Now there's a super-power! What reading skills of yours compare to that?
The impressive power belongs to Mona Simpson, quoted in "Mona Simpson’s Fiancé Promised to Read ‘Middlemarch.’ He Never Did. Now He’s Her Ex. 'Certain men are constitutionally incapable of reading one of the greatest novels ever written,' says the author, whose new novel is 'Commitment'" (NYT).
Oh? Do you want to talk about that fiancé? That's what made me click through to the interview. I've read the article, and I've actually read "Middlemarch." Have you? Would you reject someone who's "incapable of reading" "Middlemarch"?
Now, you might say the problem isn't that he somehow couldn't read it but that he promised to read it, and then he didn't follow through. But I'm seeing that word "fiancé," and doesn't that embody a promise? But — yikes, all this close reading! — it doesn't say he's her ex because he was incapable of reading it (or because he promised and then didn't do it). It just says he promised, he didn't do it, and now he's her ex. Just a sequence of events. No pinning down of the causality. Indeed, it doesn't even say say that he's one of the "certain men" who are "incapable." Maybe he's not. That would make his breaking of the promise worse.
I'm stuck on the article title. In the text of the interview, it says:
Has a book ever brought you closer to another person, or come between you?
“Middlemarch.” I once wrenched a promise from a young fiancé to read it. The marriage ended more than a decade later, with the novel still unread. I tried a second time. Certain men are constitutionally incapable of reading one of the greatest novels ever written.
Ah! I like her so much more reading her own words. She's self-critical: She wrenched the promise. And she didn't break her promise to marry. They married and stayed together for a decade. Does "I tried a second time" mean that she wrenched a promise to read "Middlemarch" from another man, married him too, and he, too, failed to read the book? In any case, I'm feeling the humor in "constitutionally incapable of reading ['Middlemarch']."
The other side of that power to read a dense book on a beautiful day without feeling that you're "missing life" may be a failure to fully align with a partner who's anxious about getting out into that day and about you missing life, and about being bound to you and therefore missing the companionship that would fulfill his drive to fully experience life?
It's been half a century since I read "Middlemarch," but as I remember it, the main character is married to a fusty, book-centered man and must ultimately realize that she's missed out on life.
६८ टिप्पण्या:
Most people have never read "V", but I still consider them friends.
I’ve read Middlemarch, and hold it in high regard. I honestly don’t know or care if my spouse has.
Make it Ulysses and you can guarantee yourself spinsterhood.
I’ll say it: That was a near escape on his part.
Ah, I missed it. My fault for not reading the whole thing first.
I have just got to jump in with a personal question.
Althouse; when did you read "Middlemarch"? Was it as a Michigan undergrad? Because a crazy idea occurs to me that just possibly, you may have had Prof. Herbert Barrows as a Michigan undergrad. (As I did.) And he was something of a world expert on it. Though you would never know it. He talked about it with a freshness as though he just read it for the first time last month.
Barrows' world class personal art collection, donated to the University upon his death.
Fusty and feisty fizzle. Fission follows.
I've read Middlemarch and enjoyed it. No woman made me read it. In fact, I greatly enjoy 19th century British novels, but I refuse to be told what I have to read.
I admire well-read, hard-headed women, we need them in the world, but I am definitely not one of them.
Luckily, I get to be a daily voyeur to one hard-headed woman and her blog. It makes my day so much more polished.
Thanks, Althouse!
That passage makes Mona Simpson sound like an unpleasant fiancé. It is so domineering to wrench a promise from your fiancé to read a book. That's equivalent to making the person dress the way you want or eat the same dessert.
I often recommend books to people, but I'd never demand the book be read. That's something a bad manager does. Reading the reviews of Middlemarch on Amazon doesn't make it sound appealing. If the fiancé didn't enjoy the book, would there to be an argument?
Quite arrogant for Simpson to consider Middlemarch to be one of the greatest novels ever just because she liked it. Why slam men? Certainly many men and plenty of women can read a quirky romance novel, but have no desire to do so.
