Middlemarch by George Eliot

 

Summary (from the publisher): George Eliot's most ambitious novel is a masterly evocation of diverse lives and changing fortunes in a provincial community. Peopling its landscape are Dorothea Brooke, a young idealist whose search for intellectual fulfillment leads her into a disastrous marriage to the pedantic scholar Casaubon; the charming but tactless Dr Lydgate, whose marriage to the spendthrift beauty Rosamund and pioneering medical methods threaten to undermine his career; and the religious hypocrite Bulstrode, hiding scandalous crimes from his past. As their stories interweave, George Eliot creates a richly nuanced and moving drama, hailed by Virginia Woolf as 'one of the few English novels written for adult people'.

Review: This book presents such a nuanced look at the everyday life of multiple intertwined individuals in the small town of Middlemarch in the early 19th century. The author did such an amazing job of tying so many characters' lives togethers, all of whom come from very different social strata and have very different personalities, together into a cohesive narrative. 

One of the main characters and one I was most invested in was young Dorothea (Dodo) Brooke, who is an idealist hoping for a fulfilling intellectual purpose to her life, which leads her to a disastrous marriage to the much older Casaubon. I loved Dorothea's character arc over the course of the novel as we see her go from a naive and idealistic young teenager to an empathetic and realistic woman who still somehow never sacrifices her determination to go after what she wants, regardless of what others think. Then we have Dr. Lydgate, who marries the beautiful Rosamund who is more ambitious for economic advancement than she is in love with her husband. And the wealthy Bulstrode, who is hiding crimes from his past.  And there is also Mary Garth and her childhood friend Fred who is rather aimless with the one exception of his love and devotion to Mary. 

Major themes of this novel include the imperfections of marriage, community and class, ambition and disappointment, money and greed, societal expectations v. conformity, and the impact of gossip and societal reputation. At just under 800 pages, this is a slow build that is far more about societal interactions and impressions than the plot. The author really made me think about the impact of our choices, and especially the impact of our choice of spouse. In this book, multiple lives are profoundly altered because of who they marry, and it has such an immense impact on the characters' happiness. If anything, this is a staunch warning against marrying in haste. 

I read this book as part of a group buddy read and I cannot emphasize enough how much reading this with others helped enrich my understanding, appreciation, and comprehension of this text, which could be very dense at times. This was also the first time I have tried my hand at immersive reading (where you listen to the audiobook while reading along with the text). While this did slow down my reading, the slow-paced buddy read and the immersive reading really helped me feel dialed in and engaged with the text. I felt like I was walking with these characters and their stories for a long time and I'm so glad I gave this a lot of time and attention. 

This book, more than maybe any other I've read this year, had so many dislikable characters! I felt such revulsion for the actions of several characters. Despite such a large cast of characters, Eliot does such an amazing job of fleshing the people of Middlemarch out into recognizable individuals about whom readers can form very strong and very defined opinions. I also thought this was such an accurate portrayal of the way people talk about each other behind each other's back. Gossip at its finest! Some of my favorite lines includes one lady describing Casaubon as a "great bladder for dried peas to rattle in." Or later, when a wife complains about her husband ignoring a dinner guest, he says "You don't expect me to talk much to such a conceited ass as that, I hope.[...] If he got his head broken, I might look at it with interest, not before."

But hands' down, favorite quote of the book is this insanely romantic line: "I 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."

This was a challenging read in many ways. It is dense in parts and long. But it also made me laugh and gasp out loud. I was very invested in the characters' stories by the end after spending so much time with them and did feel largely satisfied with how it all ended up. I don't know that I loved reading this, but I do have great appreciation for the skillful writing and character development, and I am so glad I read it! 

Stars: 4