Silas Marner (Everyman's Library Classics & Contemporary Classics) [Hardcover]

George Eliot (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0679420304 | ISBN-13: 978-0679420309 | Publication Date: March 9, 1993

(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed)

Introduction by Rosemary Ashton

The isolated, misanthropic, miserly weaver Silas Marner is one of George Eliot’s greatest creations, and his presence casts a strange, otherworldly glow over the moral dramas, both large and small, that take place in the pastoral landscape that surrounds him.

When Marner is wrongly accused of crime and expelled from his community, he vows to turn his back upon the world. He moves to the village of Raveloe, where he remains an outsider and an object of suspicion until an extraordinary sequence of events, including the theft of his gold and the appearance of a tiny, golden-haired child in his cottage, transforms his life. Part beautifully realized rural portraiture and part fairy tale, the story of Marner’s redemption and restoration to humanity has long been George Eliot’s most beloved and widely read work.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This 19th-century classic, read by Andrew Sachs, is a tale of betrayal, gold, and love, encased in the elegant symmetrical structure so popular in traditional English fiction, featuring Marner, the weaver, who is framed for theft by his best friend and becomes a recluse, focusing his strong affections only on the store of golden coins he receives in payment for his work. As usual, Chivers has produced an excellent audio presentation of a literary masterpiece. Alas, in this day and age fewer and fewer readers not enrolled in literature classes actually read the works of what are frequently referred to as "dead white males" even if, as in this case, they were actually written by a woman. For this reason, this title is recommended for all academic but only larger public libraries.
-I. Pour-El, Iowa State Univ., Ames
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

“More strikingly than in any other novel, George Eliot combines pastoral, symbolic, legendary elements with a rooted local setting and an evocation of ordinary lives and credible moral choices. It is a fine Shakespearian-Wordsworthian story of loss and restoration . . . Silas Marner is a compound of English life rendered with ‘rich density of detail,’ as Henry James described it, and the imaginative patterning of romance and myth.”
—from the Introduction by Rosemary Ashton

"I think Silas Marner holds a higher place than any of the author's works. It is more nearly a masterpiece; it has more of that simple, rounded, consummate aspect. . .which marks a classical work."
—Henry James

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 248 pages
• Publisher: Everyman's Library (March 9, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679420304
• ISBN-13: 978-0679420309
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.8 x 8.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (141 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #243,424 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pure gold, November 9, 2004

By 

Peter Reeve (Thousand Oaks, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Silas Marner (Bantam Classics) (Paperback)

If you have a heart, the story of Silas Marner will warm it. You are better coming to it fresh, without knowing anything of the simple yet solid plot, so I will say nothing of it. I will just urge you to read this wonderful book. Eliot writes beautifully and from page one, you realize you are in the hands of a true artist. This is a very human, very English story of simple people living through those very basic emotions that make the world turn and give the universe meaning.

38 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book for all times, but not for all readers, April 5, 2001

By 

Susan E. Hallander "shallander" (Little Silver, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Silas Marner (Hardcover)

Question: How can you ensure that a person will hate a book? Answer: Make her read it for 7th grade English class, make sure that the language is old-fashioned, and above all, make sure that the ideas and concepts are over her head. If that's what happened to you, and that's why you have an aversion to Silas Marner, and you are now over 30, pick it up again. Read it twice. Silas Marner is one of the greatest novels in the English language.

Yes, it starts out sad, as our pathetic hero looses both his trust in humanity and his faith in God. But the power of love replaces his lust for money, and wins out in the end. Meanwhile, morally poor but financially rich, high-living Godfrey Cass provides a counterpoint to simple Silas. At the end there's a surprise when the fate of Godfrey's evil brother is revealed.

When you're all done, before you file Silas Marner on the shelf, go back and read the paragraph about Silas' thoughts when he discovers that his hordes of coins are missing. If you have ever felt sudden extreme loss, you will recognize the stages of despair from disbelief to acceptance "like a man falling into dark water." Which is why this book is not suitable for children, and is most appreciated by those who have undergone their own moral redemption.

Silas has been the inspiration for many other characters, including Dicken's Scrooge. He has been portrayed in movies, including "A Simple Twist of Fate" starring Steve Martin. But none is as good as the original. If you haven't read it since junior high, try it again. Silas Marner is an excellent book. There's a gem of human understanding in every chapter.

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Tale of the Redeeming Power of Love, December 15, 2008

By 

Ryan Robledo "Author of the Aelnathan" (Planet Earth) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Silas Marner: 150th Anniversary Edition (Signet Classics) (Paperback)

Silas Marner is an excellent classic novel set in early Nineteenth Century England. In this story, George Eliot (pen name for Mary Ann Evans) depicts a man named Silas Marner, a weaver by trade. He lives happily in his home town of Lantern Yard, until his best friend William Dane betrays him by setting him up as a thief. William then marries Silas' fiancée, and Silas is shunned from the town. He eventually settles in a very small cottage in Raveloe, where he spends his days making cloth and other materials for the townspeople. Due to his now secretive and reclusive ways, the people of Raveloe never really come to know Silas, and he lives in solitude, having turned away from his former faith and happiness.
But one winter's night, a small orphan girl comes to his house, and everything changes. Silas cares for the child (with the help of his neighbor, Mrs. Winthrop, whose family soon befriends him), and his heart begins to soften.
This is a very good representation of the redeeming power of love, and the consequences of a person's actions. For people who enjoy classic literature, this is definitely a must-read.

Ryan Robledo
Author of the Aelnathan: