the real world it hadn't been published yet during the time in which the story was to take place. Whoops! I don't need to know those sorts of things, but thanks anyway.

If you don't like details about every little thing, you won't like this book. There's so much detail it makes the whaling chapters in Moby Dick sound almost appealing. (Never mind, I just got over it. Whew.) I can't imagine writing a book like this, just like I couldn't imagine David Foster Wallace writing a book like Infinite Jest. The amount of time, and energy - holy cats, the psychic energy that must have gone into putting down so much information that covered such a wide variety of topics - it makes me need a nap just to process it.

Middlemarch - the 19th-century answer to Infinite Jest? Hmm.

Highlight: Oh dear, I just found out that there was a 1994 TV version of the story - with Rufus Sewell. You know how most women are all ga-ga over Colin Firth and none of them can really explain why? I'm that way about Rufus Sewell.

He's the dreamboat in the red coat. Just in case anyone thought I was all drooly-cup over the old guy.(less)

like 10 likes

· see review

Nov 22, 2010

Dawn rated it

· review of another edition

Henry James said "Middlemarch is a treasure-house of details, but it is an indifferent whole." And while I had a blast reading this and want to duke it out with him, I can't exactly remark on the whole of it without, well, indifference. There's no great coming-together or falling-apart here. It's a testament to the incremental. Characters with big plans end up either total failures or adjusting their ambitions to the tenor of their littler surroundings. Reminds me of another M-town I w...more

like 5 likes

· see review

Nov 19, 2009

Daniel rated it

· review of another edition

Recommended to Daniel by: Rose

Shelves: 2009

How does one review "Middlemarch?" Is doing so different than reviewing life itself? Both are a succession of births, deaths, marriages, debts accrued, debts paid, careers made, careers finished, love affairs begun, love affairs ended, love affairs left unconsummated, dreams fulfilled, dreams destroyed, and dreams deferred. As in life, many of the people encountered in "Middlemarch" are unlikable, and even the ones who are likable have myriad flaws. "Middlemarch" is...moreHow does one review "Middlemarch?" Is doing so different than reviewing life itself? Both are a succession of births, deaths, marriages, debts accrued, debts paid, careers made, careers finished, love affairs begun, love affairs ended, love affairs left unconsummated, dreams fulfilled, dreams destroyed, and dreams deferred. As in life, many of the people encountered in "Middlemarch" are unlikable, and even the ones who are likable have myriad flaws. "Middlemarch" is very long and parts are kind of boring, but the overall achievement is staggering -- kind of like life itself.

Virginia Woolf called George Eliot's book "one of the few English novels written for grown-up people." As such, "Middlemarch" is incredibly realistic -- almost aggressively so. Nothing happens in "Middlemarch" that wouldn't happen in the real world. This is not Dumas, for better or worse. Swordplay, revenge plots, high-level political intrigue, and murder are all absent. (Well, there might be a bit of murder; that's open to interpretation.) In their place we get what we get in our own lives: gossip, grudges, low-level political posturing, and death from illness and old age.

My description may make "Middlemarch" sound dreary; it's anything but. George Eliot's writing is so sharp -- so biting, so sardonic, so wise in the ways of the world -- that even the slowest parts of her book are intriguing. The following is just a small sample of Eliot's wit from near the book's end (spoiler alert, I guess, though the book's 135 years old, so I don't know that spoiler alerts are still needed at this point):

All who have cared for Fred Vincy and Mary Garth will like to know that these two made no such failure, but achieved a solid mutual happiness. Fred surprised his neighbors in various ways. He became rather distinguished in his side of the county as a theoretic and practical farmer, and produced a work on the "Cultivation of Green Crops and the Economy of Cattle-Feeding" which won him high congratulations at agricultural meetings. In Middlemarch admiration was more reserved: most persons there were inclined to believe that the merit of Fred's authorship was due to his wife, since they had never expected Fred Vincy to write on turnips and mangel-wurzel.

But when Mary wrote a little book for her boys, called "Stories of Great Men, taken from Plutarch," and had it printed and published by Gripp & Co., Middlemarch, every one in the town was willing to give the credit of this work to Fred, observing that he had been to the University, "where the ancients were studied," and might have been a clergyman if he had chosen.

