Silas Marner

I’m a huge fan of the regular interview column in The New York Times, By the Book, I read it every week because I never know what books will be discussed that peak my interest and I add them to my list. I’ve long been meaning to read something by George Eliot, and a few weeks back the author interviewed in By the Book mentioned Silas Marner and I knew it was the book I should read to see if I would like George Eliot’s writing or not.

I’m so glad I did, the word to describe it is lovely. It’s beautifully written. A story of chance, loneliness, and finding love where you least expect it. As Silas weaves for money, he hoards it, and when he loses the money he finds something worth much more. And it’s also a bit about class and village life in England; community that is small, but full of rights and wrongs.

Our consciousness rarely registers the beginning of a growth within us any more than with out us: there have been many circulations of the sap before we detect the smallest sign of the bud. (p. 57)

That quiet mutual gaze of a trusting husband and wife is like the first moment of rest or refuge from a great weariness or a great danger — not to be interfered with by speech or action which would distract the sensations from the fresh enjoyment of repose. (p 174)