Silas Marner by George Eliot (Review #25)

Silas Marner by George Eliot

Blurb

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.

Review

This is one of the books off my Classics Club list but it is also a book that is one of my all time favourite books. I have read this book quite a few times but I thought it was time for a reread.

This wonderful little book is in my humble opinion Eliot at her best. Silas Marner is a beautifully written character and one you can’t help but love. Silas had a hard start in life and was cruelly mistreated and it is because of this he finds himself in Raveloe. In Raveloe Silas keeps away from his fellow villagers and works hard. He weaves day and night and the one joy he has is his gold but then a series of events take place and Silas’ life changes forever.

This book is only short but contains so many different themes. There is the theme of religion and how different denominations of Christianity are treated with fear and misunderstanding. We witness industrialisation taking away the work of cottage industries. How newcomers are treated in communities. There is so much within this tiny book but the main theme is the power of love and it is a wonderful theme within this book.

I will be honest there are certain characters within this book I have never been keen on and the main for me is Nancy. I’m not really sure why I dislike her so much but for some reason she just grates against my nerves. Godfrey Cass is also one who annoys me, he has good points but he also has bad points and I find the bad points outweigh the good.

I just love this book and will happily reread it again. I give this book a big 5 out of 5 Dragons.

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About the author

Mary Ann Evans, known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She was born in 1819 at a farmstead in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England, where her father was estate manager. Mary Ann, the youngest child and a favourite of her father’s, received a good education for a young woman of her day. Influenced by a favourite governess, she became a religious evangelical as an adolescent.