Middlemarch

George Eliot was a brand new author for me. Having seen Middlemarch on DVD I partially knew the story line; well as much as a movie can tell such a rich story. However, the book is so much richer in plot, theory, beauty and action than any movie other than PBS could create. No surprise there! However, for some reason it did take me two Chapters before I became truly hooked. If you find yourself in the same situation, plug along and I believe that you will be very glad that you did.

The characters are very real: a lovely and lonely women with true purpose and hope for life; a mean spirited husband, which is good because you feel NO grief over his demise; several handsome young men with flaws but good hearts; a mix of beautiful young women; physicians, clergy and merchants with the good, bad and ugly mixed in. A life story; that is interwoven so uniquely that you will love reading it. Even the real scoundrels are worthy of the read.

The narrator made listening to it an extra plus. Even though I say this now, I will admit that the narrator's voice initially turned me off ... or it could have just been the opening lines. However, the narrator brilliantly brought each character alive; you could feel their essence. No real need for "He said," and "She said."

Finishing it was like losing friends. THAT is when I know I have read a good book; when I literally MISS the people, feel a loss, want more of them. So, I will reread in six months or so. However, she does not leave you dangling like some authors do. You do find out what happens years later. So, if you enjoy good plots, laughter, sadness, great richness of characters, along with a better understanding of the period time then THIS book is for you.

This book is what audiobooks are for - so many vivid characters brought wonderfully to life by a fine narrator. I couldn't believe she could have so many distinct voices, some of which are quite funny, and keep true to them all through this long book. Fantastic writing, wonderful insights into the human condition in all its grand, foolish, endearing and enraging complexity. This was my first Eliot novel and I look forward to listening to more. I also want to hear more books with this narrator. First rate.

It took a while to get into this because of all the characters involved. For a lot of the book, I only really cared about Dorothea's story. But it gained pace, and I really enjoyed the intelligence of Eliot's observations. I also liked the reading; although it sounded slightly raspy at first, the reader had such a talent for the many characters' voices that it really brought the story to life.

This is a wonderful reading of this classic novel. It is well-paced, and the voice "fits" the text perfectly. The voices of the different characters are well distinguished, without excessive resouce to accents or speech mannerisms. I just loved listening to this, hour after hour after hour after hour... I never wanted it to finish. Oh, and it's a great novel, of course :-)

This was the first novel I'd "read" of George Eliot's. What a prodiguously talented writer. I enjoyed the story, and considering my short attention span I managed to stay fulling engaged despite the profusion of detail that I suspect "is Eliot". The narrator was just as prodiguously excellent--I stood up and gave her a standing ovation at the end :).

I recommend this listen.

Nadia May is the performer; does one have to say more to indicate the level of excellence of this audio version of this splendid book? She obviously does her homework in order to make the nuances of character and plot alive to the listener. My first encounter with Ms. May happened to be with my first audio book cd, "Pride and Prejudice" from Blackstone Audio. She has an expressive voice which gently nudges the listener to hear details which would go right past a rock headed lump like me.

This is an odd book. Except for Dorothea's little sister, all the characters know exactly what they want and how to get it. They plotted, planned and got it. Then were miserable which goes to prove the wisdom of the fortune teller's advice in "Rude Awakening of a Jane Addict", "Thinking is over rated, humans do entirely too much of it." If we had a fortune teller in this book, she would also advise humans not to always believe their lying eyes. Little sis on the other hand, feather brained creature that she was, happily took Dorothea's cast off suitor, Sir Dull as Dishwater (whatever his name), had a baby with all proper decorum and was ecstatically happy with no planning or thinking at all. Life is just not fair!

Often, I wonder if the will forbidding Dorothea to marry Will which plays such a central role in Middlemarch was inspired by an actual incident involving Charlotte Bronte's brother and the wife of his employer related in her letters and recorded in Elizabeth Gaskell's biography of Charlotte Bronte.

Here is gratuitous advice. If you are new to this pre World War I style of writing, give it time. This is a time before birth control, antibiotics, internet, breaking news and not least, audio books. What would our value system be if based on pre-WWI facts?

excellent, thoroughly enjoyed, super long - 4 downloads!- but that only meant more pleasure, things got ever more lovely and interesting as the story advanced, pure pleasure, little shivers at the end :) this is the second book from nadia may i've listened to- she does an excellent job

Middlemarch is a monster of a book! I had to read this for a class and if I had not had audible to make the best use of my time, I would never have succeeded. I had been reading it for awhile before I purchased this audible version. The narrator made this book come to life for me! It is a difficult read in the first place, but with the help of Nadia you just might make it! Her accent and voices for different characters is very helpful! The first half of the novel is very slow, but picks up toward the end. If you stick it out, its well worth it. Definitely not a page turner, but very thought provoking and delightful - worth every effort!

This is a true pearl of all British classics!Delightful description of society tainted with passion and wit, erudite literature but plenty of fun and entertainment! Read masterly too. Loved every second of it!

Middlemarch is incredibly well written - so much so that you'll often rush over to whatever you're listening on and "bookmark" certain phrases.
However, it starts out slow and there are a lot of characters.
But, if you stick it out, it really is an excellent 'read.'
It is actually the only audiobook I've gone back and listened to more than once.