Silas Marner by George Eliot
"I suppose one reason why we are seldom able to comfort our neighbors with our words is that our goodwill gets adulterated, in spite of ourselves, before it can pass our lips. We can send black puddings and pettitoes without giving them a flavor of our own egoism; but language is a stream that is almost sure to smack of a mingled soil." (Silas Marner, p. 73, B&N Classics)
So I was put to the challenge to read something that my husband was reading. He's taught Silas Marner for a few semesters, and I was interested slightly. I had watched the charming (what a horrible modifier, and yet appropriate) version A Simple Twist of Fate, staring Steve Martin, so I knew I would like the story line. And so, last Saturday, I sat down and began.
Honestly, it had been awhile since I had read anything that was not pulp fiction (I don't really know what that consists of, but by it I mean Crichton, King, etc) or Young Adult literature. And it took me a bit of awkward and strenuous mental training to step into the syntax and writing style of a 19th century writer. But I persevered; thankfully, for I was fully rewarded!
Oddly enough, I had of late bemoaned my students' inability to comprehend more complicated sentence structure. In an ego-stroking manner, I looked back on my childhood. I was an avid reader, and I liked to read more difficult prose. (How odd that now as an adult I choose YA fiction.) I can attribute this to several factors. First, there was a lack of good bookstores/libraries with quality YA literature. It was all Nancy Drew and SVH or nothing. Second, I wanted to keep up with Jane, who was reading Little Women at the age of 8. How can I forget, since she so often hit my head with that heavy book. (And a friendship blossomed, who would've thought it?) Last, I went to Catholic school. Well, regardless of why I chose Alcott, Austen, and Hawthorne at an early age, the prose of those times is complex and detailed. Look at any YA book today. Rarely will you see such long sentences. Nineteenth century books are rife with semi-colons. Sentences are long, winding walks. Today, sentences are short, simple, and to the point. I'm not a judge. I don't think we speak (at least today) in the manner that 19th century writers, especially Victorian writers, wrote. I think that we do align more closely to a 15 or 20 word sentence than one upwards of 30. But I do think becoming fluent in more complicated syntax and sentence structure helps the brain become more agile.
I digress.
It took me awhile to warm up to Eliot's prose. Too long, too detailed. But my mind warmed up, and soon I was following along without a second thought.
I digress again.
I loved Silas Marner. True, I did not appreciate the overly detailed accounts of Raveloe at the beginning. What the reader gleans from those first three pages can easily be absorbed as the reader becomes familiar with Raveloe throughout the novel. Silas Marner is a weaver who, due to unfortunate circumstances, finds himself alone, lonely, and miserly in the unfamiliar town of Raveloe. His only comfort becomes the gold coins that he slowly accumulates while weaving for the richer ladies in town. Nightly, he counts his coins - never spending. Quite frankly, as my husband said, it is not mere miserliness but rather an odd fetishism. Silas literally spends hours counting his coins and piling them up. After discovering that he has been robbed, Silas is lost without the anchoring weight of his gold.
On New Year's Eve, Silas opens his door contemplating a chance return of his stolen gold. During that moment he experiences a cataleptic fight (an affliction he suffers from and which was believed to be most likely derived from the devil) and the door remains open. While Silas is unconscious, a small child walks into his house. Her mother has died in the snow storm, and she is left orphaned. Silas takes this as a sign. His gold is replaced by the gold of the girl's hair. Chance, fate, or God took away his gold but gave to him this child.
It is wonderfully fulfilling to watch and experience Silas's changing life from one of a lonely, unloved loner to that of a loving father and friend.
I won't say more. (I've already said so much this post.) But this is definitely one of the best books (adult books) that I've read in years. It's hard for me to remember notable adult books, but I know that in the past few I've enjoyed March, Next, and Ice Queen the most.
Five Stars for a totally delightful and Christmas cheer type of book!
Grade: A+
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