13 Thoughts About Middlemarch by George Eliot

[@maryk446]

My late mother, who was a high school English teacher, loved Middlemarch so much that she offered me $100 to read it (I'm a non-fiction type of person.) I watched the TV series first. And loved it! I then read the book because I WANTED to. And told Mom she could keep her $100. Mom's favorite paragraph was the book's last one about how Dorothea never got to do the great charity project she wanted to but that her effects on those around her were "incalculably diffuse". For my mother's birthday I got her a biography of George Eliot. I also typed out that last paragraph in a powerpoint slide and printed it out. I then put it into a nice wooden frame. Mom saw the paragraph in the frame and said that this was the best gift she ever received.

[@khalilkhalifa1853]

❤😂

[@mariannaalbek679]

I have an idea how you can leave a mark... Continue reading and continue sharing your thoughts for the years to come...for many, many years...why not, until the very end. I am sure you will leave a mark even just doing only this. I love listening to your thoughts. I think you are one of the best readers a writer can wish for - sensitive, empathic and perceptive.

[@RickMacDonnell]

WHY WOULD YOU MAKE ME CRY SO EARLY IN THE DAY, MARIANNA. LIKE 😭 😄

[@tracy9000]

My favorite part of the book is when Fred finally, FINALLY decides to make himself a useful member of society and humbles himself enough to go to work with Mary's father, who was kind enough to take him under his wing and teach him said trade. Teaching someone to do something is one of the most empathic things a person can do. Just think what a difference teaching someone to read could do in that person's life. Anyway, thanks for this review. I just finished reading it and wanted to hear someone else express the love I feel for it out loud.

[@einahsirro1488]

It's nice to hear someone who recognizes the altruistic value of the book, and the wisdom. The first time I read it, I had to stop every couple pages and let my brain absorb what I was reading. Her descriptions were so unique and evocative... the feelings they raised were like a scent in a dream. It's truly an amazing book. It's on my top five of all time list of books that influenced me.

[@ldrake1256]

This is a wonderful podcast! I love the quotations you chose to share! I slowly read Middlemarch about 25 years ago with my first book club group and loved it. I have convinced a new book club group to read Middlemarch, and I plan to share as many of your helpful and insightful comments about the book as I can with my group. I am a retired English teacher.

[@RickMacDonnell]

Thank you for such a lovely comment! I hope your book club gets as much out of the book as you and I 😊

[@HannahsBooks]

Oh how wonderful! I am in the middle of my march through Middlemarch and your focus on empathy and compassion and understanding is exactly what I am so amazed by so far. Just a beautiful book.:

[@RickMacDonnell]

Ohh, I'm so glad you're reading it, Hannah. Excited to hear your thoughts when you're through. It's so good :)

[@daffyduck4674]

Thanks so much for this, really great thoughts. One comment I would make is that I think the difficulty any adaptation of Middlemarch would have is what do you do with Elliot’s authorial voice. It really is a character of its own and what for me lifts it above every other novel I’ve read. No other writer has such insight into their own characters, no one else so brilliantly makes you look at them from multiple perspectives as Elliot. I don’t know how you capture that on TV. A Middlemarch driven simply by dialogue between the characters is a Middlemarch with a gaping hole in it.

[@insertbookpunhere]

This made me emotional thinking about how much I love Middlemarch and now I have to reread it. Casaubon and Dorothea are such great characters. I like the 1994 series, but it definitely could be something so fresh and relevant if someone picked it up today.

[@RickMacDonnell]

Thanks so much for watching :) I know it was a loooong one, but hopefully appreciated by Middlemarch fans :P

[@insertbookpunhere]

@@RickMacDonnell it didn't feel long at all!

[@chrisbronson3703]

Best explanation of why Middlemarch is such a great read. I think the best part of reading it is how you recognize people from your life in each character.

[@laquerisma]

Wow, Rick. You've brought up some great reasons why I should read Middlemarch. You're the deciding review. I'm starting to get back into reading novels again after many years of not doing so. I've decided on the classics and have heard good things about this one.

[@laurawoodford1225]

Very much agree with your assessment of the ending !

[@erindillman]

I've had no interest in Middlemarch until I watched this video. You explained it in a way that makes me think I'll actually love it, off to the bookstore I go.

[@RickMacDonnell]

I think you'd actually really like it. If you have a fondness for 19th century lit at all, I think you'd be into it for sure.

