AnyBook4Less.com	Find the Best Price on the Web Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Home  |  Store List  |  FAQ  |  Contact Us  |
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money Keyword AuthorISBN

Title: Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe (World's Classics) by George Eliot, Terence Cave ISBN: 0-19-283210-7 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: 01 September, 1996 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $4.95

Your Country USA Canada United Kingdom Australia Austria Belgium France Germany Italy Netherlands Switzerland Currency AutoUSD CAD GBP EUR AUD CHF Delivery Only cheapest delivery All delivery options Include Used Books Are you a club member of: Barnes and Noble Books A Million Chapters.Indigo.ca

Average Customer Rating: 3.74 (84 reviews)

Rating: 4
Summary: Eliots best book
Comment: I give the book Silas Marner a mixed review because although it is a good book with a lot of details, it is hard for younger people to understand. I am a freshman in high school and I found it difficult to read. Geoge Eliot has written a fable about Silas Marner. After his friend blackmails him, Silas moves to Raveloe after losing his faith in the Lord and starts a new life. He gets rich from weaving and becomes obsessed with his gold. His life starts to crumble after something happens and then it all comes back when a little girl with golden hair comes to his cottage.

Silas Marner is not the best book because the narrator tried too pack to much information in to this book for how short it is. It is too hard for younger people to read because of the hard words like metamorphosis and the time period it is written in which was the Victorian age. Another bad thing about it is there are too many coincidences in it that makes it seem like a fairy tale; for example, like when Silas has his fits at the most convenient time in the plot. Some good things about the novel are that there are some good morals in it for people to learn. Eliot helps up realize the importance of love, trust and religion as Silas loses and gains these things back again. Some other morals that I learned from reading this book are not to keep lies from the people that you love and to always think about your decisions. All an all, Silas Marner is a good book. I think that George Eliot did a good job on this book.

Rating: 5
Summary: A "classic" worthy of the title
Comment: The fact that Amazon has so many editions of Silas Marner available indicates that it is truly a classic if it is still being read more than 150 years after it was written.

It is unfortunate that some high school reviewers (or former high school readers) feel that they had this book "forced" on them. Yes, the English language has changed since the early 19th century, especially for American readers of this British author.

My suggestion would be to listen to "Silas Marner" as an audiobook, perhaps while reading along. I recently finished listening to this fine book narrated by Margaret Hilton, but I couldn't find her rendition among the titles available here. I'm sure there are many fine versions available.

So, give this tale a listen, and let the language flow into your ears. Then you will discover why this tale about a miserly old weaver, who has been wronged by his neighbors more than once, finds redemption and a new life when he adopts the little girl left on his doorstep is truly a classic.

Rating: 5
Summary: Classic Tale of Redemption
Comment: This is an odd little book, but it's a good one. It's odd because the famous story of the old miser who is redeemed by taking in an angelic little girl to raise doesn't really even begin until half-way through the novel. This was definitely a surprise to me, but it wasn't a bad one. It ends up that there is a lot more to this novel than I thought there would be. In that first half of the novel, George Eliot brilliantly elucidates the fallen nature of both Silas Marner and the community. They're are revealed to be such selfish and sinful people. They are all in the throws of despair, lamenting their plight as humans and questioning a God who placed them in their lives. Eliot is really wonderful at capturing the need of each individual for redemption and also that need in the community as a whole. The individuals are criticized as is the unfair societal structure. Into this fallen world comes the angelic Eppie, and that's when the story really picks up. Eppie is the catalyst of grace offering redemption to Silas and the rest of the community.

Silas Marner is really an extraordinary little novel. It's a thoroughly enjoyable book (especially after you get through the first half) with a lot of valid criticism and some hope. It's a really beautiful little classic.