I am ready to return into literature’s welcoming bosom. As a sign that I made the right decision, the gods saw fit to give The Mill on The Floss the kind of soul wrenching end that left me sobbing. I haven’t done that since Andre Dubus’ “Rose” (a short story) which was years ago. Every one fusses about Middlemarch but perhaps one ought to take a closer look at my new favourite? I am now convinced that Eliot deserves to be immortalised in marble — I hope there’s a statue I can visit somewhere.
Middlemarch is her best so I’ll get to it some time but…is it another Fallen Woman story? My heart can’t take any more of those at present. I may swerve into Silas Marner instead. That’s another one of her books that I started to read in my younger days but never finished.
Yay! So glad you are returning! And a whole new blog look too! Isn’t Mill on the Floss wonderful? It left me crying at the end too.
Yay, I’m happy to know that there are readers who still care
. I’m getting used to the new blog look too, not sure if I’ve quite settled on it yet. No header image, you know. But I do like the nice advisory in the comments which I had nothing to do with. Quite convenient.
Isn’t that book something? I’m quite put out at the way people skip over it so heedlessly when discussing her works.
It’s so nice to see you back! I’ve only ever read Middlemarch (which I loved). I’m so bad at committing myself to big 19th century chunksters, but I really should include them in my reading more often.
Definitely good news to see your post – looking forward to the conversation starting up again. And your new site design is great.
I loved Middlemarch and have Mill on the Floss waiting for me on a shelf downstairs…
I love The Mill on the Floss, and it is soul-wrenching and wonderful, but Middlemarch is the book I look back at and say, “that changed my life.” It’s not as heavy emotionally as TMotF, but it makes more emotional sense than any book I’ve ever read, and the people and their relationships with each other are incredibly nuanced and authentic. The Mill on the Floss is a punch in the gut, but Middlemarch grabbed me — the second time I read it, actually. The first time I was about twelve — amd hasn’t let go yet.
Also there are no fallen women involved.
Thank you litlove. They key to reading chunksters is to get hardcover editions that minimize the size considerably. My Penguins Classics looked quite monstrous beside my demure hardcover Oxford. One is never satisfied with one’s reading anyway — I think I spend far too much time on 18th-19th century chunksters and neglect all the contemporaries.
verbivore, thanks! I’m encouraged by all the positive remarks on Middlemarch…
…especially since there are no more fallen women! Thanks for that bit of info, Melody. It was a sore point with me for much of the book until I started to get a clearer idea of what Eliot was about. Still, I could do without it.
HOORAY!! You are alive! I’ve missed your awesome bookishness! See >>> loads of !!!!!! means I’m excited!(<there is another one)
I missed your site too Amanda. And I do find your excitement very gratifying, thank you.
So good to have you back! I’ve been reading David Markson’s The Last Novel and thought of you when I saw this:
“Two pages of The Mill on the Floss are enough to start me crying.
Said Proust.”
Also:
“The first English novel for adults, Virginia Woolf called Middlemarch.”
Thank you amcorrea. That Markson sounds really intriguing. My library has it so I think I’ll put it on hold.
I love that Proust quote. For a long time after I finished Mill on the Floss and put it away, the mere mention of the title made my eyes feel as if they were about to water again. Very surprising since I did not expect to like it so much but now I see why those few pages I read when I was much younger stuck with me through the years (over a decade now).
That’s quite a recommendation from Woolf. The novel has such a good rep that I’ll expect nothing but genius when I start it. I’ll have to work at being more reasonable.
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