Darleen's review
George Eliot's Silas Marner and Middlemarch
by George Eliot
I loved Silas Marner. such a gentle man with a great and noble character.
I am excited to keep reading it... George wants to read it with me, so it's taking me alot longer to read it. So far it's been really good!
You finished it! Now we can have a discussion as to why I have such a hard time with Godfrey Cass! Merrill is listening to this on tape right now so he can "join in" if we give him a few more days to finish up. I don't think that he is really sold on this "classic literature" :)
Godfrey came off almost scott free in regards to his secret that he kept from his wife. Most women, I would think, would at least a little bit angry, thinking that their husband was keeping secrets from them! Her reaction was almost like she didn't care, and was more interested in the fact that now they didn't have his daughter and she couldn't get pregnant. Towards the end, Godfrey goes out of town, and as a reader, I was almost wondering what he was going to do, maybe get another child with a woman that can have children? I don't know... he seemed to agree with what Silas said to him but, I wonder if he is truly content. His character before his marriage, seemed to be 'go with the moment' whether for good or ill... I wonder if he really changed... it's not clear. Anyway, Silas is the true hero, in my opinion, and I love that Eppie marries Aaron!
Comparing Silas and Godfrey- Silas is honest all around the board and gets financially crushed; learns to retrust people, and that people and his relationship with them is more important than money/possessions. Godfrey- dishonest, has the appearance of success, questionable character, seems unaffectionate; perhaps because of how he was raised?
Godfrey drives me crazy! While Dunstan is outwardly selfish and only interested in himself, Godfrey is inwardly selfish. He seems to think that he is better than Dunstan and while he does act (for the most part) as an honerable individual, his private acts show him to be just as careless with others as Dunstan, to a degree. He falls in love and gets married, but it is really just lust and not true affection. Then he is sorry for his choice and recognizes that his wife is a true embarrassment, so he keeps her hidden as well as their daughter. All the while he pines for Nancy-the beautiful and saintly girl with social standing, thinking that if he just had her, he would be happy. When he had the chance to come clean with it all on the death of his wife, he hides the truth and secures Nancy, thinking that he will "help out" his daughter and her new father. When Nancy can't have children, he pines more after Eppie, thinking that if he had her, he would be happy. In other words, happiness to him is having EVERYTHING that he wants on his terms with nothing happening to lessen his comfort. He never once recognizes that by virtue of the choices he has made (and not truly repented of) Nancy deserves someone far better than himself. Eppie ends up with someone better than himself, so it works out very well for her (and this way she is not spoiled and ruined the way her father and his brothers were), but poor Nancy. I am troubled by Godfrey because he is the Cass brother that I can relate to. I may not be as wicked as Dunstan, but it is entirely possible that I am just as selfish in a private way as Godfrey. I whine if I think that my life is unfair, not bothering at the moment to recognize that life is unfair for everyone. I often want what I want, not being humble enough to want the experiences that will make me what God wants me to be. Godfrey is definitely a result of his bringing up, but I think that he resembles the natural man and normal temptations and shortcomings that many of us have. Dunstan is so far removed from most of us that we can safely say "you are the bad guy" and automatically classify Godfrey as the "good brother" when his failings are closer to the common individual. Does any of that make sense? Anyway, I liked your comment about Nancy and how it seemed that she almost didn't care. I think that you are right and when she claims that she would have married him if he had told her the truth, I think that she is wrong. The young and single Nancy wasn't portrayed as someone that would condone all that Godfrey had done. So I agree that her reaction was off. And speaking of characters that we like, I loved Dolly Winthrop for all that she did for Silas and I thought that Pricilla was so funny! You'll never feel down if you own a dairy!
darla, are you kidding?! you are one of the LEAST selfish people i know! i think we all want what we want to some degree, but the ability to turn our wills and our lives over is what really counts. being willing to happily sacrifice for Him. (which is really for us. :>) you definately whine much less than most! :>
this book sounds a little "envolved". is it realy worth reading. (i could just hear reeds comments if we were to read it together! :>)
Ah, but that is the point! Just because my selfishness may be less obvious, doesn't mean that it isn't there :). I think the natural man leans toward selfishness and that it can be manifest in many different ways. That said, I enjoyed reading this and there were many positive things that I could take from it. I also liked that it was a fairly quick read for a classic. :) You can get Merrill's take on it when he is done with it. All the women in our ward book group enjoyed it, although the librarian found that Eliot's writing style annoyed her this time through (she had read it before) because she felt that she was being written down to, if that makes sense.
