David, I just checked my reading Notes, and indeed I read it last year...it took me 3 months, finished 11 November. Not meant to be anything but a short and quick writeup of my feelings upon completion, I'll share my entry with you here:
Eliot, George [Mary Ann Evans] Middlemarch—A Study of Provincial Life [1873, 630 pgs] 11/11/22 A(-)
[Really a long philosophic sermon of sorts, on how and how not to behave. The glimpse it gives of English 1830s country life is certainly profound, though there are many moments I question its complete veracity. It is old-fashioned, considerably more so than Austin, I think. But it’s also longer, more epic in scope, like Tolstoy perhaps. A parable, a soap opera, a happy ending for the deserving…and written by a woman. It’s very grand and deep in its moralistic way.
Great issue David! Love the reference to the piece on black folk musicians!
Dom Flemmons is a wonderful force!
And "Yay, George Elliot!" (Read Middlemarch (again) earlier this year.)
I have heard Middlemarch is her best.....need to read!
David, I just checked my reading Notes, and indeed I read it last year...it took me 3 months, finished 11 November. Not meant to be anything but a short and quick writeup of my feelings upon completion, I'll share my entry with you here:
Eliot, George [Mary Ann Evans] Middlemarch—A Study of Provincial Life [1873, 630 pgs] 11/11/22 A(-)
[Really a long philosophic sermon of sorts, on how and how not to behave. The glimpse it gives of English 1830s country life is certainly profound, though there are many moments I question its complete veracity. It is old-fashioned, considerably more so than Austin, I think. But it’s also longer, more epic in scope, like Tolstoy perhaps. A parable, a soap opera, a happy ending for the deserving…and written by a woman. It’s very grand and deep in its moralistic way.