Reviews tagging 'Death'

Silas Marner by George Eliot

7 reviews

lara_bk's review against another edition

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hopeful inspiring medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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alisonvh's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

George Eliot is normally one of my favorite writers, but I didn’t care for this one. It felt preachy and condescending, and it doesn’t have as much of the beautiful language I’m used to enjoying in her books.
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mallory10100's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted relaxing sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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mcmorgan's review against another edition

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hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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tmickey's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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silver_valkyrie_reads's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 A solid, well written story. My personal enjoyment was rather lessened by some of the specific types of difficulties that are dealt with by the characters, but I would definitely read more by George Eliot now!

I'm also not sure how I feel about certain parts of the resolution of the story... In general it wraps up rather nicely, but I also can't help thinking there was a better way for certain characters to have handled things that might have led to an even better ending, and I'm not sure if that's intentional or not. This book will require some musing. 
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chalkletters's review against another edition

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inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I have a tendency to avoid classics on my TBR because I expect them to be difficult; George Eliot proves that this assumption is flawed, because I raced through Silas Marner with no more trouble than it took me to read any novel published in my lifetime. While I dimly remembered the bare bones of the plot, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I was able to identify with the Silas, and how much of a character development journey he goes on. 

Silas Marner is not just a miserly weaver, though that's the starting point for the novel's relatively simple plot. He was a devout man whose community turned against him and left him cut off from both spiritual and lay society. The idea that moving geographically also created distance between Silas and his 'local god' was fascinating. George Eliot doesn't completely pin down the religious differences between Lantern Yard and the Raveloe church, so modern readers may find themselves wishing there was a little more context.

Silas isn't the only character who reads as something other than neurotypical: Nancy has fixed personal rules for life which, once arrived at, cannot be strayed from even if being more flexible would make life easier. George Eliot doesn't dwell on this as much as on Silas, but it's still fascinating to see in a character so far removed from modern labels. There's also Priscilla, who rejects both the possibility of marriage and any attraction to men completely out of hand, which may strike a reader as coming pretty close to the asexual or aromantic spectrum.

Silas Marner's plot is really just the background action holding all the characters together. There's no mystery as to how Silas's life changes, and the character who brings about the biggest upheaval disappears off the page entirely for most of the story. His return is unforeshadowed and not terribly satisfying. The ending of the novel, while making perfect logical sense from the events which precede it, feels a little abrupt. 

Nonetheless, I had a great time reading Silas Marner and would thoroughly recommend it. If you enjoyed Heidi, you could see this as a very similar story, but told from the opposite perspective. 
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