Middlemarch by George Eliot - Book Discussion

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  • Опубліковано 13 січ 2025

КОМЕНТАРІ • 61

  • @jayv3264
    @jayv3264 4 місяці тому +8

    Anyone who can do a great analysis video of "Middlemarch" earns my immediate respect.

  • @anyab812
    @anyab812 4 місяці тому +12

    You’re my new favourite channel. Thanks to you, I was able to find my lost love for books. Thank you for sharing your passion for books with us. Even when you don’t see it, your videos are (quietly and positively) influencing someone somewhere.

    • @ProseAndPetticoats
      @ProseAndPetticoats  4 місяці тому +1

      This is such an amazing comment. Thank you so much - this means a lot 🥹 I'm happy you found your love for books again! What are you reading?

    • @anyab812
      @anyab812 4 місяці тому +1

      @@ProseAndPetticoats I’m currently reading John Keats’ poems, and will be reading Dracula in October. I’ve never had the chance to read it but now I’m ready ❤️

  • @KathrynTanner-t8f
    @KathrynTanner-t8f 5 днів тому

    Really good start! I've read 2 chapters of Middlemarch. It is my habit to approach books directly at first and avoid outside commentary until I've at least started to form my own impressions. Your discussion was just right! Gave me some paths to think about without making pronouncements. I will be reading Middlemarch with a group. We read War and Peace together a few years ago and are working our way through other big, scary books. Very rewarding! So, thanks for your comments!

    • @ProseAndPetticoats
      @ProseAndPetticoats  2 дні тому

      That's amazing. Happy reading! It's always a great idea to tackle bigger books with other readers.

  • @FinallyMajor
    @FinallyMajor 4 місяці тому +2

    I had to add this to watch later! I can’t wait to hear your thoughts after I complete my own reading!!

  • @gladouhills9039
    @gladouhills9039 4 місяці тому +3

    Middlemarch is the first George Eliot 's novel I read and I loved it 😀 ! Since then, I read other novels and short stories by George Eliot and she is now one of my favorite Victorian era's novelist (with Anne Brontë) 😊

    • @ProseAndPetticoats
      @ProseAndPetticoats  4 місяці тому +1

      Do you have a favourite novel written by Anne Brontë? I've only read Wildfell Hall and it blew me away. 🥰

    • @gladouhills9039
      @gladouhills9039 4 місяці тому

      @@ProseAndPetticoats Yes, my favorite one is "Agnes Grey" 😀. I read the tenant of Wildfell Hall too and I liked it but not as much as Agnes Grey

    • @ProseAndPetticoats
      @ProseAndPetticoats  4 місяці тому +1

      @@gladouhills9039 I will read Agnes next 👀

  • @davidmccalip5759
    @davidmccalip5759 4 місяці тому +2

    Hello Emmelie! I hope you are doing well! Very interesting video and informative. I need to read more George Eliot. Romola was another book of hers I read and I really enjoyed that one. I look forward to your next video. Have a great week! 😀

    • @ProseAndPetticoats
      @ProseAndPetticoats  4 місяці тому

      I'm excited to read all her other works! Thanks, David 🥰

  • @Lily_Haferkamp
    @Lily_Haferkamp Місяць тому

    Thank you for this lovely review. Even if you need patience to read this book - it is so rewarding. I have read Middlemarch last year and followed the original time intervals in which is was published. So I read about 160 sides per two months in 13 months. I always read on Weekends and that gave me the feeling that I visited a village every Saturday, I lived in Middlemarch for a year. Nowadays it is all still very present in my mind, the characters are like friends and family.

    • @ProseAndPetticoats
      @ProseAndPetticoats  Місяць тому

      I agree that it is a rewarding read. I'm happy you enjoyed it so much!

  • @leenverbraken1683
    @leenverbraken1683 4 місяці тому +1

    ❤ This was a great video! I loved to read it with your reading club and it was one of the best books I ever read! I’m looking forward to our next read!

    • @ProseAndPetticoats
      @ProseAndPetticoats  4 місяці тому +1

      It was such a great one to discuss. Thanks for joining 😍

  • @MaleniaArtHoarder
    @MaleniaArtHoarder 4 місяці тому +2

    Hi Emmelie!
    Your research on the author and on the book were so good! I've checked out this book but didn't really attract me at first, but I will definitely keep the author's name in mind.
    See you next week!

