Product Description
In a landmark essay, Virginia Woolf rescued George Eliot from almost four decades of indifference and scorn when she wrote of the 'searching power and reflective richness' of Eliot's fiction. Novels such as Middlemarch and The Mill on the Floss reflect Eliot's complex and sometimes contradictory ideas about society, the artist, the role of women, and the interplay of science and religion. In this book Tim Dolin examines Eliot's life and work and the social and intellectual contexts in which they developed. He also explores the variety of ways in which 'George Eliot' has been recontextualized for modern readers, tourists, cinema-goers, and television viewers.

The book includes a chronology of Eliot's life and times, suggestions for further reading, websites, illustrations, and a comprehensive index. ... Read more

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

I Would Rate Middlemarch in the Top 100 Also
Although the sentences are often long and interwoven with several ideas within them to the point where I had to read some over, this book is still to me a monumental piece of artistry in the way it is written, the story developed and the creation of characters I was totally intrigued with.I don't think this is a book for the casual reader however but for someone that can really appreciate the art of weaving words into a tapestry.At times I was just awestruck by the brilliance of the work.Several months later, I still am.What a brilliant mind (in my view.)

Wonderful, compelling book
I took up this book because it was on a booklist of the 100 best books written, and I have to agree.It took awhile to get into it because there's a great deal of expository writing at the beginning, but stick with it and you'll be introduced to some fascinating characters in the town of Middlemarch.

Dorothea Brooke is a young woman about to take a much older husband, determined to find purpose in her life by assisting him with his life's work, a book which is to a definitive guide to all the mythologies of the world.When she begins to suspect her husband's work is little more than empty piffle, how will she find her way?

Mr. Lydgate is a hotshot young physician determined to do great works from the small town of Middlemarch. Thwarted by small town suspicion and politics, and increasingly saddled by debt incurred by a pretty young wife, how will he cope as his life's dream slips away?

Fred Vincy is the son of a town merchant determined to see him made a gentleman.He's paid for Fred to recieve a gentleman's education at Oxford with the intention that Fred will join the Church.Fred knows the Church isn't for him, but isn't sure what else to do, nor how to tell his father his education was for naught.

These are just three of a huge cast of characters, all of them fascinating in their own way as their lives intersect.The book feels more like a documentary than a novel, and you grow to feel as if the characters could be your own friends and neighbors.Highly recommended, I know this is going to be one of my favorite books.
... Read more

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Customer Reviews (4)

I think he is not like young men in general
"Daniel Deronda" was the last novel George Eliot wrote, and it's an appropriate finale to her career -- a lushly-written, heartfelt story about a young man searching for his past (and clues to his future), as well as a vibrant strong-willed young lady who discovers that life doesn't always go your way. Even better, Eliot deftly avoided the cliches and caricatures of the Jewish people, portraying them with love and respect.

Daniel Deronda is the ward (and rumored illegitimate son) of a nobleman, who is unsure of his past (particularly of his mother) catching a glimpse of pretty, reckless, arrogant Gwendolyn Harleth at a casino. Gwendolyn (who boasts that she gets everything she wants) is interested in Daniel, but when her family loses all their money, she marries a rich suitor, a relative of Daniel's -- knowing that his mistress and illegitimate children will be disinherited. But she soon finds that her new husband is a sadistic brute, and sees Daniel as her only help.

Meanwhile, Daniel rescues the despairing Mirah Lapidoth from a suicide attempt in the river, and he helps the young Jewish singer find a home and friends to care for her. As he helps her find her family, he becomes passionately attached to the Jewish population and their plight, embodied by a dying young visionary and a kindly shopkeeping family. Then he receives an important message -- one that will illuminate his roots, and give him a course for the future.

When Eliot published her final novel, it caused a massive stir -- not many novelists tackled the plight of the Jewish population, or how it compared to the gilded upper classes. In a way, "Daniel Deronda" is both a love triangle and an allegory -- Daniel must choose between the pretty, shallow English life (Gwendolyn) or a rich Jewish heritage (Mirah) with a background of tragedy.

The biggest problem with Eliot's writing is that it becomes a little too lush and dense at times, and the narrative moves a bit slowly (in the Victorian manner). But that flaw doesn't rob her writing of its power or beauty -- she describes every feeling, gesture and emotion in detail, as well as the sumptuous balls, exquisitely gilded mansions, and every shadowy tree or rich expanse of land ("a grassy court enclosed on three sides by a gothic cloister").

