Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Middlemarch
    Middlemarch
    Middlemarch
    Audiobook35 hours

    Middlemarch

    Written by George Eliot

    Narrated by Juliet Stevenson

    4.5/5

    ()

    Switch to ebook

    About this audiobook

    Dorothea Brooke is an ardent idealist who represses her vivacity and intelligence for the cold, theological pedant Casaubon. One man understands her true nature: the artist Will Ladislaw. But how can love triumph against her sense of duty and Casaubon’s mean spirit? Meanwhile, in the little world of Middlemarch, the broader world is mirrored: the world of politics, social change, reforms; betrayal, greed, blackmail, ambition and disappointment. Dorothea Brooke is an outstanding heroine; Middlemarch is filled with characters that are vivid and true, comic and moving. It is one of the greatest novels in the English language.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherNaxos Audiobooks
    Release dateFeb 1, 2011
    ISBN9781843794400
    Author

    George Eliot

    George Eliot was the pseudonym for Mary Anne Evans, one of the leading writers of the Victorian era, who published seven major novels and several translations during her career. She started her career as a sub-editor for the left-wing journal The Westminster Review, contributing politically charged essays and reviews before turning her attention to novels. Among Eliot’s best-known works are Adam Bede, The Mill on the Floss, Silas Marner, Middlemarch and Daniel Deronda, in which she explores aspects of human psychology, focusing on the rural outsider and the politics of small-town life. Eliot died in 1880.

    More audiobooks from George Eliot

    Related to Middlemarch

    Related audiobooks

    Classics For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    Related categories

    Reviews for Middlemarch

    4.5/5

    379 ratings149 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      I tried and failed to read Middlemarch back in 2012. But, it is one of my brother's favorite novels and when it comes to literature, I trust his taste above all.

      I want to hug and snuggle with this book, to sleep with it under my pillow so some of George Eliot's genius might seep into my poor little brain while I sleep. Eliot might be the best illustrator of human nature and the many contradictory aspects of a person's self that I've ever read. Dorothea Brook is in the running for my favorite all time heroine. (Sorry Elizabeth Bennet, Margaret Hale and Hermione Granger.) I wanted to slap her and tell her to snap out of it at the beginning, but by the end I was desperate for her to find her happiness. There were storylines that didn't interest me too much, and besides Dorothea and Mary every single character irritated me, but by the end of the book I cared about everyone. Even Bulstrode. But not Rosamond. Never Rosamond.

      I listened to the audiobook narrated by Juliet Stevenson who is, hands down, the premier British literature audio book performer.

      It's a testament to how much I loved this book (thought this disjointed review doesn't do my admiration justice) that I will definitely read it again, all 900 pages or 34 hours of it.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      So refreshing to read of characters motivated by their core beliefs, yet clearly modifying their actions based on new information or circumstances.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 2/5
      Is it blasphemous to say this book disappointed me?

      Listen. It's a fine story. There's nothing inherently wrong with it. It's a lovely look at provincial life, full of the drama and romantic tension one expects from 19th century literature. But that's-- all it was to me. It was nothing special, nothing life hanging.

      I liked it, sure, but maybe I wasn't in the mood to appreciate it.

      I'm glad I read it, but I doubt I'll be picking it up again any time soon.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      A very nicely written book that gives a rounded view of the town of Middlemarch by bringing together the points of view of a cast of different characters. The book went deep into the psychology of each character which was intriguing, and I really loved the characters of Dorothea and Mary. The book has a strong thoughtful streak, and George Eliot has a lot of insightful things to say about the world. It is also a very realistic book, no wild gothic drama.

      On the downside, it is a very long book, and I did lose interest in some parts, particularly in Bulstrode & Lydgate's chapters. And the ending was a little unsatisfying.

      What books would I compare this to? Well, it has a dash of Vanity Fair in its past perspective & ambition, a streak of Le Miserable in its ensemble cast, a dollop of Dickens with its ideology, and a hint of Austen in its wit.

