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Silas
Marner Reader Responses
by
Marilyn Green Faulkner
It has been
six months since we started the Best Books Club at Meridian Magazine,
and many people have written to ask what is involved in joining
the club. We simply read a great book together each month and share
comments about it via email. A few hundred of you have signed up
for the club, and many of you have written to say how much you enjoy
reading together. If you would like to participate in the discussion,
join us by clicking on bestbooks@meridianmagazine.com,
then read along with us and watch for articles on the book of the
month in Meridian. Share your comments via email and I'll publish
them in the final article each month.
Here is the
reading list for May through September:
May: The Chosen,
by Chaim Potok
June: A Room
with a View, by E.M. Forster
July: The
Keys of the Kingdom, by A.J. Cronin
August: Huckleberry
Finn, by Mark Twain
September:
Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen
Write and share
your wish list with me for books to read later in the year.
Here are some
of the comments I have received about Silas Marner:
I read Silas
Marner last year and LOVED it! I love the author's style;
choice of words, story line, characters, everything. I've been
meaning to read Mill on the Floss and Middlemarch
so I guess I will have to read those this month also. —Stephanie
---
I could hardly
put Silas Marner down once I started it. Once I started
reading it, there almost seemed to be a rhythm within the story.
I have seen a lot of weaving of the Navajo people here. (They
do not have looms like Silas had.) They still make the special
sound when they weave. This has been my favorite book that we
have read. I liked it so much that I looked the author up at home
and found out a little bit about her. I thought it interesting
that she took her husband's name (George) for writing. —Donna
---
I really enjoyed
your article, and the idea that miracles, though sometimes natural
in their coming, the change of heart they bring is very unnatural
for the person involved -- and that is the miracle! —Vic
---
I enjoyed
reading Silas Marner. I assume your question: "Is it
a Christian book?" means do Christian actions take place. There
are many, most clearly Silas taking in the little girl and treating
her with a tenderness I have never seen expressed from a male
figure, unable to spank or put her in the coal bin. The godmother
seems to have been his liaison back into contact with the outside
world, teaching not only about taking care of the child, but how
God works with her simple faith. When bad things happen to us,
it is not because we are forsaken, but because there is a greater
purpose than we can see at the time taking place. She was the
epitome of "Charity Never Faileth."
I found the
issues to be very current, even though the setting is so long
ago. One example I will mention is Priscilla's comment about never
marrying: "Mr. Have-your-own-way is the best husband as long as
you have a good father and home. ...and the only one I'd ever
promise to obey."
A style that
I didn't enjoy about the book was the obvious foreshadowing of
every event that took place. I knew that Silas's money would be
stolen, that the horse would be killed, that chance would help
Godfrey out of his loveless marriage. It seemed like being spoon-fed
the story. —Judy
---
It is a mini
masterpiece - it has a happy ending, and I like happy endings.
—Phil
I asked if others
had experienced a "Silas Marner Miracle." Here are some beautiful
responses:
I love the
miracle metaphor and the miracle of life and of service, and of
baby curls versus gold coin. Or AS gold coin, more appropriately.
I think "as I have loved you, love one another" is the germ of
the gospel, and looking back at the luscious, wonderful times
of the past 52 years, or maybe the past 45 that are logged into
conscious memory, it would be accurate to say that I am the total
of the kindnesses shown me. Some were spectacular and truly saintly,
others were just little bursts of joy in the course of a routine
activity...but each one made a non-event into a little rush of
sweetness. What is life if not that? And isn't George Eliot right-on
when she frames that pivotal event as an innocent occurrence that
slips in when our attention is suspended? I would say we almost
never watch the mother faint to free the curious child. She just
gets worn out and plops over offstage. The old falls away unnoticed
so that the new can steal in wherever there is fire. The miracle
is not that the child appears, but that the flame burns. This
is to set aside the miracle of life and try to acknowledge the
vast miracle of its creator. My mom cherished me and thought I
was clever. My friends laughed at my jokes and invited me to their
parties, noticed my new outfits and paid attention to me. My teachers
praised me. Sometimes peers elected me. Sometimes I received recognition.
Each was a lovely, formative miracle. I hope I can contribute
similar life-builders as often as possible, and pay particular
attention if the Holy Ghost is depending on me. I'd have to be
frozen by a grand mal seizure not to notice how good my fellow
pilgrims have been to me. —Kathy
---
I have read
Middlemarch a couple of times and enjoyed (but not always
agreed with) George Eliot's philosophies, but had never read Silas
Marner. I don't know why, I found a copy of it on my
bookshelf. The theme of Love and how it changes a person,
blended so well with the other book selections--Celestial
Navigation (I found it sad that Jeremy's love was not enough
to change Mary. I do love happy endings!--Jane Austen
is my favorite author, by the way) and Jane Eyre. I
have two adopted children--eight and three--so the story was very
poignant to me. You have to experience the miracle of adoption
to really understand the powerful experience of seeing
the Lord's hand in your life. I'm sure anyone who has gone through
that experience can say with conviction that God is
in the details of our lives. Silas could see it too, but
could George Elliot? —Elizabeth
---
Nearly 30
years ago, after many rough experiences in life, I went to a singles
club social meeting where I had found pleasant people to visit
with on the weekends. I had a long conversation with a man whose
outlook on life I admired and so when he asked for my phone number
and the privilege of calling me the next Friday I gave it to him.
On Friday
the phone rang and when the voice on the other phone said, "Would
you like me to come by and pick you up to go to the singles meeting?
" I consented. Imagine my surprise when it was not the man I expected!
He was shy and, not wanting to hurt his feelings, I did
not mention the error and went with him. One thing led to
another and two years later we were married. What followed
were the most rewarding years of my life, really the only time
in my life that I have felt loved, secure and cared for.
Four years
ago he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and had a stroke as well.
Now I am caring for him. It is very hard, but perhaps there is
a real meaning in all this for me. Life is very strange, but I
have met few people who have had the joy and satisfaction that
he and I shared all those years. —Lindy
May's Best Book:
The Chosen, by Chaim Potok
It's time for
all of you goyim to brush up on your Yiddish and get into the lives
of New York Jews during the Second World War. Chaim Potok's wonderful
story of a modern-day David and Jonathan will touch your heart and
give you some insight into a world usually closed to Gentiles. (I
know you don't think you are a Gentile, but Jewish people think
you are!) Potok is a great scholar of Judaic history, and has a
deep understanding of his own people. I think you will enjoy The
Chosen. If you love it, there is a sequel, titled The Promise.
We'll talk more about it next week in Meridian.
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