Genres: Fiction, Classics
The magnificent book that, with all its imperfections, is one of the few English novels written for grown-up people
Virginia Woolf
It took me almost 9 days to finish reading Middlemarch. It’s huge, but George Eliot certainly knows how to play with a reader’s imagination by practicing the art of puppetry through her characters. Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life, a novel of more than 750 pages (of course, depending on the edition) is a work of realism. This massive novel is composed out of eight books that reflect a form serialisation. Starting with a short prelude that introduces the character of Dorothea to the finale in which the post-novel providences of the main characters are examined.
Middlemarch is an unfolding story of the lives and loves of one Midlands town, as well as a reflection on the bigger political issues and changes in mid-19th century England. But the real pleasure of the novel lies in its skilfully drawn array of characters: from Dorothea Brooke, a young woman who can find no acceptable outlet for her talents, Edward Casaubon, the pompous scholar, to Nicholas Bulstrode, the banker with a sleazy past, to Tertius Lydgate, the idealistic young doctor seduced by vanity. The events of the novel are the events of their relatively modest lives: courtships and marriages, ambitions, careers, deaths, bankruptcies, economies and thrifts, successes and failures. It is a long novel, full of incident and surprise.
Middlemarch is there in almost every book list that tell of the best novels written. It is also considered a George Eliot’s masterpiece by various critics across this planet. In an article on The Guardian, I found the best ever short-description of the book ever given by anyone:
Middlemarch looms above the mid-Victorian literary landscape like a cathedral of words in whose shadowy vastness its readers can find every kind of addictive discomfort, a sequence of raw truths: the loneliness of the disappointed failure, Dr Lydgate; the frustrations of his discontented wife; the humiliation of a good woman, Dorothea; the corrosive bitterness of Casaubon, and so on.
Few of Eliot’s characters achieve what they really want, and all have to learn to compromise. Some learn the lessons and achieve a temporary happiness. Others refuse or are incapable of learning, and spend their lives resenting their situation, and blaming others[…]
Eliot’s understanding of her characters and the plot itself is exceptional. Considering the number of characters which is good enough for half a dozen novels, the plot of the novel is complicated. Maintaining the structure, throughout the 750 pages is a singular task and the author seems to be the master of the art. Few months ago I read Adam Bede by George Eliot and the only thing that disappointed while reading it was the structure of the plot. But Middlemarch is not Adam Bede. Eliot has given a satisfying panoramic view of a town and of the people living in.
This book examines multiple themes that are common with reality. Foremost theme is the role of education in the lives of characters and how it affects them. Rosamond’s admiration for Tertius Lydgate is purely based on his exotic education and his intellect. In Dorothea’s and Casaubon’s relationship, the magnetism produce between them is through their intellectuality and their articulateness. 
Eliot’s writing is witty and sublime. The only thing that had me was the meandering along a snail’s pace. It’s your choice to read it in a week or over weekend, but do remember, it seeks and deserves full attention of a reader.
4 out of 5!
I love it. 🙂
🙂
Reblogged this on Becoming Confucius and commented:
Middlemarch is my favorite novel and my friend has taken painstaking efforts in reviewing it. I enjoyed it and hope you also like it. happy reading. 🙂
I have long been interested in this book. I think there is a great responsibility for me to accomplish reading Middlemarch rather than Vanity Fair… thank you for sharing!
After reading it it does feel a bit of accomplishment. 🙂 But for us, readers, it’s a daily business. I haven’t read Vanity Fair and it’s lying somewhere on my shelf. Will pick it soon 🙂
Well said!
You are a hero among book reviewers, taking on a zillion-word novel by George Eliot. In high school we had to read her “Silas Marner,” which probably put many kids off reading forever. Page after page of dialogue in dialect! As in drop the book and run screaming to the sidewalk…
Of course, super-long novels were very popular in the 19th century. Who since then has ever read a complete and unabridged edition of “The Count of Monte Cristo”? It’s probably twice as long as “Middlemarch.”
Writers are just not allowed to take that much time and space anymore.
But the loss is the reading public’s.
Thanks for such appreciation. I remember my high school had Silas Marner too and till date, it’s my favorite Eliot’s novel. I agree nowadays, Writers are under pressure to take much time to write that number of pages on an average!
Wow, 9 days only? I’m planning to read this with a friend next week and we gave ourselves a month to get through it. It’s a bit intimidating.
Believe me, this book is pace less. You will have to set your own pace to read it. I am sure you will be able to read in much lesser time than 30 days.
My all time favourite book!
Glad to know 🙂
Great review, as always 🙂 I’m planning on reading ‘Middlemarch’ this year and having heard that it’s not actually as scary as it looks helps a lot 😉
No, it’s not scary at all. Go ahead and read it, I am eager to hear your views on it! 🙂
Thank you for the encouragement! 🙂
Your reading list is most impressive. I wish I had the time to tackle a book like this in nine days 😉
Cheers!
Thanks a lot Jeff. Try it, it isn’t what the hype it is surrounded by.
One day I’ll get to it 😉
Now you do know that George Eliot was actually a woman by the name of Mary Ann Evans? It is amazing to me that women were not seen as having enough brains to be able to write a novel and yet several of them did. Not one i have read, but i believe i found your blog by the fact that you read ‘proper books’. I really should get down to reading a classic, still not done so – too many books, too little time!
You’re right, gender baseness should not affect literature, it is proven time and time again. Thanks for the appreciation 🙂 Go on and read a classic; do tell me, which one you end up reading. There are too many books to read.
Thank you for liking one of my posts. I enjoyed reading your post on ‘Middlemarch’, as well as the comments above. I read it quite a few years ago and your review has made me want to read it again.
I’m now following your blog for more inspiration!
Glad to know my words did that to you. Thanks for the follow! 🙂
[…] 7) Middlemarch by George Eliot […]
[…] Middlemarch is George Eliot’s magnum opus. The 800 page novel, it took me almost 9 days to finish reading it. Eliot’s writing is witty and sublime. This book examines multiple themes such as the role of education in the lives of characters and how it affects them. And as Virginia Woolf said, “The magnificent book that, with all its imperfections, is one of the few English novels written for grown-up people.” […]