Rating: 
Summary: an unexpected pleasing read
Review: i am an English student and though my area is American Literature, i cannot help but comment on this book. i despise Victorian English lit, the pastorial settings (even in WUTHERINE HEIGHTS everyone, except heathcliff, pretends to be happier than they really are) and the false professions of love and the entirely unbelieveability of the entire genre has turned me off. I had to read DANIEL DERONDA for a class and became enthralled. Finally here was a book where we could see all the facets of peoples lives, from Grandcourt's illigitimate children and Deronda's search to be something other than what he is. I thought all the characters were extremely honest and interesting , especially Gwendolen, the beauty who is the envy of all, yet she too is unsure of who she really is. this book would make a fantastic mini-series. my only complaint is that the parts with Mordecai seemed to be a little long and drawn out, causing my head to bob as sleep threatened. other than that it was great.
Rating: 
Summary: Daniel Deronda
Review: I can probably offer nothing to over one hundred years of criticism of this wonderful book, but I must make known a few of my impressions anyway:The novel is exquisitely structured, as the focus shifts cleanly between Gwendolen Harleth and Daniel Deronda--and of course sometimes their lives intersect. The first half of the book seems to be about what is hidden in the lives of the two main characters; the second contains the dramatic overflow of all these things that have remained hidden, but of course are brought out into the light, through either Gwendolen's passivity regarding what is around her, which inevitably must cause events to unfold as they do, or conversely, through Deronda's opposite approach: to detect that which should not be accepted "as-is", and uncover those truths which, once revealed, also cause events to unfold in certain ways. Gwendolen's passivity causes change. Deronda's active desires cause change. To my mind, there is a bit of a reversal at the end, because once Daniel knows all that he can know, he is finally ready to accept. Once Gwendolen has suffered the consequences of not making decisions, she makes a promise to try and live more like Daniel, once she is granted what looks like a second chance. Gwendolen's reliance on Daniel's speeches, which she constantly begs out of him for support, gets a little grating. But this does pave the way for the closing scenes, when the issue is settled by Daniel's final decisions regarding where he must take his life. Gwendolen will be forced to steer her own course, and tries to accept this. Other than this overall assessment of the growth of the two main characters, it should be mentioned that all the supporting characters contribute something to this long story, though Lapidoth's selfishness is rather hurriedly dealt with, since this fellow is not introduced til the book is nearly finished. He appears as the only character already given up for lost, making him rather boring. The scene between Daniel and his long-lost parent is a high point of the book, but then, all of the climactic conversations between various characters in the second half strip away the pretentious or sniping small-talk engaged in in the earlygoing. This is a rewarding read, if you can handle the length of it. I feel the better for having decided to read it, and the beautiful style and structure are masterfully put to use in relating a bittersweet story about living in a world that can often work to deprive all but the most dedicated searcher of truth. The real accomplishment is to become a person who looks upon society and knows that there is something hidden that must be found. The task of the searcher may be difficult, if one is not even sure what one is seeking. But knowing that something wonderful is certainly hidden, waiting to be found, is the beginning of the seeking journey. That is what the book says to me.
Rating:
Summary: Unforgettable
Review: I think that the two most memorable scenes in English literature may be from this book: when Gwendolyn receives the diamonds as a wedding present from Lydia Glasher and starts screaming uncontrollably, and when Gwendolyn goes out in her new carriage and sees Lydia and her illegitimate children watching her in the park. An absolutely unforgettable novel. Years ago, F. R. Leavis made the comment that the parts of this novel concerning Gwendolen Harleth are much better than the parts concerning Daniel and his search for his identity--Leavis has been much taken to task for this comment, but the truth is, he's right--Eliot was so intent on ennobling her Jewish characters that Daniel, Mordecai, and Mirah are a pretty spotless and thus forgettable bunch.
Rating:
Summary: Read Middlemarch first
Review: Middlemarch is perhaps the most near to perfect novel there is, but Deronda is a flawed one. It should certainly not be ignored, but I fear it might discourage some from reading Middlemarch, the novel that made Eliot's reputation what it is. Deronda is a lot like Anna Karenina in that it focuses on two primary characters almost as if it were two separate novels. The stories do intersect, but the intersections seemed to me to be hindering contrivances. I did not enjoy the Deronda string very much; the Gwendolen string was much more moving. Indeed, Gwendolen Harleth is as memorable a character as Anna Karenina. Deronda, unfortunately, is not nearly as memorable as Levin. I read the introduction to this edition after finishing the novel and was a little dismayed to find an apologia for the novel focusing precisely on the those same criticisms I owned. There were vague hints of cultural bias suggested as the cause of not finding the Deronda string aesthetically pleasing and I found this quite not to my taste. I would recommend skipping the introduction.
Rating:
Summary: Absolute Treasure
Review: There is little I can add to the reviews below, all of which are right on the money. What I CAN do is provide those new to George Eliot with some helpful hints. First, especially for Daniel Deronda, DO NOT READ THE INTRODUCTION IN ADVANCE! This advice is actually given by the intro author, and your reading experience will be greatly diminished if you do! Second, be prepared to sit down, relax, and READ. There's no skimming Daniel Deronda: the novel is full to the brim with historical, spiritual, and psychological depth, all of which demand close attention, and at times can be daunting. (All that, and a love story, to boot!) Stick with it, and you will be richly rewarded with one of the best reads of your life.
