Review: Silly Novels by Lady Novelists – George Eliot

Rating – 3*

I have wanted to read this little essay collection by George Eliot for a very long time, and I thought that now was as good of a time as any. It’s a punchy little book in the Penguin Great Ideas series and contains half a dozen essays alongside the titular one.

Silly Novels is a 35 page essay in which Eliot criticises less able female authors of the period in which she is writing. She writes on how many writers perpetuated negative stereotypes of women which only enhanced the subjugation of women in history. She essentially summarises most novels of the time in one sweeping statement which covers pretty much all romantic novels written by women: a beautiful main character who falls in love with a member of nobility under exceptional circumstances. She argues that all these ‘silly novels’ give a bad name to the female novelist in general, which in turn makes it impossible for the actually talented authors to get recognition for their work. Hence why Eliot herself wrote under a male pseudonym, as did all three of the Bronte sisters.

The titular essay had me laughing, because what she outlines as the issue with many female novelists is still largely something I can relate to, especially when reading books from the same period in which she wrote.

However, while I loved the first essay – the first essay was marvellous – the remaining 4 or 5 didn’t quite hit the mark for me. They were a lot more specific reviews and essays which were more period specific and, from my perspective, not as easy related to. I found them quite hard to enjoy when I hadn’t read any of the source material which inspired them. As a result, I did find myself skimming a lot of the other essays as they just weren’t keeping my interest.

The tile essay though is a perfect look at 19th Century feminism, and a really good step up from Mary Wollstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Women which was published around 50 years prior at the turn of the century. There is an essay in which Mary Wollstonecraft is referenced, which is quite a nice step between the two!

I’d say this is definitely worth a read if you’re interested in essay collections, early feminism, or George Eliot in general. I’d also say that if you’ve read A Room of Ones Own or A Vindication of the Rights of Women this is definitely a good essay collection to pick up as it bridges the gap between the two. Woolf cites Eliot as one of her favourite novelists, and one of the only ‘grown up’ writers – and reading this I really get where she is coming from.

Review: Felix Holt, The Radical – George Eliot

Rating: 4*

It’s no secret that I think George Eliot is one of the most incredible female authors of all time, and Felix Holt: The Radical only solidifies my feelings. It was the last full-length Eliot work I had to read, and while it was by no means my favourite of her books it was an enjoyable read, and very relevant in today’s political climate – something which I really wasn’t expecting.

This book is set around the Reform Act of 1832 and the local politics of the fictional town of Treby Magna. If there’s one thing Eliot can do it is capture a small town absolutely perfectly – she is so good at writing a novel which focuses in and around a whole community, with several people at the forefront of attention. As with Adam Bede though, the titular character isn’t really the main character (nor is he the most interesting), in fact as with all Eliot novels it is the female characters that take the crown as the most interesting character. Mrs Holt and Mrs Transome – the mothers of two of our main, male protagonists, are far more interesting than their respective sons. And Esther is, as with most of Eliot’s young, female protagonists, a young woman who want’s independence – she’s highly educated, some would argue too educated, for a preacher’s daughter in a small town.

Aside from it being a character study of life in a small town on the brink of political change, it does bring the question of do the electorate always get things right in to a Victorian setting. Obviously, that makes the book highly relevant to even today’s political climate – what with the result the electorates in the US and the UK in the last 18 months! Much as with today, the political climate is all over the place in this novel – the working class are frustrated and don’t agree with the ‘establishment’ but have no means to change it. Which is where radicalism came in to play. Felix Holt is one of our radicals, and he is an interesting character. He believes in empowering the working class from the bottom – starting with education. The coverage of the Reform Act is such a poignant reminder of how lucky so many of us are to have a vote. The Reform Act gave power to the people, not just land-owning, white men. Although it did still take 100 years for women to get an equal vote, education and the ability to vote was a start.

It is by no means her best book, and of her novels it definitely falls bottom-to-middle in my list of favourites but it was actually one of her most thought provoking for me personally. It falls in the middle of her career, and was succeeded by (arguably) two of her best books Middlemarch and Daniel Deronda – and that’s very clear for me when reading it.