Yet the greatest power is in the stories that twine like ivy over the main plot -- a young Jewish girl's search for her family, a sadistic man's search for a wild lovely girl he can break, and especially of the composer Herr Klesmer and his sweet, atypical love story with Miss Arrowpoint. And the last quarter of the book is wrapped in Daniel's search for his own family, culminating in a quietly tense encounter with someone from his long-ago past.

Daniel almost seems like a character too good to be true -- unselfish, kind, universally kindly and very intelligent, though possessed of a vaguely searching quality. Gwendolyn is his complete opposite: she has been raised to be selfish, disdainful and immature, but as the book goes on she learns that selfishness doesn't pay -- marriage to the despicable Grandcourt changes her from a selfish little girl into a scarred but stronger woman.

The third leg of the triangle is Mirah, who is not given the loving attention that Gwendolyn is, but who is still a compelling figure -- her father tried to sell her, and now she wanders through England searching for her family. And the book is littered with many other striking characters: the sadistic Grandcourt and his creepy servant Lush, the crotchety but kindly Klesmer, the spirited artist Hans, the kindly Sir Hugo and the doomed, strong-willed Mordecai.

"Daniel Deronda" is a beautiful portrait of a young man's search for his past, and a young woman's struggle with the fruits of her own selfishness. What's more, George Eliot's last novel is a loving, powerful portrait of the Jewish people, in a time when they were caricatured at best.

Two books in one
These 710 pages are really two books in one.Don't read it for a deadline.It's the sort of book you keep by your bed for about a year and read a few pages every night before going to sleep.I had to read it for a deadline and dreaded about half of it.

One book concerns an attractive, selfish girl-woman with not too clean scruples.I'll bet Scarlett O'Hara is based on Gwendolen Harleth. Having been careless about her education and talents, she has the bad judgment to marry a rich, sadistic man with nobility prospects.Eliot elucidates the psychological sadism, but as a true Victorian, omits the probable sexual sadism.Daniel Deronda is an embodiment of her conscience and tries to help her through her eventually overwhelming feelings of guilt.
Daniel is also the connection to the so-called other book, which describes the Lapidoth/Cohen family,their hardships in a Gentile world, and their Zionism as a hope for their unity with God.There are mysteries concerning Daniel's heritage, but the reader can pretty well guess what it is long before it is revealed.

I had mixed feelings about this book.Some of it is delightful, witty in its description of the British gentry and their prejudices of religion and rank.Other parts are ponderous, with 80-word sentences embodying lofty and vague ideals.The Jewish parts are written with good will, but some of the things are wrong and actually a bit patronizing.Example:A boy is named after his living grandfather.Naming is actually done in honor of a person who has died, to further their memory.Victorianly, circumcision is omitted. Nevertheless, the writing is terrific and evoked genuine emotion in me.

"Visions are the creators and feeders of the world.I see.I measure the world as it is, which the vision will create anew."
In what may be her most exciting and original novel, George Eliot weaves two completely different plots, one of which is a uniquely sympathetic and fully developed story with Jewish protagonists.Presenting no Jewish stereotypes, as we see in Dickens (in Oliver Twist and other novels) and even Trollope (with The Way We Live Now (Barnes & Noble Classics)), she depicts characters who have, in one case, tried to avoid their heritage and in another have been drawn irrevocably to a religion and culture with which they have had no previous contact.

Daniel Deronda, a young man who has been brought up as an English gentleman by Sir Hugo Mallinger, has never known his real parents, secretly fearing that he is illegitimate.As time passes, he longs to understand the circumstances of his birth, especially after Sir Hugo marries and produces heirs of his own.Beautiful Gwendolen Harleth, selfish and manipulative, is romantically attracted to Daniel, but a sudden change in her family's financial status leads her into a precipitous but financially advantageous marriage to the arrogant Henleigh Grandcourt. Meanwhile, Daniel saves a young woman from drowning herself, a singer named Mirah Lapidoth who is in despair.Mirah, a Jew, has been stolen from her family by her father, whom she suspects planned to sell her into white slavery, and she desperately misses her mother and brother, whom she can no longer find.As she progresses with her singing career, she never forgets her heritage, of which she is inordinately proud.

