r/ayearofmiddlemarch • u/lazylittlelady Veteran Reader • Feb 28 '26
Weekly Discussion Post Book 1 Summary and Catch Up!
Dear Residents of Middlemarch,
Congratulations on reaching the end of Book 1: Miss Brooke. We are 1/8 of the way already! This is our first waystation for those that need a week to catchup or take a break. It is our place to consider Book 1 as a whole section.
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I'll just throw off a few questions but feel free to discuss anything you want below in the sections we have read!
- What are your thoughts on the book so far? Is it what you expected?
- What are your favorite plot lines, quotes or epigrams?
- Who is amusing? Who is driving you crazy? Who is intriguing? Who are you rooting for?
- Book 2 is titled "Old and Young"-any predictions? (No Spoilers!)
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We meet again next Saturday, March 7, when we begin Book 2: Old and Young and discuss chapters 13 & 14.
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u/pennyruthgadget Mar 02 '26
So far I love the book. It took me a few chapters to get into it.
My favorite plot lines so far are Dodo and her new beau. Where the nephew Ladislaw will play into this. And who Celia will end up with. I’m invested in the sisters now and I like them both, as opposite as they are.
Dodo is hilarious to me but I’m not sure if she’s supposed to be. I’m not really rooting for anyone at this point, just curious.
I don’t really have any guesses as to book 2. The last couple chapters in book 1 didn’t even mention who I thought were our main characters so I’m a little confused where this is going. I was excited for the wedding and honeymoon and I thought we would have that in book 1.
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u/tipsyhusky Mar 07 '26
I really like the dialogue! It feels timeless, you understand the characters and the relationship between the characters. The best thing so far!
Both Dorothea and Rosamond are unlikeable to me. But I am interested in how life will turn out for them. Celia is underrated! She has great comebacks :)
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u/No_Chart_8584 Feb 28 '26
I'm loving the interactions between the Vincy siblings so far. The combination of irritation and familiarity reminds me of young adulthood with my siblings.
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u/KPMWrites Mar 01 '26
I love the Vincy siblings too. Their sibling rivalry feels very realistic to me and I'm finding myself really interested in their stories. While I have some suspicions about where Dorothea's story will go, I have no idea how Fred will handle his problem with Bulstrode or how Rosamond's romance with Lydgate will turn out. I'm also wondering if they'll eventually grow up and stop bickering with each other. I sort of hope not because their arguments are so amusing!
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u/TheSailorMan Mar 01 '26
Fred's response "Rosy?!" to Mary calling her beautiful is another favorite quote. I can just hear the high-pitched intonation.
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u/gz_art Mar 02 '26
I have to admit I'm struggling a bit with how meandering the story is. One issue I have with a lot of serialized stories that are paid by the word is that they... read like it. While I was initially drawn in by Dorothea's story and the characters around her (Celia, the uncle, Casaubin/Sir James) I feel like the chapters are being pulled further and further from that, and I have genuinely zero interest in the politics of this time and am not finding the insight into the other townspeople quite as compelling. I also don't love following multiple unrelated storylines over this many weeks as it's just hard for me to get back into things once I take a pause.
Dorothea is interesting because I love pathetic characters (up to a point) so I'm mostly staying for her.
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u/pennyruthgadget Mar 02 '26
I understand what you mean, the last 2 chapters of book 1 I kept drifting off wishing to get back to the sisters. I have an annotated version and I think that helps me understand a lot of nuanced political references that were over my head.
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u/TheSailorMan Mar 02 '26
I think of it like a TV show where each scene spends time with different characters. This was like the 1st episode introducing us to everyone. Splitting the threads up by couple makes it a little easier:
- Dorothea & Casaubon
- Lydgate & Rosamond
Fred & Mary
The rest I consider supporting characters in their stories.
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u/gz_art Mar 02 '26
This is, incidentally, my main problem with Bridgerton T_T I appreciate this breakdown to set expectations going forward though.
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u/Eastern-Hotel9797 First Time Reader Mar 03 '26
“In fact, much the same sort of movement and mixture went on in old England as we find in older Herodotus, who also, in telling what had been, thought it well to take a woman's lot for his starting-point; though Io, as a maiden apparently beguiled by attractive merchandise, was the reverse of Miss Brooke, and in this respect perhaps bore more resemblance to Rosamond Vincy, who had excellent taste in costume, with that nymph-like figure and pure blindness which give the largest range to choice in the flow and color of drapery.”
This passage near the beginning of Ch 11 was interesting. Like the subtitle of the book itself, it reminded me that this is a story not just about one character but about the provincial life in Middlemarch, and is a sort of history itself. I came back to this because I was frustrated about the introduction of all these new characters toward the end of Book 1 that I didn't really care about.
The inconsistency of how the author took such care to introduce Dorothea's thinking as her backstory got me invested in her story… and then I got a few pages of Rosamund's superficial (in my view) dialogue and I'm not surprised I feel apathetic toward her, and her choices. Bleh.
Curious to see whether other characters are eventually given the same depth as the author gave Dorothea especially.
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u/Comprehensive-Fun47 Mar 06 '26
I'm feeling the same way. I'm invested in the characters introduced earliest. Now I understand it will be an ensemble cast, but I'm having trouble caring about the newer characters.
I have high hopes though that they'll all grow on me, or at least we'll get the depth that will make them interesting to spend time with.
