Middlemarch by George Eliot

This paragraph from completereview.com sums up my feeling about Middlemarch pretty well.

“Middlemarch is a grand book -- albeit one with many faults. There are several stories here that could be at the center of a novel -- and Eliot seems unable to choose between them, presenting instead a sometimes uncomfortable mix of foci. She also wants to present a broader canvas, of Middlemarch-provincial life as a whole, but fails here too because she isn't willing to commit to that the focus of her book either. Still, most of her characters and their stories are very strong, and there are almost no lulls over the 800 pages of the book. There is also a considerable amount of often sly humour, which adds to the enjoyment of the text”

If this were a movie, I’d rate it: PG-13

Overall Grade: C+

Would I recommend this to my friends? The ones who like Victorian novels and are looking for one they haven’t read.

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

Neither this post nor the one that will follow will contain any depth, anything of quality, and probably nothing of humor. You see, I’m in school. So far, I’ve managed to make time for casual reading, but the time I once had for blogging has been wholly consumed with other activities. As such, The Woman in White has been sitting on my desk for probably 6 weeks now, waiting for this blog post to be written.


Here you go, Woman in White—you deserve better than this.

Interesting fact: Wilkie Collins had a famous buddy named Charles Dickens, who helped Collins get The Woman in White published serially.

The Woman in White was a mystery told by several of the characters, as though they were giving testimony for a trial.

What I liked: mystery, lunacy, deceit, and the underlying gothic tones.

What I didn’t like: The majority of the plot was predictable (but don’t worry, some of it does get pretty wild), the stagnancy of Laura Fairlie’s personality, but that’s to be tolerated as the book was published in 1860, and how white-bread “the secret” turns out to be. Anti-climactic in my opinion.

If this were a movie, I’d rate it: PG-13

Overall Grade: B+

Would I recommend this to my friends? Yes