Jamie's review
Daniel Deronda (Penguin Classics)
by George Eliot
Sounds interesting Jamie - I love Middlemarch, and had been looking for another point of entry for Eliot short of randomly buying the first thing I saw on the shelf. Have you checked out Middlemarch? It's pretty much a 900 page soap opera - marvelous. (Well, of course there's a lot more substance to it than that, but I'll admit the soapy aspects were what pulled me though to page 899 and on.)
Hey, thanks for the comment. I have read Middlemarch--and you're right, it's very soapy. Perhaps that's what made Spurgin decide to include it in his syllabus for his course, The English Novel. Did you take the class? It was one of my favorites.
And Middlemarch, along with Emma, was one of my favorite books. (What's up with Rosamond and her neck? Eliot includes lots of lovely details, but she talks a great deal about Rosamond's neck.)
I recommend Daniel Deronda as a compelling read, filled with characters we can care about, but I wonder if you'd agree with me about Gwendolyn Harleth (harlot?).
In the beginning of Middlemarch, Dorothea struck me as principled to a fault and difficult to like: she prefers older, educated men, knows just how many trans fats are in that cake, militantly vegan, etc...and she's pretty annoying about it. But by the end, her character takes on a different tone. She's sensible and likeable. She hadn't drastically changed any of her principles (that I remember), but she had changed. I guess I was expecting some of that magic when I read Deronda. Maybe it was just my hormones.
I will own that there was a somewhat different agenda on Eliot's mind when writing this book, and it has to deal with the "Jewish Question". Rather than reforming characters, she seems more interested in rewarding the deserving, or in other words, Jewish characters, with romance and happy times. Read for yourself and see (perhaps by now, you already have).
Thanks for the feedback--it's been so long since I've had a book-related conversation. Isn't that sad? My son's too young for chapter books--he prefers to chew on them.
Jamie's review
Daniel Deronda (Penguin Classics) by George Eliot
Jamie's review
rating:
My friend Mandy recommended this a few years back, when we were both still in college and had way too many other books we were supposed to be reading.
After having read, I found it an engrossing read, but also had trouble with the treatment/dismissal of one of the main characters.
Gwendolyn Harleth is vain, petty, and eventually marries for money and convention. Typically, the sort of character readers love to hate. I know I enjoyed it. But at some point, I felt I had invested, as a reader, much time and a certain amount of sympathy getting to know her. I had somewhat expected a revolution, under conditions which may have satisfactorily altered her character and expectations.
Daniel Deronda was published during at time when the Novel began with an incident and ended happily in marriage; I had expected somewhat the same for the impudent protagonist. Despite Eliot's more direct interest in the plight of the Jew in the 19th century, I was more interested in the salvation of ...more
After having read, I found it an engrossing read, but also had trouble with the treatment/dismissal of one of the main characters.
Gwendolyn Harleth is vain, petty, and eventually marries for money and convention. Typically, the sort of character readers love to hate. I know I enjoyed it. But at some point, I felt I had invested, as a reader, much time and a certain amount of sympathy getting to know her. I had somewhat expected a revolution, under conditions which may have satisfactorily altered her character and expectations.
Daniel Deronda was published during at time when the Novel began with an incident and ended happily in marriage; I had expected somewhat the same for the impudent protagonist. Despite Eliot's more direct interest in the plight of the Jew in the 19th century, I was more interested in the salvation of ...more
Sounds interesting Jamie - I love Middlemarch, and had been looking for another point of entry for Eliot short of randomly buying the first thing I saw on the shelf. Have you checked out Middlemarch? It's pretty much a 900 page soap opera - marvelous. (Well, of course there's a lot more substance to it than that, but I'll admit the soapy aspects were what pulled me though to page 899 and on.)
Hey, thanks for the comment. I have read Middlemarch--and you're right, it's very soapy. Perhaps that's what made Spurgin decide to include it in his syllabus for his course, The English Novel. Did you take the class? It was one of my favorites.
And Middlemarch, along with Emma, was one of my favorite books. (What's up with Rosamond and her neck? Eliot includes lots of lovely details, but she talks a great deal about Rosamond's neck.)
I recommend Daniel Deronda as a compelling read, filled with characters we can care about, but I wonder if you'd agree with me about Gwendolyn Harleth (harlot?).
In the beginning of Middlemarch, Dorothea struck me as principled to a fault and difficult to like: she prefers older, educated men, knows just how many trans fats are in that cake, militantly vegan, etc...and she's pretty annoying about it. But by the end, her character takes on a different tone. She's sensible and likeable. She hadn't drastically changed any of her principles (that I remember), but she had changed. I guess I was expecting some of that magic when I read Deronda. Maybe it was just my hormones.
I will own that there was a somewhat different agenda on Eliot's mind when writing this book, and it has to deal with the "Jewish Question". Rather than reforming characters, she seems more interested in rewarding the deserving, or in other words, Jewish characters, with romance and happy times. Read for yourself and see (perhaps by now, you already have).
Thanks for the feedback--it's been so long since I've had a book-related conversation. Isn't that sad? My son's too young for chapter books--he prefers to chew on them.
