A review by sbbarnes
The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
2.0
The life and times of Maggie and her brother Tom, I guess. Maggie is a temperamental, well-intentioned girl who always seems to do the wrong thing; Tom is her steadfast, if incurious and unintellectual brother. When I say "seems to do the wrong thing", it is because that is essentially just the interpretation of everyone around her. Maggie is frequently overwrought, certainly, but no one gives her credit for anything, constantly assumes the worst and is just outright cruel to her when all she really wants is affection and intellectual stimulation. In that, this book is a commentary on the rigid standards of the time.
The cast of characters includes Maggie and Tom's parents; her father, who has ambitions above his station and sends Tom to a school that would benefit his sister a lot more, but that Tom can't gain anything from. Their father is also unwise with his money and his temper; their mother is well-meaning but doesn't know what to do with Maggie and cares more about her porcelain than her kids. The mother has three sisters, all of whom are awful in different ways - one is an old-world things-were-better-in-my-time combative dragon, one is a decently-well-off hypochondriac who wouldn't give a starving man a slice of bread because he might get crumbs on the carpet, and one is stinking rich and has given up caring about her family. They all consistently give their terrible opinions. About everything.
There's also Philip, the hunchbacked son of the father's adversary, who is a lot better than anyone gives him credit for; Lucy, the kind and pretty daughter of the rich aunt, and Stephen. Thanks to Penguin for giving away everything about Stephen on the back cover of the book, by the by. Just because it's a classic doesn't mean suspense is irrelevant.
The central thread of the book is the anguished relationship between Maggie and Tom. Maggie is always desperate for a kind of affection Tom can't give; Tom is always despairing of Maggie's tempestuousness and thinks she's outright evil. To be honest, any sympathy I had for Tom was utterly destroyed through a series of his talks with Maggie, where he refused to listen to anything she had to say. It is actual text that this is because he is a sexist and thinks women are no good. I'm sure there's a lot that could be said about intersect of author and text here.
It's also very protestant. I mean, very, very protestant. Any happiness is sinful; joyfulness must immediately be met with guilt, and everyone else is always right and the only way towards peace is hard work and suffering.
I appreciate what an accomplished book this is but it is such a downer to read. Nothing good happens in its entirety. Every conversation is an agony of misunderstandings and wilful lack of empathy.
The cast of characters includes Maggie and Tom's parents; her father, who has ambitions above his station and sends Tom to a school that would benefit his sister a lot more, but that Tom can't gain anything from. Their father is also unwise with his money and his temper; their mother is well-meaning but doesn't know what to do with Maggie and cares more about her porcelain than her kids. The mother has three sisters, all of whom are awful in different ways - one is an old-world things-were-better-in-my-time combative dragon, one is a decently-well-off hypochondriac who wouldn't give a starving man a slice of bread because he might get crumbs on the carpet, and one is stinking rich and has given up caring about her family. They all consistently give their terrible opinions. About everything.
There's also Philip, the hunchbacked son of the father's adversary, who is a lot better than anyone gives him credit for; Lucy, the kind and pretty daughter of the rich aunt, and Stephen. Thanks to Penguin for giving away everything about Stephen on the back cover of the book, by the by. Just because it's a classic doesn't mean suspense is irrelevant.
The central thread of the book is the anguished relationship between Maggie and Tom. Maggie is always desperate for a kind of affection Tom can't give; Tom is always despairing of Maggie's tempestuousness and thinks she's outright evil. To be honest, any sympathy I had for Tom was utterly destroyed through a series of his talks with Maggie, where he refused to listen to anything she had to say. It is actual text that this is because he is a sexist and thinks women are no good. I'm sure there's a lot that could be said about intersect of author and text here.
It's also very protestant. I mean, very, very protestant. Any happiness is sinful; joyfulness must immediately be met with guilt, and everyone else is always right and the only way towards peace is hard work and suffering.
I appreciate what an accomplished book this is but it is such a downer to read. Nothing good happens in its entirety. Every conversation is an agony of misunderstandings and wilful lack of empathy.