Rating: 
Summary: Be True to Yourself?
Review: How do you balance duty to your family against duty to yourself? Brother and sister Tom and Maggie Tulliver wrestle with this problem throughout The Mill on the Floss, guided (and misguided) by the opinions of a host of friends and relatives. Both accept different kind of burdens and cause each other different kinds of problems, and each suffers - one way or another - in the name of duty.Eliot fights against the influence of class, money, gender, and even handicap, repeatedly showing that being a good person is independent of these things, and this alone makes her a fairly modern read, although we have made so much progress in these areas in 150+ years that it is occasionally difficult to appreciate the seriousness of certain actions her characters take. For example, we don't think much today of a man and woman spending time alone together, but in Eliot's time, this would ruin a woman's reputation forever unless he married her. We also don't take family obligations quite as seriously, so it's important to remember that people were willing to do quite a bit to defend the honor of their families. With over a dozen people to keep track of, I kept updating a list of names in the front cover, and I found that a big help. I recommend this to anyone reading this book for the first time - especially when it comes to the various Aunts and Uncles and their particular idiosyncrasies.
Rating:
Summary: A Home for Your Lost Soul
Review: I absolutely loved the fact that it's a tragedy. It made sense for all of Maggie's faltered endeavors. The tumultous emotional journey of Maggie Tulliver takes you on a fantastical and imaginative ride. The novel is as romantic as Scott and Byron's works, but at the same time as severe as century-old Christian philosophy in Thomas a Kempis. The beauty of Eliot's language in all its simplicity and the complex thought it conveys offers an unique experience that you won't find in any other novels.
Rating:
Summary: Exremely well-crafted and poignant novel
Review: I first read this book almost eight years ago--since that time it has remained my most cherished book in my collection. Some people may find Eliot's use of words difficult to understand, but the effort is small in comparison to the reward. While I recognize that Middlemarch may have been her most evenly tempered and stylistically perfect work, I still find the story of Maggie Tulliver to be the most compelling. Eliot remains one of the greatest writers of the past two centuries.
Rating: 
Summary: Nicely written, but a bit boring at times
Review: I had to read Mill on the Floss for school, and although I thought it was wonderfully written, I found it hard to identify with Maggie. Her blind love for Tom was understandable to a point, but today's woman would most likely not put up with his scorn and narrow-mindedness. If you don't enjoy reading lengthy sentences chalk full of descriptions, I would not recommend this book. On the other hand, if you like that kind of slow, but interesting reading, you will Mill on the Floss.
Rating:
Summary: This novel is wonderful!
Review: I must admit it took me a while to get into it, but once I did I was so glad I had persevered. This was my first George Eliot and after reading 'The Mill on the Floss' it won't be my last. The character development is fantastic, the story engaging and the whole thing is just a pleasure to read. My one complaint would be that the ending is far too depressing for my liking. Anyway, this is a great book and you will love Maggie Tulliver.
Rating:
Summary: Difficult beginning, big payoff
Review: I read this book for a Victorian writer's group. I must admit that at first I was sorry this novel had been selected to represent the time period, because I have read books by Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters and many other novelists whose writing certainly draws you into their stories more quickly. However, I am glad that I persevered to finish the book. Yes, there is a very long set-up, and yes, a huge amount of action occurrs in the last 150 pages of this 650-page novel. But read on--it's worth it. The novel essentially tells the story of the Tulliver and Dodson families, who live in the town of St. Oggs, known for its middle-class ethics and narrow-mindedness. Mr. Tulliver is married to a former Miss Dodson. The Dodsons are a fairly prosperous family of four sisters and their husbands. Mr. Tulliver is a somewhat less well-off miller, and a major theme of the novel is the way that Mrs. Tulliver's sisters believe that in marrying Mr. Tulliver, she married beneath herself and brought shame upon the family... The Tullivers have two children--Tom and Maggie. Tom is responsible and hard-working, but has an overdeveloped sense of morality and is constantly punishing Maggie for her shortcomings. Maggie does not seem to belong in St. Ogg's; she is a little wild and free-spirited, qualities that do not endear her to the Dodson sisters of the townsfolk in general. She also worships her brother, despite her inability to live up to his demands. The story unfolds as Tom and Maggie come of age... There are a lot of vivid and interesting characters in this book. I found the Dodson aunts particularly interesting. Maggie's character is probably the most memorable in the novel--she becomes a unique kind of heroine particularly when one considers her goal in life, which is to bring happiness to everyone else while she completely sacrifices her own hapiness. The most memorable aspect of this novel to me is the concept of egoism. While each character's trials is the most central theme in his or her own life, in the grand scheme of things, their troubles are minute and unmemorable. This is a timeless theme, that is as important to bear in mind today as it was when the novel was written. This novel can be difficult to read. The paragraphs can be exceedingly long, sometimes 2-3 pages. There is not a lot of dialogue, as Eliot is more concerned with the characters' inward struggles. Finally, not a lot happens in the first 350 or so pages. However, struggle through the somewhat dull beginning. The ending is exciting and heartbreaking, and will stay with you for a long while.
