George Eliot, (nom de plume of Mary Ann Evans), wrote a literary masterpiece with "Middlemarch." I was forced to read this 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 back into 19th century English lit. by easier reads, like Jane Austen, whose work I love, and the Brontes. But I don't want to compare apples and oranges. Let it suffice to say, I got back to "Middlemarch" 30 years later. And it was/is so worth the re-read!

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, (Middlemarch, right?), & the poor and destitute, ruthless and honest. She crowded them together, with all their ambitions, dreams and foibles, in this magnificent literary soap opera, and wove a wonderful web of plots and subplots. Ms. Eliot also wrote scathing social commentary and used great wit.

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 buck, or a 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.

This complex novel and portrait of the times, is one of the best reading experiences I have had in a long while. And it didn't hurt at all! :))

How is it that I am the first person to write a reveiw for, arguably, one of the greatest novels ever written in the English language? Perhaps I am simply the first to write a review for this edition (which, by the way, is superb: the notes are meticulous and fascinating; the introduction is probing and insightful).

Middlemarch is much more than a novel, it is a work of cutting insight into the deepest pathos of Human Nature. I have never (albeit I'm only 21) read a book so psychologically accurate as this. One gets psychological accuracy with Tolstoy, but surely one loses something in the translation. Middlemarch is like Tolstoy for the Native English speaker. It is written in that much-dreaded-by-students Victorian form, however, if you are willing to be patient and persistent, you will find yourself absorbed with the lives of the characters that inhabit this fictional English Province. The plot twists and gossipy townspeople are enough to keep the more shallow reader interested; but if you are keen on depth and understanding the nuances of human nature, then this book is sure to captivate you. Not that there is anything wrong with being either shallow or deep; I constantly found myself intrigued by the townspeople's gossip and the scandals, as well as finding myself pondering some of the puzzling behavior of the characters and (most of the time) identifying with them. I am under the belief that this book must be considered one of the finest works ever written in the English language. But I am simply a college student in the midwest and have no weight of influence to encourage the avid reading of Middlemarch; I suggest you consult Virginia Woolf's thoughts on the matter. She describes Middlemarch as "one of the few English novels written for grown-up people." If that is not convincing enough, Hermione Lee suggests that Middlemarch is "The most profound, wise and absorbing or English novels... and, above all, truthful and forgiving about human behaviour."

Nota Bene: If you consider yourself a humanist, Middlemarch is a necessity!

My Hero of Christian Theolgy

I have read many books about Bible and Jesus ranging from missionary works to the works of scholars such as Prof. B. Metzger. Never have I come across a Book such as Strauss' Life of Jesus. About 1000 pages (in English)of rigorous and detailed analysis of the Life of Jesus in the four Gospels without bias (as far as I can tell).It is a big loss to the humanity that Strauss not only was denied teaching positions (for which he was overqualified: knowing Hebrew, Greek, Latin as well as German and having a genius' intelligence) also his marvelous work(s) were suppressed and kept away from the humanity. I hope and pray that many more Christians will have the opportunity to read this enlightening book of Strauss and learn some of the facts about their scriptures and Faith which are kept away from the believers by the Church for millennia. (My use of millennia about one month before 2000 may sound inaccurate, how ever if we take Matthew's word that Jesus was born in the Days of Herod (not paying attention to the fact that Luke assigns birth of Jesus to the time when Quarinius was Governor of Syria which didn't take place until a decade after the death of Herod the Great(Strauss' Life of Jesus & Westminster Dictionary of the Bible))and knowing that Herod died around 4 BC. (Westminster Dictionary of the Bible) also considering the two year(from the killing of children under two year of age) stay of Jesus and His Mother and Joseph in Egypt (Only in Matthew, no other Evangelist noticed this incident including Josephus who recorded detailed life of Herod (Staruss' Life of Jesus)) before Herod died, Jesus must have been born around 6 BC so that for those faithful to Matthew (rather than Luke) true second millennium was 1994. Therefore we are already in the second millennium. TOO BAD WEE MISSED THE 2ND MILLENIAL CELEBRATIONS.)

In concluding, Strauss is a forgatton hero among Christian Scholarsip

My God Have Mercy on Strauss.

This was a labor of love by the editor, me, for this best-seller of 1847 is unknown today because of the ruthless campaign of censorship by powerful church leaders, who only permitted a small-print, forbidding limited edition for scholars who needed it. This user-friendly edition is large print, illustrated with interesting biographies and pictures of David Friedrich Strauss, the father of today's popular studies of the historical jesus (while his own career was ruined for writing this masterpiece). The other biography is of George Eliot, whose masterful translation from the German came 13 years before she became famous as the author of Silas Marner, Middlemarch, et al. This is an oversized book, yet paperback to keep the price down

I have read all Jane Austens books. They are funny and colourless. Most of all I liked the book: Pride and Prejudice.But Emma is funnier. I have seen the movie:Emma,and the movie: Pride and Prejudice.They were very funny!

