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Summary: Has stayed with me since 9th Grade
Review: When I first started reading this book years ago my first impression was how boring, but as I read on it became more and more interesting. When I finished reading this book in the ninth grade I was impressed with my English teacher because she gave me credit for having the intelligence to comprehend it. Also, through reading this book, I not only enjoyed a great piece of literature but gained self-confidence because someone believed in me enough. This book changed my life.
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Summary: Reversal of Fortune, Recovery of Faith
Review: George Eliot, born Marian Evans in 1819, spent most of her early life in rural Warwickshire. This early upbringing is apparent from her easy comfort in writing about country settings, with attention to detail and niceties that a born-Londoner would generally not be able to provide. Eliot's life was not that of the typical Victorian lady; she worked in publishing, including periodicals, translations, and writing her own fiction. Eliot led a 'colourful' life; living in a common-law marriage with Lewes, a man who left his wife and children for her, she then married after his death a man twenty years her junior, only to die eight months later. Silas is a weaver, a rather grumpy and sour man, whose primary occupation and avocation is the making of money. He is an outsider in Raveloe, having been driven from his earlier community under the false accusation of theft, an accusation that also cost him his engagement to his beloved, and left him with little faith in human nature, particularly that of the church-ly humans. The high society in Raveloe reached the pinnacle in the Cass family. Squire Cass had two sons, Godfrey and Dunstan, each his own unique form of scoundrel. Godfrey, who had an illicit marriage to a local barmaid Molly, is being blackmailed by his spendthrift brother Dunstan. Alas, Godfrey is expected to marry another, Nancy Lammeter, daughter of another society family. Godfrey attempts to buy off Dunstan with his horse, Wildfire, and during a journey to sell the horse Dunstan accidentally injures and kills Wildfire. Dunstan is stranded in the countryside, but sees light from a cottage -- the home of Silas Marner, reputed after fifteen years of weaving and miserly activity of having accumulated a large stash. He steals the bags of money he finds in the deserted cottage, and disappears into the night. Silas reports the theft, but is unaided. He is heartbroken, for his life's purpose has been the accumulation of this wealth. No one seems to make the connexion between the lost money and the disappearance of Dunstan (one flaw in the novel, in my opinion). Silas gradually recovers from this blow, and the people of Raveloe begin for the first time to see him in terms of friendship. At a Christmas party, the Cass family is in full celebration, for the upcoming marriage of Godfrey and Nancy. However, Nancy is not pleased, given Godfrey's reputation. Later in the holiday season, Molly makes her way to the Cass estate and confronts Godfrey with a two-year-old daughter in tow. Upon her return from the estate, she falls and dies in a drunken, drug-induced stupor, and the child wanders through the snow to the cottage of Silas. Silas lays claim to the golden-haired child, and Godfrey is relieved to be free from Molly and paternity. Sixteen years pass, and we come to meet a very different Silas, one who is now a truly human being, who is loved, and has an object of love in his daughter Eppie. Eppie is in fact about to be wed to the nice Aaron Winthrop. Godfrey and Nancy, however, have had a loveless and childless marriage. Things develop rapidly near the end of the novel. A pond near Silas' cottage is drained, and the remains of Dunstand with two bags of gold coins is found. Godfrey feels compelled to tell his wife now everything, how Dunstan dishonoured the family, how he (Godfrey) was being blackmailed, and admits his paternity of Eppie. Nancy is strangely tolerant -- she only complains of not having been told sooner. They decide to demand that Eppie be returned to them. In a beautiful scene of compassion and love, Eppie, given the free choice of deciding between Silas and connexion with the noble Cass family, opts for the man who was her true father, and chooses to remain with Silas. Later, Silas and Eppie revisit Lantern Yard, from which Silas was expelled so many years before. Here in no longer the old church, his old home, or his old friends -- all has changed; life has gone on. The old place is dirty and noisy by comparison to the serene Raveloe. The question of Silas' guilt or innocence cannot be resolved, but then, is no longer a question of concern for anyone in either place. Eppie then marries Aaron, in a wedding paid for by Godfrey, who cannot attend due to business, and Eppie declares in the end that 'nobody could be happier than we are.' Elliot intended to show that misfortune can lead to greater things, and provided a typical Victorian happy ending. This novel has been a traditional one assigned to students of secondary school age for decades now; it is a classic, fairly simple in construction and vocabulary, and brings up the timeless themes of good, evil, fate, and has a wide range of characters who change over time. Alas, many school-age readers come away cold, often determined never to read another novel again, as it is presented poorly and not put in a more modern context which students will more readily understand. But, it remains a good story, and a fine representative of the Victorian novel.
