Middlemarch by George Elliot

[seayork2002]

Hi,

I have got about 30 pages in and I am lost, I love the story (so far ) but the language is very hard to comprehend, does anyone have any tips to enjoy it as I really don't want to give it up so soon.

Thanks in advance.

[Maud Fitch]

Although I prefer her earlier work (George Eliot was a lady) like her semi-autobiographical Mill On The Floss, the thing to remember is she wrote with humour. Perhaps not how we interpret humour today, but the subtle social humour of the time. Middlemarch is a chunk of Victorian England circa 1871, and covers most aspects of life in that era through the eyes of the characters. I wouldn't treat it as historical current affairs, I'd treat it as catching up with friends.
Sometimes you get their jokes and sometimes you don't!

[Chithranga]

Although it sometimes sound dull at the begining with lengthy passages and very difiicult vocabulary as you read along the story becomes intersting.
Though it is a Victorian book most of the characters becomes dear to our heart and the themes can be appplied even to the contemporary world as well.
As for a tip just skip sections which sound difficult and always analyze the incidents perhaps with your own experincees

[MeTime]

I was amazed at how marriage issues are the same exact way today.....

[DATo]

The last sentence of this book is, in my opinion, one of the most beautifully written passages in the English language.

"But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for 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."
- George Elliot, 1872

The books of George Eliot (as well as Charles Dickens) helped to awaken the conscience of her contemporaries to the need for social reform and were certainly instrumental to the accomplishment of those ends. I find it fitting that the quotation above - Eliot's own - could serve as a tribute to George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) herself.

[Fran]

The last sentence of this book is, in my opinion, one of the most beautifully written passages in the English language.

"But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for 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."
- George Elliot, 1872

The books of George Eliot (as well as Charles Dickens) helped to awaken the conscience of her contemporaries to the need for social reform and were certainly instrumental to the accomplishment of those ends. I find it fitting that the quotation above - Eliot's own - could serve as a tribute to George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) herself.

@DATo
That is one of those sentences that always bring a tear to my eye, no matter how many times I've read it.

[MeTime]

I have always LOVED that and it is one of the passages I added at the time, to a notebook I keep, of beautifully written things that I've come across. I did not think of that as applying to the author herself though - I'm so glad to think of it that way.

[lady_charlie]

This book was a little like the Wizard of Oz for me - everyone I know was in it!
I was so amazed at how people are people wherever you go.

[DATo]

This book was a little like the Wizard of Oz for me - everyone I know was in it!
I was so amazed at how people are people wherever you go.

You know, I had never thought of that before, but you are absolutely right ! *L*

[GKCfan]

With long, intricate novels with large casts of characters, I recommend looking online to find some sort of study guide or outline with a character list to help you keep track of everything.

[GabbiV]

I'm reviving this because it took me three years to get through Middlemarch and I am passionate about it.

As a junior in high school, I felt very strongly about Dorothea. I related to her more so than any protagonist I have yet come by. I loved her and I wanted her to go on and do great things concerning her charity work. But then she goes on the marry an old man for his devotion to his work on various gods! Reading through the book, I didn't really feel any love between them, like a married couple should have, at least in the beginning! I was furious! I thought she was wasted on him!

And then Rosalind and poor Mr. Whitlaw. I never forgave her for riding on a horse even though she knew she was pregnant. I can't fault her though for her vapid nature, that's what fascinated me about her. But I did feel bad that she pulled herself and her doctor into debt.