Reading the Chunksters discussion

We are getting to the end! Only a few weeks to go, please post your thoughts.

Not that I think a man should it a woman, but Rosamund needs a good slap. I just wanted to throttle her. She definitely needed a sterner hand when she was a child. In every way she is a stupid, selfish girl. One of the most overtly detestable characters I've read in Victorian literature (but, but no means the worst....I want to set fire to Wuthering Heights). I hope she is mocked by Lydget's relations. I like him, but I'ld like to see her humiliated in some way that does not injure him.

Then again, a debt of 1000 pounds!!! Thats an absolutely mortifying amount of debt. Using an inflation calculator this came out to be aboue 14,000 pounds, but that doesn't really tell the whole story. Its such a large amount of debt to run up on "this" and "that." I cant believe he let it get so bad before realize, *oh thats right, I'm just a poor doctor*.

One thing I didn't understand was Ladislaw's mothers actions. She ran away from home because basically the family was rich off of dirty money, but she ran to the stage. Wasn't the stage considered almost equally nefarious as pawn shops at the time? I'm surprised she thought that was a refuge. I'm surprised the grandmother married into that at all, and would like to know more about that.

And I knew there was something off about Bulstrode, but I would have never guessed he was Will Ladislaw's step-grandfather. Wow. Honestly, his working in the pawn shop didn't shock me that much, but his hiding the known whereabouts of the daughter was pretty terrible. Another excellent case of rationalization, I really liked reading Eliot's insight into this sort of persona.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who wants to throttle Rosamond. First her little self-pity-party over Ladislaw, then her whole scheming behind her husband's back and lying to his face. My inner turmoil is that I really want Lydgate to get out of financial trouble, but I don't want Rosamond to get off that easily, she needs a good hit of reality and she's just not going to get it as long as she keeps getting her way. I almost think I prefer Becky Sharp from Vanity Fair than Rosamond. At least Becky was entertaining, I guess Rosamond can play piano and sing, but as a character she's just irritating, Becky Sharp was irritating and entertaining to read.

I'm not quite getting Ladislaw's mothers actions either.

This is the first time and probably the only time, I actually feel a little sorry for Bulstrode. I think he feels genuinely bad for his past actions (You may disagree and think he only feels bad because he's been caught) and I think reaching out to Will was the only way he could think to make up for his past. Don't get me wrong, that doesn't make him a likeable character or earn my forgiveness, but when he broke down and cried after Will's treatment of him, I felt bad for him.

Oh and Rosamond's mom! There's another woman I want to throttle. Imagine! Thinking that Mary is not good enough for her precious Fred. Fortunately I think that Fred has gotten his head on straight and knows that it's the other way around. But no wonder Rosamond is the way she is when her mother is a blithering idiot (too harsh?)

Definitly not too harsh! The whole family of Vincy is pretty terrible, except for Fred but it did take him a while to come around, didnt it?

I felt bad for Bulstrode too. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Definitly not too harsh! The whole family of Vincy is pretty terrible, except for Fred but it did take him a while to come around, didnt it?

I felt bad for Bulstrode too. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. I think he truly wants to do good, he just went about it in a pretty abominable way.

I agree with the comments about both Rosamond who I like less and less as the story progresses and I have changed my low opinion of Fred that I had earlier in the book and hope he is able to make his own way in the world. Bulstrode has done things in his past that he would probably not do now but no one can go back and undo past mistakes. Finally getting into the book.

Andrea wrote: "We are getting to the end! Only a few weeks to go, please post your thoughts."

Andrea, do you want me to put up a post for nominations??

O my goodness, Rosamond! I was so mad at her that I wanted to strangle her! What nerve! And her husband is trying to be so honorable and actually treat her as an equal and include her in his decisions and do things together (which is actually rather liberal for that day and age), and she's deliberately circumventing him! She is the stuff terrible marriages are made of! I can't imagine how they can possibly recover from that, unless she gets a serious slap in the face and starts to see reality. What a spoiled, selfish little brat!

I feel a little sorry for Bulstrode, but not much. He's only trying to assuage his own guilt a little, and isn't doing anything to help, just admitting what he did. I don't know that I sense a lot of true repentance in him. He seems pretty repugnant to me.

Did anyone else get a kick out of the auction scene? It was so funny! I can see that whole thing playing out, people getting into bidding wars, making fun of each other, making a whole day of it, as such an event, in a small town. A nice comic relief for the other stories going on right now.