PENGUIN Middlemarch

4.5 StarsThe only reason this is not a full 5 stars is because it’s not my favourite English Classic.That being said, this book was amazing. Also long, extremely long and I had to make myself read it but once I got into it... there was no going back.I’ve been in a reading funk of sorts for the past couple of months and I’ve found pretty much everything I read unsatisfying, until this (and that’s saying something, since I started about 50 books give or take which I’ve since abandoned) I gave myself time and space to really savour this a few pages a day and it only made the experience of reading it even more pleasant.There’s a lot of thoughts and ideas in there. A lot of reflection and a lot of realism.What baffles and amazes me is that no matter the times we live in, the human condition never really changes. We are slaves to the same emotions, worries, problems, needs and wants.I don’t plan on expanding much in this review since, this is a classic and there’s plenty of reviews already for reference. I just wanted to make a note of my enjoyment of it in case I decide to pick it up again in the future.As far as English classics go, this is a winner.

Middlemarch is said to be the most important novel ever written in the English language. This edition is about 830 pages, in small print. The plot is complicated and you may wish to compile a list of characters as you read. But her characters are firmly three dimensional, and by the end you will know Dorothea, Lydgate, Casaubon, Ladislaw and Bulstrode intimately. Do not hurry, and do not skip bits. It will take you six months. But you will never forget this remarkable story.

How can I do justice to one of the best novels ever written in the English language?Good literature must provide a locus for the exploration of human life. It can enable the reader to think and contemplate on thoughts that customarily may be omitted. I particularly enjoyed the Oxford World’s Classics edition as the text is faithful to the original and the notes provided helped greatly when it came to archaic words or quotations. This is a novel about social and political reform. But it's also a novel about love and marriage. ........and about trying and failing. It is, in other words, a huge and wide-ranging novel coming from an author with a huge heart.As I see it, most of all, it's a novel about feeling out of place – either as an outsider in a new place (like Will Ladislaw), or as someone who is behind the times (like Rev. Casaubon), or as someone who is ahead of his time (like Dr Lydgate). The reason that it was – and is – so popular is that there's something in it for everyone and it can still touch a raw nerve or move our hearts. Mary Ann Evans knew when she wrote it that it might be difficult for a female author to be taken seriously if she wrote about politics, science or quoted from the classics. You can imagine the wonderment when the real identify of George Eliot was discovered. The breath of her knowledge, understanding of human nature and literary skill is outstanding. Hence this masterpiece which we can still enjoy today.

Sorry, this looks nice, but a book needs to offer more than looks. My copy had pages difficult to part because of the application of the gilt finish. The dimensions of the book are as like a compact bible or prayer book - but without the benefit of easy page turns. Text is small. A novel the size of Middlemarch needs more air, given the time required to read the book. I bought it on spec as I love hardback books, but will read the Oxford Classics paperback of the same. I can live with that. I will gift my speculative purchase to my local hospice charity shop.

I purchased this book in the Everyman's Library Classics Edition. The Everyman's Library Classics Edition books are, in my opinion, the best quality books available in the price-range.They are quality bound; with acid-free paper, dust jacket, and ribbon page marker.There are also a great range of authors available in this collection; and they are very reasonably priced.