Perhaps it’s a little arrogant of me to regard my collection of books as a library; nevertheless, I do have quite a lot and I don’t spend enough time with those I already own, instead getting distracted by shiny new tomes that appear. However, there was some talk of George Eliot on the LibraryThing Virago group recently, and she’s also turned up on some blogs I follow. This set me thinking about the Eliot books I own, which I’ve mainly had for decades, and I was inspired to dig them out.
As you can see, I do own quite a few by this classic British author, but as I browsed I found myself wondering how many I’d actually read…
Perhaps the oddest looking one is this rather strange American edition of “Silas Marner”. I had a few of these cheap classics which I picked up in the early 1980s, but I’ve replaced most of them over the years because they’re not particularly easy to read and they don’t look that nice. Obviously this one slipped through the net…
Penguins, however, are usually much nicer! These three are part of the Penguin English Library and date from around the same time. A bit bedraggled but more easily read than the American one.
I also have a number of Pan classics from the time (definitely some Brontes) – they’re quite attractive, although the paper (like the Penguins) doesn’t age particularly well.
This is a more recent acquisition – a slim Hesperus Press volume I obviously picked up at some point and then just slipped onto the shelves with the rest of the Eliots without reading…
And finally, two slim Viragos. “The Lifted Veil” gets some real stick on the LibraryThing group – not a popular title!
So – which of these *have* I read? The answer is that I’m not really sure. I think I might have read “Adam Bede”, “The Mill on the Floss” and “Silas Marner” – but this would have been back in the early 1980s and I kept no kind of record of what I was reading at the time. I’m 99.9% sure I’ve never read “Middlemarch” which is a failing on my part, as it’s so highly recommended by so many people (including Virginia Woolf).
Digging about on the shelves to find these was fun – I reconnected with books I tend to take for granted as they’ve been around for so long. I’m trying to read from the stacks more (and I think all of the books I’ll be tackling for The 1947 Club and the Jean Rhys Reading Week are ones I already own) – so it’s a useful exercise to go back to shelves and go through what you actually own. I may well share more of the collections in my library here soon (if you’d care to see pictures of my books…) – and I really should read more George Eliot!
Jul 28, 2016 @ 06:09:12
I have that same Pan Classics edition of Middlemarch and The Mill on the Floss (or rather, my parents had when I was growing up)! But you’re certainly doing better than me with the rest of her works: I’ve never even heard of The Lifted Veil and Brother Jacob.
Jul 28, 2016 @ 07:45:55
I don’t think I would have heard of the obscure ones if they hadn’t been published by Virago – and there’s probably a reason for their obscurity… 😀
Jul 28, 2016 @ 06:58:55
I have the same edition of Daniel Deronda – you’re right, unfortunately the pages don’t age well. I adore George Eliot and Middlemarch is my favourite novel 🙂 I agree The Lifted Veil is really quite weak though – I’m not sure what happened there!
Jul 28, 2016 @ 07:44:14
I *really* must read Middlemarch!
Jul 28, 2016 @ 07:37:17
Great, great collection. How happy I become whenever I come across good old Penguins!
Jul 28, 2016 @ 07:44:59
Old Penguins make me smile too – I always look out for them in second hand shops, they’re like an eye-magnet!
Jul 28, 2016 @ 08:48:05
You really should read Middlemarch – it is a wonderful novel, definitely her masterpiece. I think you’d love it.
Jul 28, 2016 @ 09:52:39
I’m sure I will – I need to make it a project sometime!
Jul 28, 2016 @ 09:39:32
Can’t believe you haven’t read Middlemarch, you will love it. A sprawling, realist novel, and you with your Russians, what’s not to like?
I know what I’ve read because I famously ONLY read MIddlemarch for ages and decades, then my friend Bridget gave me a lovely copy of Daniel Deronda in hardback. Then I decided to read them as I found them, so did Adam Bede, then have just done Mill on the Floss and have Silas Marner on the TBR (bought this month, so some time to go still). My Adam Bede was that Penguin edition. I have read The Lifted Veil and will draw a veil over that – HORRIBLE. Many more to go, hooray!
Jul 28, 2016 @ 09:53:27
I can’t believe it either – and it *is* always possible that I have read it sometime, as I can’t possibly remember every book I ever read. but I don’t think I have…. Another one to try to read sooner rather than later!