It's been half a century since I read "Middlemarch," but as I remember it, the main character is married to a fusty, book-centered man and must ultimately realize that she's missed out on life.
LOL!
"the main character is married to a fusty, book-centered man and must ultimately realize that she's missed out on life"
So, should a certain kind of woman count herself lucky to be partners with a man who is not so "book-centered"?
A possibility not considered here: having been able to read Middlemarch at one point but no longer. What then? Dump the guy?
Middlemarch is a great novel, but I can totally understand someone not wanting to read it. You can say the same about a lot of classic literature.
It just says he promised, he didn't do it, and now he's her ex. Just a sequence of events. No pinning down of the causality. Indeed, it doesn't even say say that he's one of the "certain men" who are "incapable." Maybe he's not. That would make his breaking of the promise worse.
How else are you going to get the kind of woman who'd dump her fiancé over not reading Middlemarch to read this article?
If she wanted him to read it she could have rewarded him with some nice gesture as he finished each chapter. A good man is so easy to control and keep happy if a woman really loves him. I still need to read Middlemarch.
I've tried to reread many "great" classics over the years. Many were excruciatingly boring.
I read Middlemarch on my own, not for school.
“Would you reject someone who's "incapable of reading" "Middlemarch"?”
Depends. If she’s >8 I think I’d be OK with it. But if she won’t read “Tristram Shandy”, she’d better be a 10.
"It's been half a century since I read "Middlemarch," but as I remember it, the main character is married to a fusty, book-centered man and must ultimately realize that she's missed out on life."
Hey, look. You're married to a bookish person? What's the big deal. Take a walk on the beach.
I reread Austen for amusement, except for "Love and Freindship" and "History of England", which are only for the most serious-minded. Cannot recall ever reading Middlemarch, though.
but as I remember it, the main character is married to a fusty, book-centered man and must ultimately realize that she's missed out on life.
Against the advice of family.
It sounds like she is unable to commit to a relationship but wants it to be his fault. What other elite requirements does she have? Money? Attractiveness? Height? Not that she really cares about those things. It's just...
Easiest possible question: what would she think of a man who rejected her friend for not reading Adam Smith or St. Augustine? Would she write a column about how justified he was?
I loved "Middlemarch". Having read it came in handy during an opera workshop, when the director described the relationship between the two sisters in "Cosi Fan Tutte" as similar to that between Dorothea and Celia.
"Then she opened up a book of poems
And handed it to me"
I personally refuse to date any woman who hasn't read the Gor novels.
A captive audience to hostage or divorce, there is no middle way and remain viable.
Readering said...
"Make it Ulysses and you can guarantee yourself spinsterhood."
My son's favorite book is Ulysses and he is never married at 37. Does Readering know any suitable spinsters in central Ohio?
Sad to say, I’ve never even heard of Middlemarch- I’d try to read it now that I have, though.
If it’s anything like Wurthering Heights- I’m dubious of that spelling- I’ll probably hate it. I thought that was an awful book.
I read Eliot's Adam Bede decades ago. Looking at Wikipedia's summary, I see my memory has mixed in some Tess of the D'Urbervilles and darkened the plot. I saw some of the Middlemarch & Daniel Deronda TV series, but they didn't prompt me to read the novels like the old Garson/Olivier Pride & Prejudice movie did. Since then, I've read Austen's complete novels multiple times and all available Trollope, which I never thought of doing with Eliot, but I refuse to watch Sanditon, now on PBS, because it's bound to be a travesty.
At the risk of a double post, I'll try again.
Readering said...
“Make it Ulysses and you can guarantee yourself spinsterhood.”
My son’s favorite book is Ulysses and he is a never married hetero, 37. Does Readering know any suitable spinsters in central Ohio?
My husband and I have both read MM more than once; I didn't make him read it, of course. We both just happen to love it. One of the best consequences is that we now speak the same language when we describe another person as "a Casaubon" or "a Dorothea." It gave us a kind of private shorthand for conversations.
I also took a class on MM where the professor said that his personal fear is that he will turn out to be a Casaubon. Mine is that although I would love to be Dorothea (without the mistakes) I'm actually Dorothea's uncle, the doofus Mr. Brooke.
