nastya ’s review of Middlemarch > Likes and Comments
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Well caught, nastya! And good to see Eliot mention Fielding's tangents in particular which I enjoyed so much recently.
Fionnuala wrote: "Well caught, nastya! And good to see Eliot mention Fielding's tangents in particular which I enjoyed so much recently."
Perhaps I got too excited, eh? But I am always so happy to discover wit in the books I'm reading, whenever the author is very self-important and not self-aware, I automatically want to tease them, what's wrong with me?
If an author can stand back and laugh at themselves a bit, they go up in my estimation too, nastya.
Fionnuala wrote: "If an author can stand back and laugh at themselves a bit, they go up in my estimation too, nastya."
Maybe if Jon Fosse had some of that I would be more impressed by the time book 6 started 😀
Alas, he didn't.
Now I'm thinking how much alas is like Asle and Ales. Maybe he was laughing down at a level we couldn't hear...
As you know I adore Middlemarch, but I like your review and agree with many of your comments. I too have always thought Rosamund is treated unfairly by the author, although I don't agree that Dorothea is saintly, except perhaps in the sense of saints not being really functional in the regular everyday world.
It's interesting because I'm about halfway through Daniel Derona at the moment (no spoilers please) and in that I feel the "bad" girl is very well developed while the saintly one is a complete bore--the opposite feelings I have about Middlemarch.
I think with Eliot it must simply be a case of how a particular reader gels with her authorial tone. I know so many people who don't like it and yet I've read it three times, each time eating it up (though last time I skipped the bits about Fred and his horse dealing as I couldn't take the second-hand embarrassment). I don't think I'm right or others are wrong, there is just something I deeply connect with about this novel. I do love Dorothea, and probably that helps.
Emily wrote: "It's interesting because I'm about halfway through Daniel Derona at the moment (no spoilers please) and in that I feel the "bad" girl is very well developed while the saintly one is a complete bore--the opposite feelings I have about Middlemarch."
Thank you, Emily. And yes! I also recently compared Rosamond with Gwen! (And for me Gwen's part of book is so much superior to DD's)
And I completely agree about the voice, for me Eliot's voice is too didactic for such a famous realist writer. People say she knows everybody in Middlemarch and they are all real people but that was not my experience with the book.
I do love Dorothea, and probably that helps.
Maybe that's the thing because I am completely cold on Dorothea and even colder on her great love that was so badly written.
nastya wrote: "Emily wrote: "It's interesting because I'm about halfway through Daniel Derona at the moment (no spoilers please) and in that I feel the "bad" girl is very well developed while the saintly one is a..."
I quite like Will Ladislaw, but I suspect it's because I saw the TV series first, in which he's played by a young Rufus Sewell. :-D I agree he's underwritten, but just keep smacking Sewell's face on top as I read!
Emily wrote: "I quite like Will Ladislaw, but I suspect it's because I saw the TV series first, in which he's played by a young Rufus Sewell. :-D I agree he's underwritten, but just keep smacking Sewell's face on top as I read!"
Damn, I understand! I googled Rosamond and god that hair! I know it's historically accurate, but I'll take something less distracting! 😁
JimZ wrote: "Alway enjoy reading your reviews."
Thank you!
Oh, how I agree! I am on chapter 36 but I don't think I can finish. Life is just too short.
Susan wrote: "Oh, how I agree! I am on chapter 36 but I don't think I can finish. Life is just too short."
It can feel very alienating and lonely to be Eliot's hater, you're required by law to start your review by mentioning that Virginia once said it was the only good english novel in the canon, but I am too cranky and tired to care, Susan! :) After three books I've struggled through, I am ready to admit that she is a beautiful prose crafter and dull as the pile of rocks. And maybe a few years before I would try and try and try to crack this nut, but these days I stopped caring :)
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Fionnuala
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Jan 13, 2024 01:34AM
Well caught, nastya! And good to see Eliot mention Fielding's tangents in particular which I enjoyed so much recently.
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Fionnuala wrote: "Well caught, nastya! And good to see Eliot mention Fielding's tangents in particular which I enjoyed so much recently."Perhaps I got too excited, eh? But I am always so happy to discover wit in the books I'm reading, whenever the author is very self-important and not self-aware, I automatically want to tease them, what's wrong with me?
If an author can stand back and laugh at themselves a bit, they go up in my estimation too, nastya.
Fionnuala wrote: "If an author can stand back and laugh at themselves a bit, they go up in my estimation too, nastya."Maybe if Jon Fosse had some of that I would be more impressed by the time book 6 started 😀
Alas, he didn't. Now I'm thinking how much alas is like Asle and Ales. Maybe he was laughing down at a level we couldn't hear...
As you know I adore Middlemarch, but I like your review and agree with many of your comments. I too have always thought Rosamund is treated unfairly by the author, although I don't agree that Dorothea is saintly, except perhaps in the sense of saints not being really functional in the regular everyday world. It's interesting because I'm about halfway through Daniel Derona at the moment (no spoilers please) and in that I feel the "bad" girl is very well developed while the saintly one is a complete bore--the opposite feelings I have about Middlemarch.
I think with Eliot it must simply be a case of how a particular reader gels with her authorial tone. I know so many people who don't like it and yet I've read it three times, each time eating it up (though last time I skipped the bits about Fred and his horse dealing as I couldn't take the second-hand embarrassment). I don't think I'm right or others are wrong, there is just something I deeply connect with about this novel. I do love Dorothea, and probably that helps.
Emily wrote: "It's interesting because I'm about halfway through Daniel Derona at the moment (no spoilers please) and in that I feel the "bad" girl is very well developed while the saintly one is a complete bore--the opposite feelings I have about Middlemarch."Thank you, Emily. And yes! I also recently compared Rosamond with Gwen! (And for me Gwen's part of book is so much superior to DD's)
And I completely agree about the voice, for me Eliot's voice is too didactic for such a famous realist writer. People say she knows everybody in Middlemarch and they are all real people but that was not my experience with the book.
I do love Dorothea, and probably that helps.
Maybe that's the thing because I am completely cold on Dorothea and even colder on her great love that was so badly written.
nastya wrote: "Emily wrote: "It's interesting because I'm about halfway through Daniel Derona at the moment (no spoilers please) and in that I feel the "bad" girl is very well developed while the saintly one is a..."I quite like Will Ladislaw, but I suspect it's because I saw the TV series first, in which he's played by a young Rufus Sewell. :-D I agree he's underwritten, but just keep smacking Sewell's face on top as I read!
Emily wrote: "I quite like Will Ladislaw, but I suspect it's because I saw the TV series first, in which he's played by a young Rufus Sewell. :-D I agree he's underwritten, but just keep smacking Sewell's face on top as I read!"Damn, I understand! I googled Rosamond and god that hair! I know it's historically accurate, but I'll take something less distracting! 😁
JimZ wrote: "Alway enjoy reading your reviews."Thank you!
Oh, how I agree! I am on chapter 36 but I don't think I can finish. Life is just too short.
Susan wrote: "Oh, how I agree! I am on chapter 36 but I don't think I can finish. Life is just too short."It can feel very alienating and lonely to be Eliot's hater, you're required by law to start your review by mentioning that Virginia once said it was the only good english novel in the canon, but I am too cranky and tired to care, Susan! :) After three books I've struggled through, I am ready to admit that she is a beautiful prose crafter and dull as the pile of rocks. And maybe a few years before I would try and try and try to crack this nut, but these days I stopped caring :)
