Customer Reviews:
 Surprisingly Enjoyable October 10, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I was a little apprehensive when I first started Middlemarch. At first I was convinced I as in for a long and dull read of a typical 'classic' book that does not actually deserve to be called a classic.
However I was pleasantly surprised.
If you are looking for a fast-paced, action-packed novel, then this is not for you. Middlemarch is a beautifully written piece which you must take your time to appreciate in order to enoy.
The book is filled with intruiging characters, such as the intelligent if slightly naive Dorothea, Casaubon, a dulling man devoted to his work, the careless but loveable Fred, and many more. Another beauty of the book is the numerous interwoven stories of these people, some of course more entralling than others.
Either way, if you enjoy classic books and Victorian literature, this is a must-read.
 Brilliant! May 29, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This one deserves 10 stars, it is really one of the most incredible books I've ever read. I think I've only given a brilliant rating to the Count of Monte Cristo and Bleak House. This is a fascinating character study of the people of Middlemarch, a town in Victorian England. I can't even begin to try to describe the story -- there is Dorothea who makes a dreadful first marriage to an older man, Dr. Lydgate and his disastrous relationship and marriage to the self-centered Rosamund, Fred Vincy and Mary, and much much more.
The way the author pulls her story and characters together is incredible, and the insight into the characters is nothing short of brilliant. To quote from the book jacket and Virginia Wolf "one of the few English novels written for grown-up people."
Just be warned, this is not a sit on the edge of your seat, can't put it down until it's finished type of novel. This is a story to savour and enjoy the multi-faceted characters and the author's glorious prose like a fine red wine or a box of chocolates (or both). If you are looking for high action and adventure, this is not the book for you. Highly recommended for any lover of 19th century English literature, not as dark and brooding as Hardy can be, but the prose is just as lovely, if not better.
A view of rural England September 10, 2006
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
In Middlemarch Eliot gives us a glimpse of rural life in England, during the 1830's. The central theme in this book is the connection between religion and worldliness, that affects the lives of the different characters in different ways.
Eliot's style is sharp and detailed and she alternates the serious tone of the book with enough humour and cynicism.
The most fascinating aspect of this book for me are in the numerous complex characters, often driven by ambition and blinded to the consequences for themselves and others.
A beautiful book, but not an easy read and not full of suspension, so if that's what you're looking for, you had better skip this book. But if you love classics like the works of Bronte and Hardy, this book definitely belongs on your list, that is, if you have the tenacity to read this 800 page novel.
One Of The Finest Novels Ever Written-A Literary Masterpiece March 3, 2005
34 out of 38 found this review helpful
George Eliot, (nom de plume of Mary Ann Evans), wrote a literary masterpiece with "Middlemarch." I was forced to read this novel in school at an age when term papers and grades meant more than absorbing the riches this novel contains. I recently gave it another shot, lured to revisit 19th century English literature by rereading Jane Austen and other extraordinary authors. Ms. Eliot created, with this book, an entire community in England in the mid-1800s and called it Middlemarch. She populated this provincial town with people of every station, local squires and their families, tradespeople, the rising middle class, the poor and destitute, ruthless and honest. She crowded them together, with their ambitions, dreams and foibles, and wove a wonderful web of plots and subplots. Ms. Eliot also used her great wit to include scathing social commentary. The fortunes of Middlemarch are rising in this new era when machines and trains - fast, available transportation - are changing the world, the economy, the politics. Rigid social codes, the British class system, is in danger of being breached. Folks are out to make a quick shilling - anything to acquire wealth and enhance social position. Dorothea Brooks lives in Middlemarch. She is an intelligent, sensitive young woman, who wants to dedicate her life to important endeavors. She does not want to settle for a typical marriage and family, but looks toward a more noble cause. As a woman, a professional life is not open to her, nor is the pursuit of intellect, outside of marriage. She weds the elderly Rev. Casaubon, a cold, narcissistic man, thinking that by assisting him with his scholarly research and writing, she will find happiness. Dr. Lydgate comes to Middlemarch to begin his medical practice there. He is an idealist, who has dreams of finding a cure for cholera and opening a free clinic. He meets blonde and beautiful Rosamund Vincie, who fancies him for a spouse...along with a new house, new furniture, an extensive wardrobe, etc. A dashing, romantic Will Ladislaw, nephew of Rev. Casaubon, enters the story, as does Rosie's brother Fred, who wants desperately to marry his Mary, but is out of work and in debt. This cast of richly drawn characters continues to grow with the introduction of Mary's family, the Garths, the banker Bulstrode, friends, relations, and an evil villain or two. "Middlemarch," a complex novel and portrait of the times, is one of the best reading experiences I have had in a long while. I returned to George Eliot's masterwork 30 years after my initial encounter - and it was/is so worth the re-read!
JANA
Little better May 29, 2004
15 out of 17 found this review helpful
OK, she does not have Tolstoy's range, or quite the intensity of Stendhal, but this is by some stretch the best novel written in English to date -- and is more than up there with the best of the French and Russians. Imaginative intelligence in both plotting and characterisation, unflinching realism tempered with clear-sighted humanity, a killing eye for detail and a complete intolerance for cant or b/s. For all that this book does not offer easy pleasures -- Eliot, to modify Woolf's comments, was a grown-up writing for grown-ups -- it is all the more enjoyable for that. It might have been written 130 years ago, but this remains one of the best lenses through which to view, and to dignify, those parts of our lives that too often get overlooked, ignored or forgotten: which is to say, most of them. And guys, arm candy may be great, but steer clear of anyone who even vaguely puts you in mind of Rosamund.
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