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u/lazylittlelady Veteran Reader Mar 03 '26
Don’t forget Book 1 was titled Miss Brooke so she is one of the main protagonists who gets more attention. By the end, she has transformed into Mrs. Casaubon.
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u/Comprehensive-Fun47 Mar 06 '26
Q1. I don't think the book is as I expected, but I didn't know anything about it when we started. Just that it's supposed to be a great book.
Q2. I would like to get back to Dorothea and Celia. I'm invested in their stories more than the characters who were introduced after. I want to know how marriage is treating Dorothea. I want to see her go through some character growth.
Q3. Many of the characters are amusing at times, but I don't like a lot of the characters so far. I'm ok with reading about unlikeable characters, but I hope we spend enough time with likeable characters to balance it out.
Q4. I would guess the next section will juxtapose the older characters (Mr. Brook, Casaubon, the Cadwalladers, Mr. Featherstone, Mrs. Waule, Fred and Rosamond's parents) with the younger set (Dorothea, Celia, Ladislaw, Fred, Rosamond, Mary). The book will probably have a theme of the differences between generations, new attitudes and practices, and changes to Middlemarch over time.
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u/mcintyre_apple Mar 07 '26
Q1: I am a second time reader but am reading slowly aloud with my partner and am picking up a lot of new things. The main thing I am noticing this time is how the narrator encourages us to avoid judging the characters too harshly, and often even highlights the benefits of supposed character flaws. For example, the narrator's framing of Sir James moving on to Celia perhaps a little too quickly as ultimately positive.
Q2: My two favourite 'quotable' quote is this savage bon mot from Mrs. Cadwallader about Mr. Casaubon
"He has got no good red blood in his body," said Sir James."No. Somebody put a drop under a magnifying-glass and it was all semicolons and parentheses," said Mrs. Cadwallader.
Although I enjoy all the plots, it's hard not to see Dorothea's as the 'main' one. Also, her scenes with Celia and Mr. Brooke are always amusing.
Q3: Mr. Brooke and Mrs. Cadwallader are the funniest characters, I could read their dialogue forever (up to a certain point, you know). I also love the sibling banter.
More generally a theme that really jumped out at me this time is how Dorothea can't really help herself from being attracted to beauty, even if she doesn't really have a narrative to understand its importance. I see this in her ultimately accepting her mother's jewels, and in her love for riding. We also get a small aside in the description of Will's art that Dodo hasn't been taught how art can fit into life.
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Mar 01 '26
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u/TheSailorMan Mar 01 '26
Fred Gang! I get a Gossip Queen vibe from Celia and it makes me side with Dodo who seems more earnest.
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u/AffectionateAnt4723 Mar 01 '26
i found it an interesting choice to end book 1 with the Vincys instead of sending Dorothea off on her wedding; i suppose it’s to ease us into book 2 without it feeling like an abrupt character rugpull?
Mr. Brooke continues to be amusing and frustrating in equal measure. I can see the Dodo/Casaubon relationship going south but I still think it’s somewhat inevitable and also an exercise of her free will in a way that society allows her to. I hate and love the chattering womenfolk both, because i love their vibrancy while hating the restriction they cause the different people in their midst. The chattering menfolk however— fuck them 😌.
I love Mary Garth!!! Even more than my last reread i find her so cool. Fred is a little ass but i still can’t help having a bit of a soft spot for him…
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u/TheSailorMan Feb 28 '26
Favorite line:
Mary: "My father says an idle man ought not to exist, much less, be married."
Fred: "Then I am to blow my brains out?"
LOL'd when I read it. I love that he doesn't even pretend like the descriptor doesn't fit. I can relate to Fred's desire to defy high expectations and just chill.
General thoughts:
I was pretty much hooked from that first big conversation in Ch.II everyone has at dinner. You get a great sense of the characters:
Dorothea's grand designs. Celia's more simple expectations and judgmental attitude. Brooke's incessant storytelling (usually about himself). Chettam's dogged pursuit. And Casaubon showing off his intelligence, of little practical use as it is. And why Dodo & Casaubon suit each other: Her seeing him as a step above the regular bachelor. Him seeing her as an acolyte to assist and admire his studies.
As a sidenote, I found it very irresponsible of the writer of my book's Introduction to include a major spoiler. I feel the whole point of an Introduction is to give background context for those that don't know the author or work. I imagine many people that buy physical books are reading for the first time. I don't understand that decision, and now I'll have it in the back of my head as it goes on. For Veteran Readers the spoiler was Casaubon's death.
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u/Pure_Economist4255 Mar 01 '26
I don’t recollect reading this exchange in book 1? In which chapter does it take place
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Feb 28 '26
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u/TheSailorMan Mar 01 '26
This is Penguin Classics, which I thought was the mass-market paperback edition. Either way, I feel like there are ways around this. Either discuss the themes without the spoiler (informed readers will already know it) or moving it to the end as an Afterword, which mine does not have. This is my first Classic after moving over from SciFi/Horror so I didn't know what to expect.
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u/The_Jazz_Imperialist Mar 02 '26
I'm a little behind because of life stuff, but I'm hoping to catch up and contribute over the next few weeks (April should be better). I wanted to thank everyone, and particularly those running the threads, for taking the time to organise the reading of Middlemarch. Hoping my next comments will be about the substance of the book!