As Eliot develops the various social settings of this fascinating novel, written in 1876, a full picture of British society evolves.To protect Mirah from her father and her own despair, Daniel places her in the home of friends and resolves to try to find her family.When Daniel discovers her brother Mordecai, a Jewish mystic and seer, Mordecai is convinced, against all odds, that Daniel is Jewish--and is the person who will carry his visions for a Jewish nation to fruition.As the novel develops further, Eliot explores Jewish mysticism, religious traditions, and cultural heritage, even as she also uses the shallow, aristocratic life of Gwendolen Harleth Grandcourt as a contrast to that of Mirah.

The novel is unique in its favorable and lengthy depiction of Judaism and in its illustration of Judaism's cultural superiority to superficial, aristocratic British life.Mirah and her family take center stage in terms of sympathy, despite the fact the Gwendolen, who in other novels might have been the heroine, suffers terribly in her miserable marriage to Grandcourt. Daring to do something completely different with this complex novel, which was her last, Eliot's vision and seriousness of purpose here created enormous controversy in its time and presaged a new direction for the novel.n Mary Whipple

Middlemarch (Signet Classics)
The Mill on the Floss (Penguin Popular Classics)
Adam Bede (Penguin Classics)
George Eliot: The Last Victorian

Great style
'Daniel Deronda' is witty, descriptive, and romantic.Before there was Scarlett O'Hara, willful Gwendolyn Harleth schemed to get her way in a society that offered security only to the rich.The author offers fascinating glimpses of mid 1800's drawing rooms, hunting parties, casinos, and more, filling them with memorable characters.This is a classic English novel, verbose perhaps, but with a clarity that's lets the reader inhabit another century.For those not familiar with Eliot's style, narrative and description may seem to set a slow pace. ... Read more

Product Description
Every one of George Eliot's classic novels is now available in one edition! Each with a fully functioning table of contents, this collection includes:

Adam Bede, 1859
The Mill on the Floss, 1860
Silas Marner, 1861
Romola, 1863
Felix Holt, the Radical, 1866
Middlemarch, 1871-72
Daniel Deronda, 1876
... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Collection organization
The description was slightly misleading. Yes, it includes the full collection and each book has a table of contents. However, when you open it the view is the first page of the first book in the collection but you don't know which one it is (it is Adam Bede). When I checked the Menu -> Go to... option the Table of Contents is grayed out so there is not one for the whole collection. Only by going to the Cover (no picture which was disappointing) and going to the next page was I able to see the list of the 7 items in the collection with each item linked to the specific book. I recommend that you Bookmark this page. ... Read more

Product Description
A collection (with active table of contents)of works by George Eliot, pen name of Mary Ann Evans, English Victorian novelist:

Middlemarch
Silas Marner
The Mill on the Floss
Daniel Deronda
Brother Jacob
The Lifted Veil
Romola
The Mill on the Floss ... Read more

Product Description
Originally published in 1893. This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies.All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks, notations and other marginalia present in the original volume. ... Read more

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Volume 1 of 4. Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life. A novel by George Eliot, the pen name of Mary Anne Evans, later Marian Evans. Themes include the status of women, the nature of marriage, idealism and self-interest, religion and hypocrisy, political reform, and education. Virginia Woolf described Middlemarch as "one of the few English novels written for grown-up people". This book is a reproduction of the 1871 First Edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (114)

Absolutely Spellbinding!
"Here, with the nearness of an answering smile, here within the vibrating bond of mutual speech, was the bright creature whom she had trusted - who had come to her like the spirit of morning visiting the dim vault where she sat as the bride of a worn-out life; and now, with a full consciousness which had never awakened before, she stretched out her arms towards him and cried with bitter cries that their nearness was a parting vision; she discovered her passion to herself in the unshrinking utterance of despair."
~ George Eliot

Stick with this - from the size, it should be evident that it takes a good while to get completely grounded and involved. After that happens, it is impossible to put down this wonderful book. It's an in-depth discovery of the lives of several people in Middlemarch -- small town rural England during the time of reforms being planned in the 1880s. A time not altogether too different than our own, except for the predicament of women.

Dorothea is a fascinating woman, and a window into the lives of the women of those times, and -- through the various men who intersect with her, comes a picture of life as it was, the politics as they were, and the classes as they existed.

