George Eliot

a study of provincial life

Middlemarch

Part 1 & Part 2

Liv Gliese Johnsen

And before they had ridden a mile she was far on in the costume and introduction of her wedded life, having determined on her house in Middlemarch, and foreseen the visits she would pay to her husband’s high-bred relatives

 '(…) All choice of words is slang. It marks a class." 

‘There is correct English: that is not slang’

‘I beg you pardon: correct English is the slang of prigs who write history and essays (…)’

She was not in the least teaching Mr Casaubon to ask if he were good enough for her, but merely asking herself anxiously how she could be good enough for Mr Casaubon

Beatrix

 "… All choice of words is slang. It marks a class.”                                              “There is correct English: that is not slang.”                                                        “I beg your pardon: correct English is the slang of prigs who write history and essays. And the strongest slang of all is the slang of poets.”

‘Souls have complexions too: what will suit one will not suit another’

Features Dorothea Brooke, a young idealist whose search for intellectual fulfillment leads her into a disastrous marriage to the pedantic scholar Casaubon; and the charming but tactless Dr Lydgate, whose marriage to the spendthrift beauty Rosamund and pioneering medical methods threaten to undermine his career.

Gelaine Trinidad

Rosemary Ashton

Part of Penguin's beautiful hardback Clothbound Classics series, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith, these delectable and collectible editions are bound in high-quality colourful, tactile cloth with foil stamped into the design. After eighteen years as a political prisoner in the Bastille the aging Dr Manette is finally released and reunited with his daughter in England. There two very different men, Charles Darnay, an exiled French aristocrat, and Sydney Carton, a disreputable but brilliant English lawyer, become enmeshed through their love for Lucie Manette. From the tranquil lanes of London, they are all drawn against their will to the vengeful, bloodstained streets of Paris at the height of the Reign of Terror and soon fall under the lethal shadow of La Guillotine.

dorothea (and will) you are so dear to me

George Eliot's beloved masterpiece in a Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition with a foreword by Rebecca Mead, author of the bestselling memoir My Life in Middlemarch A triumph of realist fiction, George Eliot's Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life explores a fictional nineteenth-century Midlands town in the midst of sweeping change. The proposed Reform Bill, the new railroads, and scientific advances are threatening upheaval on every front. Against this backdrop, the quiet drama of ordinary lives is played out by the novel's complexly portrayed characters--until the arrival of two outsiders further disrupts the town's equilibrium. Every bit as powerful and perceptive in our time as it was in the Victorian era, Middlemarch displays George Eliot's clear-eyed yet humane understanding of characters caught up in the mysterious unfolding of self-knowledge. In this elegant Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition, Rebecca Mead introduces the novel that shaped her life and reflects on its joys and its timeless relevance. For more than sixty-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

A Study of Provincial Life

Sean Wilson

My wife and I really enjoyed this one. It unfolds very slowly, but it does successfully envelop you in the world. I found that in the last quarter of the book or so, the careful work setting up the characters and the plots were beginning to pay off in satisfying ways.

I am so surprised at how much I enjoyed this book!

It's definitely up there with one of my favorite classics of all time.

I grew so attached to many of the characters and what happened to them, and at times felt myself getting so angry on behalf of some of them (particularly Lydgate, but also Dorothea at times). Rosalind drove my insane though, and I have no sympathy for her. She created her own mess and then didn't want to ever accept responsibility for it, to her and her husband's ruin. 

The only reason I took away half a star is because it was maybe a bit longer than it really needed to be. I can be forgiving though considering the time period in which it was written

Emma Lechner

I am so surprised at how much I enjoyed this book!

It's definitely up there with one of my favorite classics of all time.

I grew so attached to many of the characters and what happened to them, and at times felt myself getting so angry on behalf of some of them (particularly Lydgate, but also Dorothea at times). Rosalind drove my insane though, and I have no sympathy for her. She created her own mess and then didn't want to ever accept responsibility for it, to her and her husband's ruin. 

I'm so glad Dorothea got a happy ending!

The only reason I took away half a star is because it was maybe a bit longer than it really needed to be. I can be forgiving though considering the time period in which it was written

In nineteenth-century England, Dorthea Brooke's wishes to defy social conventions are inhibited by the strict nature of her surroundings.

