
Middlemarch
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Narrated by:
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Maureen O'Brien
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By:
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George Eliot
About this listen
Exclusively from Audible
George Eliot's most ambitious novel is a masterly evocation of diverse lives and changing fortunes in a provincial community.
Peopling its landscape are Dorothea Brooke, a young idealist whose search for intellectual fulfillment leads her into a disastrous marriage to the pedantic scholar Casaubon; the charming but tactless Dr Lydgate, whose marriage to the spendthrift beauty Rosamund and pioneering medical methods threaten to undermine his career; and the religious hypocrite Bulstrode, hiding scandalous crimes from his past.
As their stories interweave, George Eliot creates a richly nuanced and moving drama, hailed by Virginia Woolf as 'one of the few English novels written for adult people'. Middlemarch explores nearly all matters of concern to modern life, portraying an entire community and every class within it. Full of irony and suspense and even richer in character it shows how individual lives are shaped by and shape the community. Within Middlemarch, we find Eliot's ability to expand the audience's compassion and imagination.
George Eliot was one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. Her novels, largely set in provincial England, are well known for their realism and psychological insight. When Middlemarch was released Eliot was considered England's finest living novelist with many critics still regarding this novel as the finest in English.
A BAFTA winning adaptation of Middlemarch aired as a television series in 1994.
Narrator Biography
Maureen is an English actress and author best known for playing the role of Vicki in Doctor Who where she starred alongside the original Doctor, William Hartnell. She then went on to appear in The Legend of King Arthur, Casualty, The Duchess of Duke Street, Taggart, Cracker, A Touch of Frost, Heartbeat and Jonathan Creek. In 1985 she made a rare film appearance in the comedy She'll Be Wearing Pink Pyjamas opposite Julie Walters.
Maureen has also appeared in a number of stage productions, for example, The Relapse (Old Vic), The Merchant of Venice (Old Vic), The Archbishop's Ceiling (Bristol Old Vic) and Othello (Bristol Old Vic).
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Among the magnificent.
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Where does Middlemarch rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
The story and the depth given to the characters make this one of the better listens I've enjoyed this year.What did you like best about this story?
I think the thing I like the most was also what made this book difficult to get through, its depth. This is an incredibly layered story and while there are four (some might argue two) central plots that are related to each other, there are so many subplots and minor characters who have a major impact that it feels like something picked out of history (in that real life is seldom as neat as fiction is made to be).Any additional comments?
I would recommend getting a print version of Middlemarch in addition to the Audio. With the audio alone, it was somewhat easy for me to lose track of characters and what they had been doing. By keeping a print or an electronic version where I was able to keep notes, it was easier for me to keep track of the characters and the string of events tying them together.Another comment is in a book with a cast this dense, Maureen O'Brien reused some of the same voices for different characters. This is not a slam against her. Just with a book this long and with as many characters, even the most talented readers would have trouble.
Incredibly Realistic
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Beautiful story with refreshing feminine heroine
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The narrator is the best I’ve heard!
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Worthy of the time investment
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Exceptional book. Outstanding performance
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Good listen to an old classics
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with enlightening observations of human conduct. The reader transformed what I had thought would be a mannered bore into a story i could not turn off!
spectacular!
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Excellent Narration!
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Classic novel bears re-reading
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