  • @ToReadersItMayConcern
    @ToReadersItMayConcern 4 місяці тому +2

    Phenomenal review, Emmelie! You mention finding the hints of medical history intriguing. I recently purchased the book The Greatest Benefit to Mankind by Roy Porter. I've read a bit of the opening chapters, and it is thus far a fantastically-written and comprehensive overview of medical history. You may appreciate it (quite lengthy, though)!

    • @ProseAndPetticoats
      @ProseAndPetticoats  4 місяці тому +1

      That's a great recommendation, for I am indeed extremely interested in anything medical. Will be checking it out 🥰 Thank you, Ruben!

  • @angelbaker7012
    @angelbaker7012 4 місяці тому +1

    "Was never true love loved in vain,
    for truest love is highest gain.
    No art can make it: it must spring.
    Where elements are fostering.
    So in heavens's spot and hour
    Springs the little native flower,
    Downward root and upward eye,
    Shapen by the earth and sky"
    George Eliot
    I love her writing style. I truly enjoyed Middlemarch.

  • @VisorakMark
    @VisorakMark 3 місяці тому

    Finished this weekend and LOVED it. I loved AK by Tolstoy so no surprises there. Lovely review!

  • @kritipandey4766
    @kritipandey4766 4 місяці тому

    Keep doing your best work 💓

  • @rmoriart7655
    @rmoriart7655 4 місяці тому

    I completely agree with your comparison of Eliot to Tolstoy. Both of them had the unique ability to plumb the depths of the human psyche - more so than any other novelists I’ve read. Thank you for your excellent analysis!

  • @MartinDSmith
    @MartinDSmith 4 місяці тому +1

    Casaubon's letter of proposal made me laugh.That's a lovely quote from Emily Dickinson!❤

  • @DeadNetCord
    @DeadNetCord 4 місяці тому +2

    The life of clergy was one of the more interesting things I'm taking away from this book. Celibacy is a thing where I live, it was so weird to observe how Fred was at some point set to compete with Farebrother lol
    btw every time you mention Les Miserables I envy your pronunciation

    • @ProseAndPetticoats
      @ProseAndPetticoats  4 місяці тому

      Yes, same here. I was also confused for a moment, but then remembered that Farebrother could indeed marry... ;)
      Ha. There are some advantages to having French as a second language 😂

  • @MariaVivian-z5n
    @MariaVivian-z5n 4 місяці тому

    Thanks for this Emmelie. You always do great reviews! I have never read Middlemarch and I'm not sure if this would be for me. However that's okay as we are all different. Happy reading!🙂

  • @binglamb2176
    @binglamb2176 4 місяці тому +1

    I still have to read Middlemarch since it is a glaring gap in my reading of Victorian literature. I have read The Mill on the Floss, however, and quite honestly, I found it challenging to get through and really quite dreary. Perhaps Middlemarch is better?

    • @ProseAndPetticoats
      @ProseAndPetticoats  4 місяці тому

      It depends on what you found challenging. I had read Silas Marner (and found it difficult), and it made me a little afraid to start Middlemarch. I found it to be a completely different experience. Can't say anything about Mill, because I haven't read it (yet) 😇

  • @BookZealots
    @BookZealots 4 місяці тому +1

    Dorothea is the reason I placed this book back on my shelf. I couldn't stand her and hated being in her negative thoughts. Now, I have just recently heard, that the book goes into other character's stories, so I'm thinking about picking it back up. Does Dorothea's character mature or does she stay hateful?

    • @ProseAndPetticoats
      @ProseAndPetticoats  4 місяці тому +2

      I can see why Dorothea's character can bother a reader to the point of giving up. Her progress is a slow one, but by the end of the novel, she does change and is transformed. There are indeed other storylines you might enjoy. It always switches :) I find it hard to say "just push yourself through book I", because her storyline remains important throughout the novel.

    • @BookZealots
      @BookZealots 4 місяці тому

      @@ProseAndPetticoats As long as she grows as a person, I can push through her negativity. Thank you for sharing.

    • @nur-e-diphamuttaqi
      @nur-e-diphamuttaqi 3 місяці тому +1

      I stopped reading because of Dorothea too, she was insufferable in the beginning, and that leads her to a bad marriage with conviction. But that's where the real story begins, how her character develops, what she endures, and how much she changes is also astonishing.

