Middlemarch - finally!

Ok, so I have finished Middlemarch at last.

It's very long.

I started with a pre-disposition to dislike it due to my only previous Elliott experience (Silas Marner), and to be fair to Middlemarch I have to say that this was far less dull, turgid, irritating . However, it started well - there seemed to be lots of characters that might develop into interesting relationships and interactions, and things seemed to move along quickly. Until the second or third chapter, or whenever it is that Dorothy marries Mr Casaubon. From that point, all the pace and drive seemed to drop out of the writing, and it then took hundreds of pages to get to a conclusion which was quite obvious from the beginning. I don't mind a predictable ending as such, but I do object to having to read quite so much to get to it!

I also found that the characters didn't develop from their promising start - each one had one or two key characteristics, and demonstrated these throughout, meaning that they were more like cariacatures. The book is too long to do without character depth, and 99% of them were irritating - particularly Rosalind (or was it Rosamund? I should be able to remember that). As I've noticed before, I find it particularly difficult to engage with fiction where I don't like, or have a genuine interest in, any of the characters.

So, it's finished - it's not as bad as I expected but I won't be rushing to read any more Elliott.

Whilst reading Middlemarch I also read:
The Ice Cream Girls - looks like a lovely floaty chick lit kind of book, is actually quite a traumatic book about a violent teacher paedophile. Good, readably, but be warned!
Victoria Coren's poker book - brilliant
The last two books in the Millenium trilogy - I'd read them before but still found them gripping.

I think I now understand why Middlemarch took so long!