[@robinrubendunst869]

As someone with more years behind me than before me, I found great comfort in the final paragraph. All good that we put forth in the world matters. In the myth of Pandora’s Box, the last element released out of the box of little evils was Hope. The good that we do, no matter how seemingly small or insignificant, is that little light of Hope.

[@MikeWiest]

Thank you for graying out the spoiler part! Much appreciated!

[@JessicaReadsThings]

It took me MONTHS to get through MIddlemarch and I didn't always love it, but now I feel like I need to reread it. Such an excellent video - thanks for sharing your thoughts. You so smart.

[@RickMacDonnell]

Meh, I typically tell readers to trust their own reactions to things. Maybe it just wasn't your jam. How long ago did you read it? (Thanks for the kind words, though!)

[@JessicaReadsThings]

@@RickMacDonnell I had to look it up aha. It was a buddy with Amy that took us like 3-4 months back over the end of 2018 into 2019. And I am reminded that I also have a copy of My Life in Middlemarch that I was saving until I had read the book, but now it's been more than a year and I still haven't read that one. Yikes.

[@susanwhitehead2324]

Thank you I love your thinking.

[@paulapoetry]

I love Middlemarch, and this is such a fascinating video. I struggle with the fear of being one of the multitudes in "unvisited tombs", and totally appreciate the ending of this novel. At the same time, I'm always struck by the irony of knowing that, had George Eliot ended up as one of the many living "hidden lives", we would not know or care that she had written or thought the exact same words.

[@siobhancondon8109]

Great review.😍

[@julieontology7214]

Wonderful commentary! You've mentioned some of the most important elements of the book not always covered by literature experts. I just finished this book for the 2nd time. But I literally remembered nothing about the book from when I read it in college, except that I had written a paper about humor in the novel. After enjoying this second reading, I'm hungry for more discussion!

[@Fitness4London]

Did you enjoy it more the second time around?

[@ignamagan]

Very good review!

[@Smibdu]

Amazing review

[@Daniel-wi6sk]

Loved this video. Congrats from a French guy ! Loved your comments on the 11th point ! So true also what you said about the pace of reading. In the second half, let’s say last third, I wanted to slow down, just so the pleasure of reading this book could last longer, but the book was there, always blinking at me… and I couldn’t resist, in a few days, it was over.

[@ss9889]

Thank you for such a wonderful review of Middlemarch. I am half-way through, and have enjoyed the reading very much. Your comments and thoughts are extremely helpful for me to continue the journey.

[@Michajeru]

I have just come across your channel after reading Middlemarch and it was instant like. Your thoughts on Middlemarch speak to me in a very meaningful way. I am now a subscriber.

[@ratherrapid]

A review worthy of the book! MM is #6 on my goat list. Daniel Deronda #4 and is #2 novel after Musil's Man Without Qualities. Felix Holt the Radical now days overlooked is #11. The story of Ester Lyon in Felix exceeds by my account the story of Dorthea Brooke, and Trebe Magna a more interesting town than MM. Felix has another great ending but it is only one sentence.

[@t0dd000]

I only reserve five stars for my feet favorites. I will have to reread this.

[@judan1998]

Have you read Rebecca Meade's memoir "My Life in Middlemarch"? She speaks of how important the novel has been to her at various points of her life, showing how we read Middlemarch differently when we come back to it at different ages and at different phases of life, empathizing with characters we may have at first have despised. I highly recommend it. It reignited my own love of Middlemarch and a desire to reread it.

[@keithlongley362]

Half way through: admittedly, initially, I was thinking this will be hard work, but now loving it; especially the characters and digressions the Author throughs up to make you think, rather than assume things...

[@rafthejaf8789]

I think that Dorothea is one of the greatest fictional characters ever created.

[@ClaireReadsBooks]

Watched this video back when you posted it but forgot to comment and say how wonderful it was! Made me want to read Middlemarch all over again - you really captured what makes it such a lovely book :)

[@RickMacDonnell]

Your Middlemarch review was one of the big reasons why I read the book, so thanks :D

[@kathrynstiles3509]

I love this book so much and your review was lovely, thank you!!

[@RickMacDonnell]

Thanks so much, Kathryn!

[@maxfischer5962]

Will definitely begin soon! Will immediately look for a cool edition after I click COMMENT.

[@jo3370]

this videos is just perfection. my therapy after finishing the book

[@RickMacDonnell]

Joana thanks so much! I really appreciate it :)

[@colonelweird]

Now I definitely have to read this book.

