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Middlemarch (Signet Classics)
by George Eliot

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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19089.Middlemarch?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Middlemarch (Signet Classics)" border="0" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1167197974m/19089.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19089.Middlemarch?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">Middlemarch</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/173.George_Eliot">George Eliot</a><br/><br/>
  <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5497874?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
  rating: 5 of 5 stars<br/>This is one of my favorite books, although I admit that is has been a few years since I read it last. I was first introduced it in college by one of my favorite professors, Clark Rodewald, who unfortunately is no longer with us. In the one quarter course we read all the works of Eliot and Jane Austen, except for a few that we didn't have time to get to. Rodewald described Eliot in a way that has sort of stuck with me: "She seems so smart in her books." It may be a bit of an understatement from a woman who translated Spinoza, read more languages than some countries, and was easily one of the most accomplished women of her generation. But one gets the constant impression that she's thinking about everything: from her sometimes magnificent sentence structures, to the details of her vast historically-grounded settings, to her completely apropos epigraphs, to her juxtaposition of perspectives. She may well be one of the greatest epigraph users of all the nineteenth century novelists. Further, when you read the book you should look out for random scenes in which characters view the actions of others -- the fact that she doesn't present the material in chronological order allows her to do these wonderful things with perspective. And finally, perhaps the most remarked about feature of her books is the way that she takes on the views of her characters, and lets the personalities she creates shape the world that she constructs. Think of the richly nuanced view she presents of Dorothea and her attempts to live like a saint despite the reality of the world around her, or the dry Mr. Casaubon and his desperate project, or the relationship with her sister, Mr. Brooke, and so on. A list of all the characters would easily run several pages. Anyway, I realize that George Eliot may not be for everyone, but if you are going to read just one book by her, this is the one to choose.
  <br/><br/><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/150198?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

John's review
rating:
bookshelves: favorites
recommended for: people who like late nineteenth century novels, or books with incredible detail

This is one of my favorite books, although I admit that is has been a few years since I read it last. I was first introduced it in college by one of my favorite professors, Clark Rodewald, who unfortunately is no longer with us. In the one quarter course we read all the works of Eliot and Jane Austen, except for a few that we didn't have time to get to. Rodewald described Eliot in a way that has sort of stuck with me: "She seems so smart in her books." It may be a bit of an understatement from a woman who translated Spinoza, read more languages than some countries, and was easily one of the most accomplished women of her generation. But one gets the constant impression that she's thinking about everything: from her sometimes magnificent sentence structures, to the details of her vast historically-grounded settings, to her completely apropos epigraphs, to her juxtaposition of perspectives. She may well be one of the greatest epigraph users of all the nineteenth century novelis...more

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