Jul 28, 2016 @ 09:54:50
What a great collection! I’ve read Silas Marner (though so long ago I can’t really remember what it was about) and Middlemarch, which I loved. I also enjoyed a book you haven’t mentioned here – Romola, her novel set in 15th century Florence.
Jul 28, 2016 @ 10:00:37
Ah yes – Romola is one I don’t have. I just wish I’d kept some kind of reading journal back in the day! 🙂
Jul 28, 2016 @ 10:43:30
For classics in English I tend to rely on kindle versions or the library – my reasoning is that they’re easily available so I don’t need physical copies. But obscure or translated books I end up keeping physical copies.
I still haven’t read any Eliot but will probably start with The Mill on the Floss; apparently it was one of Proust’s favourite books.
Jul 28, 2016 @ 10:45:01
The library is a good idea – I’m still not a fan of ebooks! 🙂 But for classics borrowing would be fine – the problem with the more obscure and translated stuff is that the library don’t stock it!
Jul 28, 2016 @ 10:51:00
I’m quite surprised what I can find at my local libraries; and then I can get books from the whole county as well.
I sometimes just think of ebooks as a storage device. I’ve found that in the case where I’ve already read a book I don’t mind getting rid of it if I have an electronic backup – except when the physical book has some attractive properties.
Jul 28, 2016 @ 11:04:05
My library is not too bad – it did have a lot of Persephones and got in some of the BL Crime Classics – but it’s not so good for the older or more obscure stuff. I see what you mean about storage – but I find it much harder to read on screen, and I do love the book as a physical object!
Jul 28, 2016 @ 11:16:48
Well the kindle has advantages and disadvantages as we’ve all discussed before 🙂 I like noting quotations which is easier on a kindle.
I got rid of a nice Everyman edition of Gibbon’s D&F when I got an ebook edition – I have regretted it since as it had a lovely look & feel to it (the paper felt like skin) but it did take up a lot of room.
Jul 28, 2016 @ 11:20:38
I agree the quotations thing *is* quicker and easier, and storage and weight can be a big issue. But I know exactly what you mean about regretting the loss of a book – particularly an old one with nice paper….
Jul 28, 2016 @ 10:52:44
How many books have you got and are they on librarything?Sorry may have asked before.
Jul 28, 2016 @ 11:02:52
Alas, they’re not all on LT or I might have some idea… I would say definitely over 1000 – possibly 1500? One day I may count them all…..
Jul 28, 2016 @ 10:57:02
I have read a lot of George Eliot – mainly when in my early twenties. I re-read Silas Marner a few years ago (I do love that one) and The Mill on the Floss last year. I remember Romola as being quite hard but I loved the different setting and the history knowledge I gained reading it. I loved Middlemarch (wish I had time to re-read it) I know I enjoyed Adam Bede, Felix Holt and Daniel Deronda but can’t remember anything about them now. I don’t think I enjoyed scenes of Clerical life much at all. I haven’t read those two slim little novellas The Lifted Veil and Brother Jacob I ‘m curious now as to why people don’t care for them.
Jul 28, 2016 @ 11:02:16
Yes, I was 20 when I read Eliot, but I still can’t for the life of me remember properly which ones! I really do wonder what the problem with The Lifted Veil is – it’s so short, I might try to sneak it in for August! 🙂
Jul 28, 2016 @ 11:11:27
It’s revolting and creepy, it’s all about reanimating corpses! It’s truly horrible.
Jul 28, 2016 @ 11:15:37
Oooer! Is it worse than Poe, then, because his stuff can be a bit grim!
Jul 28, 2016 @ 11:20:38
Reanimating corpses? Sounds good.
Jul 28, 2016 @ 11:21:12
🙂 Well, as I said, Poe can be grim but I do like him, so maybe I will be ok with this one! 🙂
Jul 28, 2016 @ 12:59:04
A library provides education, information and entertainment..so yes, your book collection is a library!!! What excellent time to read MIddlemarch again! great post, xo Johanna
Jul 28, 2016 @ 13:40:44
🙂 I do rather like having my own personal library – even if it does take up a lot of space! And I can see I’m really going to have to read Middlemarch.
