Reader discussion: Middlemarch

Public reader discussion about Middlemarch in the WeRead Catalog by George Eliot.

Middlemarch as a sad novel? I say no!

By solarDrift

I just wrapped up *Middlemarch* and honestly I loved it. After finishing, I went and looked at a few reviews, and I really don’t buy the “it’s just sad and ends depressing” take. I can’t agree with that at all. To me it reads like something hopeful about real life—relationships, the way people think and change, all of it. Sure, everyone gets hit with stuff: things don’t work out, people fall short, there’s loss and grief, all that. But there’s also love, actual happiness, the little everyday good moments, kindness, even some wins. Yeah, it’s sad sometimes, but that’s basically what makes it feel like life. It doesn’t feel bleak to me—it feels like it’s celebrating being alive anyway. And it even ends in a way that feels like that, at least to me: “Her full nature, like that river of which Cyrus broke the strength, spent itself in channels which had no great name on the earth. But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive, for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on un-historic acts, and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been if half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life and rest in unvisited tombs.” So… what do you all think?

I am Min Jin Lee, and my novel PACHINKO was a finalist for the National Book Award. Call me Min or Min Jin. AMA.

By limpsy-corner

Hey! I’m Min Jin Lee—just a heads up, I wrote *Pachinko*, which was a National Book Award finalist and also made the New York Times’ best-of list for 2017, plus a bunch of other “top books” type stuff (USA Today, ALA, Indie Next, etc.). My first novel *Free Food for Millionaires* came out in 2007 and hit #1 on Book Sense, and it was a national bestseller too. I went to Yale for undergrad (history), then law school at Georgetown. I worked as a lawyer in New York for a few years before I started writing full time. I lived in Tokyo from 2007 to 2011 and researched and wrote *Pachinko* there. If you want more info or upcoming events, you can check out www.minjinlee.com. You can also find me on Twitter @minjinlee11, Facebook @minjinleebooks, and Instagram @lee_minjin. Signing off—Min. Thanks again for joining and making my first AMA fun. All love.

Reading Middlemarch with my mother

By marten-bright

My mom and I both love classic lit, but we haven’t really read any in a while. We’re trying to do this long-distance, two-person book club thing since we live in different states, and we picked this huge one to get through. I think if we do 5 chapters a week it’ll still take us about 4 months… yikes. I’ve heard it’s amazing once you actually get into it though. If you’ve read Middlemarch, what did you think and how was it for you?

Middlemarch by George Eliot [Classics](1994)

By CloudyLilac59

Kinda sounds like a “three big classics in one” set. I’ve heard Middlemarch is her most famous and it really shows how messy and layered English society can be. And Silas Marner… he basically shuts himself off from the world, just focused on work and money because he’s so bitter. But then everything flips when his money gets taken and this little foundling ends up in his life, and it changes him (or his whole outlook). It also includes the short story “Amos Barton,” I guess.

Middlesex

By listens_song1983

I’m like a little over 100 pages into Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides and I’m curious what everyone thinks so far.

Middlemarch

By maple-dreams2002

I’m partway through this book right now and I’m honestly wondering if I’m the only one who thinks it’s kind of boring and heavy. I totally get why people like it—the writing’s solid and the characters feel real—but the whole thing is so dense and packed with these talky conversations that barely go anywhere, like they’re trying to riff on modern philosophy/lit without actually saying much. And it keeps dragging back old-school social stuff and those scripted manners where everyone’s just performing at each other. I’m a few chapters in and just realized I’ve still got a ton left… like hundreds. Does it get any better? Also, does it ever move beyond the 19th-century marriage-and-mind games vibe?

what to read after Middlemarch…

By redFrog50

Honestly I don’t see any real pattern, and I’m not even sure I’m going for the exact same mood each time, but looking at my bookshelf I think I’ve ended up with something like: - Summer (Wharton) - Brideshead Revisited (Waugh) - The Lathe of Heaven (Le Guin) - To the Lighthouse (Woolf) I’m kind of stumped though—where would you go next?

Has anyone read George Eliot’s novels?