The talent of this author blazes across the many pages, bringing character after character which is beautifully developed and worked in among the various happenings, all wrapped around an epic design that, time after time, take one's breath. The (female) author chose the name George Eliot with the intention she be taken seriously as a writer. Even with the passage of time and changing of styles, it is impossible not to take seriously this amazing, wonderful book and its creator.

Highly recommended!

Great Love Story. A Classic To Be Read Over & Over.
George Eliot's classic novel "Middlemarch" is a timeless treasure that deserves to be read over and over again. My favourite characters in the novel are Dorothea, Will (I always thought of Orlando Bloom playing him while I was reading), Rosamond, Mary and Fred. Very well-written, though Bulstrode's shady past is somewhat confusing to me. great read, though.

If You Haven't Read This, You Can't Consider Yourself Educated
My dad believes this is the greatest novel written in the nineteenth century and the second greatest novel of all time. The number one spot he gives to Ernest Hemingway's THE SUN ALSO RISES. He made me read this when I was in junior high school and because I was kind of being forced, I didn't like it so much.

But last night I went back to this story about life in a provincial English town and now I see what I didn't see back then and that my dad was right, when he said about this book, "You can't consider yourself educated if you haven't read it."

Not my kind of book.
I'm reading this book for my Great Books class at university and it is one of the hardest reads for most of the class. I have a lot of difficulty getting into the story and find myself skipping huge parts of it and just using sparknotes to see if I missed anything.

Reviewed plenty of times, but it's a favorite, so I'll add one more...
I'll give you my favorite quote. Will Ladislaw, a devoted admirer of the book's lead- Dorothea, is caught by her in what appears to be a precarious situation with another woman (I won't reveal who). This woman flippanty tells Will he can follow Dorothea (who fled the scene), and "explain his preference":

'He found another vent for his rage by snatching up [her] words again, as if they were reptiles to be throttled and flung off. "Explain! Tell a man to explain how he dropped into hell! Explain my preference! I've never had a PREFERENCE for her, any more than I have a preference for breathing. No other woman exists by the side of her. I would rather touch her hand if it were dead, than I would touch any other woman's living."'

Quick review: one aspect of this novel is about unwise choices in marraige, HOWEVER, this novel is NOT anti-marraige (as the most popular positive review seems to allude). In fact, at its core is the idea of marraige for love and, in several cases, this novel examplifies the need of pushing through trials with your spouse (Lydgate, Garth, and even creepy Bulstrode). No character walks away from their marraige in this novel, and ultimately it has happy endings.

What I love most about Dorothea is that she LEARNS throughout the novel. That she changes. In the beginning she is prudish, opinionated, and spurns romance to marry a man under a disillusioned ideal it will broaden her usefulness. At first I didn't care for her, I liked her sister better (who becomes somewhat silly later on). Through her trials, Dorothea softens. She is humbled. She sees the value in others and spurns viscious gossip and judgments. By the end of the book, my opinion of her has managed to rotate 180 degrees.

I've already said more than I intended, but I hope you give this novel a chance. ... Read more

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This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

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Adam Bede is a hardy young carpenter who cares for his aging mother. His one weakness is the woman he loves blindly: the trifling town beauty, Hetty Sorrel, whose only delights are her baubles-and the delusion that the careless Captain Donnithorne may ask for her hand. Betrayed by their innocence, both Adam and Hetty allow their foolish hearts to trap them in a triangle of seduction, murder, and retribution. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Adam Bede Review
The author could be a little too descriptive and long-winded at times, but overall the story was really good. I think more girls will enjoy it than guys because of the romantic story lines. However, it wasn't all romance, there were also some pretty crazy non romantic plot twists as well. So, if you're struggling through the first portion of the novel, don't give up! it'll be worth it by the end, i promise :)

-Hannah Nielsen (daughter of D.K. Nielsen)

Classic..........
I don't give away plot in my book reviews.Simply put, there is a reason the classic works ARE classic.This is a 19th century page turner.Grips one's interest from the start.When reading, bear in mind this voice is from the past, writing about a very real past.What better history lesson could one want?

Adam Bede
I purchased this book as a requirement for an "lifelong learning" class.I had expected it to be stilted, slow going, but the pages just flew by.A good reading experience.

