beautifully descriptive

I bought this audio book for something different to listen to and thought that listening to a classic may educate me into a different type of listening.
the book is beautifully descriptive which to start off with i found hard going as I wasn't used to this way of writing. However after a number of times wondering whether to give up or not I was glad i didnt as it was wonderful and found i was listening to it for hours in the middle of the night captured by the various characters who i felt i had begun to know and be part of their lives.
well worth pursuing

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43 people found this helpful

Best Victorian Novel.

What made the experience of listening to Middlemarch the most enjoyable?

The writing was beautiful and the narration was wonderful. What kept me most enthralled though was the ability of the author to deal with the essential human condition in its many diverse manifestations in a way that transcended the time in which it was written.

What did you like best about this story?

The novel was realistic and honest and not just 'happy ever after'. I loved Eliot's philosophical reflections on what was happening in the text.

What about Juliet Stevenson’s performance did you like?

Stevenson's range of voices was excellent.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

'There are so many way to be in the world - dare to be different'.

Any additional comments?

Highly recommended. I downloaded a character chart of the relationships which was very useful to keep track of who's who.

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5 people found this helpful

A unique cultural delight- unforgettable

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This is the most beautifully written and fantastically narrated work which stays with you forever. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Listening to Middlemarch has been a cultural highlight , a feast of superb writing. The most enriching 15 hours of my life, the minute it was over, I wanted to begin all over again. A MUST read/ listen, I now understand why it is the book of choice for so many.

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2 people found this helpful

Excellently narrated

This classic story with its brilliant depiction of the inner worlds of its protagonists, sharp satire, and absorbing plot is brought to life convincingly by Juliet Stevenson in this tour de force of the narrator's art.

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1 person found this helpful

A highly respectful masterpiece

Of course I have my reservations about the book and wouldn't give it a full five star if I could. It's more of a 8,5 out of 10 situation. But it goes without saying that this is a cornerstone in classical literature.

I'll abstain from making evaluations. Instead, I would like to share that, as sometimes people would say a novel felt like being on a roller-coaster, this one felt like a magnificent, 35-hour countryside train ride. With beautiful and diverse landscapes, long dark tunnels, sunrises and sunsets, observed through the windows as wind is blowing in your hair, quiet lonesome mornings in the wagon-lit... and a train wreck or two, occasionally 😁

The book is well worth the cost and time. Don't expect it to be your favourite, but do believe that it can teach you a lot about human nature and all sorts of relationship and will leave permanent stigmata on your reading experiences. The narrator does a hell of a job. You'll need some time to get used to her male voices, but it becomes really natural at one point. Enjoy!

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I enjoyed every minute

A fabulous and enduring classic brought to life with warmth, humour and drama by a Juliet Stevenson's first class, professional performance!

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Most excellent

Any additional comments?

I had tried to listen to Middlemarch before, but felt it just was slow, and somewhat boring.

This time I really listened, Juliet Stevensons narration was sublime, and made the book captivating, and I was reeled in.

I cried with characters, I hoped with them, despaired with them, could cheerfully have slapped at least one, and laughed with them.

What a journey. It is indeed a masterpiece and unforgettable and well worth listening to.

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So much more

There's just so much more to this novel than the story. There are insights into human nature that are every bit as relevant today than when the book was written. The TV dramatisation is excellent and I have watched it over and over but this audio book reminded me of how much more there is in the whole text. Brilliant!

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Wow. Seriously good characters and seriously good.

This was amazing. It took 10 or so hours to really get into it (!), but then the characters came alive as people so real you were in the room with them.
The reader too brings a credibility and texture to the characters that is sympathetic and never scalding.
After taking up over 35 hours of my life I feel at a loss for what can fill the rather large hole left by this magnificent crystallisation of real life.

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A tour de force on both writing and narration

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This is a very long book and thus a very long listen so excellent value for Audible subscribers. A wealth of characters, some likeable, some not but you will be keen to learn the fates of all. Securing Juliet Stevenson as the narrator was a masterstroke. Her deep voice and talent for accents and dialect (as well as other languages for some chapter introductions) made her depiction of both female and male characters entirely plausible. I have read this book many times and studied it at both school and university but I never grow tired of it. The television adaptation some years ago starring Juliet Aubrey at Dorothea Brooke was outstanding but this is even better as one can enjoy the entire unabridged story and revel in the beauty and complexity of the writing as the intertwined lives of the characters unfold.

What other book might you compare Middlemarch to, and why?

The language is very much in the same vein as Jane Austen and deals to a certain extent with the same concerns of the day, the prospects for both men and women in different classes of society. In Dorothea Brooke we have a similar character to that of Elizabeth Bennet. Intelligent, independent women with a conscience who still have to live within the constraints of 19th century society and make respectable marriages.

Which character – as performed by Juliet Stevenson – was your favourite?

Dorothea Brooke

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