My Life in Middlemarch, by Rebecca Mead

Review from Blogging for Books:
My Life in Middlemarch is an impressive book based on extensive research by the author.   I have not read Middlemarch for many years and, at the time of reading this book, did not remember much of the story.   The book might have been more engrossing if I had read Middlemarch first.  I did like the way the storyline and characters from Middlemarch were intertwined with both George Eliot’s and the author’s lives.  From my point of view as a reading professor and book discussion facilitator I particularly enjoyed all of the references to the act of reading a novel and how it is different each time it is read and also for different readers.   While not for pure pleasure reading, this book is insightful and worth the time.  I have received a free copy of the book in exchange for this review.  

Characters
Rebecca Mead	George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) 1819 – 1880	Middlemarch Published 1871-1872 in eight installments
Parallels to George Eliot: Author’s marriage similar to that of George and Lewes Both had stepchildren they had not met Parallels to Middlemarch: Had same life’s questions as characters	Robert Evans – father Isaac and Chrissey – siblings Fannie – half sister   Charles and Cara Bray – Local intellectuals in Coventry, England   Bird Grove in Coventry, England - moved here to help Mary Ann find a husband   Griff House – childhood home, 1841 given to Isaac and wife   George Henry Lewes – partner George’s children – Charles, Thorton, Herbert Three children by Agnes (George’s wife) and Hunt (lover)   John Walter Cross – 2nd husband   Alexander Main – summer 1871 – admirer - Wrote Wise, Witty & Tender Sayings, in Prose and Verse, Selected from the Work of George Eliot	Dorothea Brook Reverend Edward Casaubon   Will Ladislaw – Casaubon’s cousin, artist – marries Dorothea after Casaubon dies   Celia Brook   Dr. Tertius Lydgate - physician Rosamond Vincy - wife     Fred Vincy (Rosamond’s brother) Mary Garth - wife   Nicholas Bulstrode – banker   Reverend Camden Farebrother

For Discussion:
NOTE: The page numbers refer to the paperback edition of this book.


1. Have you read Middlemarch?  Do you agree with the assertion that it is one of the best novels ever written?  Why or why not?


2. The author wrote about reading and books.  Review the following quotes.  Which do you agree or disagree with?  Are there any that particularly speak to you?
a. "The book was reading me, as I was reading it." (page 5)
b. "Reading is sometimes thought of as a form of escapism....But a book can also be where one finds oneself..." (page 16)  What does the author mean by this statement?
c. "Books are less like babies, perhaps, than they are like adolescents: nurtured by motherly tenderness but very much their own person, then launched into the world to stand on their own."  (page 104)  How do you think an author feels when readers interpret a book differently than they do?  Do you think the author's interpretation is always the correct one?  Is there one correct interpretation?
d. "A book may not tell us how to live our own lives, but our own lives can teach us how to read a book."  (page 110)
e. "Certain genres of fiction derive their satisfaction from the predictability of their conclusion...But a successful realist novel necessarily takes unpredictable turns in just the way real life predictably must."  (page 113)   Is there one genre more valuable than another?
f. "Even the most sophisticated readers read novels in the light of their own experiences..."  (page 173)  Have you ever read a book twice separated by several years?  Was your reading experience different?  What about book group members?  Can you remember any discussion where there were different opinions about the main understanding of a book?


3. Regarding George Eliot:
a. The author made many references to George Eliot's appearance and her lack of traditional female attractiveness.  How do you think that influenced her as an author?
b. Eliot also did not have the traditional characteristics valued in a female ("charm and subservience" on page 129).  How did this affect her life and her writing?
c. What did you think of Eliot's decision to live with Lewes?  How hard would it have been to go against society, not to mention her family?
d. Were you surprised she married so quickly after Lewes death and to someone so young?
e. What did you think of Alexander Mains?  The author thought he was "creepy."  Why didn't Eliot have the same opinion?


4. Discuss your reading experience with this book.  Was it easy to follow?  Did you enjoy the experience?
*****
First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at amazon.com, wordassociation.com and barnesandnoble.com.  Click on the upper right link.

The Signature of All Things, by Elizbeth Gilbert

 

Characters
Philadelphia	Tahiti – sailed November 1851	Holland – 1854 and beyond
Henry Whittaker Beatrix van Devender Alma (Plum) – born 1800 Polly > Prudence (Our Little Exquisite)   Hanneke de Groat   George Hawkes – publisher of botanical journals   Retta Snow - friend, married George   Author Dixon – tutor, Prudence’s husband   Ambrose Pike   Dick Yancey – ship captain	Reverend Wells Wife and daughter live in Cornwall   Sister Manu   Tomorrow Morning   Roger – dog   The Hiro Contingent	Dr. Dees van Devender – uncle   Roger - dog   Hortus Botanicus   Alma became Curator of Mosses   Alfred Russell Wallace   Charles Darwin

 

For Discussion:
NOTE: All pages are from the hardback edition of the novel.

1. How did Henry's early life shape him as an adult?  How did it shape his role as a husband and father?
2. Why do you think the family so readily took Prudence in as part of their family?  Was it reasonable to think that Alma would accept her as a sister immediately?
3. How did Alma feel when Prudence was nicknamed "Our Exquisite One?"  Was that fair to her?  Why did her parents not understand how hurtful that was?
4. Discuss how much was expected of Alma compared to Prudence.  After Beatrix died Alma took over her mother's role while "Prudence had no value to Henry."  (page 151)
5. Were you surprised when Alma turned the estate over to Prudence after Henry's death?  Why do you think she did that?
6. Were you surprised when Hanneke said to Alma, "But everyone has been careful with you already, Alma...Perhaps they have been careful with you for too long."  (page 319)  Did this feeling surprise you?  How had people been "careful" with Alma?  How had they not?
7. Why didn't Hanneke tell Alma about Prudence, George and Retta earlier in the story?  (page 315)  How would this knowledge have changed the story?
8. What do you think was the motivation behind Dixon and Prudence's chosen lifestyle?  Alma thought "There was something about Prudence's manner of living that looked, to Alma's eyes, suspiciously like pride, even vanity."  (page 187)  Do you think it is really a sacrifice if you boast about it?
9. Was there perhaps a connection between Prudence's early childhood and her adult life of chosen poverty and deprivation?
10. Do you think Alma should feel guilty about Ambrose's death?  Why or why not?
11. How did your opinion of Ambrose change as you read the book?
12. When Alma arrived in Tahiti all of her belongings were stolen, but no one seemed alarmed or concerned about getting them back for her.  Then some things mysteriously returned while other things were taken.  How would you feel if you lost all of your belongings?  How would you adapt to having nothing of your own that was special?
13. Was Tomorrow Morning a good or evil character?  Explain.
14. How can you explain the attachment between Uncle Dees and Roger?
15. Discuss Alma's Theory of Competitive Alteration.  Do you think she should have published it earlier?  Did you like Wallace's explanation of the "Prudence Problem" - that a supreme intelligence gave humans their minds, not natural selection (pages 493&494)?
16. Did you like the writing?  Discus in particular:

• The frequent inclusion of dates.  Did that help you follow along?
• Telling Henry's story "while we wait for the girl to grow up and catch our interest again."  (page 7)
• How the author speaks with the reader.  (see above quote)

*****
First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your Frist Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at amazon.com, wordassociaiton..com and barnesandnoble.com.  Click on the above right link.