      I wouldn't recommend this as light reading, but if you have the time to commit to it, it is really a quite special book.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      So much has been said in the reviews here, and consequently I find I have little to add. I read this in college and hated it. I suspect I hated it because I had fun things to do and this book is REALLY LONG. I am not sure though how it should have been shortened. I recently noted in another review (for Asymmetry) that great editors often write exceptionally crafted books with nothing remotely extraneous left in the text. I think this qualifies. 905 pages of necessary. I rotated between listening and reading this book, and the audiobook time means I finished this before winter, I found I kept returning to the text to reread. Every word does matter, and that level of focus is not possible for me with audio.So read the other reviews that will tell you this is about the most perfectly crafted novel in the English language. It is. The story is complex, funny, tragic, mundane, honest, and deeply gratifying. I need to re-read it soon, though I typically do not re-read. (I also cannot imagine how anyone thought a man had written this, but that is another conversation.)

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Yet another of those books that escaped me far, far longer than it should have. It was a great joy to dive into this world, and while there were definitely a few characters (probably more than a few) that I wanted to reach out and shake some sense into, I enjoyed it thoroughly. The Modern Library edition I read had some odd typos (many d's were replaced with t's, for no discernible reason), so beware that version perhaps, but it's a classic for a reason, and one I'm sure I'll come back to.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Juliette. Transcendent performance! I’ve adored her since Truly, Madly, Deeply. Now even more. (Not to detract, of course, from my love for the fiery and irreproachable Dorothea!)
    • 5/5
      Juliet Stevenson does an amazing job bringing to life this charming classic that explores various forms of marital strife and family relationships set against a back drop of the socio-political issues of the early 1800's that still carry relevance today.
    • 5/5
      Wonderful psychological portraits and insights into human relationships. Beautifully read by Juliet Stevenson.
    • 5/5
      One of the greatest books ever.
    • 5/5
      Loved it. Interesting characters and twists in the plot
    • 5/5
      Why can't there be more than five stars for a book like this? And why can't I find the words to describe how beautiful Eliot's story is? One day after I finished it, I'm feeling the lingering effects of Eliot's wise insights into human behavior and relationships. Eliot has inspired me to be a better person.
    • 5/5
      I am indebted to Juliet Stevenson for giving me access to Middlemarch. Her faultless narration carried me through dense and difficult passages that would have stopped me ever getting through it alone. She carried me along to the point where I was well and truly gripped by the plot. This took some time, but the rewards were great. Stevenson’s character voices, both male and female, were consistently delivered with perfection.
    • 5/5
      An absolutely beautiful and touching book. Eliot's characters are real and compelling, and she portrays life in all its imperfection - full of mistakes and misunderstanding, but remedied by friendship and compassion.
    • 3/5
      I did not find it as good as I expected it to be. The book could have been much shorter in length as it seemed to drag on (IMHO). Upon reflection and placing myself behind the eyes of author’s first reading audience, helped to better understand the hype.
    • 5/5
      It gives you a very broad and holistic view of life; it’s not just about about-to-get-married stuff.......................Incidentally the title refers to a stiflingly average small town: “.... a sore point in his memory in which this petty medium of Middlemarch had been too strong for him.”[“whose opinions had a great weight of grocery on their side.”]Many of the characters have intellectual inclinations, but find it difficult to escape the “petty medium”................................Comparing every English novel to “Pride & Prejudice” is a bit like comparing every rock band to the Beatles; it’s tiresome. However, sometimes I slip into it. [To extend the metaphor, George Eliot is more like Pink Floyd than the Beatles.] It’s impossible not to notice the broader vistas in Eliot compared to the views that Austen almost intentionally constricts around the feminine mystique. In “Pride & Prejudice” you’re supposed to laugh at Darcy for thinking that young women might want to study other languages, or anything even vaguely abstract. In “Middlemarch” Dorothea is earnestly distressed that she has not learned German, the better to drink in God and scholarship. In “Pride & Prejudice” the portrait of the scholar is virtually always painted with a view towards making fun—the popular kid making fun of the nerd. In “Middlemarch”, both the ideal and the flaws are given treatment. It would be a mistake to think that every book published before 1985 has an honest appreciation for learning, but “Middlemarch” does........................Without, I hope, sounding too jealous of glory, it’s a lot better to be told about the things that actually happen, the complete spectrum, and not just to be presented with a carefully constructed fiction. (“In my family, people will never argue over money when people die! Better yet, no one in my family will ever die! We’ll just be rich— or at least we will be, when it’s time to have a party.”).............................