Best Audible book ever

I have been an audible listener for close to five years now and this is the best book I have ever listened to. I hated this book in college and,if it hadn't been for a friend who suggested I try it again,I would have continued to hate it. I now say pish on my earlier self, this is a fantastic story and George Eliot is an insightful woman whose perspective on life is timeless. But the very best part of this listen is Juliet Stevenson. Oh my, what a narrator: I may be forever spoiled by her mastery. My favorite characterizations were the stuffy Englishmen whose voices were so perfectly captured that I was in awe each time I heard them. This is a must read.

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280 people found this helpful

Loved Middlemarch and Juliet Stevenson!

This book has been on my to-read list for years. This year, I read a a very positive review of Juliet Stevenson's narration in Booklist and decided that the time was right...and I loved it!

Without a doubt, she is one of the best narrators I have ever listened to - ranking up there with Jim Dale, George Guidall and Scott Brick.

Plus, Middlemarch, which had been highly recommended to me by friends who knew I was a fan of Jane Austen, was wonderful. It's a big, big novel, but it really is a timeless classic, full of observations about people that still ring true today.

Give it a go...you won't regret it.

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158 people found this helpful

I will listen to anything Juliet Stevenson reads

I have purchased Middlemarch read by a different narrator before and simply could not listen to it. It was boring, and very long.
Well, when I have learned that Juliet Stevenson has produced this book, I have purchased it right away and was not sorry. Amazing skill of the narrator brought all the characters alive and made this 19th century piece of literature very relevant in our modern life. George Elliot was one sharp woman and knew how to develop her characters. Brilliant!

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134 people found this helpful

Perfect in every way

This is a remarkable book.

Listening to it being read -- so very beautifully by Stevenson -- allows the listener to absorb the many dimensions of this classic. There is the subtle humor and the witty and insightful political and social commentary. Then there are the calls for the liberation of women, not only on a social level, but urging women to recognise their own position in the society of the 1830s and respond even if it only within the confines of their family.

The main heroine, Dorothea, is remarkably portrayed: she could be a woman of 2012: she is ruled by a confused idealism, wanting to contribute positively to an unequal and unfair society and work towards higher philosophical understanding of the nature of existence. At the same time, she has tragically unrealistic expectations of a marriage where she believes she can help achieve her partner's fulfillment rather than her own. The male characters range from self absorption and selfishness, directionless laziness, caring partners: again these men are recognisable today. There is so very much in here.

But to return to the reader, Juliet Stevenson. She has a wonderful voice, her acting out of characters is superb -- and most of all, she shares her understanding of what Eliot was endeavoring to convey in this apparently ordinary story about ordinary people in an ordinary little town in England.

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75 people found this helpful

Above star rating irrelevant.

While there were others that I read concurrently, for the past three months, I labored to finish this book. I did not finish reading it but I believe that I am finished trying to. This is not a short book but that was not the issue. I like long books. In fact, I generally prefer them but they must or I must have them engage my interest and imagination. Unfortunately this was not to be with Middlemarch. Maybe because I feel I am running out of it, I take time very seriously and books of this length require an investment. This was just not one I was willing to make that investment in.

There is a great deal to recommend about Middlemarch. A large cast of characters populate several plots with themes that are of interest to me personally: religion of which I subscribe to none, politics of which I have a love/hate relationship (especially the politics of medicine), philosophy which never ceases to intrigue and education which is my vocation. Virginia Woolf had high praise for Middlemarch as "one of the few English novels written for grown-up people." It has been described as one of the most important English novels almost since its publication.

The character development is deep with rich descriptions of provincial life. Almost from the beginning of this tome, I was drawing parallels with Jane Austen who also considers some of the same themes. Jane Austen, however, never comes across to me as quite so didactic or preaching. For me these were almost shouts that came through the narrative. And it wasn't that Eliot wasn't preaching to the choir. She was. I guess I just prefer to have my authors quite disappear in a book. Here I think Dickens is much better at considering social issues without exposing himself carrying around a placard about some kind of injustice.

I might also add in its defense that I felt Eliot's psychological studies of human nature with all of its flaws and complexity were also particularly well done. Contrasts between idealism and reality are very nicely drawn. I'd better stop at that. Thinking of all of its merits, I'm liable to pick the damn book up again. Too many times, as my friend Jen said, "I felt like throwing the book across the room." No mas!