[@TheQuietMidden]

"...and we should die of that roar which lies on the other side of silence." Oh. Wow. I will take your advice and slow-read this book. And if I could "like" this review a hundred times, I would.

[@RickMacDonnell]

Awww, thanks so much! And yes, that quote floored me. I shake my head at the power of it every time I read it.

[@georgemueller8066]

I discovered your video when I started researching the quote in your 10th thought. I first saw it at the very end of Terrence Malick's A Hidden Life. I was quite touched reading it since it not only was a perfect summation for this long (for some) and breathlessly beautiful movie but profound in its own right. I had to know more about it. I will be reading Middlemarch as soon as Amazon and USPS provide me with a copy. Thanks for sharing your thoughts in this video.

[@RickMacDonnell]

Thanks for watching, George. I hope you enjoy the book! (Terrence Malick is fantastic, btw)

[@daytonadane]

Great video (loved the coughs), Rick. You have certainly motivated me to acquire a copy of this chunkster.

[@RickMacDonnell]

THANK YOU 😊

[@LauraFreyReadinginBed]

Time for a reread then... remember this post I did about Middlemarch and "girls who read"? Other than that, the memory that sticks with me about middlemarch is just a throwaway line where a baby, maybe dorothea's sisters? Is described as being Buddha-like... I don't even remember all the words, but I remember thinking it was just perfect, just the perfect way to describe a baby. Kind of like you said, that she uses the perfect words to describe the feeling of falling in love. What a genius.

[@LauraFreyReadinginBed]

PS I'm glad to hear you're picking up this project again, what's next on the list?

[@RickMacDonnell]

I'm currently reading "The Magus" by John Fowles. After that, I'm toiling between On the Road (Kerouac), Herzog (Bellow), and Disgrace (Coetzee). Only because I already own these three :P Any advice?

[@LauraFreyReadinginBed]

@@RickMacDonnell Well I haven't read any of them, but I'm most interested in Disgrace, you have that nice Folio Edition right?

[@RickMacDonnell]

@@LauraFreyReadinginBed I sure do! I am leaning more towards Disgrace anyway. I've read Coetzee in the past and enjoyed him. Waiting for the Barbarians was quite good. It's decided!

[@ignamagan]

13:00 regarding this thoughts about transcendence, leaving a mark in the world, etc, I think that, due to our cultural moment and situation, we have given up in God and religion, and embraced individualism. A religious frame of mind offers a suitable place for all ideal and transcendent impulses and longings. You understand you are a small thing in a magnificent universe ruled by a supreme being with a wisdom that is beyond our reach and responsibility. BUT, if we embrace an individualistic frame of mind, our precarious self is no place to put those ideals. We end up having unrealistic fantasies and dreams that mortgage our life and put a useless weight in our reality. This is culturally encouraged, because business feeds on dreams, fantasies and passion.

[@Gamerkitty6274]

i experienced middlemarch via the audiobook read by juliet stevenson, highly recommend it! it puts it at a great pace, also stevenson's reading is wonderful, and her character voices are just so brilliant. even when i picked up the paper copy, i couldn't resist just listening to the finale anyway.

[@robinrubendunst869]

I’m listening to this now. She’s a remarkable reader and all-round fabulous actress. And her character voices (38?!?) are all distinctive. And her third person omnipresent (narrator/George Eliot) voice really keeps me engaged.

[@MargaretPinard]

Neat use of the numbers for a table of contents! Haven't seen that before :)

[@RickMacDonnell]

When you make videos as long as I do, you have to do your part to help people along :)

[@elizabethk3238]

Reading it now, at age 76. Loved your review.

[@juju.ukrainiangirl]

That was a really magnificent and such a delight of a book! The only problem I have with it is that it's not longer, to me ending seemed a bit rushed I just could keep reading about ppl and changing perspective for at least twice as longer. I was reading slowly and it was just perfect! Though in the end Dorothea's second marriage isn't that different from Lydgate's. They both were attracted to each other and didn't know each other that well, but Dorothea had at least some money while Rosemonde did not. And Dorothea just wasn't that interested in status games (maybe cuz she was on this respectable side of society to begin with or she just more spiritually oriented) so between the two couples it seemed like a gamble: one was lucky assuming they would be happy together and the other did not. The unsatisfactory element for me though was Mary and Fred couple, and her justification for being together. It seemed too idealistic to be true. Her not believing she can be attractive to anyone except Fred and also being a sole motivation for him to do good in life, seemed like an unnecessary burden placed on her. Great review. Was super interesting to watch. Really like your idea of 125 best books. Keep it up in the new year too

[@laurawoodford1225]

Yes that’s very true. It’s about human foibles paradoxes learning curves and morality! Yes judgemental vs compassionate divides human development!