Sonia Grgas

Would give it six stars if I could! Might just be the best book ever written or at least that I've read.

“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.”
---------------------------------

Here is a classic that I went into with A LOT of hope given the abundance of 5 star reviews, and was left with a sad little pang of disappointment. I blame this one on the Goodreads community for raising my hopes above realistic expectations (which might be strangely in sync with the theme of the book, I guess).

Middlemarch is the story of… Well, Middlemarch. A pretty regular, albeit fictional, town in England in the early 1800s, experiencing the pretty regular scandals, reforms, and dramas that might be expected of it. Up to this point, it is quite expected content. I have read much of Austen, and I am known to enjoy the fictional pastoral little daily goings-on of small English towns.

Unfortunately Middlemarch did not have the charm and the flow of an Austen book. The book kicks off with a completely insufferable character, with her self-righteous religiousness and know-it-all, better-than-thou attitude (and is a 19 year old marrying a 47 year old), just giving me the ick all around.
In fact, in the entirety of the book, I could not care enough for any of the characters to be really invested in the dramas that shake up Middlemarch.

To top off this disadvantage, the book is also filled with long passages narrated in an overly moralizing tone.

Now it is undeniable that this book does have parts that are beautifully written and thought out. It can be really good and, dare I say it, even interesting at times. However, it is balanced out against the other tedious and extremely dry parts of the book, and the outcome is unfortunately way too mixed for me. I am not sorry to have read it, but at a whopping 800+ page count, I did not finish it entirely convinced that it was worth all of that effort. So, a mild 3 stars it shall have to be…

Francine Prose

A deluxe Harper Perennial Legacy Edition, with an introduction from Francine Prose, award-winning and New York Times best-selling author of Reading Like a Writer George Eliot’s beloved classic novel—hailed by Virginia Woolf as “masterful”—follows the life, loves, foibles, and politics of the residents of a fictional English town set amid the social unrest during the Industrial Revolution. A sprawling work set in a provincial English town, Middlemarch boasts a large cast of characters whose stories interweave against a backdrop of political upheaval. Instead of choosing to wed a wealthy landowner and settle for a comfortable life, Dorothea Brooke decides to marry Edward Casaubon—a dull scholar who is her senior by a few decades. Dorothea hopes the union will afford her with the opportunity to share in her husband’s intellectual pursuits, but even her best efforts can’t save the disastrous marriage. Meanwhile, idealistic doctor Tertius Lydgate has progressive ideas about the medical field, and he believes the village of Middlemarch is the place that will embrace his beliefs. But when he weds Rosamond Vincy, the mayor’s beautiful daughter, his ideals come into stark contrast with his new bride’s materialism and vanity, dooming their marriage from the start. Lastly, Rosamond's brother, Fred, is reluctantly destined for the Church. But his childhood sweetheart Mary Garth refuses to accept him until he settles into a more suitable career and one that interests him. But when circumstances lead to Fred losing a sizeable fortune that sets off a calamitous turn of events, he must reevaluate the choices he has made. As The Guardian notes, Middlemarch “looms above the mid-Victorian literary landscape like a cathedral of words,” offering readers a pivotal shaping of literary realism. Middlemarch is a masterwork of fiction that is as timely today as when it was first published.

Patricia Nelson

I read this with some friends as a summer read, and I'm so so glad I did. It's a substantial read that took a minute to get into, but once I did, I loved it. If you are interested in reading a story about ordinary lives and interesting characters, this is for you. I read Zadie Smith's essay about the book "Middlemarch and Everybody" from her book Changing My Mind, and it's absolutely correct. Middlemarch is about everybody, about small town life, about love and career choices and moral choices. There is something here for everyone to relate to and think about.
Note to readers - if you have trouble reading it, try listening to it while reading it at the same time. It made all the difference to me. The Juliet Stevenson version of the audio book is fantastic.

Lou Smith

Vanya de Lang 

George Eliot (Marian Evans) was an excellent author with an abundance of general and refined, as well as religious knowledge. Her writing style is excellent and well maintained throughout the novel. I am not fond of the story itself, but I have no complaints about her writing style.

