Friday, July 18, 2008

The MIDDLE of MARCH




Me, reading on the beach, after work.




Ahhhh…. It’s F-F Day!
[That stands for Finally Friday!]
I have not been writing much on Bookpuddle, as of late.
This is because, at the end of each weekday I have been feeling as though I have a briefcase of hammers tied to each ear.
I am getting a bit old for the torturous and inhumane job I do, day after day.
And at my current rate of Advanced Retirement Planning©, I have mathematically ascertained that I will be living on Easy Street as long as I can somehow keep working until I am 136 years old!
Somehow, I have still been finding a few hours each evening to do some light reading.
Middlemarch!

It is an appropriately titled book…. because it is going to take me till the middle of next March to finish the thing.
But it’s a good book. I am enjoying it.
I will stay with it until the final page.
I am currently ankle-deep in the tale. On chapter 22, of a possible 86.
I like Lydgate, but I am worried about him, because I can see that he is going to fall for the shallow Barbie-dollness of Rosamond.
I don’t like Casaubon because he ensnared the vivacious young Dorothea!
And she should have been MINE!
And he is so horridly boring. The poor girl.
I am already thinking she should run off with this Will Coleslaw fellow [Casaubon’s cousin]…. he seems like a real hoot!
George Eliot is a master prose-stylist.
I am ashamed that it has taken me 44 years to finally read him!

I loved this sentence, from tonight’s reading:
If we had a keen vision and feeling of all ordinary human life, it would be like hearing the grass grow and the squirrel’s heart beat, and we should die of that roar which lies on the other side of silence. As it is, the quickest of us walk about well wadded with stupidity.

If you have read this wonderful book, drop me a line and tell me what you thought of this legendary Literary Doorstop.
Choose one of the following, for your response!
A) Great book.
B) Bad book.
C) Too many pages.
D) Would have been better if written by a woman.

NOTE: The above photo is not really me.
However, for a real photo of me, taken last weekend CLICK HERE.

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10 comments:

Jen Forbus said...

As usual, Cip, you've provided me with my chuckle for the day...:)

It's been over ten years since I read Middlemarch; probably time for a re-read since I don't remember much detail. I do remember loving it...as I did of most all the work I read of that period.

Happy reading!

Cipriano said...

Ahhhh!
It's an F-F day!
[Stands for First-Female/Respondent!]
I got that whole Thong-Pouch Apparatus idea from the one and only Borat!
Amazingly..... quite comfortable!

Beth said...

That's twice you've tricked me on your blog (that I know about).

With shame, I admit I have not read Middlemarch. Someday? Your synopsis is intriguing.

Melwyk said...

All I can say is it's a good thing I was not reading this post AT WORK! ;)

Merisi said...

Your intellectual curiosity would do any female proud.


*oopsie* Did I say something wrong?
(Ah, having a name like Cherry ... oh ... I don't want to give the pot away!)

Merisi said...

I really meant to write "plot" - that fe/male thingie got to me, methinks. ;-)

Anonymous said...

Hahaha I thought you've been hitting the gym a lot lately when I saw that picture! :)

I haven't read Middlemarch. How I actually bypassed it in high school I have no clue.

Anonymous said...

Maybe you mean it would have been better if written by a man. Mary Ann Evans used George Eliot as a pen name to get published.

(P.S. I don't want this to sound mean. Just thought you should be informed. I thought she was a man for a really long time too.)

Shelley said...

Middlemarch is one of my top ten favorites! And yes, it is written by a woman. I have read all but one of her major novels and Middlemarch is the best.
This is my first time visiting your blog, and I love it, but I have to say I think I'm going to have nightmares after visiting the link to the "true" photo of yourself!

Merisi said...

I am here the only one to have believed that Cipriano, as a matter of course, knew already that George was a female? I thought he posed the question tongue-in-cheek.
Cip? ;-)