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2011 Book Review #116: Silas Marner
Title: Silas Marner
Author: George Eliot
Genre: Classic literature
Thingummies: 4.5
Synopsis: A miserly recluse has his world opened up when someone steals his gold.
Thoughts: Clearly written as something akin to a fable, this slim-for-Eliot novel has a much more narrow scope than, say, Middlemarch. I think the brevity suits her well, preventing a lot of the unevenness that has bothered me about Eliot's other works.
The characters are much simplified, almost cariacatures, but in a fairy tale kind of way that I think works. There's still plenty of room for Eliot's trademark barbs about the nature of humanity. The village people do come across as rather simple, which I have no way of verifying the accuracy of. Is Eliot being condescending, or did the class system really keep people that ignorant? I'm not a good enough historian to know. But classism aside, all the characters are really more archetypes than anything else--it's clearly the goal.
It's a simple story with simple people and entirely un-simple obeservations. I found it charming.
Author: George Eliot
Genre: Classic literature
Thingummies: 4.5
Synopsis: A miserly recluse has his world opened up when someone steals his gold.
Thoughts: Clearly written as something akin to a fable, this slim-for-Eliot novel has a much more narrow scope than, say, Middlemarch. I think the brevity suits her well, preventing a lot of the unevenness that has bothered me about Eliot's other works.
The characters are much simplified, almost cariacatures, but in a fairy tale kind of way that I think works. There's still plenty of room for Eliot's trademark barbs about the nature of humanity. The village people do come across as rather simple, which I have no way of verifying the accuracy of. Is Eliot being condescending, or did the class system really keep people that ignorant? I'm not a good enough historian to know. But classism aside, all the characters are really more archetypes than anything else--it's clearly the goal.
It's a simple story with simple people and entirely un-simple obeservations. I found it charming.
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