Jul 28, 2016 @ 13:54:03
I guess it’s fair to call your collection a library. I call mine library. Like you, I have many books. I only own The Mill on the Floss and Middlemarch and haven’t read them. Mostly – no excuse – because the editions are so cheap and really not easy to hold. And they have no annotations. Somehow I hate the idea to rebuy a book I already own. It seems absurd.
Jul 28, 2016 @ 13:55:37
I know what you mean about rebuying – I’ve been looking at my Jean Rhys books prior to the Reading Week and some of them are really tatty and unappealing. I keep trying to convince myself that it’s the content that matters…. 🙂
Jul 28, 2016 @ 13:58:46
I know . . . In case of my Middlemarch edition I might end up caving in as I do want some notes and a foreword.
Jul 28, 2016 @ 14:00:46
Oh, go for it! I think for something like Middlemarch you would want the notes and the commentary so that’s a perfect excuse! :))))
Jul 28, 2016 @ 14:02:30
It is, right?
Jul 28, 2016 @ 14:16:06
Absolutely!
Jul 28, 2016 @ 14:09:27
Since I have read and admired all of George Eliot’s major work, I decided to give some of her minor work a try. Big mistake. I read ‘Janet’s Repentance’ which was one of Eliot’s ‘Scenes from Clerical Life’. It rather dragged.
However I consider ‘Middlemarch’ a wonderful classic.
Jul 28, 2016 @ 14:16:44
I can’t recall if I’ve read “Scenes…” although I do suspect it might be a tad dull – maybe I’ll stick to the major works!
Jul 28, 2016 @ 14:47:32
Middlemarch, Daniel Deronda, Silas Marner, Mill on the Floss, but all decades ago. Daniel Deronda is the one which flickers in my memory the most. You’ve made me wonder about re reading. If none remain on the shelves I’d Kindle, I think, shelf space being so limited without a painful cull. I’m attached to the physical copies of books read a lifetime ago, as I think they hold ‘past mes’ within their pages, whether obviously, in the way of underlining, annotations or old bus tickets as book marks and food stains from incessant reading at table, or ‘just’ subliminally/energetically.
If wishes were horses……………oh that we could all have brief moments of time in the presence of each other’s ‘libraries’, getting the vibes, and squeaking in pleasure at the discovery of books shared by our several shelves.
Kindle just ISN’T the same as the dusty (or even the dusted) tomes on the shelves.
My recent re-read of Isherwood was rendered even more pleasurable by the fact it was a heavily battered second hand copy (because it had strange, not by me, annotations) but was bought, and read, by me decades ago in a particular place. I used to not just sign and date my books, but record where I was when I read them.
Jul 28, 2016 @ 15:22:08
I know exactly what you mean about the past mes – I find it much easier to get rid of new books than ones I’ve had for decades and brought with me on my travels through life. I rather wish I’d adopted your habit of noting when and where I read a book – that would be coming in so useful nowadays. And yes – wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could all explore each other’s libraries! 🙂
Jul 28, 2016 @ 17:01:01
I stopped signing, dating and placing when my work became less peripatetic, and wish I hadn’t, since even the date and unvarying home town would have told me WHEN the reading first happened!
Jul 28, 2016 @ 18:47:17
Yes, though in my case it would simply act as proof that I’d actually read the book…. 😉
Jul 29, 2016 @ 11:30:43
Heh Heh, there is that, though with my regrettable tendency to leave books I’m actively reading open and upside down because the stack of bookmarks are not to hand, not to mention the casual slinging of a book into an overstuffed handbag, the obsessive reading whilst eating if I’m eating alone, and the merry spatter of tomato coloured pasta sauces, soup stains, greasy bread and butter fingers and the like, it’s kind of obvious which books have been lovingly and voraciously read by the evidence of bad handling! A pristine book, on my shelves, rather indicates a lack of progression within………
Jul 29, 2016 @ 17:35:35
I would need to have something as strong as that for evidence – I have a book by Bunin on my shelves I was convinced I’d never read, but I found an old journal from 2007 while rooting around today, and it seems I did….!
Jul 28, 2016 @ 16:08:04
A very nice collection, Karen – some lovely editions there. I haven’t read very much Eliot, I’m afraid. Only Daniel Deronda and that was many moons ago…I do have fond memories of it though.