In this way it was made clear that Middlemarch had never been deceived, and that there was no need to praise anybody for writing a book, since it was always done by somebody else.

I toyed with giving "Middlemarch" four stars because of its tendency to drag at times, particularly in its middle third. But, no, fuck that. It's a brilliant book. Five stars.(less)

like 21 likes

· see review

Jun 16, 2007

Mala rated it

· review of another edition

From this book, I learned that I'm not fit to hold a pencil.

like 14 likes

· see review

Jun 26, 2009

julieta rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: siglo-xix, favorites

I have to confess my weakness for small towns in a story. Small town mentality, attitudes, interest in your neighbours private lives and all that happens when you know everything about your neighbours and they know about you, your parents, grandparents and etceteras. I grew up in a small city, I wouldn’t call it a town, (2 million people), but, the attitude was always unmistakably small towner in every way.

So this weakness of mine has a cause. And when I came to start middlemarch, i...more

like 6 likes

· see review

Jun 04, 2008

Akemi rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: school

My other favorite (along with Emma) from my 19th Century British Novel class. The writing is just amazing. Throughout my reading of the book, I just marveled at how perfectly Eliot phrases everything. The only parts that I disliked were her ramblings on medicine- possibly because it's outdated science, possibly because it seemed like she was just showing off her own knowledge for no apparent reason. Although at one point in the novel, she point-blank says that everything she wrote had a purpose ...moreMy other favorite (along with Emma) from my 19th Century British Novel class. The writing is just amazing. Throughout my reading of the book, I just marveled at how perfectly Eliot phrases everything. The only parts that I disliked were her ramblings on medicine- possibly because it's outdated science, possibly because it seemed like she was just showing off her own knowledge for no apparent reason. Although at one point in the novel, she point-blank says that everything she wrote had a purpose connecting to the novel itself (but I have my doubts). Oh, and I could have lived without some of the chapters on Lydgate and Rosamond's failing marriage. But other than those two complaints, I loved this novel.

One thing that struck me about Middlemarch is how modern it seems. I guess it wasn't written that long ago, but it's still intriguing to see where current problems had their root. For instance, hardly any of the young people in the novel know what they want to do as a career. Sound familiar? The whole idea of a middle class that could choose a career that was more than just a job but a vocation, a calling, something they enjoyed and that would contribute something meaningful, originated at this time period and continues today. Another modern idea discussed in the novel is the difference between city life vs. small town life; Lydgate leaves London because he thinks the city has too many distractions, only to find that Middlemarch politics and social pressures interfere with his life even more directly (a la Stars Hollow in Gilmore Girls).

I found Middlemarch strangely similar to All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren, which I had to read in my senior year of high school. I'm sure there is no actual connection between the two (though who knows?), but there are an uncanny number of similarities. Mary's insistence on Fred settling on the right career before she agrees to marry him reminded me of Anne's similar problem with Jack (except Jack never figures it out and thus loses the girl whereas Fred and Mary live happily ever after- the difference between the 19th and 20th centuries...). Bulstrode's plan to construct a hospital and his manipulation of Lydgate, the idealistic young doctor, is ridiculously similar to Willie's plan...to construct a hospital..while manipulating Adam, the idealistic young doctor.

Favorite quote: "If we had a keen vision and feeling of all ordinary human life, it would be like hearing the grass grow and the squirrel's heart beat, and we should die of that roar which lies on the other side of silence."(less)

like 6 likes

· see review

Jan 05, 2008

Skylar Burris rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: classics

Having been slightly bored by Silas Marner, I was not expecting much gratification from this massive tome. But I had heard good things about Middlemarch from others, so I steeled myself and dug in. I was quite figuratively blown-away by the quality of writing. It is not just that Eliot is an excellent satirist, but that she makes penetrating psychological insights and crafts very well-developed, imminently human characters, who are sympathetic despite their faults. She also exhibits a brilli...more

like 2 likes

· see review

May 23, 2007

Kelly rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: women, particularly feminists, brit lit dorks

Shelves: fiction, brit-lit, victorian, owned, 19th-century, grande-dames, mawwiageiswhatbringsustogethertoday

I would not have read this if it were not for a class I took last spring. I will admit that. It had always intimidated me. Large size and dense, winding prose will tend to do that to one.

