Middlemarch: by George Eliot aka: Mary Ann Evans

I picked this novel for my first review because it is being held in serious consideration to possibly earn the title of "Jessica's favorite novel of all time," which is a huge deal. I will be honest, as with most novels that I consider life-changing, you have to work a little at the beginning. Eliot has a brilliant intellect, and she is writing during a period of change and reform, so at the beginning of the novel you have to sift through a lot of tensions involving class, economics, politics, religion, science, occupation and education in order to really understand the depth of the story. However, I promise you it is worth the work.

Eliot's voice in the novel is ironic, and moves from person to person. She has remarkable characterization and narrative skill. The novel introduces profound and probing questions about religion, life, and human relationships. To me the novel poses the question, "if each individual sees the universe so differently, how do we form a community?" It opens the readers eyes (at least mine) to the human tendency to judge and misinterpret others. Middlemarch is truly a novel that is not just concerned about action and plot, but with interiority as well.

As for the impact this novel had on me, that is individual, and cannot be completely described, but I will say this: it is incredible to me that at the time Eliot wrote Middlemarch she had already decided that she did not believe in England's institutional religion or even religion in general. More than any other novel, her novel awakened inside of me a true desire to be a better, more Christian human being. She forced me to take an internal look, to analyze myself in terms of judgement v. understanding, hypocrisy and selfishness v. acting in a charitable manner, pride v. humility and affectation v. pure honesty. She forces you to confront the motivations behind your actions, and the deep and often incredibly difficult ability to purely forgive.

I honestly could go on and on and write a book about my journey with the characters, chapter by chapter, but in short, I highly reccomend this book. :)