“If you only wanted ‘love’, then life would just be one long love-fest.” No, we choose people for flawed reasons, and then we have to live with it.................................One can easily say that it is all “good”, e.g. for a female, simply by forgetting upwards of three-quarters of the thing, and that is the feminine mystique; one can with even greater ease (and not inconsiderable pain) say that is all “bad”, and that is merely the other feminine mystique. The great thing, however, is to say that the thing is *as it is*.................................It’s nice how everyone’s story is everyone else’s story.
    • 3/5
      Given that MIDDLEMARCH is an all time favorite of many LT readers, I'll tread lightly here.With the recent rewriting of many classics, here's my new version following Dorothea's marriage:Casaubon's cold public demeanor, superior distancing attitudes, and lack of affectiontoward his bride undergo a radical change in the bedroom.He radiates into a red-hot lover!This transformation conflicts with Dorothea's physical passions and religious sensibilities,resulting in her dim-witted, yet intentional, decision to tell her husband that she thinksthat his nephew, Will, who he loathes, DOES deserve more of her husband's money after his projected death.Casaubon then divorces Dorothea who falls into Will's welcoming arms untilshe enlightens him about the reasons for her defection.Casaubon and Will accidentally meet at an inn where they are introduced to sistersembarking from a carriage and begin new and friendly adventures.Dorothea falls in love with her priestly confessor and ... "Oh dear! Oh dear!"
    • 5/5
      This book took me two months to read. Granted, it was an office book (read during lunch at work), but two months is a long time, when you are reading consistently. It's epic. I don't know how I got through high school without reading this, but I finally picked it up because one of the women in my book club makes reference to it CONSTANTLY. And I understand why. It did drag for me in parts, and made me contemplate 4 stars, but the writing skill shines through every page, all seemingly nine hundred million of them, in the details and the character development and the sheer breadth of plot...and how can you not give a book like that 5 stars?
    • 4/5
      With all of its 880 pages, I expected “more” in terms of a definitive plot, which I did not find. The characters are rich and the time period displayed beautifully by Eliot. Her descriptive powers are delicious as evidenced by description of Mr. Casaubon: "as genuine a character as any ruminant animal". (pg. 173) The pace of the book is slow and reminds somewhat of Austen and Wharton. I have 2-3 other Eliot’s in my anthology and as of right now I’m not anxious to begin them.
    • 4/5
      I've often seen this listed as one of the greatest novels in the English language, and occasionally as THE greatest novel. A friend's opinion is that it's a set of essays bound by a romantic plot. The characters are rich and interesting and give a sense of the diversity of personalities in a 19th-century English village (although, as typical of most British writers of this era, aside from Dickens, the few impoverished lowest-class characters are static). If I knew more about the political history of the time, I think I would have a better appreciation of the novel's greatness.
    • 5/5
      Immensely rewarding - but difficult to get into. Do persevere though - you won't regret it.
    • 4/5
      With all of its 880 pages, I expected “more” in terms of a definitive plot, which I did not find. The characters are rich and the time period displayed beautifully by Eliot. Her descriptive powers are delicious as evidenced by description of Mr. Casaubon: "as genuine a character as any ruminant animal". (pg. 173) The pace of the book is slow and reminds somewhat of Austen and Wharton. I have 2-3 other Eliot’s in my anthology and as of right now I’m not anxious to begin them.
    • 5/5
      I love the Virginia Woolf quote about Middlemarch: "one of the few English novels written for grown-up people."
    • 5/5
      Reader is wonderful ..and very pleasant. Book is rich in language!
    • 4/5
      I've been meaning to read this book for a long time (& by that I mean decades) but somehow Eliot never drew me in. It took me a few months to finish once I started - the first half was slow going although somewhere around the middle it caught and I finished it up in a few nights reading.