A classical but flawed first novel
Adam Bede is George Eliot's novel of love and life in the English countryside. Eliot, who in reality was a woman, Marian (Mary Ann) Evans, writes of ordinary people living in the early 19th century and in this case the main events take place between the years 1798 and 1801.In this book the story centers around five young people, Adam and Seth Bede, Arthur Donnithorne, Hetty Sorrel and Dinah Morris. Adam and Seth are carpenters. Adam is the older brother. He is depicted as physically strong and of high moral character and is admired by everyone in the small community of Hayslope where they live. Seth has a gentler, spiritual nature. Arthur is the grandson and heir of Squire Donnithorne, an old and greedy man who owns the property on which many people in the community make their living as tenant farmers. The Captain, he is in the military and is temporarily home because of an injury to his arm, is essentially a good person and well liked by everyone, but is insensible to his status and thus acts irresponsibly. Hetty is a beautiful, but frivolous, young woman (only 17 at the start of the novel), given to dreams of a luxurious life. Dinah is deeply religious and sees herself as a Methodist preacher.She lives in a nearby community where she works in a mill, but spends considerable time in Hayslope where she stays with her relatives, the Poysers.Other important characters are Mr. and Mrs. Poyser, tenant farmers who care for their niece Hetty, the Rev. Adolphus Irvine, the community minister and adherent of the Church of England, Mrs. Lizabeth Bede, Adam and Seth's mother, and Bartle Massey, a teacher with an abhorrence of women.

As the story begins, Adam is in love with Hetty, but she pays little attention to him because of his working class status. Seth loves Dinah, but she says she is too committed to her religion to marry. Arthur, attracted to the pretty Hetty, begins a flirtation with her that leads to disastrous consequences. Arthur, several years younger than Adam, admires him greatly and hopes that Adam will work for him when he becomes master of the estate. The feeling at this point is shared.

The first 250 pages of the novel may be described as slow moving. Here Eliot seems to be more concerned with introducing the characters and describing the culture of the country community than with advancing the plot. One feature of this part of the book is the 21st birthday party for Arthur which is described in great detail.But the story takes off after that and the next 150 pages, which may be subtitled; "Hetty's Story" in that it deals primarily with her troubles, are the most exciting and interesting part of the book. The last 50 pages or so are a kind of anti-climax with, in my view, a compromised and unconvincing ending.

But plot is not the primary value of this novel. Eliot seems to be concerned mostly with character development and how adversity affects it. Religion also plays a big role in the novel.Hetty's character is shallow and ultimately leads to her demise. Adam is honorable but uncompromising. He comes to learn the power of forgiveness. Arthur is well meaning but thoughtless. He learns that such thoughtlessness can harm himself as well as others.Dinah realizes that love of God alone is not enough and good deeds for strangers cannot match the value of family.Seth, alone, seems unchanged by the events of the story, remaining good natured and accepting of life's offerings.

The minor characters also undergo this character test. Rev. Irvine, initially seen as derelict in his religious devotions, rises to the occasion and shows his essential goodness. The Poysers, while at first holding strong and inflexible views, learn that life requires adjustments.Bartle Massey, for all his misogynist views, comes to realize that women can play positive roles in life.

Adam Bede was Eliot's first major work and it shows. Much of the story is contrived and hard to believe. Her later work is more structured and believable. I would certainly recommend reading her, but perhaps Mill on The Floss, Silas Marner and certainly, Middlemarch are better works.
... Read more

Product Description
From the author of MIDDLEMARCH and SILAS MARNER, a story of frustrated intelligence and longing, featuring the intelligent Maggie, who yearns to be loved, and her brother Tom, who is forced to study. When Maggie is cast out by Tom, she is ostracized by society, and must face the consequences of renunciation. ... Read more

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Classic tale of youth wasted. ... Read more

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The best-known and most autobiographical of George Eliot’s novels isnow available as a Norton Critical Edition.The text of The Mill on the Floss, that of the 1862 third edition forwhich Eliot made her last revisions, has been annotated in order toassist the reader with obscure references and allusions.

"Backgrounds" includes fifteen letters from the 1859-69 period centeringon the novel’s content and composition; "Brother and Sister" (1869), alittle-known sonnet sequence; and eight Victorian reviews andresponses, both published and unpublished, on the novel, includingthose by Henry James, Algernon Charles Swinurne, and John Ruskin.