    • @BookZealots
      @BookZealots 3 місяці тому +1

      @@nur-e-diphamuttaqi Thank you for sharing! with your information I might add her to my winter reading. 🤗

  • @paivishaw1163
    @paivishaw1163 4 місяці тому

    I tried reading Middlemarch quite a few years ago but got bored with it. However, I’m going to give it a new fresh try - you inspired me (again). Thanks also for the important characters list😊

    • @ProseAndPetticoats
      @ProseAndPetticoats  4 місяці тому

      You're very welcome! I hope you will like it better on the second try 😘

  • @DarrenRosenow
    @DarrenRosenow 4 місяці тому

    Hi Emmelie... Thank you for doing a book review without spoilers since Middlemarch is on my TBR. I'm looking forward to the storyline. Your fluffy friend is quickly trying to become a star on your UA-cam channel. Can I ask your cat's name?

    • @ProseAndPetticoats
      @ProseAndPetticoats  4 місяці тому

      Haha, my cat is always around, usually napping beside me while I record 🤭 His name is Toulouse.

  • @tkm27921
    @tkm27921 4 місяці тому

    Hello, thank you for the review.
    can you make a video of romance books that you like the romance in them?

    • @ProseAndPetticoats
      @ProseAndPetticoats  4 місяці тому

      I don't know if I ever read a pure 'romance' novel. Do you mean books that have a great love story in them, or books that are 100% romance genre? 😊

    • @tkm27921
      @tkm27921 4 місяці тому

      @@ProseAndPetticoats well I mean any love story that you most liked.

  • @SheanaJo
    @SheanaJo 4 місяці тому +1

    😊

  • @leslieh6739
    @leslieh6739 4 місяці тому +1

    If you’re watching this please like and subscribe. She has amazing content. Above and beyond most “book tubers”. ❤.

  • @DKFynn
    @DKFynn 3 місяці тому

    Footnotes...? Middlemarch has footnotes?
    I've watched a number of Middlemarch-focused videos, and I think you're the first to mention footnotes. I've just started reading Middlemarch. I don't have the edition you have, but rather, the Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition (the one with the foreward by Rebecca Mead). I actually also have the Everman's Library Classics, but I'm reading the Mead one.

    • @ProseAndPetticoats
      @ProseAndPetticoats  3 місяці тому

      I am surprised that your editions do not have footnotes. I was glad they were there - they helped me understand all the references she made (and there are many). I hope you will enjoy Middlemarch. Happy reading!

    • @DKFynn
      @DKFynn 3 місяці тому

      @@ProseAndPetticoats Oh, I didn't check to see if there were footnotes. I'm still early in the novel, so I may not have arrived at the first footnote....
      ...Alright, I just flipped through the Penguin Classics Deluxe (the deckled edges didn't help) and the Everyman's (which I misspelled earlier), and didn't see any footnotes (or endnotes at the back). It may be that if the footnotes are sparse, they may be sprinkled throughout, and I might have not seen them.
      In any case, I guess that if I want the full reading experience, I'll have to consider getting the edition you have.

    • @ProseAndPetticoats
      @ProseAndPetticoats  3 місяці тому +1

      @@DKFynn Very strange!

    • @DKFynn
      @DKFynn 2 місяці тому +1

      I have the Penguin Classics now, and I see what you mean. The first two chapters have 14 endnotes.

  • @nualafaolin7129
    @nualafaolin7129 4 місяці тому +1

    I’ve only ever seen the TV mini series so know the story, but I’m making my way through the Encyclopaedia Britannica’s “Great Books of the Western World” Series, & it’s in the second edition! Unfortunately the first edition had no female writers, but they fixed that in the 2nd edition… Looking forward to reading it!

    • @ProseAndPetticoats
      @ProseAndPetticoats  4 місяці тому

      I must look up that book - is it one big volume? It sounds so interesting 🙀

    • @nualafaolin7129
      @nualafaolin7129 4 місяці тому

      @@ProseAndPetticoats 😄 no, the 1st edition is 54 volumes (published in 1952), the 2nd is 60 (published in the 90’s with updates). But covers all major “western” works in time from Homer to Freud, including all of Shakespeare, & War & Peace, etc. All major works of history, philosophy, science and literature. The idea was to give everyone access to a liberal education, and includes some (at the time) harder to get scientific papers like Galileo’s theories. You’ve probably read quite a few of the literature volumes, but you can dig in to the others to see how ideas influenced thought at the time! It’s a lifelong project really to get through them all, and you can find the pdfs of all 1st edition volumes for free online…

    • @ProseAndPetticoats
      @ProseAndPetticoats  4 місяці тому +1

      @@nualafaolin7129 Wow, interesting! Thank you for explaining 😇