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Summary: English Candide
Review: On the surface, Silas Marner is a fairly simplistic fable about a jaded weaver who finds solace only in weaving and in counting his gold each night until a little girl appears on his doorstep and he finds meaning and life in her love loosing his obsessions and becoming a well adjusted and well liked person. I can see how some do not find it interesting. It was several weeks after I read it that I realized that maybe Silas Marner was not the main point. He doesn't actually do anything, after all. Everything happens TO him. He simply responds to what happens to him. To rediscover life through the love of a child is a good theme but look at Les Miserables. There is no comparison. Look instead at Godfrey Cass and consider the story with him as the main character. If Silas Marner is actually the counterpart for him instead of the other way around (like a constant in a science experiment), it starts to take on the qualities of a classic. Godfrey Cass is also jaded and harassed but he schemes. He tries to manipulate the circumstances to his best benefit - not in a malicious way, no more than Voltaire's Candide. If we look at it that way, what we have here is an English Candide for, with Silas as the counterpart instead of Godfrey, the moral changes to become, basically, 'Roll with the punches', or - as Voltaire put it, 'We must cultivate our gardens'.
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Summary: When Blood Is Weak As Water
Review: This is the uplifting story of Silas Marner, a 19th century English working man, who seems to be greatly wronged repeatedly by people in his community. As an elegible young man, a rival framed him out of greed as well as envy, leaving Marner wrongly accused of theft, upon which he relocates in a different locality. For some 15 years, Marner lives like a hermit, hording the money he earns as a weaver. Said to be "in with the wicked one", possessing strange magic, town folk avoid contact with the mysterious man. -- Suddenly, in short succesion, two events change the life of Master Marner forever, even restoring his faith in a Supreme Being and the good in his fellow man. Without reveiling the surprises held by this wonderful story, I can highly recommend this book to readers of teen age and above. Written in a very high English, the writing style is that of an educated master of the language, uncommon to be written or spoken in this manner for some 100 years. Less difficult than Shakespeare, still challenging to a young person unfamiliar with countless terms and expressions that seem to be very dated. As a teacher partial to language arts studies, I am very impressed by this book. I would recommend it for classroom use at the junior high school level or above. A masterpiece!*****
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Summary: A little taste of Eliot
Review: So, you've savored Middlemarch and reveled in Mill on the Floss. What do you read when you're in the mood for the kind of witty observations and perceptively drawn characters you loved in Eliot's masterpieces? Though more sentimental and simplistically plotted than Eliot's other novels, this slight little fable is nonetheless a rich and rewarding read. It's perceptive, touching and written with Eliot's characteristic grace and gentle humor.
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Summary: The miser that has a heart
Review: This book is considered a true classic. The story about a miser who was driven from his original home by false acusations to end up as a miserable weaver in a new town. His life changes when he finds a foundling and begins to care for her. It turns out the girl is the daughter of landed gentry who now want her and Silas does not to give her back. The story is not bad, but I do not understand why it is such a classic. I must be missing something because it was originally written in 1861. It is possible I am missing the forest for the trees in this case. It is a fast read and it is not a bad book by any definition.
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Summary: A "classic" worthy of the title
Review: The fact that Amazon has so many editions of Silas Marner available indicates that it is truly a classic if it is still being read more than 150 years after it was written. It is unfortunate that some high school reviewers (or former high school readers) feel that they had this book "forced" on them. Yes, the English language has changed since the early 19th century, especially for American readers of this British author. My suggestion would be to listen to "Silas Marner" as an audiobook, perhaps while reading along. I recently finished listening to this fine book narrated by Margaret Hilton, but I couldn't find her rendition among the titles available here. I'm sure there are many fine versions available. So, give this tale a listen, and let the language flow into your ears. Then you will discover why this tale about a miserly old weaver, who has been wronged by his neighbors more than once, finds redemption and a new life when he adopts the little girl left on his doorstep is truly a classic.
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Summary: a CLASSIC?
Review: I hadn't heard a single positive comment about this book until I came to Amazon.com and read some reviews. To me, Silas Marner was the book that everybody was forced to read in high school, and that everybody hated through the generations. Perhaps it is appreciated because of its interesting historical background...but now, it is OLD-FASHIONED. Not that an old, slower style of writing is bad--I have nothing against old books. What I imply when I say "old" is that we've outgrown this and expect more from books these days than a story like this. There are too many other excellent books which do a better job of exploring the same themes better to waste a few HOURS of your life in the pages of "Silas Marner."
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Summary: Silas Marner- The WORST book I have EVER Read
Review: This has to the most BORING longest book ever, I am an avid reader and I honestly can say DO NOT read this book unless you have to!! Who could actually like a book about a lonely weaver???
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Summary: A Fun Classic
Review: Silas Marner is a great classic that tells a wonderful truth. I loved reading about the village and how mysterious it was. George Eliot twines a great story about a lonely man who keeps to himself until a surprise shows up at his house. It was fun and intriguing to watch Silas change and grow along with his suprise. The end is great!
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