Celeste Richardson

Hallelujah and thank you, Jesus. It’s finally over.

One of my goals in life is to read as many classic works of literature as I can, while still reading as much as I want for pleasure in the other genres I love. I’ve been fortunate enough to read some amazing novels that have stood the test of time. Jane Eyre and Frankenstein, The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Count of Monte Cristo, and so many more were such a pleasure to read that I have and will continue to revisit them. Not so with my first introduction to Eliot’s work. I can’t see myself ever revisiting Middlemarch, but who knows what the future holds, right?

I had high hopes for this book. Middlemarch has been billed as one of the most influential novels of the English language. I don’t see it. In Henry James’s critique of the novel, he said that “Middlemarch is a treasure-house of details, but is an indifferent whole.” I can see where he’s coming from, even if I didn’t enjoy said details. Eliot packed a lot of character development into this book, especially for a novel of its time. There was a lot of growth particularly on the parts of Dorothea, Fred Vincy, and Lydgate. But even considering this growth, all I wanted to do was escape Middlemarch and never return. I don’t think I could have survived during that time period in such a small, judgmental little community. I would’ve lost my mind.

A few of the books to which Middlemarch has been compared are Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, and Vanity Fair. All three of which I enjoyed. Jane Eyre is one of my top five favorite classics I’ve read to date. I have no idea why I didn’t enjoy Middlemarch more. I felt that it was overly verbose, and would have benefited dramatically from a good editor. I also found many of the characters unlikeable and, despite the aforementioned character development, I found these improvements a bit unsatisfying, as if the developments weren’t far-reaching enough. 

I’m glad I can say that I read Middlemarch. And I hope to never meet its like again. I respect both what it accomplished in showing the inner workings and politics of a small town during the Victorian era, and what it tried to do with revealing the hidden depths of its characters and how they adapt and grow throughout the story. However, it’s just not a book I can claim to have enjoyed. While I didn’t loathe it as much as Wuthering Heights and Ulysses, Middlemarch is not a classic that I can ever see myself passionately recommending to others. For me, it was a book to be suffered through, not savored.

I buddy read this book with the lovely TS, in hopes of balancing out the wretchedness that is Les Misérables. No such luck. Be both felt this book was a disaster. Thankfully we're loving Les Misérables!

Christopher McCaffery

Brittney Wilson

Pro: the character evolutions are insanely good
Con: so much sexism

Elizabeth Hisserich

This book has been lingering on my shelf for decades. After several false starts, I’m glad I finally pushed through because this book is wonderful. The characters and complex and frustrating, but believable and capable of growth. 

Jade Flynn

Sit down with an enormous cup of tea and a crumpet and revel in Eliot's masterpiece. Farewell Middlemarch, until next time.

Middlemarch (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) (Barnes & Noble Classics)

sarah 🤠

kind of in denial that i've actually finished this brick

Iween Suni

Set in the small town of its namesake title, 
  Middlemarch
 details the lives of a group of characters that become tangled in the mess of long-held ideals, clashes of expectations and all that makes up what it means to be living in the eyes of curious neighbours and the interest of a closely-tied community. 

I read this as part of a readalong hosted by Ciara Foster (@ciarascorner on youtube) and Mary (@maryamongstories on youtube) and I am so grateful for the readathon because I don’t think I could’ve finished this without it! This is a very dense and long read. A character study through and through. As with any story that follows multiple character perspectives, I found myself drawn to some characters far more than others. Far, far more. I became invested in these storylines and absolutely moved by their emotions. And while Middlemarch is, what I feel, a long and tedious read, I appreciate the nuance of these characters and their stories. It felt like an honest reflection of humanity - riddled with imperfection, spurred on by our ideals and notions of what we wish for ourselves and for the lives we lead, and challenged by the realities of life. A narration of trials and triumph that make for, a character study, an astounding one.

Jeni Enjaian

A review from my old blog...

I have added as many of the classics to my to be read list as I can. I hate to say though that I almost always dread opening the book when it comes time to reading it. I felt the same reaction when I picked up Middlemarch and discovered that the book was just over 800 pages.

