Rating: 
Summary: A simply beautiful classic...
Review: I just finished "Adam Bede," turning to the novels of George Eliot after a long stint of reading only Thomas Hardy. A long-time fan of Hardy's work, I thought him to be my favorite English author -- George Eliot, however, has proven to be quite the challenger to Hardy for a place in my heart."Adam Bede" is the tale of simple people making their way in the world, each of them encountering hardship and sorrow along the way. Eliot's style is immediately engaging: she addresses the reader directly, and it seems like she is behind the scenes everywhere, pulling up a curtain to reveal vignettes in the lives of her characters. She forces the readers, almost, to fall in love with Adam immediately -- the strong, righteous man whom the story will carry along its rocky path. Similarly, Dinah emerges immediately as the source of peace and goodness in the novel, and it is always refreshing when, in times of turmoil, she appears. I was bothered by only one element of the story, but I think it is rather easily overlooked: Adam's unrelenting love for Hetty. Eliot gives little background as to why his feelings for her are so strong, and all we really know of her personality is that she is incredibly vain because she is incredibly beautiful. Adam never struck me as a character who would fall for such a "surface" woman. His final choice for a wife (which I will not reveal in case amazon.com surfers haven't read the book yet) seems much more appropriate. All in all, the journey through this book is a most rewarding one. I look forward to my next Eliot read!
Rating:
Summary: "Masterpiece Theatre"
Review: If you love "Masterpiece Theatre" and all the English period novels they have produced, then this is the book for you. Why they have never done this one is a puzzle. Eliot's description of English pastoral life in 1799 leaves no stone unturned. The characters are as sharply drawn as if you had met them a few moments ago. You can literally smell the fresh country air. Yes, the character of Dinah is overdone, reminding one of Dicken's saccharine women, but a small price to pay in so rewarding a book. You will be truly sorry when you finish to leave the world Eliot has drawn so well. The morals of these people are no longer ours, and that must be kept in mind always. But Eliot has stated that the idea for this book came from a story of her aunt's, who did indeed go to such a woman as Hetty in prison. And there is a wealth of criticism on "Adam Bede", including Virginia Woolf's "Second Common Reader". A rave!
Rating:
Summary: "Masterpiece Theatre"
Review: If you love "Masterpiece Theatre" and all the English period novels they have produced, then this is the book for you. Why they have never done this one is a puzzle. Eliot's description of English pastoral life in 1799 leaves no stone unturned. The characters are as sharply drawn as if you had met them a few moments ago. You can literally smell the fresh country air. Yes, the character of Dinah is overdone, reminding one of Dicken's saccharine women, but a small price to pay in so rewarding a book. You will be truly sorry when you finish to leave the world Eliot has drawn so well. The morals of these people are no longer ours, and that must be kept in mind always. But Eliot has stated that the idea for this book came from a story of her aunt's, who did indeed go to such a woman as Hetty in prison. And there is a wealth of criticism on "Adam Bede", including Virginia Woolf's "Second Common Reader". A rave!
| 