However. It did have some things to say, and on the scale of feminine writing of the time period, it just towers over anything else in its seriousness. The problem, of course, is that most of the subject matter it tackles- marriages, love, children, the various problems of country life (though there ...moreI would not have read this if it were not for a class I took last spring. I will admit that. It had always intimidated me. Large size and dense, winding prose will tend to do that to one.

However. It did have some things to say, and on the scale of feminine writing of the time period, it just towers over anything else in its seriousness. The problem, of course, is that most of the subject matter it tackles- marriages, love, children, the various problems of country life (though there is a dash of politics in there- it always seems incongrous and forced, like George Eliot just got randomly pissed about some issue and added it into whatever chapter she was working on) are things that people can read about in many forms, and they don't need to come to such a Serious book to do it. The light touch of Ms. Austen is just a hand wandering down a bookshelf away, after all. But I really must say, taking it for a book about /just/ those things, and reading it for the common drama of those sorts of plots would definitely be missing a whole lot of the point. It's astoundingly accomplished and witty and her knowledge on a wide range of subjects is truly impressive.

My issue with this book is that it can be quite dry, for all it's interesting ideas. And even with all it's intelligence and sharpness.... it's very hard to connect with or care about any of the characters. If you do, it's generally not the characters you're supposed to connect to, or not for the right reasons. I connected with the heroine, but only because I too like smart men (and had a thing for older guys in my teen years). But that's superficial and doesn't matter. The only person I felt that I geniunely understood and wanted good things to happen to was Mary, and she didn't have anywhere near enough screen time, so that was annoying. I wrote a paper on the women of this novel for my class, and I was rather proud of how it turned out- it did help me focus my reading, which is very useful in such a sprawling novel.

Anyway, it's wonderful, it's just... quite a chore, and I can't give any more stars to a novel that was so difficult to get through.(less)

like 14 likes

· see review

Apr 03, 2007

rachel rated it

· review of another edition

This is one of my two all-time favourite books (the other is Lolita). I could gush about it for hours. George Eliot is so delightfully snotty, observant, and sensitive. Every time I read it (uh, I think this is my 6th time through) I notice something new, sympathize with a new character, catch a new allusion, etc.
I think the best thing about the book is the complete picture Eliot paints of each of her characters' personalities. There are no heroes or badguys, and even the most sympathe...more

like 3 likes

· see review

Jun 07, 2008

Gerrit rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, read-in-2008, read-in-college, read-in-2005

One of the best novels out there; If you want to know how to write a good book, take a serious look at Eliot's masterpiece. She has an amazing ability to do two things:

1) the characters drive the plot, not the other way around (Rowling?). Everything that happens in the book is a direct result of a BELIEVABLE action by one or several of the characters, considering their individual personalities and quirks. The novel progresses because the characters force it to.

2) somehow ...more

like 6 likes

· see review

Jul 25, 2011

Stacie marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: abandoned, 1001books

I got a little over halfway through...it was OK, but I just couldn't keep my mind from wandering when I read it. I put it down one day and picked up another book and can't bring myself to pick it back up. One day, I will read it from cover to cover. But, with a little help from my friends I have made the executive decision to just quit - there really are more books in the world to read that won't make me feel like I am doing something I should be doing rather than something I want to be doing. T...more

like 2 likes

· see review

Dec 18, 2010

Gail rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 2009, classic-british, victorian-fiction, own, 2010, revisited, tioli

Why oh why did I put this off for so very long? A great, great book with living characters, inticate and almost soap-operish plotting, and some great zingers strung along the way. A most marvelous read. A very minor off tick for the overuse of the words "ardent", "ardour" and variations thereof.