I'm sure this happens with other people and other modes of entertainment. Most people would get the reference is I described someone as a "Michael Scott" or a "Dwight Shrute."
It’s a miniseries and maybe a movie.
The info snippet seems pretty promising…
I haven't read, "Middlemarch" Now I'm wondering why my wife is still here.
Different strokes for different folks. I am always happy to have people make book recommendations. I am happy to discuss what I am reading (Just finished rereading "Quite Honestly" by John Mortimer. Best known for Rumpole but a fine, fine, novelist)
I would flee like a house afire if anyone tried to force me to read a particular book. This lady sounds like someone to avoid.
I read Silas Marner in HS. As with virtually every author I was forced to read in HS, I did not care for it. The analysis of books by English teachers just sucks all the life and goodness out of them. I reread Silas Marner and a couple of her other books maybe 20 years ago and enjoyed them. Never read Middlemarch, I don't think. Now that you have put the idea in my head, I've downloaded the sample from Kindle and will see. If I like it, I'll buy it through the portal. For 99 cents. I'll make you RICH!
The least I can do after so many years of pleasure reading your blog.
John Henry
Was this interview conducted over email? Because Simpson's answer is so wonderfully constructed, as if she thought about the question and invented a mini fiction. It seems too composed, too melodic to be a verbal response.
“Don’t forget the poem on page 112”
I just read it a year or two ago and liked it (but not as much as I liked Vanity Fair that I also read about the same time). Surprised to find out that it's a deal breaker, though.
While the Althouse blog is no thick period piece to digest I am sitting on a sunny and warm bluff above the St Johns River in north east Florida reading this blog and then followed by a pass at "Dancing into Battle" - a social history of the Battle of Waterloo by Nick Foulkes. What a way to end a beautiful day!
I thought Middlemarch ended as a good woman's novel should with Dorothea living "happily ever after" because she met Mr. Right later on?
Is ‘regimentally’ the same as ‘constitutionally’?
It’s as though one is easier to change than the latter… via insurrection!
No one ever expects the Spanish Insurrection.
To change a regime all you have to do is find Trump.
To change the constitution, on the other hand… it’s been a long time. You not only need a congressional super majority, you need most of the states to ratify.
I've never read "Middlemarch", but I did see the BBC min-series "Middlemarch".
I shall attempt
Selfanalyst: !! If only I did and could introduce them tomorrow.
This blog and the internet are great. Who knew that Homer's mother, Mona Simpson, was named for Mona Simpson of Constitutional Middlemarch infamy?
I'm so low-brow to have associated Mona Simpson with the yellowheads.
He would not be competing with me. Gave up 1/3 way through--and I had it for a course.
I read Middlemarch years ago, and not for school. Matter of fact I'm reading Mill on the Floss now for the first time
(I actually read Mona Simpson book too. Anywhere but Here.)
I would never push my preferences on others, but I'm not an author either.
Philip Roth gave his various mistresses reading lists. If someone like that tried to direct my reading I'd take him up on it.
Is ‘regimentally’ the same as ‘constitutionally’?
No, it's the same as "commando" for kilt-wearers.
One of the more vivid images is Martin Amis describing attempted conjugal relations between Casaubon and Dorothea as “like trying to fit an oyster into a parking meter”
It's a blessing to have a potential mate demand you read a particular novel, grow a bonsai cherry tree or tie a Turk's head. It's a glimpse into the long game.
Narayanan said... I shall attempt
Oh my... I can just right click, and my browser will read it to me.
Thanks Narayanan.
I read Middlemarch and recommended it to my wife’s book group. No one got through it.
Mona Simpson died at the end of season 19. Who is this woman?
https://screenrant.com/simpsons-homer-mom-mona-death-what-happened/
He didn't. Now he's her ex. The way that's written clearly indicates causality to the average reader. Statement 1 and statement 2. Nothing between the two.
"I meant what I said and I said what I meant."
Why should I take reading advice from someone who can't write what they mean?
