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What are readers saying about The Mill on the Floss?
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Susan posted a review at 2009-01-24 08:06:22.
(Language: English)
  
A favorite. I found the audiobook reading by Nadia May quite annoying, almost quit at one point and I love this book. She tries to hard with children's voices and much of this book focuses on the characters as children.This book leaves me contemplating the moral consequences of actions. Also, thinking about how relentless luck is in this novel--almost nigh unto Hardy. At any juncture things go awry that could easily go a different direction. Thinking about Eliot's heroines as well. Glad she finally let some happiness into the lives of some of her heroines. Always interested at the extra pain that comes to beautiful women in Eliot (that is a theme that always seems very charged). George Eliot is such a favorite of mine. Such an amazing woman. And some very fine novels. 
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-06-17 05:01:41.
(Language: English)
unfinished. difficult read.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-04-08 10:19:58.
(Language: English)
I love this book.....moving words....evoking emotions.....beautifully written ,I like Phillip Wakem very much
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-01-14 10:14:09.
(Language: English)
My first george Eliot. A great story of love, wish I hadn't read the publishers introduction first as it gave away the plot!
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-08-20 08:40:50.
(Language: English)
There were some really wonderful parts to The Mill on the Floss, particularly Eliot's ability to follow the characters over time and to draw on complex social dynamics to create character. I found the long passages of exposition to drag the narrative, though, and that much of them didn't really carry beyond the society in which they were written. I also seriously contemplated murder when I reached the ending. Possibly even exhuming Eliot just to give her a good thrashing. After building up interesting and well-motivated choices, I don't know that it would be possible to end things in a less satisfying way. The characters entirely escape making any kind of interesting or difficult choice.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-06-06 12:50:12.
(Language: English)
A beautiful narration of times and lives of a wretched family.... The end will take you by surprise. The narrative takes you through the troubled lives of a Brother and Sister, who momentarily grow apart owing to moral and temperamental differences in their natures, but in the end, are untied in death and in their love for each other.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-11-02 03:48:43.
(Language: English)
I was tempted to read this book because of a chapter I read in school. It was an excerpt from the book and was called, "Maggie Cuts Her Hair" I really enjoyed the short story and decided to read the whole book. I wish I hadn't though. The basic premise of the book is something I really really feel sick about. And it is safe to say that this is one of the rare books that I totally and completely loathe.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-04-20 05:29:13.
(Language: English)
Heartbreaking...
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-02-03 07:44:31.
(Language: English)
I kept hoping for the best ending right up until the very last page.
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Ayesha posted a review at 2010-12-01 07:01:19.
(Language: English)
Re-read it in Nov 2010 and loved it all over again!
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-03-09 08:52:12.
(Language: English)
Written by ‘George Eliot’, ‘Mill on the Floss’ is a novel that promises a lot at its start as the description of the things is as beautiful as that in Dickens’ novels. The novel is about ‘Tulliver’ family who own a mill named ‘Dorclote Mill’. The protagonist of the novel is ‘Maggie Tulliver’ -a sensitive and loving woman who becomes at odds with the world because of her nature. Another main character is ‘Tom Tulliver’- Maggie’s brother whose relationship with Maggie embarks the main theme of the story. The novel starts with both Tom and Maggie as kids and their innocent relationship that is shown in the novel makes one keep smiling while reading that part. The ending of the novel is the one I had never expected as it is such a beautiful ending that can make anyone cry in spite of the fact that the novel got a bit boring in the middle. The novel started with a perfect Dickensian effect to the language which slowly vanished from the narrative as the novel proceeded; though the language still remained Victorian English. The words used were very good and I could learn a lot from this novel in terms of vocabulary. The sentences were of moderate length and got shorter as the story proceeded. I really liked the novel as a whole and could not believe the end as you will see when you read it. This is the first novel amongst the ones I have read that is based on the brother sister relationship as its main theme. I would recommend this book to everyone as it’s a unique one as I have already mentioned. A word of advice to those who’re going to read this one: you will have to be patient to wait for the good part while in the middle of the novel.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-08-05 09:51:43.
(Language: English)
Lately I can't stop thinking about the moment I first realized literature and life are braided together, wonderfully and beautifully. I was eight or nine, a little Alabama farm girl reading an excerpt from The Mill on The Floss in an excerpted-books-for-kids series my mama had. Thrilled by the rebellious, tomboyish Maggie Tulliver (much better and more sincere, to my little-girl mind, than Jo March!), I was reading along happily and came across the reference to the "muddy place where the cows had trodden" -- the mud into which Maggie pushes her prissy cousin Lucy. Omigosh, I remember thinking, we have a place just like that, where our cows cross the creek. And in such a simple moment, I became a reader for life: this lady, more than a hundred years ago, was writing to me, and to anybody. When I picked up the complete book as an adult, this impression was confirmed. I'll always love this book for this, and more.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-19 09:59:37.
(Language: English)
the storyline is rather very linear and simple and especially the first chapters get off to a slow start...many of the details added there such as Maggie running away to be with the gypsies is pointless, but then it goes to show the feelings of being unloved which maggie felt her entire life, showing Maggie's passionate nature, her intense love-hate relationship wit a brother whom she adored. The book only picks up once the downfall Tulliver's happen; I was able to identify more with Maggie's feelings and her passionate nature, where before I had thought her completely self-centered & selfish. I did find the book difficult to finish and not gripping enough, however the ending where in the face of unexpected danger brother & sister finally settle their differences (which have been building for years) and they come together again like in their childhood, I found that to be deeply touching & gripping. I also liked the satire here especially the description of St.Ogg's as a non-descript small-miinded town, the penny pinchingness of Mr & Mrs. Glegg and the ruthless satire about societal conventions & notions of what constitutes as moral goodness, which is clearly shown by Eliot to be absolutely hypocritical
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-03-09 08:52:58.
