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Title: Silas Marner by George Eliot, Hannah Gordon ISBN: 0-00-105243-8 Publisher: Harper Collins - UK Pub. Date: March, 2000 Format: Audio Cassette Volumes: 2 List Price(USD): $16.99

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Average Customer Rating: 3.72 (83 reviews)

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: When Blood Is Weak As Water
Comment: This is the uplifting story of Silas Marner, a 19th century English working man, who seems to be greatly wronged repeatedly by people in his community. As an elegible young man, a rival framed him out of greed as well as envy, leaving Marner wrongly accused of theft, upon which he relocates in a different locality. For some 15 years, Marner lives like a hermit, hording the money he earns as a weaver. Said to be "in with the wicked one", possessing strange magic, town folk avoid contact with the mysterious man. -- Suddenly, in short succesion, two events change the life of Master Marner forever, even restoring his faith in a Supreme Being and the good in his fellow man.

Without reveiling the surprises held by this wonderful story, I can highly recommend this book to readers of teen age and above. Written in a very high English, the writing style is that of an educated master of the language, uncommon to be written or spoken in this manner for some 100 years. Less difficult than Shakespeare, still challenging to a young person unfamiliar with countless terms and expressions that seem to be very dated.

As a teacher partial to language arts studies, I am very impressed by this book. I would recommend it for classroom use at the junior high school level or above. A masterpiece!*****

Rating: 5
Summary: Classic Literature
Comment: Reviews of this novel, seem to fall into three categories: those written by people who like to read great literature; those written by people who would prefer to read brain candy; and those written students forced to read the novel as a class assignment and,in some cases, would prefer not to read anything (if the third category is discarded, the average rating is much higher).

One of the most remarkable things about this novel is the fact it was written by a woman, using a male pen name, in 19th century England when women were generally oppressed, i.e., they were not encouraged to have careers or to do anything outside the home. The story is well known. A man who blacks out during seizures, not remembering what happened, is falsely accused of theft of money from his church. He is shunned by his former friends and becomes a recluse. When he is later robbed of his savings, and an abandoned child appears on his doorstep in place of the gold, his life is changed as he takes responsibility for the child.

This is classic literature from that time period, and is most certainly easier to read than many other novels from the same period (students should consider themselves fortunate that they were not assigned to read one of Thomas Hardy's novels). I first became acquainted with the novel when it was assigned reading in a high school English class. That was over 50 years ago, and the story is one that has stuck in my mind.