Darleen's review
George Eliot's Silas Marner and Middlemarch by George Eliot
Darleen's review
rating:
Even though things don't always go as expected... at least in my life that is usually what happens... "When a man turns a blessing from his door, it falls to them to take it in." I hope I can be ready at a moments notice to take whatever blessing God has for me and be accepting and open to it; I just hope I can recognize it as such...
I loved Silas Marner. such a gentle man with a great and noble character.
I am excited to keep reading it... George wants to read it with me, so it's taking me alot longer to read it. So far it's been really good!
You finished it! Now we can have a discussion as to why I have such a hard time with Godfrey Cass! Merrill is listening to this on tape right now so he can "join in" if we give him a few more days to finish up. I don't think that he is really sold on this "classic literature" :)
Godfrey came off almost scott free in regards to his secret that he kept from his wife. Most women, I would think, would at least a little bit angry, thinking that their husband was keeping secrets from them! Her reaction was almost like she didn't care, and was more interested in the fact that now they didn't have his daughter and she couldn't get pregnant. Towards the end, Godfrey goes out of town, and as a reader, I was almost wondering what he was going to do, maybe get another child with a woman that can have children? I don't know... he seemed to agree with what Silas said to him but, I wonder if he is truly content. His character before his marriage, seemed to be 'go with the moment' whether for good or ill... I wonder if he really changed... it's not clear. Anyway, Silas is the true hero, in my opinion, and I love that Eppie marries Aaron!Comparing Silas and Godfrey- Silas is honest all around the board and gets financially crushed; learns to retrust people, and that people and his relationship with them is more important than money/possessions. Godfrey- dishonest, has the appearance of success, questionable character, seems unaffectionate; perhaps because of how he was raised?
Godfrey drives me crazy! While Dunstan is outwardly selfish and only interested in himself, Godfrey is inwardly selfish. He seems to think that he is better than Dunstan and while he does act (for the most part) as an honerable individual, his private acts show him to be just as careless with others as Dunstan, to a degree. He falls in love and gets married, but it is really just lust and not true affection. Then he is sorry for his choice and recognizes that his wife is a true embarrassment, so he keeps her hidden as well as their daughter. All the while he pines for Nancy-the beautiful and saintly girl with social standing, thinking that if he just had her, he would be happy. When he had the chance to come clean with it all on the death of his wife, he hides the truth and secures Nancy, thinking that he will "help out" his daughter and her new father. When Nancy can't have children, he pines more after Eppie, thinking that if he had her, he would be happy. In other words, happiness to him is having EVERYTHING that he wants on his terms with nothing happening to lessen his comfort. He never once recognizes that by virtue of the choices he has made (and not truly repented of) Nancy deserves someone far better than himself. Eppie ends up with someone better than himself, so it works out very well for her (and this way she is not spoiled and ruined the way her father and his brothers were), but poor Nancy. I am troubled by Godfrey because he is the Cass brother that I can relate to. I may not be as wicked as Dunstan, but it is entirely possible that I am just as selfish in a private way as Godfrey. I whine if I think that my life is unfair, not bothering at the moment to recognize that life is unfair for everyone. I often want what I want, not being humble enough to want the experiences that will make me what God wants me to be. Godfrey is definitely a result of his bringing up, but I think that he resembles the natural man and normal temptations and shortcomings that many of us have. Dunstan is so far removed from most of us that we can safely say "you are the bad guy" and automatically classify Godfrey as the "good brother" when his failings are closer to the common individual. Does any of that make sense? Anyway, I liked your comment about Nancy and how it seemed that she almost didn't care. I think that you are right and when she claims that she would have married him if he had told her the truth, I think that she is wrong. The young and single Nancy wasn't portrayed as someone that would condone all that Godfrey had done. So I agree that her reaction was off. And speaking of characters that we like, I loved Dolly Winthrop for all that she did for Silas and I thought that Pricilla was so funny! You'll never feel down if you own a dairy!
darla, are you kidding?! you are one of the LEAST selfish people i know! i think we all want what we want to some degree, but the ability to turn our wills and our lives over is what really counts. being willing to happily sacrifice for Him. (which is really for us. :>) you definately whine much less than most! :>
this book sounds a little "envolved". is it realy worth reading. (i could just hear reeds comments if we were to read it together! :>)
Ah, but that is the point! Just because my selfishness may be less obvious, doesn't mean that it isn't there :). I think the natural man leans toward selfishness and that it can be manifest in many different ways. That said, I enjoyed reading this and there were many positive things that I could take from it. I also liked that it was a fairly quick read for a classic. :) You can get Merrill's take on it when he is done with it. All the women in our ward book group enjoyed it, although the librarian found that Eliot's writing style annoyed her this time through (she had read it before) because she felt that she was being written down to, if that makes sense.
