This was a required reading book for one of my High School English classes. I was just reminded of it by a friend who read it recently.

Unfortunately, I struggle to remember much about it beyond remembering that we discussed that George Eliot was a pen name. ( )

This is an excellent smaller Eliot novel - less of a commitment than Middlemarch, but still a perfectly formed portrait of a community and the relationships between neighbours and family members. Silas Marner himself is a very peculiar character really, outcast from his old community, isolated in his new one, weaving and obsessing over his gold. But then he undergoes a vaguely inexplicable transformation when he accidentally adopts a young child. It's a rather lovely story, and a satisfying plot, all beautifully written. ( )

George Eliot does it again for me at least. Having read three of her novels now, I feel like she masters the art of a novel. I wouldn't say this was my favorite of hers, but I liked it a lot and Silas Marner was a great character. If you want to start reading Eliot I suggest you start with this book first (although I started with Middlemarch). This is her shortest novel just under 200 pages while her other novels run over 500 pages. I also like the fact this a story written by a woman about an older man when woman didn't write about male characters at her time. If you are looking for a well written heart warming story for a quick read I recommend this book (it does have it's depressing parts, but the ending makes up for that). ( )

This book reads like the way I tell stories -- rambling and complicated and full of possibly too much information. I find that comforting. ( )

Felt I should read Middlemarch but the 800 pages intimidated me, so picked up this instead. It is sometimes dense, insofar as the writing is layered and the reading is slow. That said, the writing is delightful---wry, vivid picture of village life, characters with believable uniqueness, and a deft hand with dialect and idiom. This edition has a glossary which is useful for some of the archaic terms, particularly regarding agriculture.
The plot---man ostracized and forced into a sort of exile is further victimized. His despair is washed away by the arrival of a new ward. After such a dark beginning, things are sunny in the end. That's a bit sentimental, but the plot is not the important thing. Its the writing and the characters that make the book worth a read. ( )