By luckybee1981

I’ve been thinking about her for years, but I still haven’t actually gotten around to her. I keep getting tempted by Middlemarch and The Mill on the Floss—the names really grab me—but I’m not sure if I should go for them yet.

"It can be embarrassing to love Dorothea" - Analysis of Middlemarch by George Eliot (The Paris Review)

By BeanPink

This came at the perfect time—I’m actually reading MM right now. I got through the first six chapters last night, and I’m honestly surprised how readable it is. Also it’s kind of funny, which I wasn’t expecting.

Sabotaged ebook versions of Middlemarch. Words replaced with awkward synonyms.

By Electric-Clock1998

I was listening to Middlemarch on audiobook, then grabbed a Kindle copy so I could follow along. Right away I noticed the words weren’t lining up, which made me think, “Oh, maybe this Kindle one is just a different translation,” except Middlemarch is originally English, so that didn’t really fit. I looked closer and the first paragraph in the first two ebook versions I tried was all kinds of messed up—like scrambled word salad. And when I compare that to what the opening is supposed to say, it’s clearly not the same text at all. So now I’m left wondering: is this some weird “thesaurus swap” type thing someone did just to mess with people, or is it an actual upload/formatting issue? Also, does this happen with other classics too? I can’t help thinking about people who might be reading these free/Kindle Unlimited versions and assuming the writing just feels weird because it’s old (or because they’re not reading in their native language), when really they’re getting a sabotaged version. It seems like a bunch of the free and “Kindle Unlimited” Middlemarch ebooks use the broken text, which is kind of alarming.

Middlemarch

By silent_hammer

I’m getting ready to start Middlemarch—does anyone here read it, or just finish it?

William S. Burroughs is a virtuoso of the grotesque

By nebulatower

I’m slowly making my way through Gravity’s Rainbow (it’s brutal, and I’m having a hard time), and I keep taking breaks with stuff like Middlemarch (weirdly soothing) and then Naked Lunch popped up because a copy was waiting for me on Libby. I don’t think there’s anything else quite like this. I’m not even sure how to describe it—somehow it’s light and well-written, but it’s also completely grotesque. And he’s got a real, solid vision like you’d see in any great writer: he builds this whole world and vibe that feels totally his. For me it’s the world of drugs and body horror, with all the bohemian/marginalized stuff people would call “modern” now. It feels weirdly current, too—like it’s buzzing. The whole thing is funny in a sharp way, but also scary and gross, and somehow it’s really smart. ETA: Pynchon’s basically copying Burroughs, right?

Brothers Karamazov or Middlemarch?

By BenLovesBooks

I’m stuck on which of these two books to read this year. I’ve had them sitting around forever but never actually started either one. Lately there’s just not much time with a new baby in the mix (she did the hard work, obviously). They seem pretty different, so I’m not sure what to pick—what’s your favourite if you’ve read both? And if you’ve only read one, would you recommend that one and why?

Finished Middlemarch today...

By WritesClock

I went into it hearing all the “best novel in English” hype, and… yeah, I get why people say that. It’s not like it’s constant big explosions or anything, but somehow it feels packed with action because it follows just a few people’s everyday lives. What surprised me is how openly it shows the stuff going on in your own head—like the real reasons behind feelings and choices—and it was honestly a little unsettling how accurate it felt. Eliot really seems to nail the whole messy mix between the heart and the mind, and she covers all kinds of human experience through folks in one small English town. The writing is sharp too, with wit worked in naturally. It’s also weirdly relatable to basically anyone, and the whole time I was invested in what happens to everyone. I ended up pretty much setting my expectations for other books way too high, like “I want to write at Middlemarch level,” even though I know I’ll never get there.

Middlemarch

By Hidden-Cougar

That ending was really nice—like the whole book was.

Is the final paragraph of Middlemarch the most beautiful final paragraph in any book?? I think so.

By library_looks53

It’s not really a “spoilers” situation, but if you’d rather not get into the last paragraph of *Middlemarch*, maybe don’t go past this. That quote about how her influence spreads in a way that’s hard to measure, and how the good in the world is tied up with those quiet, unhistoric lives—yeah, it still hits me. I read it a couple years ago and I’m not kidding, my eyes still water when I think about it. What a book!!