That aside, I've known people like her. "If you don't take my advice you are hurting my feelings and can't be my friend."
No problem, bye bye.
And btw LOTR is the greatest story ever told. If you haven't read it you're an idiot.
.....
I personally refuse to date any woman who hasn't read the Gor novels.
LOL. Good one!
Not only do we not know causality, but for all we know he left her because she kept nagging him about reading Middlemarch.
In any case, if it mattered to her she should have made it a prerequisite to getting married, like the guy in “Avalon” who made his fiancée memorize the Baltimore Orioles lineup.
I would reject someone who was capable of reading Jodi Picoult.
Middlemarch is in my top two, along with Great Expectations. I’ve read MM five times or more (I’ve taught it several times). Mr. X read it at my suggestion, not my command—who does that?—and also loves it.
That being said, I’m, er, opinionated is the polite word, about books and was more dictatorial in my young days. Example: I HATED Prince of Tides and was quite outspoken about my hatred. A friend of my mother’s recommended the book to her. Mom told me, “I’m not going to read it. I’d be afraid to like it.”
Henry James chewed more than he bit off.
I can't read Middlemarch as I haven't read Beginningmarch yet.
Mona Simpson’s Fiancé Promised to Read ‘Middlemarch.’ He Never Did. Now He’s Her Ex.
Bullet dodged.
I read and enjoyed Middlemarch. Its length is intimidating. Not many people will pick it up on a whim. The Mill on the Floss is the better novel, and it's a couple of hundred pages shorter...Vanity Fair of all the 19th century English novels I've read was the most fun to read, and Becky Sharp is certainly more fun to hang around with than Dorothea. (I think Margaret Mitchell cribbed parts of Vanity Fair for use in GWTW and who can blame her.)... Unlike GWTW, the various movie and television versions of Vanity Fair have never quite caught the charm of the heroine or the sweeping narrative drive of the novel. They keep trying though. They don't very often even try with George Eliot...... Dickens, the Bronte sisters, and Jane Austen have had the most luck with their movie versions. The thing I like about Jane Austen is that you can read her complete novels in the time it takes to knock off Middlemarch.
I've not read most of the great 19th C classic novels, not even the ones in English. OTOH I read a lot of 19th C (and other) history, and listen to 19th C (and other) music, so I don't think I've missed anything that important.
My wife watches the standards, as adapted for the small screen; they inevitably bore me.
@Lawrence Person: you really need to go back to the beginning of January.
@Althouse: Did this topic come up because today is the Ides?
I have read Middlemarch, and Mona is Steve Jobs's biological sister.
If any money comes with that, we could be a match made in heaven.
Simpsons's Harvard lawyer ex-husband was a writer for ... wait for it ... The Simpsons.
He's also the son of lit critic Alfred Appel, so he really ought to have read George Eliot.
Maybe he just wanted out of the marriage.
A few weeks ago there was a post about Tom Verlaine, who bonded with Patti Smith over their shared interest in some obscure writers (the only one I remember was Mohammed Mrabet). That makes sense to me. I get it. Vows to Read My Favorite Novel I don't get.
"I personally refuse to date any woman who hasn't read the Gor novels."
Don't date much, then?
Did this topic come up because today is the Ides?
The Ides was yesterday, the 15th, but Middle March would have been noon today.
The search for the key to all mythologies. Casuabon (Good Cause) was like many of the fools who actually believe it’s possible to find the one answer that would unlock the mystery of life and and bestow upon mankind the knowledge that will enlighten all. Far far worse than “fusty” he’s a bloody idealist the true bane of humanity.
As for Dorothea, she laments the passing of the time when it was possible for a Theresa of Avila to live an epic life perhaps reflecting Eliot’s own frustrations. They’re 2 sides of the same coin old Casaubon and dear Dorothea.
I wanted my Jewish Women's Circle to read "Daniel Deronda". That idea sank like a lead balloon!
Otoh my husband and I have an understanding: Bringing a John Grisham novel into the house is cause for divorce.
PS I loved DD, but HOW could GE have thought he wouldn't know that he was born Jewish? All he had to do was look down!
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