Middlemarch - are you reading/have you read it?

Been on my to read list for years. Many people consider it the greatest novel in the English language – Virginia Woolf and Martin Amis, for example. I tried it a couple of years ago. First two chapters were great, then the pace slowed and the prose grew denser and harder. Will def give it another try though.

Resurrecting this thread as for the first time, in my 50s, I'm reading Middlemarch and absolutely loving it (after the first few chapters) - halfway through and desperate to find out how it all works out ...
And yes it's funny!

I’ve read it a couple of times and am probably due another, as the second time was probably 20 years ago.

I don’t feel qualified to judge whether or not it is the greatest novel, but it is certainly not my favourite. It only just scrapes in as my third favourite Eliot novel.

The BBC adaptation from the 1990s is very good, with an excellent cast.

I've just finished it. I slowed down the last week because I didn't want it to end. Definitely one of the GOATs of a reading experience. It has a bit of everything, and Rattles' last night and Bulstrode was chilling.

That might be the greatest last line of all time.

I listened to it on Audible for the first time last year.
I enjoyed it, but not to the point I would say it is the best novel I have ever read.
It's one I am pleased to say I have read, but no desire to read it again.
I preferred Jane Eyre and Great Expectations.
For those of you who do Audible - Stephen Fry reading GE is a joy.

I tried it out as an audiobook a few months ago but it didn't grip me. It wasn't the fault of the narrator, as far as I recall. I am able to get into other oldy books. Crime and Punishment was long but I still thought good and glad to have finished it. Likewise Wuthering Heights and a few Austens, the titles of which I can't immediately remember. So yes, I wouldn't trudge on if you are unsure, OP.

I have read it, I found bits hard going and do admit i skipped some irrelevant bits! But once I got into it properly I really loved it.
I wouldn’t say it’s my favourite classic novel though

I love the chapter that starts something along the lines of "The next morning Dorothea... But why always Dorothea? Is hers the only perspective that is important in this story" and goes on to focus on Casaubon's perspective.

It was voted the 'best' novel of all time, not the most popular, though.

I slogged my way through Middlemarch in January this year. I didn't enjoy it. And I find it hard to understand why a sufficient number of people like it for it top these sorts of polls. For me, it's unnecessarily long, and many individual sentences too long-winded. Perhaps evidenced by the fact that even people who say they love it miss bits out. I feel that's often the case with novels that were originally serialised.

But clearly, I'm in a minority on this thread.

I also read it for A-level (a long time ago!) and loved it. It helped that I was also doing A-level history and was mad about the Victorian era - it’s hands-down my favourite period and I went on to do a history degree, so I feel I've partly got George Eliot to thank for that!

I've never re-read it, though, and I must.

(BTW I can’t do audiobooks either. It’s print all the way for me)

But on the Reader's Best Books list, Middlemarch still camed 2nd! So real people do honestly love and appreciate it.

I've read it twice and (except for the dull medical stuff as per PP) I think it's superb. I love how Eliot pokes a bit of fun at Dorothea's crusading spirit while also loving her for it.

I've read books that are more exciting or more fun but I've never read anything that was better.

It’s the book that got me out of the wilderness years of reading only for or with the children.
The first 300 pages are very dry, but that only makes the scandal and horror more shocking.
I liked the character arc of the young doctor (name?) . How to ruin a promising young man with an unsuitable marriage.

Have just finished listening to the audio version - having dipped in and out of it in the past but never read it all the way through. I absolutely loved it. Can see why it was voted favourite novel. I thought she was fair to all of her characters - although she seems to struggle with Celia! Made me want to read a biography of George Eliot as I only know bits and pieces about her.
Yes, I did think Dorothea (and particularly Casaubon) showed ND traits.

I'm listening to it. 11 hours left and I see why it's one of the GOATs. The language and the insight she had into the psychological states of her characters, wow. The version I have is narrated by Maureen O'Brien. I'm at the part where Dorothea and Casaubon are back home from Rome and she's both becoming self aware and realising her marriage was a big mistake.

I lived it as a teenager but was less keen later. What struck me as an adult was how clearly autistic Dorothea was!

I'm the same with anything audio. I need to be doing something undemanding with my hands, eg washing up, then I can listen without my mind wandering off, or even falling asleep.

I read it twice. There's a long section about medicine in the middle that I didn't find interesting. Otherwise I liked it.

I read it years ago when I was in my early 20s, should probably reread it now I'm older. The adaptation on iplayer is excellent, think it was Andrew Davies first big hit.

Just to flag there's an adaptation available on iPlayer

I really want to read it. I am halfway through Silas Marner at the moment, which is absolutely wonderful.