What a provocative title! Paxton's book is not about evolutionary psychology, but the relationship between Spencer and Eliot laid the groundwork for much of what came about in the twentieth century focus on the place of biology in determining relations between man and woman, the individual and society, and the role that evolutionary theory plays in helping people to determine the paramaters. Actually, that is just what I looked for when I picked this book up. Paxton has an excellent grasp on these issues and her knowledge of Eliot and Spencer is remarkable. I could not put this book down because reading Paxton's writings is like sitting in front of her. She commands your attention by her sheer brilliance in controlling the topic.

I was happy not to find too much parroting of current literary trends and her focus on the texts of Spencer and Eliot are genuine. Some may not like her for that reason, but an honest person looking for an unbiased treatment of poor Spencer will find plenty to think about. This is the best book on the relationship between Eliot and Spencer, and the only one to treat it with the care and civility it deserves.

this book is, simply put, wonderful. you will love the good guys and detest the bad, but most of all want to praise ms. elliot for her touching masterpiece

George Eliot, born Mary Ann Evens, author of arguably the greatest novel in the Victorian era, Middlemarch, was not just an author but an intellectual giant. She translated works of philosophy from the German and from Latin; knew and exchanged ideas with the brightest minds of the time; was fluent in 7 languages (French, Italian, German, Latin, Hebrew, Greek and Spanish), and was compelled by a natural curiosity to acquire knowledge all through her life.

Her life with a married man created a Victorian scandal, yet by the time of her death in 1880 she was England's most celebrated author visited even by Queen Victoria's daughters.

This biography is a thorough, accessible and engrossing book. Author Karl is a fan of Eliot's yet hides none of her blemishes. While he generally refuses to speculate on a lot of Victorian gossip regarding her life, he at times annoys the reader with some unwarranted attempts to psychoanalyze her (I do get tired of the injection of Freud into literature). The slowest parts of the book deal with her frequent trips to Europe. We learn what she did on Tuesday in Berlin, and then her activities in Hamburg on Wednesday. While I realize that the recording of such information is important in providing a fairly complete detail of her life, I tend to nod a bit at the lengthy reports of her travels.

Historically we are blessed with a huge number of extant correspondence of Eliot. The author makes good use of these letters, yet the book does not turn into an epistolary work i.e. a book of nothing but verbatim letters.

One of my purely personal problems with the book was that I have not read all of Eliot's novels. Mr. Karl, of necessity perhaps, relates much of the plots of her books, and thus creates a real spoiler for the novels that I haven't read. That's my problem, of course, and not the author's.

It would seem that people today are probably unaware of this important author who was known throughout England during her writing lifetime. Her novels and her life are an important part of the literary canon. I heartily recommend this well crafted book

This book is not a careful analysis of all of George Eliot's works - you'd need a much bigger book to contain all of that. This book analyzes George Eliot's style of writing and the way she used the language to paint her fiction.

M's Mann uses many examples from M's Eliot's art to point out the wonderful wordplay inherent in the work. M's Eliot's sarcastic remarks, puns and metaphors are carefully chosen and explained. M's Mann's love of her subject material comes shining through her book.

If you are interested in George Eliot's works or you're a writer, wondering how does another writer generate plots and storylines, this is a great book for you.You will end up with a greater understanding of not only M's Eliot's work but the process of writing.

This is a thorough, well-organized compendium of all aspects of George Eliot's works, their reception, publishing history, etc. If you are reading Felix Holt, you'll find everything you need to know about the Reform Bill of 1832. Other entries, such as "Moral Values" and "Romanticism" are brief but well-written and can deepen the perspective as you read. Each of the novels has a dedicated entry describing the plot with interpretive aids. A very valuable resource.

George Eliot's final novel is both riveting and problematic. Many critics have called it "two books in one" -- some have even said that the two strands of the book should have been *separated*. One plotline follows Gwendolen Harleth, a spoiled and beautiful girl fallen on hard financial times, and what happens when she marries a soulless aristocrat...the other plotline concerns the title character, Daniel, who is drawn into the revelation of his true Jewish ancestry. George Eliot is a Novelist of the Mind...she dissects the motivations and psyches of her characters, setting them against the society they inhabit and examining interaction both with that society and with the other people it encompasses. This is a stirring novel, with sharply-etched characterizations : not a melodrama or a potboiler, yet still with the drive of a thriller.

While Middlemarch is a thoroughly Victorian novel, Daniel Deronda looks forward to the modern period in its focus on the individual. The text primarily focuses on two individuals--Daniel Deronda and Gwendolyn Harleth. Their lives are entertwined from the first chapter in which Daniel observes, with a certain amount of disdain, a serpentine Gwendolyn gambling. By the end of the text, both characters have been transformed from the characters you meet at the beginning through self-discovery. Daniel discovers the secret of his birth while Gwendolyn is tragically disillusioned by her unfortunate marriage. The novel foreshadows the modern period's treatment of the individual searching for his identity and his place in an intolerant society.