      This very personal introduction is to encourage anyone who reads this review not to wait as long as I. Great literature is defined by creating a world you feel you are inhabiting, by creating characters as real as anyone you know and by making the reader care deeply about the fate of those characters. The truly great books also teach you truths about the human condition & help you reflect on your own life. On all four of those characteristics this books excels and shows Eliot is indeed one of the great writers.

      Now that I'm done I can say the biggest problem with her writing is its complexity- her sentences can often be more convoluted than Proust's and you have to sit there and puzzle out what exactly was her intentions. And unlike Proust there is no lyricism to make those twists & turns soar into something poetic. Hence the prose can be heavy at times. Surprisingly, unlike other 19th or even 18th century writers a lot of her language seems archaic - I was very glad to have chosen this edition which has great footnotes as well as an interesting introduction.

      Because of the heaviness of her prose I had to deduct one star, but that does not deduct from my strong recommendation for everyone to read this great classic.

    • 1/5
      I had an interview once with someone for whom I have much respect and who I had heard was very well-read. Naturally, I worked the topic of conversation around to literature, and we had a lively discussion on the merits of several British authors. His favorite book is Middlemarch, which he said that he reads when he’s not in the mood for anything heavy. For whatever reason, I have an image of him very Mr. Bennet-like, enjoying folly and being amused by the profane. I had to confess to him that I had never read that particular book. I did not get the job.

      I resolved to read that book around New Years’. I picked up a soft bound copy of Middlemarch from my local library toward the end of February and was surprised at its girth. No light reading after all, it would seem. I read it on the train to and from an internship and then tried a few nights to just give it a few hours at a time. And alas, alack, I could not do it. After 200 pages, I gave up. I more than gave up–I borrowed the BBC adaptation from my local library. Sigh.

      So why could I not finish it? The characters were a little too flat. They all had a touch of the ridiculous in them, which I generally like. But the characters all seemed so very one-dimensional to me–so much so that I could never really become interested in any of their stories; I never needed to see what happens next with them. I just didn’t care.
    • 4/5
      Varied narratives describing the life of people in and around the fictional town of Middlemarch. Enjoyable victorian realism, if anything too broad in the story telling for me (lost track on occasion as I mostly read this over my lunch breaks and on public transport).
    • 5/5
      I listened to this book, read by Kate Reading, who was fabulous. I loved Eliot's language and her keen and pithy observations
    • 4/5
      There is a reason why classic stand the test of time: they are quite simply great books. This is one of them, and what really struck me is how perceptive Eliot is in portraying the subtlest nuances in character. There are may "confrontations" between characters that are memorable to me, in which a wall of silence and incomprehension appears, exchange after exchange, between two lovers, between two friends, between people who would like to say so much more but cannot, and we can all see and comprehend why they cannot, and identify our own experiences with what happens in the novel.
      There is a sense in which the end does not matter - what matters is the development of the characters and the ripening of life and experience. A beautiful book.
    • 4/5
      In all honesty, I enjoyed it more and read it faster than I thought I would. My favorite line of Eliot's came at the end: "...for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs."Of all the characters, I liked Rosamond the least (Mr. Casaubon coming in a close second to "Rosy"), and I liked Dorothea the best. In the end, I'm glad "Dodo" went for it.