(Language: English)
So skillfully written, and painstakingly realistic. But by being painstakingly realistic, it is also painstakingly beautiful. The characters are wonderfully developed throughout the novel, and mature in surprising and sometimes frustrating ways. Maggie is such an intriguing and mysterious character. Quite possibly one of my favorite characters that I've ever encountered in literature. This is not something I would have read on my own, but had to read it for a Victorian Literature class and absolutely fell in love with it and the author's writing! It's just really good.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-12-17 08:27:43.
(Language: English)
took ages to read but loved it. talk about long convalescence. ahh to live back in the day! such beautiful sentences, i love classics. must read more Eliot.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-10-05 05:29:36.
(Language: English)
Ahh - don't really like tragedies
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-01-29 10:32:37.
(Language: English)
I really enjoyed this book. The story starts with a background on Maggie (black hair, eyes) and her brother Tom, whom she relies on for her emotional health. Her father is the only one who sticks up for her, but he has a rivalry with Mr. Wakem, who has a son Philip that went to school with Tom, so she feels obligated to observe her father's and brother's wishes with regards to Philip Wakem and only meets him secretly b/c he fulfills her need for companionship and education. Her cousin Lucy has a suitor, Stephen Guest, who falls in love with Maggie and who tries to get her to elope with him, though she can't because of the regard she has for her cousin and Philip. She is disgraced by him, and becomes a social outcast. She moves in with Bob Jakin and his wife, and when there is a flood, she saves her brother, who she has been estranged from for so long, and they die in the flood together.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-10-13 06:01:51.
(Language: English)
I loved this book so much that I read it slowly and hoped it would never end. The only thing I didn't like was the ending. The flood seemed too sudden to me.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-09-16 12:35:20.
(Language: English)
It was difficult to get through the 500 pages, but once you've done it there is going to be the feeling of satisfaction and relief. As far as the book itself is concerned, the plot quite interesting, but the symbolism was overt from the begining till the end. However, in the end a fair piece of writing.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-11-09 08:43:41.
(Language: English)
One of the best books I've ever read; very friendly, conversational narration.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-01-06 07:06:47.
(Language: English)
wow....excellent
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-03-30 11:11:07.
(Language: English)
fab but i love geroge elliot - inspirational and thanks to women like her we can be free to write as women to get published
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Virginie posted a review at 2010-04-07 01:53:25.
(Language: English)
So many emotions expressed in this book. Some really witty scenes, especially in the first pages. And then the friendships, and love, all the aspects of family relationships. The puzzling elopement episode. And the unfailing siblings love. Also, interesting pages on business aspects, and family obligations and honour.
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Christine posted a review at 2012-05-19 08:24:11.
(Language: English)
«In their death they were not divided.» George Eliot was quite the modernist feministic Victorian authoress. What a read!
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-12-16 11:57:09.
(Language: English)
The Mill on the Floss stars one Maggie Tulliver, the lively daughter of a miller, an anathema to the society of her times in every sense of the word. She didn’t conform to the existing notions of physical attractiveness, and neither did she behave the way she was expected to. In other words, this dusky-complexioned, dark-eyed, raven-haired tomboy had a vivid imagination, a mind of her own, and an unquenchable curiosity. Her one weakness was her elder brother Tom, a stolid, well-meaning, hard-working, but unimaginative boy. We watch Maggie blunder her way through childhood, constantly under reproach from everyone but her father, until she reaches the age of thirteen, when her father gets embroiled in a lawsuit and loses his property, his job, and his mind. With their father thus broken, and no hope of real help from their relatives, Tom and Maggie are left with the responsibility of keeping things all together. While Tom quits his private education to find a means of earning their keep, Maggie is left to tend to her father and help her mother at home. Mr. Tulliver is completely broken, and the only thing that keeps him going is a burning hatred for the lawyer, Wakem, who is responsible for his ruin, a hatred he passes on to his son. Maggie, however, whose heart is free from prejudice, feels sympathy for, and secretly befriends Philip Wakem, the lawyer’s hunchbacked son, who had once been Tom’s study buddy. The furtive friendship begins to flower into a more serious attachment when Tom discovers this and forbids his sister from communicating with the boy. An uneasy breach forms between the two siblings, which is clumsily mended at the death of their father. As Maggie slowly blossoms into a woman of uncommon beauty, fate throws another handsome, dynamic young gentleman her way; Stephen Guest, who’s unofficially betrothed to Maggie’s favourite cousin Lucy. It’s instant mutual attraction, and I leave it to the readers to read the book and find out what transpires next. This being a classic, the narrative may be a little difficult for those who are exclusively into more modern reads, but the story itself is so moving, that after the first couple of chapters, you find yourself getting interested in it. Author George Eliot has Jane Austen’s mastery over characterisation (The Mill on the Floss is peopled with many interesting characters) and Charles Dicken’s sensitivity to the broader state of society, and her own wry insight into the hypocrisy of the Victorian society definitely makes this book a good read. I loved it!
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