Judiciously chosen from the wealth of essays on The Mill on the Flosspublished in this century,  "Criticism" includes ten of the best studiesof the novel, providing the reader with historical and criticalperspective.

The contributors are Leslie Stephen, Virginia Woolf, F. R. Leavis,George Levine, Ulrich Knoepflmacher, Philip Fisher, Mary Jacobus, JohnKucich, Margaret Homans, and Deirdre David.

A Chronology and Selected Bibliography are also included. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Fabulous View of Sibling Relationships in Victorian England
"The Mill on the Floss" is by far one of my favorite text from George Eliot (Marian Evans). I may be a little biased as I have used this text as a basis for an independent study on kinship relations in Victorian England as well as a paper on the domestication of women.

This is the most autobiographical of all of Eliot's works with Maggie and Tom Tulliver being based on herself and her brother Issac. The similarities between Marian Evans and Maggie Tulliver dominate the texts; however, the relationship between Tom and Maggie propels in a far different way than that of Marian and Issac. Maggie's main purpose throughout the text is to find love. Love completes her. Her first feelings of love come from her brother and throughout her life, she seeks what can be perceived as a "pseudo-brother" in the men she relates to.

This text is a thrilling ride for those especially interested in the suppressed female in the Victorian Era. With an omnipresent third person narrator that occasionally speaks his/her mind, Eliot creates a fabric about the inter-working of families and the social construct in Victorian Society.

Mill on the Floss
The book was heavily marked--had been used by a college undergraduate. As a professor, I found the markings amusing.Service was excellent and the book was in very good shape.

The Pleasure of Reading Eliot
What a pleasure it is to read the novels of George Eliot. The sheer intelligence of the author shines on every page. In this, her second novel following closely after Adam Bede, she draws on her own experience to create a world of characters surrounding her hero & heroine, Tom and Maggie Tulliver.
The story develops at a leisurely pace with the first two books devoted to the childhood of Maggie and Tom. As Tom goes off to be tutored, Maggie must stay at home and their lives slowly diverge until in subsequent books, as their father's world disintegrates in debt, they are found on opposite sides with their filial love tested again and again. One of the most impressive aspects of the novel is the complexity of these characters as created by Eliot. Tom distinguishes himself at the trading firm of his Uncle Deane and matures into a confident and courageous young man, repaying the debts of his father. Yet, his character is flawed in both his inflexibility and his inability to appreciate the needs of his sister Maggie. Maggie, who is significantly more intelligent than Tom, and self-taught, has developed from a somewhat over-emotional young girl into a sort of Christian ascetic based on her reading of Thomas a Kempis. She is forbidden friendship with Philip Waken, the son of the lawyer who bought her father's mill, and is prevented from developing the potential that is central to her character. The denouement of the novel leads it down the path of the tragic side of life if not true tragedy, but the complexity of the characters and realism of the world in which they live continues to impress. ... Read more

Product Description
As Maggie Tulliver approaches adulthood, her spirited temperament brings her into conflict with her family, her community, and her much-loved brother Tom.Still more painfully, she finds her own nature divided between the claims of moral responsibility and her passionate hunger for self-fulfillment.This edition of The Mill on the Floss offers the definitive Clarendon text with a new Introduction which deals with Eliot, Darwinism, and the intellecutal life of the period, as well as providing close textual analysis. ... Read more

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Great Read
I started reading George Elliot's works after initially reading "The Mill on the Floss".There are few writers that I enjoy reading as much.She makes me feel as though I am experiencing the emotions of her characters.I am swept away and have trouble putting her books down.I love the themes she chooses to write about.Her characters are believable and the works are always filled with choices and consequences of everyday people.She does a phenomenal job of weaving the web of the interactions of the characters and demonstrating how each person's actions have affected the others.