Jul 28, 2016 @ 16:21:06
I must admit, I quite like the old Pan covers even if they’re a bit twee and pastel! Now I just need to read more of them…. 🙂
Jul 28, 2016 @ 18:58:29
I have quite a few of the Penguin English Library collection and I am so fond of them – lovely covers. For shame, I have never read George Eliot. Someone needs to do an Eliot month to nudge me along!
Jul 28, 2016 @ 20:09:07
The Penguin covers certainly are lovely, aren’t they? If I had more reading time I would do an Eliot reading month – but the books are so big and I’m already struggling with the (limited) commitments I have. But I *shall* try to fit in a slim Virago next month! 🙂
Jul 28, 2016 @ 21:07:23
Middlemarch. One day. I’ve promised myself.
Jul 28, 2016 @ 21:36:07
Yup. Me too. Middlemarch. One day…
Jul 29, 2016 @ 13:05:15
What a lovely collection. I have the PEL edition of Clerical Life, but everything else is in 1990s black Penguin Classics livery. If you want to read Eliot in Virago for August I can recommend Brother Jacob. It isn’t her best work but it is both readable and entertaining. And you must read Middlemarch, which is so worth the time and attention it requires.
Jul 29, 2016 @ 17:34:47
Thanks Jane – good to know that one of the Virago titles is readable! And I *will* read Middlemarch one day!
Jul 30, 2016 @ 07:19:54
Would love to see the pics of your collections… while some people like snooping in folks’ bathroombathroom cabinets or fridges I love to explore other people’s shelves… do you follow Simon of Savidgereads? He does a guest feature that sounds like would be ideal to showcase your library☺
I’ve read & studied Middlemarch (& agree with others that you will love it) and various biogs & articles about Eliot herself… keep meaning to read more of her works… haha, so many books on my must read oneday list.
Jul 30, 2016 @ 09:38:44
I do indeed follow Simon at Savidgereads and I did consider putting myself forward – though I don’t often like to put myself forward! I may well still do so…
I realy *must* read Middlemarch, that’s quite obvious – and yes, ther are always so many books on our lists, aren’t there?
Jul 30, 2016 @ 16:28:15
I admire your collection of Eliots and think you’re totally justified in calling it a library, I mean what else would you call a large and wide-ranging collection of books both read and unread? 🙂 And please show more of it for nosy readers like me!
I am really sorry, I still haven’t photocopied that page of Beverley N, I WILL GET TO IT before I come to England next week.
Please please read Middlemarch, you would enjoy it, such a wonderful novel.
Jul 30, 2016 @ 16:54:25
Ha! Yes, I think I *shall* share more pix! And thank you for your trials with the BN – much appreciated!
Aug 01, 2016 @ 19:38:20
Ooohh. A new to you something by Bn?
Aug 02, 2016 @ 08:28:59
Not exactly…
Aug 01, 2016 @ 21:18:35
Just read “The Lifted Veil” and thoroughly enjoyed it … but then I know something of the medical and scientific developments that were going on at that time and which fascinated people/authors of the period and resulted in some very good science fiction/horror books, e.g. Dracula or Frankenstein. For your info on “reanimated corpses” we are not talking Burke & Hare out of the ground corpses here but the just dead … so it is not a nasty book, just an intriguing novella.
Aug 02, 2016 @ 08:28:48
I’ve just read it too and I really enjoyed it also! It’s not at all nasty (I’ve read Poe and worse) and I thought it was fascinating! Review will follow….
Aug 03, 2016 @ 21:26:21
… but I have to say that I did not enjoy “Brother Jacob” as much as “The Lifted Veil”.
Aug 04, 2016 @ 09:25:49
Ahh. Maybe I won’t spend time with that one, then……
Aug 03, 2016 @ 03:46:40
Those Pan classics are adorable! I love George Eliot and replaced some of my old Signets with those same Penguins. Yes, you do have a library. Not arrogant at all!
Aug 03, 2016 @ 09:57:22
The Pans are surprisingly pretty, aren’t they – a nice contrast to the Penguins!
#Ravelong Odds and Ends | Bahnreads
Apr 21, 2017 @ 15:11:56