So, if it wasn’t clear, while it was far from perfect, I can comfortably put it up there close, but not quite equalling, my two favourites – Daniel Deronda and Adam Bede. I still want to re-read Middlemarch, because having read the rest of her works I do feel that that book will have a better impact on me. I will be doing a whole spotlight on my beloved George Eliot in the not so distant future, so if you’re interested, look out for that!

Review: Romola – George Eliot

Rating – 3*

Anyone who reads my reviews regularly will know I adore George Eliot. This book, however, was a bit of a miss for me unfortunately.

Romola takes place in late 15th century Italy; Florence mainly. While Romola is the titular character of this book, as I have come to expect with Eliot’s work this book is much more of an ensemble piece and there’s so much more to it. Tito is, for me, definitely the main character – and an interesting, deep character he is! This book is an exploration of his character, how he descends in to morally ambiguous behaviour; Tito is truly one of the most well explored ‘villains’ in literature. Even though he was the bad guy, following his journey through this book to see him get to that point was complex, and on the whole enjoyable. I’m glad I read this book if only to ‘meet’ Tito.

On the other side of the coin we have Romola. Romola herself was disappointing for me, compared to Tito – who was portrayed in Technicolor –  she was very grey-scale.  I found myself getting frustrated; with characters like Maggie Tulliver in The Mill on the Floss I knew that she was capable of creating a female protagonist who fights against societal norms. I thought, at points, we would see Romola rebel, but we didn’t. Instead she submits to Tito, endures his abhorrent behaviour. She feels like a caricature of Victorian virtue – and that frustrated me to no end. She didn’t feel fully formed, she felt very halfhearted and where there was a deep study of Tito, I don’t feel as a reader I ever got any insight in to Romola.

The scope of this novel is amazing, and the research that she must have put in to it is incredible. Italy came alive, and when reading this I did feel like it was a sunny afternoon on the continent. I felt like I was in 15th century Italy. And while this had all of the key things I adore about Eliot’s work; beautiful prose, locations that come alive, (on the whole) interesting characters, I felt a lot of it was lost on me. While I admire the amount of research that went in to this book, it often lost me or frustrated me. I can understand why she is thought to have said this was her best book, her favourite book – because it is incredible – but to enjoy it fully I think you have to be a 15th century scholar.

George Eliot is still my favourite 19th century female author. The woman can do no wrong in my eyes. However, this is definitely not a place to start with Victorian literature, George Eliot, or classics in general. It’s definitely a book which required patience, and a dedication that only someone who loves either the Victorian novel generally, or George Eliot more specifically, can get a modicum of enjoyment out of. That and maybe 15th century scholars.

So, yes, I liked this book. Not my favourite Eliot by far, but one I may revisit in the future!

Review: Adam Bede – George Eliot

Rating – 5*

Adam Bede was Eliot’s first published novel and that youth in her writing is tangible throughout. But like most debut novels, what it lacked in literary rigour, it made up for with passion in the writing. This was, I felt, a novel which the author put her heart in to and I really, really enjoyed it. The more I read of Eliot, the more I love her work, and I found it very difficult to find fault with this because I just love every word.

It has echoes of Far From the Madding Crowd in the start – maybe because it’s a quiet farming community – and pre-dates it by 20 years. For me, I preferred Eliot’s take on the quiet farming town life to Hardy’s, Eliot was a lot more brutal in plot and her characters were far superior. While Adam is the titular character of this novel, Hetty Sorrel is definitely equally as much of a main character, and the side characters are equally as rich and full of life – something which I have found a theme across all of the work of Eliot’s I have read so far.

The plot is quite sparse in the first half, it is instead full of life and the hustle and bustle of everyday village life. We follow the hard-working Adam, and he’s quite a dull man, but is diligent and, unfortunately for him, madly in love with the narcissistic Hetty – who is aware of his feelings but does not reciprocate. Hetty has longings for the finer things in life and desires to get away from the village; this is a common theme among books of the era and I imagine it was a (sadly) common theme in reality. Hetty was definitely the shining show of this book, even though intensely dislikeable in terms of how she treats Adam, I empathised with her and felt her pains, especially in the second half. If it wasn’t for the first half, where as a reader you build a relationship with the people of this village, that intense building of character made the second half hit me, as a reader, so much harder. I don’t want to spoil it, so I urge you to be patient if you decide to try this and work your way through the slow burn of character building in the first 300 or so pages.

