Silas Marner
Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe is the third novel by George Eliot, published in 1861. An outwardly simple tale of a linen weaver, it is notable for its strong realism and its sophisticated treatment of a variety of issues ranging from religion to industrialisation to community.
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Community Reviews
So look, I really liked this book.
Eliot shows us two bachelors: Silas Marner - a skilled craftsperson who has spent his life pursuing his craft and the monetary benefit it provides and Godfrey - son of a nobleman who is trying to extricate himself from a tricky set of circumstances.
Godfrey loves Nancy and hopes to marry her. Unfortunately, he has a secret kid, Eppie, (and wife!) Through various hijinks, Silas has all his money stolen, Godfrey's wife dies, Godfrey's secret kid is abandoned in Silas' home, Godfrey marries Nancy (rid of secret wife), and newly poor Silas adopts Eppie (wow!).
Silas goes on to raise Eppie, which provides him a feeling of fulfillment and human connection that was absent in his life before. Flash forward twenty years later, Silas is a transformed man. Previously solitary, focused on his work, and miserly he is now community-oriented and and revels in the small pleasures of spending time with his daughter. Toward the conclusion of the book, he shares a touching exchange with his daughter in which she contemplates marriage. He worries for his daughter's happiness, explaining that he will soon become old and a burden. His daughter asks for him to come to live with her new husband. In the sweep of a few pages, Eliot shows us the consequence of 16 years of mutually supportive, loving interactions. I cried all through this part.
Godfrey on the other hand viewed the death of his wife and abandonment of his daughter as an opportunity to be with Nancy, his true love. He's a better guy than he seems, his bro Dunsey is the sorta obvious bad guy (I omit him from the summary because I found this whole sub-plot to be sorta goofy and just felt it detracted from the core emotional tension experienced by the two protagonists). Anyhow, Godfrey goes about trying to conceive with Nancy and fails again and again (little on the nose). Sixteen years later, he shows up at Silas' place and tries to adopt Eppie, who calmly explains that her father is Silas - the man who raised her and who she loves. Whatever material comforts she can receive from Godfrey are beside the point. Again, this is the on the nose part of the book, but I found the interaction well-written and deeply human.
I don't read a lot of fiction and I sorta forgot that sometimes novelists just spend five or six pages describing a scene in detail: what people are wearing, how they are sitting, how the building they are sitting in was built, how their voices sound, how they relate to one another. I wouldn't say I entirely didn't enjoy it, but I sorta left with the impression there was a really good short story here and then Eliot heaped on descriptive paragraph after descriptive paragraph and also gave us the Dunsey sub-plot. I coulda done without all that, but hey what do I know about writing?
A compelling meditation on how the gift of fatherhood transforms men and their lived experience. Hit super close to home!!
Four stars!
Eliot shows us two bachelors: Silas Marner - a skilled craftsperson who has spent his life pursuing his craft and the monetary benefit it provides and Godfrey - son of a nobleman who is trying to extricate himself from a tricky set of circumstances.
Godfrey loves Nancy and hopes to marry her. Unfortunately, he has a secret kid, Eppie, (and wife!) Through various hijinks, Silas has all his money stolen, Godfrey's wife dies, Godfrey's secret kid is abandoned in Silas' home, Godfrey marries Nancy (rid of secret wife), and newly poor Silas adopts Eppie (wow!).
Silas goes on to raise Eppie, which provides him a feeling of fulfillment and human connection that was absent in his life before. Flash forward twenty years later, Silas is a transformed man. Previously solitary, focused on his work, and miserly he is now community-oriented and and revels in the small pleasures of spending time with his daughter. Toward the conclusion of the book, he shares a touching exchange with his daughter in which she contemplates marriage. He worries for his daughter's happiness, explaining that he will soon become old and a burden. His daughter asks for him to come to live with her new husband. In the sweep of a few pages, Eliot shows us the consequence of 16 years of mutually supportive, loving interactions. I cried all through this part.
Godfrey on the other hand viewed the death of his wife and abandonment of his daughter as an opportunity to be with Nancy, his true love. He's a better guy than he seems, his bro Dunsey is the sorta obvious bad guy (I omit him from the summary because I found this whole sub-plot to be sorta goofy and just felt it detracted from the core emotional tension experienced by the two protagonists). Anyhow, Godfrey goes about trying to conceive with Nancy and fails again and again (little on the nose). Sixteen years later, he shows up at Silas' place and tries to adopt Eppie, who calmly explains that her father is Silas - the man who raised her and who she loves. Whatever material comforts she can receive from Godfrey are beside the point. Again, this is the on the nose part of the book, but I found the interaction well-written and deeply human.
I don't read a lot of fiction and I sorta forgot that sometimes novelists just spend five or six pages describing a scene in detail: what people are wearing, how they are sitting, how the building they are sitting in was built, how their voices sound, how they relate to one another. I wouldn't say I entirely didn't enjoy it, but I sorta left with the impression there was a really good short story here and then Eliot heaped on descriptive paragraph after descriptive paragraph and also gave us the Dunsey sub-plot. I coulda done without all that, but hey what do I know about writing?
A compelling meditation on how the gift of fatherhood transforms men and their lived experience. Hit super close to home!!
Four stars!
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