Rating:
Summary: Heartbreaking...
Review: I regret reading this book, not that it was not well-written in any way. This is my first reading of one of George Eliot's masterpieces, and probably the last one. I was extremely sad when I finished the book, the kind of effect and memory I never had when reading other british classics. Why should Maggie and Tom die? And why did Stephen and Lucy get married eventhough they have no love between them? Especially for Stephen, by marrying Lucy, he has fulfilled the expectations of those who separated him and Maggie. I didn't like the ending because it left every character in the story torn apart, despair, and meaningless in life. I've always had this feeling inside when reading passages about Tom and Maggie, that there is some sort of incestial love between the brother and sister, and my feelings were reafirmed after reading how they hung on to each other when they died. How I wished Stephen and Maggie were together and found happiness together by overcoming the numerous barriers and obstacles in their lives and sorrounding.
Rating: 
Summary: What could have been
Review: I was enjoying this book, despite the whimpy heroine, up until the end. Eliot could have had a more interesting book as the characters faced their problems, but instead takes the easy way out.
Rating: 
Summary: Second-rate effort from first-rate author
Review: I was profoundly disappointed by this overwrought and overwritten attempt to evoke Maggie Tulliver's trials and tribulations. Eliot veers between portraying her as a self-assured, if "naughty", girl (who can envision herself as queen of the gypsies - a charming scene) and woman paralyzed by self-doubt and familial tyranny. While the author deserves credit for presenting a character with psychological complexity, the treatment was so heavy-handed that it exhausted my interest without satisfying my curiosity. Overall, this book struck me as uninspired and formulaic, both in terms of plot and descriptive imagery. Indeed, the primary "humorous" characters (Bob and Aunt Glegg) really only clicked in the one scene they shared. Eliot did provide some treats, of course, particularly in describing the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Tulliver. Eliot addressed the theme of self-abnegation beautifully in Middlemarch (pointing to Teresa of Avila as the model) and Adam Bede - two far superior books. This book does not convincingly explain why the heroine was willing to sacrifice so much for an abusive, unsympathetic brother. The conclusion to "Mill" is particularly unsatisfactory. It feels like the author has written herself into a corner and has to invoke natural catastrophe to extricate herself. George Eliot is a great author, but you need to read her other books to see why.
Rating:
Summary: A very good novel
Review: I would never have had the patience to finish the novel on my own. My English professor assigned it for the Victorian class I was taking at the time, so I had to read it. Was this novel designed to be read as a part of the Woman Question? Was it a semiautobiographical account of Eliot herself? Was it simply an artistic failure? I will never know. One thing is for sure: This novel has no artistic meaning whatsoever. Up to the point where she is in love with Philip, even though their parents are enemies (Romeo & Juliet? Only now it's even more pathetic since Philip is a hunchback), the book made at least some sense. Later, then, when she meets her cousin's fiance and falls in love with him she (Eliot) loses me completely. If we had the ending (as it were) right there without the introduction of the "third party," then it might have been OK. I guess she had to insert that second romance just to make it longer, after all, it was a Victorian novel.
I still have the e-text of it, so if you'd like to decide for yourself, e-mail me for it.
P.S. The other novel assigned was "Hard Times" by Charles Dickens and, I must say, it was one of the best novels I have ever read.
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