Probably the best Victorian novel.

like 3 likes

· see review

Apr 14, 2009

Miranda rated it

· review of another edition

My third attempt at getting through Middlemarch finally proved to be successful and discovering George Eliot’s delightfully sardonic and deeply psychological writing was a revelation. While I now have a frame of reference for the Dorothea Brooke allusions I come across occasionally, it was the character of Rosamond Lydgate, nee Vincy, that intrigued me the most. Not written as a likable character, and certainly one that would have been despised by Eliot’s contemporary readers, to a revisionist f...more

like 3 likes

· see review

Jan 31, 2010

Faith-Anne rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: classical-literature, my-favorites, george-eliot

Beautiful novel with some of the most engaging characters I've ever encountered. This is George Eliot at her finest!

like 2 likes

· see review

Sep 13, 2007

David rated it

· review of another edition

Like Casaubon, I'm searching for a Key to All Mythologies. I'll let you know how it turns out.

like 5 likes

· see review

Apr 28, 2008

Charlaralotte rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-the-1980s

This book is da bomb.

like 2 likes

· see review

Nov 03, 2011

Maia B. rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: boring, historical, too-long, vile-characters

*Gasps. Shrieks. Attempts to escape but cannot.*

That's me, floundering around in the Pit of Eternal Tedium, otherwise known as George Eliot's Middlemarch. It was assigned to my English class, or I would have escaped the Pit much earlier, with considerably less damage to my brain cells caused by trying to understand what the heck was supposed to be happening. This is without a doubt one of the dullest books I have ever read. (Since I have read "Robinson Crusoe", this is sayi...more*Gasps. Shrieks. Attempts to escape but cannot.*

That's me, floundering around in the Pit of Eternal Tedium, otherwise known as George Eliot's Middlemarch. It was assigned to my English class, or I would have escaped the Pit much earlier, with considerably less damage to my brain cells caused by trying to understand what the heck was supposed to be happening. This is without a doubt one of the dullest books I have ever read. (Since I have read "Robinson Crusoe", this is saying an awful lot.)

I do not understand the appeal in this book. What's to love in a large cast of characters having tremendous difficulty with everything because they are too helpless to do anything about it? Worse, every single one of these characters is supposed to be partly sympathetic. Except maybe Raffles.

There are so many things I dislike about this nine-hundred-page novel that I'm having trouble sorting them into anything cohesive. First and foremost, we have the characters, all of whom I have a continual desire to throttle, except for Mary Garth. (She earns a whole half-star by herself.) Am I supposed to feel sorry for Bulstrode and Casaubon? Am I supposed to like Dorothea? And what's with Ladislaw? He doesn't do anything during the whole course of the book - Dorothea is the one who eventually proposes, for heaven's sake, and all Ladislaw does is talk and look angry.

Now that I've worked off my first excess of emotion, I can say that yes, I know that this is an excellent representation of villages, humanity, life itself et cetera, but I don't like reading about life itself. It doesn't particularly interest me, and it really doesn't when I don't like any of the characters.

Since everyone else seems to agree that this is a marvelous, wonderful book which every writer ought to read (and incidentally, some say that if you're a writer and you don't like it, you shouldn't be a writer. Supercilious presumption.), I'm going to end my review here. I didn't like Middlemarch and I doubt that I'm ever going to.

In fact, I'm never going to. Leave it at that.(less)

like 2 likes

· see review

Dec 05, 2011

Rebecca rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: classics

I have to say, despite the random ramblings about proto-Zionism, I liked Daniel Duronda better.

Nearly everything in this story is driven by marriage. People making terrible decisions about who to marry, people twisting their lives around to try to get someone to marry them, people twisting other people's lives to prevent them from marrying someone, past unwise marriages destroying people's lives for generations. It's fascinating, as sexism drives a lot of these shitty decisions and t...moreI have to say, despite the random ramblings about proto-Zionism, I liked Daniel Duronda better.

