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Title: The Mill on the Floss (The Clarendon Edition of the Novels of George Eliot) by George Eliot, I.E. Marian Ds Cross, Evans, Gordon Sherman Haight ISBN: 0-19-812560-7 Publisher: Oxford Univ Pr Pub. Date: 01 February, 1980 Format: Hardcover List Price(USD): $130.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.03 (39 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A moving masterpiece
Comment: George Eliot was truly a writer ahead of her time. she definitely knows how to create characters which have soul and substance. Mill on the floss is much more then a mere tragic story; if the reader looks more carefully she or he can see the various social themes that Eliot tackled in this book. Themes I might add that are still around today. The rich against the poor, eg, Edward Tolliver's struggle against Wickem. Sexism, prejudice against people with disabilities, hypocrisy social judgement and morality. All these issues were raised in this story of family love, duty and trajedy. This book though classifyed as classic literature can still teach us a lot about the human condition. Its underlining messages still very much relevant today. I especially found the scene of maggie and Steven in the Inn very poignant. one could truly feel what Maggie was going through at that moment. Another outstanding scene was the one where Tom confronts Philip in the woods and berates him for having the boldness to court his sister. pointing out his deformaty he usues it as a weapon to drive Philip to the ground despite the fact that class wise philip was above Tom. George Eliot (Mary Anne Evens) must be laughing somewhere seeing how her books are still talked about today. Finally, I have to congradulate Naxos on producing another great audiobook. Sara Kestelman does an excellent job at narrating this lovely story.
Rating: 5
Summary: The divided self.
Comment: _The Mill on the Floss_ (1860) was George Eliot's third published book (after Scenes from Clerical Life and Adam Bede)and tells the story of Maggie and Tom Tulliver, two children who grow up in the middle-class rural community of St. Ogg's.
It's been a while since I've read Mill on the Floss, I think that the last time I did I was in my early 20s, just graduated from school. I got a lot more out of the read this time, I think it's probably a book that profits both with re-reading and age. The first time I read it I identified so strongly with Maggie that I practically skipped over everything dealing with the other characters. I found Tom loathesome and the ending of the book appalling.
As a slightly more adult human, I was able to read it for more than just Maggie's story and enjoy it even more. I was surprised by how compulsively I read it. I'd had every intention of stretching it out over several days, but I literally found that I couldn't stop reading it and carried it with me from room to room in the house. I was able to laugh more at Eliot's sly humor and more able to see people like the Gleggs as people and not simply stock appendages of the story.
I think what makes Mill On the Floss such a powerful book (aside from the writing style, which is excellent) is this notion of the divided self which is being worked out both through Tom and Maggie. Tom has a firm clear sense of right and wrong and is always being forced to question or do injury to that sense because of his very difficult sister. On the other hand, Maggie can't seem to find the right balance between self-indulgence and renunciation. She can't ever manage a way to negotiate between the sharp emotions that she feels and her desire not to inflict the consequences of those emotions on her family and friends. It's a tragedy that neither of them ever really manage to understand each other and are constantly hurting and being hurt in their drive to do the right thing and be who they really are.
Interesting how Eliot plays with the tropes from all the popular women's sentimental novels of the time. A young girl who's unattractive because she's dark-haired overcomes poverty and goes on to attract the eye of the most fastidious and eligible man in town... However, in the world of St. Ogg's (unlike the novels of the sentimental sisters like Mary Jane Holmes) Maggie is unable to overcome her obstacles to happiness and is as trapped by her beauty and popularity as she was her unattractive hoyden girlhood. Given the position of women at the time and the strength of the social norms, it's unfortunately a much more believable view of the outcomes of things.
If you haven't read Eliot, I'd agree that it isn't her best book (that's still Middlemarch, for me, and I would begin there first) but it's hugely thought-provoking and honest. It should make many a young woman of today count their blessings and thank the stars that the world has changed since the time Maggie Tulliver was a girl.
Rating: 5
Summary: almost perfect
Comment: This novel begins with an excellent exmaination of childhood and introduces us to a brother and sister who really don't know each other in some fundamental ways. Maggie is a girl with depth and true character and her brother simply considers her rebellious. The novel is a fascinating look at an insular world, social constraints and the place of Woman. I found the family discussions comic and truthful, and Maggie's later struggles very real. The ending left me tired and feeling somewhat manipulated . . .but also weeping. Truly great.
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Title: Middlemarch (Penguin Classics) by George Eliot, Rosemary Ashton ISBN: 0141439548 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 25 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $10.00 |
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Title: Adam Bede (English Library) by George Eliot ISBN: 0140431217 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 June, 1980 List Price(USD): $8.95 |
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Title: Daniel Deronda (Penguin Classics) by George Eliot, Terence Cave ISBN: 0140434275 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 January, 1996 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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Title: Silas Marner (Bantam Classics) by George Eliot ISBN: 055321229X Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 October, 1981 List Price(USD): $3.95 |
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Title: Felix Holt, the Radical (Penguin Classics) by George Eliot, Lynda Mugglestone ISBN: 0140434356 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 December, 1995 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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