I finished another classic! Whew.
This is an article my roommate shared with me from The Atlantic: “A Slow Books Manifesto.” Middlemarch is certainly a slow book, and the first George Eliot novel I’ve read (fun fact: her real name was Mary Anne or Marian Evans).
At a length of 848 pages (in the edition I read, and this count might include the introduction), Eliot certainly took her time in this complex weaving of stories about the inhabitants of a small town in the middle of England in the 19th century.
I’ll admit, it took me a while to get into this story, though I enjoyed Eliot’s characterizations and focused observations. Again and again I was impressed with her knowledge of human nature. She is great when narrating inward feeling and human motivation.
That really is why I would definitely agree that this book is a classic, and worth reading. You should read it. You should also tell lots of people that you are reading it and ask people who have already read the book to encourage you to continue to the conclusion, which is satisfying.
Once the book gets going (a couple hundred pages in), the story is compelling, and there are a few twists and turns as well as some storylines playing out the way you think they will.
Eliot even, in consideration for her readers, includes a “Finale” in which she outlines the continuing lives of the main cast of characters. I appreciated this, because I always want to know how stories turn out once we get to the end of the particular story being told.
I’m always up for a good book discussion, so let me know if you want to talk about this book. I hear I’m not the only person to read it this year.