Nearly everything in this story is driven by marriage. People making terrible decisions about who to marry, people twisting their lives around to try to get someone to marry them, people twisting other people's lives to prevent them from marrying someone, past unwise marriages destroying people's lives for generations. It's fascinating, as sexism drives a lot of these shitty decisions and the author talks a lot of the talk of women being weak and illogical. But the fact that the writer is in fact female, if only disguised, and the fact that her characters actual actions reveal the same levels of wisdom and foolishness amongst the male and female characters turns the entire thing into a subtle refutation that men are intellectually superior to women. But because of their beliefs in this fallacy, the characters completely screw up their lives. Dorothea's belief that her role as a pious and intelligent woman requires her to prostrate herself before her husband leads her to marry a man who turns out to be a lousy scholar with subpar work. Rosamond's angelic looks and sweet manners makes Lydgate believe that she is docile when in fact she's a selfish idiot. Only Mary insists on setting her own conditions and only Mary and Fred have what seems like a functional relationship at the end.

I did enjoy this book, but I remain baffled as to why it's hailed as one of the best novels in the English language. I found Landislaw, who I suppose is the closest thing to a real romantic hero we have, to be immature and entirely unworthy of Dorothea. A lot of the symbolism seems a bit heavy-handed to me. Fred and Mary's story takes up a huge chunk of first half of the book, and then they disappear for the entire climax and only pop up again in the epilogue, making the whole thing feel unbalanced. There's some really good insights into people, but on the whole, this felt clunky to me. I realize this is far more ambitious than, say, Jane Austen, to choose a contemporary. But the sprawlingness feels less epic and more undisciplined, as though Eliot just included random bits as they occurred to her and without any thought of how it furthered the goals of the novel as a whole.(less)

like 1 like

· see review

Feb 16, 2010

Brinda rated it

· review of another edition

"It is better to fail than to succeed, if the aim has been noble in the one case, and mean in the other. Our full sympathies remain with the aspirants in their failures -- even because of their failures -- not with the lower natures in their placid ruminant life." -- from a review of Middlemarch in Edinburgh magazine.

The above statement would provoke and spark fiery debate were it to be said even now. HBut it was said in the 1870s. The very idea of ambition failed to be rea...more

like 1 like

· see review

Jan 23, 2011

Danelle rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: 19th-century, fiction, i-own-this, favorites

My edition of Middlemarch is 810 pages of insight on human relations that is as accurate in this day and age as it was when it was written.

Middlemarch is a fictious rural community. The story is set in the mid-1800's. The characters - and there are more than a few - are memorable, realistic, and thoroughly scrutinized under Eliot's narrative. You see every fault of each character, but also that one redeeming thing that makes you not want to totally give up on them. There's a yo...more

like 1 like

· see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 1376 1377 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Reading the Chunk...: Middlemarch - Week 2, Chapters 6-11	25	22	Feb 06, 2012 03:06am
Reading the Chunk...: Middlemarch - Week 3, Chapters 12-15	11	16	Feb 03, 2012 06:37am
Middlemarch is a Crown Jewel	16	101	Feb 02, 2012 10:30am

combine
Other Editions (239)

More editions...

Genres

Classics

1,117 users

Literature

122 users

Literature > 19th Century

79 users

European Literature > British Literature

66 users

Novels

61 users

Historical Fiction

53 users

Classics > Classic Literature

43 users

Book Club

28 users

Romance

27 users

Adult

19 users

See top shelves...

Readers Also Enjoyed

About George Eliot

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Mary Ann (Marian) Evans, better known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist. She was one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. Her novels, largely set in provincial England, are well known for their realism and psychological perspicacity....more

More about George Eliot...

Books by George Eliot

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Pin It

Trivia About Middlemarch. Un e...

47 trivia questions
3 quizzes

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from Middlemarch: A Study o...

“It is always fatal to have music or poetry interrupted.” — 138 people liked it

“And, of course men know best about everything, except what women know better.” — 108 people liked it

More quotes…

Groups That Shelved Middlemarch: A St...

Ambiclassics

165 members

last activity Jan 15, 2012 05:56am

shelf: currently-reading

Boxall's 1001 Books You ...

10997 members

last activity 2 hours, 27 min ago

shelf: read

title link	preview: Middlemarch
avg rating	preview: Middlemarch Goodreads rating: 3.90 (20662 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19090.Middlemarch?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1328851166m/19090.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19090.Middlemarch?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Middlemarch by George Eliot[/url]

Middlemarch

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Readers Also Enjoyed

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website