Comments on: Amos Barton by George Eliot

By: Biblibio

Biblibio — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 11:46:44 +0000

If the name George Eliot is on it, chances are it’s pretty great, especially since I like the idea of the ultimate mediocre character. Plus, any book that includes the phrase “his mouth only half empty of muffin” must be read.

By: zhiv

zhiv — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 04:07:03 +0000

Hey, look–it’s all my pals!

The thing I was struck by in your post was the reference and focus on mediocrity… which predates Middlemarch by quite a bit. From the perspective of middle age, it’s fairly obvious that mediocrity is where it’s at, and that’s what puts Middlemarch in the starting five of all-time novels, at least for me. I wouldn’t have thought that GE was onto it right from the beginning, but it makes sense, because she held fire and didn’t publish fiction until she was well past 10,000 days.

It’s odd to see Amos Barton published separately. I read it in the Penguin “Scenes of Clerical Life,” which, pulling it down from the shelf, has a 1973 introduction from the then-young-pup David Lodge, of all people.

Just going to have to write my own little GE review post it seems–don’t want to hog your comments.

Good choice, inspiring pick.

By: nicole

nicole — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 19:27:35 +0000

Yes, I think you will both like it. And it’s so tiny it’s hardly worth skipping.

That’s probably not actually a wise philosophy. Life is short. Oh well.

By: verbivore

verbivore — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 09:53:00 +0000

I love that quote – how snarky and funny. I read Middlemarch just a few years ago and I don’t remember it being this funny. But I’m also probably remembering it incorrectly. Maybe it is! Anyway, I^’ll add this to the list.

By: Amateur Reader

Amateur Reader — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 22:02:41 +0000

I had this on my mental “skip” list. Life is short, books are long, etc. But now that you have shown me a bit of what’s in it, that decision does not seem so smart.