Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Bookish Tuesday

I'm inspired by Facebook's 30 Day Book Challenge, from which I plan to draw the Bookish Tuesday prompts for a while. Day #1's question is: What is your favorite book?

In all honesty, I don't have a favorite book. I love many books for different reasons at different times. But the one book that stands out vividly in my mind is George Eliot's Middlemarch. Beautifully written and masterfully crafted, this books stands as the epitome of the British novel.

Middlemarch (Oxford World's Classics) 

Midlemarch does far more than just stand as a literary achievement. Of great literature, C.S. Lewis writes, "My own eyes are not enough for me…. In reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself."

Eliot brings her characters alive for her readers. Readers of Middlemarch experience the selfish cruelty of Rosamond, the despair of Dr. Lydgate, the confident conviction of Mary, the youthful folly of Fred, and the well-intentioned naivety of Dorothea.

In Middlemarch, I see the lives, dreams, hopes, and failures of myself, my friends, and my family played out through the lives of Eliot's characters. I relate to, mourn for, and rejoice with the characters as the lives of the Middlemarch neighborhood play out across the 800 + pages.

A professor once told me that Middlemarch was a must for every English major. But I disagree. Middlemarch is a must-read for every serious reader.

1 comment:

Vanessa @ Foodie Virgin said...

I agree with you, there's just no way I could pick just one favorite book. But the ones that instantly come to mind are To Kill a Mockingbird, The Good Earth, Animal Farm, The Host, and The Virgin Queens Daughter