Comments on: Happy Birthday, George Eliot!

By: FenelonSpoke

FenelonSpoke — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 18:28:51 +0000

Thanks very much; I didn’t know that it was the anniversary of George Eliot. She is one of my favorite writers; I appreciate your comments.

By: GayPatriot » The Democrats in Spender-Land

GayPatriot » The Democrats in Spender-Land — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:45:14 +0000

[...] Happy Birthday, George Eliot! [...]

By: Julie the Jarhead

Julie the Jarhead — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 14:53:22 +0000

Thanks, Leah. I’ve found an abridged version read by one of my favorites, Hannah Gordon.

I think I’ve found my Christmas present to me!

By: Porchbound

Porchbound — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 20:05:50 +0000

What a beautiful tribute to an author very deserving of it. More than any other novel, Middlemarch has informed not so much how I live my life, but how I reflect on it and society around me. How many writers can accomplish true introspection from their readers?

The wisdom of Eliot’s writing is that she could present very un-extraordinary events and reveal the extraordinary human interactions behind them. Just reading the quotations in this post, I realize it’s time to haul out the novel and read it again with older eyes.

Thanks, Dan, for the reminder.

By: MikeInSedona

MikeInSedona — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 19:59:21 +0000

“… we all know the difficulty of carrying out a resolve when we secretly long that it may turn out to be unnecessary.” Great line!

By: Leah

Leah — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 18:04:22 +0000

Julie, if you are having a hard time reading Middlemarch, try listening to it. It can be downloaded from Audible.com.

I find it much easier to listen to these older books, usually the readers are excellent and really bring the books to life.

I first read Silas Marner as a young teen, on my own, wasn’t through school.
Aside from the long drawn out scene in the pub, I’ve always loved that book. Listened to it again recently and of course discovered so much more depth to it than I had as a young reader.

By: Ignatius

Ignatius — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 15:14:39 +0000

The greatest English novelist is Hardy and the greatest English language novelist is Melville.

By: Julie the Jarhead

Julie the Jarhead — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 14:54:01 +0000

Happy Birthday, George Eliot.

I’m on my second attempt to read Middlemarch. (My first attempt ended at page 67.) But I do want to read it, based on the recommendations of our GayPatriotWest, and based on the exquisite miniseries. (Juliet Aubrey — sigh!)