Rating:
Summary: Absolute Treasure
Review: There is little I can add to the reviews below, all of which are right on the money. What I CAN do is provide those new to George Eliot with some helpful hints. First, especially for Daniel Deronda, DO NOT READ THE INTRODUCTION IN ADVANCE! This advice is actually given by the intro author, and your reading experience will be greatly diminished if you do! Second, be prepared to sit down, relax, and READ. There's no skimming Daniel Deronda: the novel is full to the brim with historical, spiritual, and psychological depth, all of which demand close attention, and at times can be daunting. (All that, and a love story, to boot!) Stick with it, and you will be richly rewarded with one of the best reads of your life.
Rating: 
Summary: Choose another of Eliot's works before reading this book
Review: This is the first I have read of Eliot's work. The story centers around a woman named Gwendolen Harleth whose family has lost their fortunes, a young jewish singer named Mirah who is on the run from her father, and Daniel Deronda, who rescues the young jewess from drowning herself. The plot draws the three together as if they are bound by fate, while Eliot continues to add side characters and subplots to spice up the book.
The storyline was enough to keep my interest, but there were overlying thematic issues that caused my attention to waver. I found several passages in the book weighty and overdone, and there was many times that I found I had read pages of description without having any of it sinking in, nor caring by the time I had realized. I did, however, find the overall plot centering around the three main characters of enough depth and feeling to keep me focused on them, and I liked Eliot's story telling ability enough to make me want to read more of her. Perhaps this is not the best book to read when beginning with George Eliot. I give it 3 and a half stars.
Rating:
Summary: A good look at late Eliot
Review: This is the first of Eliot's novels that I read. For being a Victorian women, I must say that it's also one of her most thematically adventurous novels as well. She addresses so much within the pages of this novel that it's amazing that one can still be interested in the plot. For a 500-page novel, it's thick with symbolism and social themes such as womens' rights (or lack thereof in society), Judaism, the difference in social classes, etc... Although the two contrasting stories of Daniel and Gwendolen seem somewhat strangely juxtaposed, they are actually complimentary and intertwining at points in this coming-of-age novel. Eliot's writing is typical Victorian: winded and the usage of the appendix in the back becomes tiresome, but it also shows intellect behind the pseudonym that one is forced to appreciate. It's hard to find a lovable character in this story because of the purposeful idealism and poorly sketched minor characters, but the portrait she draws of Gwendolen and Daniel's mother (who seemingly parallels Mrs. Havisham in Great Expectations, I think) are memorable.
Rating:
Summary: Insightful, excellent read.
Review: This novel is well-written and explores many issues of 19th century Victorian England.
Both hero and heroine are magnificent. Each individual and each unique in its own way. Gwendolen with her vanity and selfishness is both endearing as a spoilt child and comic, when you think how seriously she takes her own worth until the end of the novel when all her realizations begin.
Daniel Deronda is beautiful as the sensitive, kind, compassionate young man who gives so much of himself to others, and in the end has to make final decission for his own life.
The only dissappointment is the ending in which he choses to marry Mirah. Mirah is both dull and uninteresting. Whereas Gwendolen and Daniel in their two contrasting natures seem to create perfect balance.
Rating:
Summary: A stunning gamble by an eminent Victorian.
Review: This novel, originally published in 1876, was Eliot's last. It has remained controversial ever since, and some critics delete it from her first-rank work. It is an ideological novel, and its plot is forced at times (too many coincidences, for one thing). The central character appears to be Gwendolen Harleth at the start (note the echo of her last name with "harlot"), who pawns a necklace at a gaming table only to have it returned by a disapproving observer--the eponymous Deronda. While offended, Gwendolen is also fascinated by Daniel and finally takes him on as her conscience as the novel continues, at great length, weaving a multitude of characters and issues into a fabric with an echo-chamber effect (in the sense that various elements of the book echo each other in odd and unpredictable ways throughout the novel, such as the continuing ways that people gamble with their own fates and the lives of others). This is a novel of sensibility, a link between Austen's method and Woolf's. But it is also a romantic treatment of Zionism (well before it was a popular issue, especially in Victorian England), with all the Jewish leads ennobled and idealized. In this sense it reads differently than MIDDLEMARCH, which was strictly realistic except at the very end. It's closer to SILAS MARNER, a morality tale with symbolic characters. Gwendolen is one of the saddest and most beautiful figures in any novel. She wants so deeply to be the center of attention, and finally can't even be the title character of the novel she's in. There are so many marvellous moments in this book, it repays the time it takes to read it many times over. I do not think Eliot arrived at a satisfying structure for the book, though; her need to promote Zionism prevented it. The Oxford paperback edition is the one I read, and I can recommend it highly -- its notes are superb. But the print is very small, so if that bothers you use another edition.
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