Having barely finished half the book, I am even less qualified than usually to critique this fine piece of literature. Suffice it to say that it was mostly the pace of the book failed to hold my interest and I just gave up. I want to say that I will return to it someday but I probably will not.

Because I did not finish reading this book, the above star rating is based on an Internet average. Audible does not allow submitting reviews without putting in a star rating first.

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52 people found this helpful

Juliet Stevenson is a genius

Ordinarily, I would begin a review with an evaluation of the actual book rather than the narrator but in this case, Stevenson was SUCH a standout that I had to begin with her. To say that she inhabits each character fully is to sell her performance short. I remember Stevenson from the movie version of Emma in which she plays Mrs. Elton so wonderfully snarky and politely arrogant. But this narration shows her talents to a greater degree. Not only does each character have a different sounding voice, but one can practically hear their thoughts as Stevenson brings them to life.

What is so perfect about this amazing performance is that it makes a somewhat challenging novel much easier to manage. There are so many characters and so many story lines that Eliot brings together so beautifully (eventually) that a reader can easily lose track. Several of the characters are not easy to like, a few are like-able at first and then become less so, some are not like-able at first and grow on you. It is a lot to keep up with. But the story is well worth the investment. Eliot is wise and funny. Her take on the relationships between men and women is insightful. Well-deserving of its status as one of the greatest books ever written.

I gave the story only 4 stars because there isn't much that actually "happens." It is not an exciting story. The story is really in the every day happenings of the characters. That is where the true genius lies.

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48 people found this helpful

Juliet Stevenson -- not perfect -- but CLOSE

Where does Middlemarch rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

One of the best audiobooks I've listened to.

Have you listened to any of Juliet Stevenson’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Juliet Stevenson is always fantastic. This might be my favorite of her narrations, though.

Who was the most memorable character of Middlemarch and why?

Rosamond. Stevenson (and Eliot) depicts her in her complexity brilliantly.

Any additional comments?

If you're considering M-march as an audiobook, ignore reviewers recommending other narrators (a few of which I've listened to as well), GET JULIET STEVENSON.

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37 people found this helpful

Juliet Sevenson brings it alive

I tried to read Middlemarch in highschool and again in university but could never sink in. What was missing for me was Juliet Stevenson's narration. Her skill makes this masterful story much more accessible and a pleasure to experience. Eliot's wit sparkles through in this performance.

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33 people found this helpful

George and Juliet - the magic of Middlemarch

My first exposure to Middlemarch was as a teenager when my older brother read it to me. He was studying it at University and I was still in school. I loved it and the book became one of my favourite books after Pride and Prejudice.

Then I watched the BBC serialisation of Middlemarch when I was a bit older and it meant more to me and I loved that too.

But the Juliet Stevenson version is quite simply the one that was meant by George Eliot. It is masterpiece. I will treasure it for ever. The fact that one single human being can interpret the nuances of tone and texture of so many personas is remarkable. I am not sure who is the more remarkable artist; George Eliot or Juliet Stevenson. I fell in love with Juliet Stevenson when I happened upon a small English movie called something like deeply madly and I knew she was a star.

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29 people found this helpful

Perfect in every way

This is a remarkable book.

Listening to it being read -- so very beautifully by Stevenson -- allows the listener to absorb the many dimensions of this classic. There is the subtle humor and the witty and insightful political and social commentary. Then there are the calls for the liberation of women, not only on a social level, but urging women to recognise their own position in the society of the 1830s and respond even if it only within the confines of their family.

The main heroine, Dorothea, is remarkably portrayed: she could be a woman of 2012: she is ruled by a confused idealism, wanting to contribute positively to an unequal and unfair society and work towards higher philosophical understanding of the nature of existence. At the same time, she has tragically unrealistic expectations of a marriage where she believes she can help achieve her partner's fulfillment rather than her own. The male characters range from self absorption and selfishness, directionless laziness, caring partners: again these men are recognisable today. There is so very much in here.

But to return to the reader, Juliet Stevenson. She has a wonderful voice, her acting out of characters is superb -- and most of all, she shares her understanding of what Eliot was endeavoring to convey in this apparently ordinary story about ordinary people in an ordinary little town in England.

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27 people found this helpful