[@carolynmorgan6033]

I have this on my TBR for 2021. I want to make that the year of tackling my big books 📚 . And THANK YOU for the spoiler alert!! I so appreciate that. Great review :)

[@RickMacDonnell]

This would be a GREAT addition to a year of Big Book Reading. Good luck! Let me know how it goes :)

[@Leebearify]

Ok, Ok I will go right now to find my copy in the bookcase. AND I will start it tonight, slowly and gently. Thank you !

[@RickMacDonnell]

So much good stuff coming your way, Lee!

[@Leebearify]

@@RickMacDonnell I just shared your favorite lines with my husband. A couple of them I have actually heard him say too.

[@RickMacDonnell]

Great minds, as they say 😊

[@anthonyhocking9118]

Greetings from South Africa. Late for comment perhaps, but thanks for a great video. I have Middlemarch somewhere on my shelf, but haven't read it yet. I DID read "The Mill on the Floss " first, however, which kinda made me feel I'd had enough of Ms Evans 😊. But thanks for your post, I'll give Middlemarch a try.

[@cuppa.books.]

I think I enjoyed you talking about Middlemarch more than I enjoyed reading it 😊

[@RickMacDonnell]

I'll take it LOL

[@jasonmerchey3407]

Wow, Rick has charisma to spare!

[@marjoriedybec3450]

One of my favorite books of all time. Totally agree. But why the 4-star vote on Goodreads ?!

[@sabahfatema]

I'm convinced!

[@maxn.7234]

I put Middlemarch up there with Ana Karenina. All the characters are all crafted with compassion, empathy, sensitivity, humanity, and insight. There are no good or bad guys. There are only people living their lives in the best way they know how, and the consequences of smallest decisions they make.

[@jackiesliterarycorner]

So, it's okay that I started it in 2018 and finished it now? haha

[@kristinmarra7005]

I’ve read Middlemarch 3 times and just purchased the audiobook. Correct on not being able to explain it. Enough said.

[@chrisbookishcauldron6381]

Keeping it real, I will probably never read Middlemarch because uhhh I’m not very smart. But I listened to the literary disco episodes about it, so I think I pretty much got the gist lol.

[@RickMacDonnell]

First of all, you're definitely smart enough to read this book. It's shockingly readable. Page-turnable, really. Yes, I just made that up. What's literary disco?

[@chrisbookishcauldron6381]

@@RickMacDonnell It’s literally the best book podcast out there! I’m not trying to exaggerate. I have listened to every episode and I relisten to my favorite episodes all the time. It’s Rider Strong, the 90’s actor from Boy Meets World, Tod Goldberg, the crime novelist, and their friend Julia Pistell meet every two weeks to discuss a book. They spent several weeks this summer doing Middlemarch. They’re all irreverently funny and super smart.

[@RickMacDonnell]

@@chrisbookishcauldron6381 Oh, I just heard about this! I didn’t learn the name, though. Great to know, thanks 😊

[@kmorgan8896]

My favourite part of this video is that you’re so upset about giving 4 instead of 5 stars on good reads. I love that there are people who love books so much that that sort of conflict even gets played out in their mind. You make it fun to be a reader and love books. Personally I think 4 stars is pretty high. I wouldn’t beat yourself up about it too much.

[@nikkivenable3700]

Rick, I’m new to your channel... maybe you’ve answered this question before, so forgive me if you have. If you’ve read Wuthering Heights, do you find WH or MM the better novel? Both of these books have sat on my shelves for years and I’ve been too intimidated or not interested enough in reading them and yet each year around this time, I think about them. In September I finally read WH and loved it so much. I don’t know why it took me so long...it was terrific. I’m wondering if MM is going to be another, “ why did I wait so long?” These two books are twins in my mind so I’d be interested to know how they compare in quality. Thank you!

[@RickMacDonnell]

I actually haven't read Wuthering Heights yet! It's on my to-do list, though. All I can say is that Middlemarch is definitely a "why did I wait so long" book for me now. Highly recommended! (Obviously)

[@Anhorish]

Much as I love the Bronte sisters and Jane Austen, George Eliot is on a different level, in gravitas, density and breadth of allusion. Her prose is poetry.