This novel, originally published in 1876, was Eliot's last. It has remained controversial ever since, and some critics delete it from her first-rank work. It is an ideological novel, and its plot is forced at times (too many coincidences, for one thing). The central character appears to be Gwendolen Harleth at the start (note the echo of her last name with "harlot"), who pawns a necklace at a gaming table only to have it returned by a disapproving observer--the eponymous Deronda. While offended, Gwendolen is also fascinated by Daniel and finally takes him on as her conscience as the novel continues, at great length, weaving a multitude of characters and issues into a fabric with an echo-chamber effect (in the sense that various elements of the book echo each other in odd and unpredictable ways throughout the novel, such as the continuing ways that people gamble with their own fates and the lives of others). This is a novel of sensibility, a link between Austen's method and Woolf's. But it is also a romantic treatment of Zionism (well before it was a popular issue, especially in Victorian England), with all the Jewish leads ennobled and idealized. In this sense it reads differently than MIDDLEMARCH, which was strictly realistic except at the very end. It's closer to SILAS MARNER, a morality tale with symbolic characters. Gwendolen is one of the saddest and most beautiful figures in any novel. She wants so deeply to be the center of attention, and finally can't even be the title character of the novel she's in. There are so many marvellous moments in this book, it repays the time it takes to read it many times over. I do not think Eliot arrived at a satisfying structure for the book, though; her need to promote Zionism prevented it. The Oxford paperback edition is the one I read, and I can recommend it highly -- its notes are superb. But the print is very small, so if that bothers you use another edition.

ADAM BEDE is a thrilling read, though it may seem hard to believe given the unpromising setting and the stilted way Eliot introduces her story. But after the first few starchy chapters, abruptly, something wonderful happens: she gets wise to herself. It's as if you can see her realize that the upright characters she *thought* she was pinning her story on, dull Dinah and Mr Irwine, aren't really the stuff of which fiction is made -- so she shoves them aside and takes up the flawed characters of her triangle, who resonate with possibility at every turn. Suddenly, miraculously, with almost no warning, all Eliot's amazing gifts as a writer take center stage: Her psychological insight. Her phenomenal wit. The dramatizing genius that allows her, effortlessly, to plot the most intimate narrative developments against the gigantic backdrop of a county-wide feast or funeral. Her fearlessness and surefootedness in picking her way (and ours) through the tangle of social and class relationships of an entire village. In this embarrassment of riches, maybe most rewarding for a reader like me is Eliot's unerring ability to pay off her plots: here, ladies and gentlemen, is a writer who knows how to write the hell out of a climax -- George Eliot's big confrontation scenes never, ever disappoint.

Too, some wizardry seems to keep her narrative touch both incomparably delicate and completely unflinching at the same time. At the heart of ADAM BEDE is a story so sordid I wonder whether it could be broadcast on network TV today, and Eliot tells it without vulgarity but without ever shying away from its ugliness. My most serious criticism of the book is that Eliot didn't quite trust herself enough not to tack an unconvincing (and, worse, uninteresting) happy ending onto her story. But the hair-raising drive of the middle two-thirds of the book is something you'll never forget.

Highly recommended for those who loves classic literature. George Elliot beautifully captured the lives of the people in rural English country in the late 18th century and early 19th century. I guarantee you'll fall in love with all the 4 main characters ie. Adam Bede, Hetty Sorrel, Lord Arthur and Dinah Morris before you finish the book. The courting scenes involving Adam Bede and Dinah are both very romantic and honest. George Elliot had a great understanding of human nature which makes the story very believable although it's fiction. ADAM BEDE's a hero in my heart, and this book's a must read for all literature fans.

George Eliot weaves a simple story of love, suffering, and goodness. While the plot is hardly complex (boy loves girl, another boy gets girl, unhappiness abounds - also reused in Mill on the Floss), the manner in which Eliot develops her characters and their emotions and actions ring as true and resoundingly as a bell. It's so clear, so obvious, but also moving and textured. You feel Adam's absolute love for vain little Hetty, Dinah's calming grace, Arthur's good intentions, Lisbeth's fretting nature. Eliot draws you in with her honest observations of life in a country town, without the background becoming a dominant factor. The near idyllic life the characters lead is a healthy contrast to the town's emotional upheaval.

Adam is an upright, genuine character, and not as perfect as he seems. If his love for Hetty seems unfounded at times, it only serves to highlight how dangerous delusions can be. All the "sinners" are ultimately redeemed by truth - true love, true friends, true promises, and true acceptance. Religion plays a significant part in the novel, but don't let that deter you. It's so much more than that - Adam Bede is truly one of the few works that encompass a world of humanity between two covers.

AB reminded me of Tess of the D'Ubervilles a bit, but there is no villain here, just flawed, honest people in search of unattainable dreams. In the process of trying to get a bit of happiness, they stumble and bleed, but ultimately find something truly worth having. Bittersweetness is Eliot's trademark for good reason.

George Eliot's first full novel is obviously a bit less polished than her later works, but you see the wonderful command she has over language and expression. The book, the people, the story all come alive with her touch. A rare read that has something to say and says it beautifully.