One thing I’m noticing about Eliot’s work is her focus on religion – in Daniel Deronda she focused heavily on Judaism. In this book, she focuses in on the Methodist faith with the character of Dinah, and in part Adam’s brother Seth. I find the insights in to religion in different periods of history really interesting, and while some people found this book a little preachy I actually found it really interesting.

While not as enormous as Daniel Derdonda, or indeed Middlemarch, this book is nonetheless incredible for very different reasons. I find it hard to do anything but give a George Eliot book 5* now, I really do. So naturally, this was a 5* read. After a really pretty bad beginning with Middlemarch (which I must reread this Summer, after reading nearly all the rest of her work this year!) George Eliot has fast become one of my favourite authors of all time – and I intend to finish her bibliography this Summer and do a bit of a spotlight on her.

I leave you with parting words: do not judge this book by its cover because – frankly – this edition is hideous; just do not let that detract from what is inside.

Purchase this book on The Book Depository 

Review: Daniel Deronda – George Eliot

Rating – 5*

This is the best book I’ve read so far this year. After I read Middlemarch last year, I was disappointed. It wasn’t what I was expecting, I was truly expecting to adore that book and instead it was just okay. But, I kept going with her work and every book I read by this woman just gets better and better. This one I could scarcely put down – I finished the 914 page beast in 5 days and that was me pacing myself!

Daniel Deronda tells a story in two parts, both the story of Daniel and of Gwendolen, and naturally they interweave beautifully. We start in what is almost the middle of the book, where we meet Gwendolen Harleth in a casino. Observing her winning streak at the roulette table is Daniel Deronda. And that is the last we see of him until Chapter 16 and Gwendolen’s story takes precedence. At first it seems like these two narratives are utterly unrelated. Yet each is enhanced by the other, and by the parallels it is possible to draw between them.

The plot itself is magnificent, it weaves in and out, back and forth, and is so incredibly perfect. I could go on and on about it, it was great.  The thing which surprised me most was the thread of Judaism which I really wasn’t expecting, but it surprised me in the best possible way. Mirah is one of the most beautiful characters I have had the pleasure of reading, yes she was a little stereotypical but she was wonderful and I really, really adored her. Daniel, oh how I wish there were more of Daniel! Though he is the titular character, the main thread of this novel I felt was actually handed to Gwendolen – his story just wove in perfectly with hers. Him finding out his origins was a great plot point but the thing that was most interesting about him was his open-mindedness, his acceptance and kind heart; he too had faults but his good traits outweighed them. Gwendolen however did annoy me, she was selfish, rude, and downright abhorrent in fact; but I loved her. The growth of her through the novel was something special, her tenacity, her zest for life, and ultimately her journey in to an adulthood that noone deserves which she took for the better of her family is one filled with pain. She grows up quickly, learns quickly and as she becomes more downtrodden, her voice in the novel becomes quieter… it’s quite fantastic, actually.

Oh this novel was incredible. George Eliot is up there as one of my favourite authors, and because I loved this so much I really want to retry Middlemarch. Her writing is sheer magic, her command of imagery and characterisation is second to none, her ability to create the perfect atmosphere for village life astounds me. This woman is a deity.

Naturally this book got 5* from me and the title of best book in 2016 so far. The rest of the year has a LOT to live up to!

Review: The Mill on the Floss – George Eliot

Rating – 4*

I loved this book. Trying to put it across in words is going to be difficult because there is just so many things I feel I want to say about this book.

The Mill on the Floss follows a little more than 10 years in the lives of Tom and Maggie Tulliver. We start when they are young, Tom 13 and Maggie about 9. So many things about the relationship between these siblings irritated me, mainly Tom’s faults it has to be said but Tom’s faults were redeemed by all things Maggie. Maggie is one of the best female protagonists in 19th Century literature – at least from what I have read. She is wild and free and, on the whole, is everything a good female protagonist should be.

