Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life
(Libby/OverDrive eBook)

To one who has quickly read through Eliot's Middlemarch once, Hornback's commentary will give more extensive understanding of its meaning. He often argues for its relevance today, and ten chapters bear titles like "Feeling and Knowledge," and "Selfishness,"; the other three summarize background information. Although knowledgeable about the Victorian period (having, for example, written on Dickens in "Noah's Arkitecture": A Study of Dickens's Mythology, 1972, and edited Middlemarch, CH, Apr '78), Hornback says little about the underlying politics of the book (as discussed in, e.g., Daniel Cottom's Social Figures, CH, Jan '88); and indeed only one book published in the 1980s appears in his bibliography of Middlemarch criticism--Barbara Hardy's Particularities: Reading in George Eliot (CH, Jan '84)--Hornback disparages what he calls "plot," criticizing some parts of this novel for "plottiness" and claiming that "plot does not reveal character" (he sees little or no change in the characters). Sometimes, as in Chapter 11, his style becomes so mechanical one feels the material might better be presented in a chart. Hornback's approach to the novel strikes one as Victorian, and that certainly is not all bad. This book would be most appropriate for lower-division undergraduates and secondary-school students. K. A. Robb Bowling Green State University

Though not out of print, this popular title is being added to the venerable "Modern Library" line to coincide with a PBS Masterpiece Theatre miniseries. Along with the full text, this edition includes an introduction by A.S. Byatt. All that for $15 makes this a bargain. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.