Well, it’s been quite a month, hasn’t it? Spending time with Dorothea and Casaubon, Celia and Sir Chettam, the inimitable Mrs. Cadwallader, and the (almost) too-kind-to-believe Garths has been so lovely. Some of us are going to have the pleasure of spending the beginning of June with the gang at Middlemarch, too, as we finish up the book. Personally, I have a good four books left to read, which means I can look forward to plenty more Middlemarch before I close the back cover of the book.
But even though I’m far from done with the book, I’m going to put up the wrap-up post now. Comments will be open for another few months, so as you finish reading, you can come back here (or to the Sisters Book Club Goodreads Group) and leave your comments. I also plan to publish a book review post once I’m finally done with the book, so be on the lookout for that, hopefully in the next couple of weeks.
In the meantime, June 1 marks the beginning of our group read of The Sibling Effect by Jeffrey Klugman! For more information about this book and to state your intention to read along with us, visit the intro post or the Goodreads Group. I plan to post a check-in at about mid-month, so you can post your progress reports there, or just wait until the wrap-up post on June 30.
Back to Middlemarch…here are the final questions from Middlemarch for Bookclubs. It was especially difficult to pick questions for Books VII and VIII because they’re kind of spoilery. I don’t mind spoilers, as long as they’re not super-duper spoilers, but I know a lot of people loathe them, so I’m erring on the side of caution.
The board meeting in Chapter 71 brings Lydgate’s vexed relationship with Mr. Bulstrode to a crisis. Do you think better or worse of Lydgate for his actions at the meeting? Did he do the right thing? Was there a right thing to do?
Just as people’s reactions to Mr. Casaubon revealed more about them than about him, so too people’s responses to Lydgate and Bulstrode through this crisis illuminate their characters. Does anyone’s response surprise you? Who, if anyone, best lives up to the novel’s ideal of sympathy?
As always, these are just a starting point; comment about these questions, others from the page I’ve linked from the title of each book, or about anything you want to from the novel. (Once again, I can’t take credit for these questions; they’re quoted from Middlemarch for Bookclubs.)
And that’s where I’ll leave it until I finish the book. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading Middlemarch with us, and I look forward to The Sibling Effect!
Imperfect Happiness 