I did come away with a positive opinion from the book. On one day in particular I invested a significant amount of time to reading the book without interruption, as opposed to on commercials at night as I had been and really got into the flow of the book. At the end though I felt I had been dealt a bad hand by the summary on the back of the book because I really didn't see what I had been lead to expect.

I enjoyed reading the book but I came to the realization that I get more enjoyment and understanding out of listening to the classics than reading them. I have the annoying tendency to skim over whatever texts I read and with classics much can be missed when this tactic is done. I try to slow down but I don't feel like taking hours to read these so called classics when I don't know if the book is actually good or not.

I recommend the book but from now on will look for audio versions of the classics in order to "read" them.

B. K.

3.5 stars. On the one hand: beautiful prose and insightful commentary on human nature and relationships. On the other: glacial pacing and a story that bored me anytime it wandered too far from it's main characters. However, I did become invested in what happened to Dorothea. She was just so good.

This classic had been on my TBR for years and I'm glad to finally finish it. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Juliet Stevenson (who has a lovely, soothing voice) and it's the longest one I've read so far, clocking in at 35h 38m.

abby donaldson

love love love this book! the character development is immaculate and the depth of the journey that each one of them undergoes is so clever. probably too many characters for my liking and the book was simply a bit longer than i would’ve liked - it was getting a bit tedious at the end. but i was definitely invested in the characters’ lives (particularly Mary and Fred!!) and enjoyed the overarching plot - which could have been displayed in fewer pages. overall, a fantastic book with some beautiful characters that i will cherish a long time in my memory.

Meniah

If you asked me back in April if think I would enjoy this book, I would have answered negatively. However, I never thought I would love this book as much as I do right now. It took me a while to finish reading it and see its beauty, but I am glad I did not give up on it. Just like Trollope's The Way We Live Now, it perfectly depicts man's imperfect and fallible nature.

Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life - by George Eliot.
.
There are some stories that leave us at a loss, feeling what can hardly be expressed in a fluent way. In the last week I've spent with this novel I have formed such a deep attachment to Eliot's world. These characters hold a special place in my heart and I'm certain I will return to this story on numerous occasions in my future. George Eliot has shown her intellect and ability to create dimensional and individual characters. Each perspective was different, changing the atmosphere fluidly whilst expressing a vast knowledge unknown to anyone.
In 1855, Henry James wrote, referring to Eliot's 'Middlemarch':
"What is remarkable, extraordinary-is that this quiet, anxious, sedentary, serious, invalidical English lady, without animal spirits, without adventures, without extravagance, assumption, or bravado, should have made us believe that nothing in the world was alien to her; should have produced such rich, deep, masterly pictures of the manifold life of man."
There's is no way I could out explain Henry James, either in his consice manner of speech nor in his extreme usage of commas, therefore I am obliged to quote him as a means of getting my point across.
Star rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 (5/5)

Monica

I started reading this novel, the first of Eliot that I've ever read, with some prejudices. Before committing myself to such a thick novel I did some research. This I regret, for I started it thinking that it was going to be sad and full of moral suffering for the characters, and that, as a consequence, I would suffer with them. Even though this was my mindset, I still read it without much hesitation. And I'm glad of it!

This is a very long novel (my edition has 852 pages) which depicts a society of the small fictional English town of Middlemarch in the 1830s. Being such a long novel it could not but contain a lot of different characters. Among them, the story develops around three couples: Dorothea, Mary and Rosamond (I don't mention their love interests in order to avoid any spoilers). What stands out in this novel is the realistic characterization of every one of the characters, each one unique and memorable in their own way. Eliot is a master in describing each minute detail without making it a tedious read: defects and flaws are intertwined with dreams and aspirations. Although she does beat around the bush at times, I still found it a gem quite worth reading.

Janet Doré

OK, I have to admit defeat...but, I made myself a deal a few years ago. Life is too short to struggle through a book...and, I don't stand a chance of getting through my reading stack if I flounder with books that just don't move me. I just didn't bond with the characters or the story making this 10,000 page book a mammoth task. Maybe I'll pick it up again when I'm 90 and I'm down to the bottom of the pile...or, maybe not.

Middlemarch a study of provincial life

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