janetreads's review against another edition
I found this novel quite difficult to get into. Once i was immersed in it, i was emotionally tortured for hundreds of pages.
hem's review against another edition
4.0
Eliot's classic was slower than I expected at first -- a meandering and lovely meditation on childhood. As the last portion began, though, the current of the story picked up for a fast-paced, emotional -- and genuinely fascinating -- finish.
petrar's review against another edition
2.0
I’m 90% sure that this is my only child experience coming through BUT I cannot STAND Tom and Maggie. They are insufferable on their own and even more so together. And don’t get me started on the ending...why??? The one redeeming quality of this book is Eliot’s often witty and sarcastic inserts here and there. They’re like REALLY good. I need to read something else of hers because my main beef with this novel really lies in the plot and the two characters.
nightwater32's review against another edition
5.0
Beautiful and sad. Characters who chose to see Maggie as they wanted, failed to see her how she was. The people who claimed to love her ruined her and managed only to really love themselves.
loisjayne's review against another edition
5.0
The ending was bittersweet, poignant. Unexpected. The feelings evoked during reading this ranged from great sympathy for Maggie, tears for her unobserved pain and anguish, to the most intense frustration with Tom for his lack of understanding of her, and his seemingly (especially in this modern world) very unnecessarily harsh treatment. There was frustration with most of the male characters in this book, actually - though maybe, just maybe, that was the point. I felt so sure Maggie would do a great thing with the strength of her character, and be redeemed, and oh, were we made to wait for that moment. I do wish he would have realised her goodness and strength before, but it made for a perfect ending. A perfect reunion between Maggie and Lucy, and Philip and Stephen both allowed to grieve in their own way too. Anyway - 5 stars. Must read.
celestemarin's review against another edition
5.0
I had previously planned to read this but I finally did (listen to it) after a reading in a maternal health class talked about how some guy wouldn't marry George Eliot because she wasn't attractive enough and he wanted good-looking children. I didn't particularly expect it to be feminist (I don't recall that "Middlemarch" was, for example) but I really enjoyed the character of the smart girl who wants to read and learn and be recognized for her intelligence, even though nobody cares except her father and her mother and aunts despair of her inability to stay clean and pretty and fair. I loved her up in the attic torturing her doll. I loved the book up to the last chapter.
ioanaisreading's review against another edition
3.0
although this is one of the I-have-to-read-this-or-else-I-am-in-trouble, we {me and the Mill&Floss} didn.t quite click at the beginning. and or relationship had its ups and downs. more downs than ups. for the sake of all that is holy, i spent almost a month reading this book. yeah, me and the Mill? not gonna happen again very soon. this relationship that we had here, short as it was, brought to light everything that is bad in me. as far reading is concerned. so, we decided to reach the much awaited "the end" and we ended it. and I passed its idea to be introduced to its relatives: Middlemarch, Silas Marner, Daniel Deronda, Adam Bede. I was just not ready yet.
tttram's review against another edition
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This story is about Maggie Tulliver from her early childhood to adolescence and the 4 men in her life: her father, her brother Tom, a suitor and Philip, who is the son of her father's enemy. Maggie is a very curious girl and loves to read. However, when her father went bankrupt due to a lawsuit she had to renunciate from the things that made her happy.
I really liked how the characters are portrayed. Especially, how the reader gets to see their reasoning and personality. It was a bit difficult to understand the dialect parts and but the writing was very nice. I think it takes a while until the story gets more interesting like at around 250 pages in.
I would recommend this book to people who like reflective books and don't mind reading 500+ pages.
I really liked how the characters are portrayed. Especially, how the reader gets to see their reasoning and personality. It was a bit difficult to understand the dialect parts and but the writing was very nice. I think it takes a while until the story gets more interesting like at around 250 pages in.
I would recommend this book to people who like reflective books and don't mind reading 500+ pages.
vivian_munich's review against another edition
4.0
2nd book by Eliot. I was not as awestruck as by Middlemarch, but it was still a captivating read. The heroine Maggie, although quite different from Dorothea, shares the same natures of being ardent, noble, empathetic, and innocent. No doubt these qualities held a strong allure for Eliot.