This book is so many things but, ultimately, is about the bond between siblings. While I felt Tom had his faults, that is me as a 21st century reader. Tom is ultimately a good person who loves his sister but, as a product of a 19th century novel is often calling Maggie a “silly girl” and very often undervalues her. But Maggie is quite scandalous, really, and I imagine that when this was released there was quite a few raised eyebrows. George Eliot has shot up my list as one of my favourite authors because of this book, I can imagine her smirking behind her pen as she wrote some of this!

There is a bit of romance here, and I honestly haven’t rooted for a fictional couple as much as I did in this book for quite a long time. As it happens, it doesn’t go the way I wanted it to. Maggie emerges from it all a changed woman but nonetheless and incredible one who won’t let her opposition get her down.

If you want a happy or uplifting book, this isn’t for you. While the ending was in part disappointing, I don’t think it would have been right if it had finished any other way.

Review: Middlemarch – George Eliot

I have wanted to read this book for a long time now and I decided that it was high time to get around to it before I went back to uni at the end of the month. The most off-putting factor about this book is the sheer enormity (the edition I was reading was 924 pages).

Middlemarch is a wonderful novel that has left me feeling somewhat bereft at ending it. It is a novel that spans such a wide frame that you as a reader are taken on a journey. My biggest issue with it is that there is quite a large level of predictability, which is annoying when it is a very slow paced book anyway – plodding away through several pages when you know how it’s going to resolve is frustrating.

The characters are well fleshed out, as you would expect over a 900 page novel. The initial difficulty I had with the novel is that there are so many introduced within the first 100 pages that it’s just dull. Over the course of the novel it becomes clear who are the key characters and then those others that were introduced we see develop through the eyes of the focal character. Even though she was naive, I really liked Dorothea in some ways – she was deeply flawed, idealistic and rather cold in her demeanour but I liked her. All the characters have flaws, none of them are perfect so that was a definite brownie point for Eliot.

I went in to this book with expectation. Virginia Woolf has cited this novel as one of the best ever written, so many people love it, I really though I would love it, and I just didn’t. It wasn’t hideous, it is a beautiful book but it just didn’t hit me in the gut the same with Silas Marner did and when I put it down, I really had to force myself to pick it up again. In reading it I didn’t get that profundity that so many people go on about after reading this book. It does pick up around the 50-75% point but… still I feel that I could have spent two weeks reading something better. I’m not giving up on Eliot, I think her writing is beautiful, I just didn’t have much patience for this novel once it actually got going. For that reason, I give it a 3/5 but with a promise to read it again in the future to see if it changes me opinion.

Review: Silas Marner – George Eliot

I picked this up on a whim, mainly because I saw it and I have wanted to read some George Eliot for ages – however Middlemarch seemed a little intimidating during my exams and when I saw the size of this I nabbed it up. I knew relatively little about it and went in to it blind – which was fun.

Silas Marner is an eponymous novel which for me was quite reminiscent of the story in A Christmas Carol; an isolated, mean spirited man learns kindness and love. It was also reminiscent of a fairy tale in it’s plot in the sense that there is a man who comes to a small village, weaves, hoards his money and then – some time later – there is a theft; he is forced to mix with the locals to try and find out who did it but this opens him up to the population of the village. Time passes, there’s a brief Christmas-y interlude and then we’re introduced to Eppie who changes things. For the better.

That isn’t really any more than what is in the blurb and, at 210 pages it’s not exactly anything more than that as a story, quite truthfully. Sometimes this book felt too long, there wasn’t really much happening but then, when something happened it felt rushed. It took about 100 pages before I actually felt invested in it and then I read the second half within a couple of hours which I was really happy with!

I like Eliot’s writing, it’s really quite easy to read for a classic. I liked this to the point that I’ve ordered The Mill on the Floss and am looking to find the Penguin English Library edition of Daniel Deronda too. I really enjoyed this, I just wish the first 100 pages were 50 pages and the final 100 were 150 because the second half was just so much more interesting! I really loved Eppie and I really think, had the novel focused more on the events after Eppie arrived it would have been a 4/5 opposed to a 3 for me.

Ultimately, this is a solid, short, relatively quick-to-read classic which scraped the surface of my classic-craving. I can’t wait to get around to Middlemarch. 3/5!