Relevant social commentary
Adam Bede is more volatile than Middlemarch, but also more powerful. It centers around the life of a master carpenter, Adam Bede, and the people in his village above and equal to his caste, and his conflicted love for a young woman who has also caught the attention of the young aristocrat who is the nominal authority within the community, with tragic consequences. It is not only worth the download, but equally deserves your focus and attention. ... Read more

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The poet and the novelist write largely out of personal experienceand must give expression to the effects of their own history. What they have seen and feltgives shape and tone to what they write; that which is nearest their own hearts is poured forth in their books. ... Read more

Product Description
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A beloved classic.Love conquers all.
I used to hate "Silas Marner" when I was forced to read the thing for my English class in Middle School (1959).The teacher I had was terrible AND I was not a gifted student.Since then, over the years, I have reread this classic about four times. Now that I have my Kindle I decided to read it again.The text is laid out very well for the Kindle. At this price it is truly a must-read.What a terrific book!

This is a tale of how love conquers all.A bitter man, Silas Marner, who was done wrong gave up on humanity and decided to live in a cocoon of his own making.Silas' only joy and purpose in life was making and hoarding money.He spent hours on end working himself to no end all for the purpose of earning, saving, and collecting money.Then one day his money hoard was stolen.The rest of the story is a lesson in love.

I have no idea why; here in America, George Eliot's "Silas Marner" is not well known.None of my friends have ever heard of this book.In India this work was well known.Anyway, if you have the time, patience, and inclination for a good read this is it.

... Read more

Product Description
It was George Eliot's ambition to create a world and portray a whole community--tradespeople, middle classes, country gentry--in the rising fictional provincial town of Middlemarch, circa 1830. Vast and crowded, rich in narrative irony and suspense, Middlemarch is richer still in character and in its sense of how individual destinies are shaped by and shape the community. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Brilliant eloquence
I read Middlemarch 30 years ago for a highschool assignment. It was over my young head. Makingit through the 900 pages was like climbing a mountain and back. It took me about 600 pages to get into the book, and hundreds of pages were devoted to the politics and goings on of the time - something I had little interest in. A more mature reader would probably have found that fascinating.

YET - Of all the books I have read and heard through the years, it is a few sentences in this book that captured my heart more than any other anywhere. See what you think:

"That element of tragedy which lies in the very fact of frequency, has not yet wrought itself into the coarse emotion of mankind; and perhaps our frames could hardly bear much of it.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. As it is, the quickest of us walk about well wadded with stupidity."

(Middlemarch, a few paragraphs into Chapter 20.)

For writing and insight like that, people make pilgrimages. Eliot's writing has thousands of brilliant paragraphs that are stunning in their eloquence and clarity.

An Extraordinary Masterpiece Of 19th Century England & The Industrial Revolution
George Eliot, (nom de plume of Mary Ann Evans), wrote a literary masterpiece with "Middlemarch." This Barnes and Noble hard cover edition is a good one, however I would recommend their newer, paperback publication with an Introduction by author and poet Lynn Sharon Schwartz, or the Penguin Classic version. There is also a brief biography of George Eliot included in the B&N paperback. This superb novel will always rate 5+ Stars for me, but this particular edition is not the best.

Ms. Eliot created here, 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. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
JANA ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

George Eliot--a woman
Why did Mary Ann Evans write under the name of George Eliot? Her biography tells of a woman ahead of her times. She dared to be herself and tasted freedom for it. ... Read more

Product Description
Set in the fictitious Midlands town of Middlemarch during the years 1830-32, George Eliot's "Middlemarch" is a work of epic scope filled with numerous characters, which explores a plethora of themes including the status of women, the nature of marriage, idealism and self-interest, religion and hypocrisy, political reform, and education. Considered one of the great works of the English language, George Eliot's "Middlemarch" was immensely popular upon original publication and remains one of the finest examples of the author's prolific and accomplished literary career. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

middlemarch
great book I loved reading it its written so beatifully, I definately recomended it brings you back to england in the 1800's .

As classics go, it's pretty classic
Rarely have I enjoyed a classic with more surprise than Middlemarch. It looks to be an endless and boring morality tale from the plot summary, but reads like a work of high psychological art.

The only other writer who has taken me so convincingly inside the thoughts of so many characters is Shakespeare. A strong compliment, but Eliot shows that she had the goods and somehow weaves an epic and beguilingly entertaining tale out of a quite depressing subject and period.

I recall not wanting this book to end; for an 800-pager, that's strong praise indeed.

They don't write 'em like this anymore!

I love this Penguin edition; they've been doing it right for so long that their versions of the classics have all the right, simple touches.

Truly great writing makes you feel ennobled for having read it; Middlemarch is most decidedly one of those books. ... Read more