Dorothea Brooke, a los diecinueve años, ha recibido "una educación para jovencitas comparable a las cavilaciones y opiniones de un ratón pensante", pero, activa e idealista, enamorada de un sesudo erudito en temas mitológicos, desea, "pobre criatura, ser sabia también ella". Con esa altitud de miras contrae matrimonio? y el matrimonio es un fracaso. Tertius Lydgate, por su parte, joven médico emprendedor, anhela convertir la provinciana ciudad de Middlemarch a la "cultura científica" desafiando prejuicios e implantando reformas: a la bella Rosamond Vincy el talento del joven le suena a "una condecoración en la solapa o un ilustrísimo delante del nombre" y está convencida de que casándose con él accederá a una gloriosa vida social. También su matrimonio es un fracaso. Y, en tercer término, Fred Vincy, el muchacho superfluo y sin vocación, y Mary Garth, la muchacha hacendosa y prudente, se gustan, se separan, se ponen a prueba y …
Dorothea Brooke, a los diecinueve años, ha recibido "una educación para jovencitas comparable a las cavilaciones y opiniones de un ratón pensante", pero, activa e idealista, enamorada de un sesudo erudito en temas mitológicos, desea, "pobre criatura, ser sabia también ella". Con esa altitud de miras contrae matrimonio? y el matrimonio es un fracaso. Tertius Lydgate, por su parte, joven médico emprendedor, anhela convertir la provinciana ciudad de Middlemarch a la "cultura científica" desafiando prejuicios e implantando reformas: a la bella Rosamond Vincy el talento del joven le suena a "una condecoración en la solapa o un ilustrísimo delante del nombre" y está convencida de que casándose con él accederá a una gloriosa vida social. También su matrimonio es un fracaso. Y, en tercer término, Fred Vincy, el muchacho superfluo y sin vocación, y Mary Garth, la muchacha hacendosa y prudente, se gustan, se separan, se ponen a prueba y se vuelven a encontrar antes de consagrar ese vínculo al que solo la experiencia y la resistencia parecen garantizar la fortuna y la felicidad. Middlemarch (1871-1872) es la historia de tres parejas sujetas a los frágiles hilos del saber y del error, entretejida con la crónica minuciosa de los destinos de toda una comunidad en una época de cambios y reacción.
Can't believe this absolute unit of a book doesn't have many reviews. Tons of vibrant characters, loads of twisty plots, and all presented in incisive and delightful prose. It's MASSIVE and took me literal months to finish, but it's so worth it!
Honestly, there's no mainline, just many subplots braided like garlic.
I have to give Eliot props for meticulously constructing "provincial life" in exacting - sometimes excruciating - detail, yet always with a light hand. The various plots deal with all the circumstances listed on the tin. The characters seem at turns real enough to step off the page and too stiff to bend with the paper they're printed on.
Did I like it? No. I read it as part of my read a classic a month goal for 2023. I wanted to see what this book was about and to study the story structure and Eliot's technique.
Did I learn anything? I don't know. Maybe. The style and tone, the loose relationship with the reader that he shares with Melville's Moby Dick. The use of recurring themes in different subplots - sometimes each looking at the same circumstance from an …
Honestly, there's no mainline, just many subplots braided like garlic.
I have to give Eliot props for meticulously constructing "provincial life" in exacting - sometimes excruciating - detail, yet always with a light hand. The various plots deal with all the circumstances listed on the tin. The characters seem at turns real enough to step off the page and too stiff to bend with the paper they're printed on.
Did I like it? No. I read it as part of my read a classic a month goal for 2023. I wanted to see what this book was about and to study the story structure and Eliot's technique.
Did I learn anything? I don't know. Maybe. The style and tone, the loose relationship with the reader that he shares with Melville's Moby Dick. The use of recurring themes in different subplots - sometimes each looking at the same circumstance from an opposing perspective.
Recommended - But
Set aside some time for this one. It's rare for me to need more than 2 days for a novel. This one took over eight.