How Soon Is Now? & George Eliot’s “Middlemarch”

By Restless_Tiger3055

“I am” instead of “to be” — “of” instead of “to”… 🤭 Middlemarch feels like it’s really taking apart Victorian society, like one of those big critiques, so I can totally see why a hardcore English lit student (especially the iconoclast/social dissident type) would be into it. Anyway, I stumbled on this and thought it was a neat find 😋 Also, “George Eliot” was a woman — Mary Ann Evans, just FYI.

George Eliot's Middlemarch?

By curiousBookmark

I’ve heard this book is supposed to be a classic, and with university coming up soon I was thinking of squeezing in one last well-regarded novel for the summer, but only if it’s actually something I’d enjoy. Does anyone who’s read it think it’s worth recommending? I just picked it up today and noticed it’s pretty long, but that won’t matter to me if it’s really worth the time. Any thoughts?

Rank the books you have read so far this year.

By pineChapter

Honestly TBK might be the best thing I’ve read all year. I’m even tempted to track down a hardback version just so I don’t wreck my Wordsworth paperback with creases. My rough ranking right now: - TBK (Dostoevsky) - Notes from Underground (Dostoevsky) - C&P (Dostoevsky) - The Idiot (Dostoevsky) - Heart of Darkness (Conrad) - Tess of the D’Urbervilles (Hardy) - Demons (Dostoevsky) - The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald) - Brideshead Revisited (Waugh) - Far from the Madding Crowd (Hardy) - Wordsworth collection of Dostoevsky short stories (basically everything minus Notes from Underground) Just to be clear, this is all fiction—I did read a couple non-fiction things earlier, but they’re not in this list. I keep circling back to why Tess is above Demons. I think Demons is probably Dostoevsky’s weakest “big” novel for me: it’s way too long, way too confusing, too many characters. And I don’t even feel like he quite commits to the novel in a clear way, which I guess messes with it. But I still put his other books above Hardy. It’s not that Hardy isn’t great—because I do really like him—but his characters feel more like actual normal people, while Dostoevsky goes in with these huge, kind of over-the-top figures (Stavrogin, Myshkin, Raskolnikov) that are more sensational and unreal, even if they’re obviously based on real types. So Hardy can feel truer to life, but maybe less thrilling. With Tess you’re basically just waiting for things to keep going to hell. With C&P, I never feel fully sure how it’s going to wrap up. Same kind of deal with why I lean toward the Dostoevsky vibe in general—I think I’ve got a soft spot for the grand, dramatic, “this is bigger than life” stuff, even if English realism is probably closer to what everyday life looks like. Also I put Gatsby above Brideshead. Both are written really well, and I liked both, but the endings didn’t fully sell me. Gatsby’s death feels like it happens out of nowhere in this weird way, and Myrtle’s accident is almost too improbable—like it’s trying to be Shakespeare but overshoots. Brideshead’s ending where everyone swings back to Catholic faith is also a bit unconvincing, just less wildly so. I think Gatsby ends up higher for me because it’s more exciting and theatrical, and it at least has this really compelling (even if he’s awful) main guy. Brideshead has characters I don’t find that gripping overall. Julia’s probably the dullest, and the whole romance between her and Charles feels kind of like a lull, especially after the Sebastian–Charles stuff earlier in the book, which was way more interesting to me.

Middlemarch, "tweak" to Finale different editions

By WandersKey

My favorite used bookstore just got a Penguin English Library edition of *Middlemarch*—George Eliot, edited by W. J. Harvey. Since different editions can have little differences that matter, I went down a rabbit hole and found this page: https://middlemarchforbookclubs.wordpress.com/getting-started/choosing-an-edition/ The author there says something like there are changes to the novel across its publishing history, and one of the more interesting ones is a tweak to the finale. Does anyone happen to know what that tweak actually is? And was it something Eliot changed later herself, or did an editor alter it for some reason? I really like reading the closest thing to the author’s original final wording—basically the English they used back then, not “modernized” stuff from older printings. If there’s a specific thing/sentence to look for in the ending, I’d love to know what to check.