[@maxn.7234]

Not taking anything from WH being a seminal work of fiction, but MM is a superior novel to WH in almost every way.

[@devinfuller4045]

10 days? wow - did you do anything else these last ten days?

[@rambler3080]

4/5 rating for what many consider as the greatest work of English literature. Ok genius.

[@RickMacDonnell]

I literally rate this a 5 out of 5 in the video

[@rambler3080]

after considerable deliberation no doubt@@RickMacDonnell

[@RickMacDonnell]

LOL you’re weird

[@rambler3080]

Now you're projecting.

[@MargaretPinard]

I really must go back to Middlemarch, but I will probably try a different Eliot for efficiency's sake...but I will say the SOLE scene that stuck in my mind from Middlemarch long after was I guess the Lydgates waiting around for their furniture to be repossessed...and how vapid she came across. Wonder what that says about me!! Ha 😝

[@RickMacDonnell]

Oh, you're not wrong here. Once their money starts to go, their relationship became so fascinating to me. Entertaining, but also sad.

[@jenntendo64system]

Should I do a George Eliot project - similar to my Brontë project??

[@RickMacDonnell]

I'd be curious as to how her earlier novels turned out. I know how great Middlemarch and Daniel Deronda turned out, but I don't really have a clue how her earlier stuff measure up. Feel free to do the legwork for the rest of us LOL.

[@jenntendo64system]

@@RickMacDonnell I mean, this probably will be a 2022 project, but I already have been eyeing up a biography of her to start the project with. :p

[@RickMacDonnell]

@@jenntendo64system There's also a book called My Life in Middlemarch which you should check out.

[@macareuxmoine]

You sympathized with Causubon the most? I guess the female readers beg to differ…

[@jacquelinemcmenamin8204]

I had to read Middlemarch for A level English Literature in 1981-1983. I don’t know if I could reread it or if I want to reread it? I do want to read The Road to Middlemarch 📖👋☘️🦋😷☕️📚

[@RickMacDonnell]

If you're not itching to re-read it, I wouldn't tell you to. Only if you're compelled. But yes, there are a number of books ABOUT Middlemarch that I'm interested in now. "My Life in Middlemarch" (non-fiction) being one of them.

[@nasrinvahidi5515]

3:35

[@nasrinvahidi5515]

I don’t know! It started fine but the development was cheesy. Good for simple minds. Superficial, no spirit!

[@Tolstoy111]

Huh? It’s one of the most thoughtful novels ever written in English.

[@angelachambers1726]

Ouch my ears! The first 58 seconds WOW! Please try not use ugly words, kids look up these authors for school.

[@leddyfdz4376]

This is one of my favorite books of all time. I’ve read it at different times in my life, starting in high school, and from that moment it has left its indelible mark. It is unreasonable how many times a day I think of this book and, believe it or not, it has influenced very important decisions in my life. I will never forget the feeling I got when reading one its most popular quotes, & one which you also mentioned- “If we had a keen vision and feeling of all ordinary human life, it would be like hearing the grass grow and the squirrel’s heartbeat, AND WE SHOULD DIE OF THAT ROAR WHICH LIES ON THE OTHER SIDE OF SILENCE. “ I still feel a knot in my throat and my heart quickening at the utter beauty of those words. It takes my breath away every time. You, Sir, have done this masterpiece justice with this review.

[@RickMacDonnell]

SUCH a great quote. One of the most impactful and important quotes in all of literature, I would argue. It really does encapsulate what the book is trying to do, so I'm glad you shouted it out here. I feel silly to not have do so in the video :P

[@leddyfdz4376]

@@RickMacDonnell you did mention it, actually 21:55 😉. It always surprises me when people either haven’t come across this quote before, or they have but don’t know where it’s from. In all fairness, I realize Middlemarch is known to avid readers, but apparently not so much in “mainstream” literary-verse.

[@RickMacDonnell]

@@leddyfdz4376 oh I do! Ok good 😆 it’s been a while since I made it

[@ldrake1256]

This is a wonderful podcast! I love the quotations you chose to share! I slowly read Middlemarch about 25 years ago with my first book club group and loved it. I have convinced a new book club group to read Middlemarch, and I plan to share as many of your helpful and insightful comments about the book as I can with my group. I am a retired English teacher.