Product Description

(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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #877292 in Books
• Published on: 1999-03-04
• Released on: 1999-03-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

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.

From AudioFile
This classic story of guilt, innocence, and the power of love, with its diverse cast of characters, is a challenging audio production. The capable Andrew Sachs provides a steady, enjoyable reading. His light British accent carries the story, which is set in early nineteenth-century England. Faced with depicting young and old, gentlepeople and common folk, Sachs provides genuine characterizations. He handles the variety of dialects masterfully and with clarity. Most enjoyable is his vocalization of Eppie, a sweet and charming characterization that reflects the light she brings into Silas Marner's life. J.J.B. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Ingram
Eliot's touching novel of a miser and a little child combines the charm of a fairy tale with the humor and pathos of realistic fiction. The gentle linen weaver, Silas Marner, exiles himself to the town of Raveloe after being falsely accused of a heinous theft. There he begins to find redemption and spiritual rebirth through his unselfish love for an abandoned child he discovers in his isolated cottage.

Customer Reviews

A heartwarming tale
I will not attempt to recount the happenings of this story, as many other reviewers have already done so, but I did want to say that I enjoyed Silas Marner greatly.

The first George Eliot book I read was The Mill on the Floss, and while that book did present some characters I found interesting, I was extremely disappointed in the tragic and depressing ending. Silas Marner, on the other hand, while it does contain some tragic events, turns around in the second half of the book as things gradually start to go better for Silas, and the ending of the book is satisfying and happy.

I found the relationship between Silas and the young Eppie to be the most heartwarming and enjoyable part of the book. I also enjoyed the conversations Silas had with his simple-minded yet warmhearted neighbour, Dolly. In a way, this book was unusual for a Victorian novel (at least compared to those others I have read) because it dealt with a variety of kinds of human relationships, rather than the male-female romantic relationship that we see more commonly.

Another strong point of this book is its length--unlike many Victorian novels, which are difficult to get through, this book can easily be read through in a few days.

In all, I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in trying out a book by George Eliot. It's much more enjoyable than The Mill on the Floss, although I can't speak for Middlemarch as I haven't read it yet.

Reversal of fortune, recovery of faith
George Eliot, born Marian Evans in 1819, spent most of her early life in rural Warwickshire. This early upbringing is apparent from her easy comfort in writing about country settings, with attention to detail and niceties that a born-Londoner would generally not be able to provide. Eliot's life was not that of the typical Victorian lady; she worked in publishing, including periodicals, translations, and writing her own fiction. Eliot led a 'colourful' life; living in a common-law marriage with Lewes, a man who left his wife and children for her, she then married after his death a man twenty years her junior, only to die eight months later.

Silas is a weaver, a rather grumpy and sour man, whose primary occupation and avocation is the making of money. He is an outsider in Raveloe, having been driven from his earlier community under the false accusation of theft, an accusation that also cost him his engagement to his beloved, and left him with little faith in human nature, particularly that of the church-ly humans.

The high society in Raveloe reached the pinnacle in the Cass family. Squire Cass had two sons, Godfrey and Dunstan, each his own unique form of scoundrel. Godfrey, who had an illicit marriage to a local barmaid Molly, is being blackmailed by his spendthrift brother Dunstan. Alas, Godfrey is expected to marry another, Nancy Lammeter, daughter of another society family. Godfrey attempts to buy off Dunstan with his horse, Wildfire, and during a journey to sell the horse Dunstan accidentally injures and kills Wildfire.

Dunstan is stranded in the countryside, but sees light from a cottage -- the home of Silas Marner, reputed after fifteen years of weaving and miserly activity of having accumulated a large stash. He steals the bags of money he finds in the deserted cottage, and disappears into the night.

Silas reports the theft, but is unaided. He is heartbroken, for his life's purpose has been the accumulation of this wealth. No one seems to make the connexion between the lost money and the disappearance of Dunstan (one flaw in the novel, in my opinion). Silas gradually recovers from this blow, and the people of Raveloe begin for the first time to see him in terms of friendship.

At a Christmas party, the Cass family is in full celebration, for the upcoming marriage of Godfrey and Nancy. However, Nancy is not pleased, given Godfrey's reputation. Later in the holiday season, Molly makes her way to the Cass estate and confronts Godfrey with a two-year-old daughter in tow. Upon her return from the estate, she falls and dies in a drunken, drug-induced stupor, and the child wanders through the snow to the cottage of Silas. Silas lays claim to the golden-haired child, and Godfrey is relieved to be free from Molly and paternity.

Sixteen years pass, and we come to meet a very different Silas, one who is now a truly human being, who is loved, and has an object of love in his daughter Eppie. Eppie is in fact about to be wed to the nice Aaron Winthrop. Godfrey and Nancy, however, have had a loveless and childless marriage.

Things develop rapidly near the end of the novel. A pond near Silas' cottage is drained, and the remains of Dunstand with two bags of gold coins is found. Godfrey feels compelled to tell his wife now everything, how Dunstan dishonoured the family, how he (Godfrey) was being blackmailed, and admits his paternity of Eppie. Nancy is strangely tolerant -- she only complains of not having been told sooner. They decide to demand that Eppie be returned to them.

In a beautiful scene of compassion and love, Eppie, given the free choice of deciding between Silas and connexion with the noble Cass family, opts for the man who was her true father, and chooses to remain with Silas.

Later, Silas and Eppie revisit Lantern Yard, from which Silas was expelled so many years before. Here in no longer the old church, his old home, or his old friends -- all has changed; life has gone on. The old place is dirty and noisy by comparison to the serene Raveloe. The question of Silas' guilt or innocence cannot be resolved, but then, is no longer a question of concern for anyone in either place. Eppie then marries Aaron, in a wedding paid for by Godfrey, who cannot attend due to business, and Eppie declares in the end that 'nobody could be happier than we are.'

Elliot intended to show that misfortune can lead to greater things, and provided a typical Victorian happy ending.

This novel has been a traditional one assigned to students of secondary school age for decades now; it is a classic, fairly simple in construction and vocabulary, and brings up the timeless themes of good, evil, fate, and has a wide range of characters who change over time. Alas, many school-age readers come away cold, often determined never to read another novel again, as it is presented poorly and not put in a more modern context which students will more readily understand. But, it remains a good story, and a fine representative of the Victorian novel.

The Andrew Sachs audiotape is superb
I'm sure there are other good versions of Silas Marner available on CD or audiotape, but I must express my admiration for the reading by Andrew Sachs in an excellent unabrdiged edition of this Victorian classic. I was perhaps fortunate that I was not forced to read this book in high school when I might have found it a chore, so I approached the story with an open mind. Sachs manages beautifully to convey the inner life of Eliot's characters through his acting talent and his choices of slightly differing voices for each individual. A great reading of a great novel.