Middlemarch part 3

Another couple of hundred pages in and Mary and Fred are still my favorite couple though it's been rough going for the two of them. Fred didn't get the land he was hoping to get in his uncle's will and also had Mary's dad pay off one of his debts that Mr. Garth vouched for. Things are looking up thought as Fred has begun working for Mr. Garth instead of becoming a clergyman while Mary's acknowledged her feelings to Fred through Mr. Farebrother. Poor Mr. Farebrother, though, wanted to ask Mary to marry him since he just received a new living at Lowick Parish since Mr. Cassaboun died.

Yay Mr. Cassaboun died! Is that wrong that I'm so relieved that he's finally gone. He and Dorothea's marriage was just awful. And then Ladislaw comes along and falls in love with Dorothea and she with him. BUT Mr. Cassaboun, in his will, writes that Dorothea will lose her inheritance if she ever marries Ladislaw! Which is really spiteful of Mr. Cassaboun since Dorothea didn't even really think of him that way yet and now everyone thinks that Dorothea's led Ladislaw on into thinking she wants to marry him. So much drama!

And then there's the old people. I'm happy Mr. Garth got a new job that will provide for his family. The Garths are the best family in Middlemarch. They have a wonderful give and take where it's described as Mrs. Garth getting her way 95% of the time but knowing when Mr. Garth has his mind set and relents the other 5%. It's much better described in the book than what I have written, but they are delightful and I can only hope to have as happy a marriage as they have one day.

The biggest revelation, though, is Mr. Raffles. Mr. Raffles has come to blackmail Bulstrode (the big honcho in Middlemarch who is uber-religious and uber-critical of everyone). Apparently Bulstrode did some not very nice things back in the day and Mr. Raffles is trying to extort a pretty penny out of Bulstrode for Raffles' silence. Raffles, apparently, is also the stepfather to Mr. Riggins, the bastard son of Fred's uncle, the one who gave all his property to Riggins when everyone expected it to go to Fred. Middlemarch is basically Melrose Place right now except wihtout Ashlee Simpson. (Thank God!)

I'm thinking Dorothea and Ladislaw will meet again in the future, but Dorothea is too principled to marry him. I'm also hoping that Fred doesn't screw up his apprenticeship under Mr. Garth. However, so far it doesn't seem to be going too well for Fred. I still have my fingers crossed though. I want Mary, the sensible quick-witted girl, to get the guy she always wanted. Am I projecting much?

Middlemarch continued

After spending a day in jury duty, I burned through almost a quarter of the book. Considering it's 838 pages, I'd say that's not too shabby.

I've really gotten into the book. Whereas it used to be the book on my nightstand that put me to sleep at night, it is now the book that keeps me up way past my bedtime. I've avoided reading the introduction because I didn't want to spoil the plot. It's hard when I could so easily wikipedia this sucker and find out what happens, but I think that would hinder the joy in reading it since I would be paying far more attention to finding foreshadowing than to what's actually happening in the novel.

So far, Dorothea's married Cassaboun. I don't know why Eliot opened the book with the relationship between these two. They are the most tiresome. Cassaboun marries Dorothea because he feels he should get married and Dorothea marries Cassaboun because she wants to be the woman behind the great man and his ideas. Then they go on a disastrous honeymoon to Italy where Cassaboun ignores her the whole time and Dorothea realizes that marriage to him isn't what she thinks it's going to be. However, Eliot does introduce Cassaboun's more interesting cousin, Ladislaw, who's taken an interest in Dorothea. We'll see how that pans out since he's come to Lowick to visit with Dorothea's uncle, Mr. Brooke, much to Cassaboun's dismay. But not really dismay since Cassaboun's too boring to be dismayed.

More interesting are the romances between Lydgate and Rosamond and Fred Vincy and Mary Garth. Lydgate and Rosamond are interesting in that he was a reluctant suitor to her, leading her on when he knew he didn't want to get married yet and she thought that they were basically engaged. Lydgate realized, however, that he wanted to marry Rosamond when he came to run some errand at her house and he realized he hurt her feelings by ignoring her. I guess this the 19th century equivalent of putting a ring on it. I'm excited to see how their marriage turns out considering that he's an orphan country doctor and she's the mayor's daughter. Something tells me she won't take too well to having much less to live on.

Fred and Mary, so far, are my favorite couple. I'm right at the part where Fred's uncle Featherstone dies. Featherstone has a large fortune and it seems as if he's going to leave it to Fred, which would allow him the means to marry. But if he doesn't give his fortune to Fred, then he's without a living and will have to find some occupation. Mary is the girl next door who Fred's always known, but now comes to love. These are always my favorite couples. Mary's sensible and she's basically told Fred that she won't marry him unless he becomes a responsible man. I hope these two end up together.

First book: Middlemarch by George Eliot

I thought I'd ease into my new project by picking a book that fits into a genre I already know and love. Middlemarch is an English novel set in the 1830s about provincial life, marriage, class, etc. Basically it's very suited to me.

I don't really know much about the book. I didn't read the introduction so I don't know any spoilers going into it. I'm about 3 chapters in and so far we've been introduced to the Brooke sisters, Dorothea and Cecilia, young women who've come to live with their bachelor uncle after their parents die. I'll have to get through more before I can really discuss the book, but so far I'm enjoying it.