Felix Holt, The Radical
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Product Description
Margaret Harris, University of Sydney
"a handsomely-produced and reader-friendly edition of Eliot's powerful novel of social ambition and illicit love."
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Product Description
When the young nobleman Harold Transome returns to England from the colonies with a self-made fortune, he scandalizes the town of Treby Magna with his decision to stand for Parliament as a Radical. But after the idealistic Felix Holt also returns to the town, the difference between Harold's opportunistic values and Holt's profound beliefs becomes apparent. Forthright, brusque and driven by a firm desire to educate the working-class, Felix is at first viewed with suspicion by many, including the elegant but vain Esther Lyon, the daughter of the local clergyman. As she discovers, however, his blunt words conceal both passion and deep integrity. Soon the romantic and over-refined Esther finds herself overwhelmed by a heart-wrenching decision: whether to choose the wealthy Transome as a husband, or the impoverished but honest Felix Holt.
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First Sentence
Five-and-thirty years ago2 the glory had not yet departed from the old coach-roads: the great roadside inns were still brilliant with well-polished tankards, the smiling glances of pretty barmaids, and the repartees of jocose ostlers; the mail still announced itself3 by the merry notes of the horn; the hedge-cutter or the rick-thatcher might still know the exact hour by the unfailing yet otherwise meteoric apparition of the pea-green Tally-ho or the yellow Independent; and elderly gentlemen in pony-chaises, quartering nervously to make way for the rolling swinging swiftness, had not ceased to remark that times were finely changed since they used to see the pack-horses and hear the tinkling of their bells on this very highway. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Five-and-thirty years ago2 the glory had not yet departed from the old coach-roads: the great roadside inns were still brilliant with well-polished tankards, the smiling glances of pretty barmaids, and the repartees of jocose ostlers; the mail still announced itself3 by the merry notes of the horn; the hedge-cutter or the rick-thatcher might still know the exact hour by the unfailing yet otherwise meteoric apparition of the pea-green Tally-ho or the yellow Independent; and elderly gentlemen in pony-chaises, quartering nervously to make way for the rolling swinging swiftness, had not ceased to remark that times were finely changed since they used to see the pack-horses and hear the tinkling of their bells on this very highway. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The first Reform Bill has just passed. The wealthy squire Harold Transome is set to compete against the more deserving, labouring Felix Holt on the same Radical ticket to the local borough seat. And they soon become unwitting rivals in another arena, for the heart of the book's real heroine, Esther Lyon, the dissenting minister's daughter. `Felix Holt' is a rich novel: both political speculation and comedy of manners. It portrays 19th century election processes in their full, colourful detail: corruption, intimidation, vote-buying and all, while leaving room for hope and ultimately painting a fascinating picture of nascent democracy. It is also endowed with George Eliot's subtle dialogue and keen eye for psychological and social nuance.
I have only read Middlemarch by the same author. The much thicker and better known work has a wider cast of characters and, with its more slowly-paced plot, it provides a deeper analysis of early Victorian country mores, but it is also a more classical piece of social study. `Felix Holt' is a busier, rowdier novel, yet I found it just as convincing and engaging in its characters and relations. It is entertaining on multiple levels; this is a book that appeals both to readers with a historical interest and to those simply looking for a good intrigue. Highly recommended.
I have only read Middlemarch by the same author. The much thicker and better known work has a wider cast of characters and, with its more slowly-paced plot, it provides a deeper analysis of early Victorian country mores, but it is also a more classical piece of social study. `Felix Holt' is a busier, rowdier novel, yet I found it just as convincing and engaging in its characters and relations. It is entertaining on multiple levels; this is a book that appeals both to readers with a historical interest and to those simply looking for a good intrigue. Highly recommended.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Warning: this review contains spoilers.
Reading `Felix Holt, the Radical', I came across the problem I have encountered in other George Eliot novels.
She likes to comment and philosophise on her characters, the situations in which they find themselves and their responses to those situations . Undoubtedly, this gives her novels a richness and depth, but there is a downside.
I find that as I am reading the novel, much of this commentary, which can be couched in high-flown language, passes me by and I am getting only an impression of the meaning Eliot is conveying. I do not find this a satisfying reading experience and it has coloured my opinion of 'Felix Holt, the Radical' as a whole.
The novel centres on three plots: an election held in a Midlands town in 1832, a love story and an inheritance. The inheritance plot is the least successful of the three; it is a complicated story of subterfuge and false identity and Eliot is not really on top of it and there are loose ends at the end of the novel which are not satisfactorily tied up.
The small cast of characters are all well drawn and have a believability about them. I do think the novel is mis-named as Esther Lyon is the predominant protagonist rather than Felix Holt.
I enjoyed `Felix Holt, the Radical', but only up to a point. There is always the sense for me that Eliot is keeping her reader at arm's length and I like to be more fully engaged when reading a novel.
Reading `Felix Holt, the Radical', I came across the problem I have encountered in other George Eliot novels.
She likes to comment and philosophise on her characters, the situations in which they find themselves and their responses to those situations . Undoubtedly, this gives her novels a richness and depth, but there is a downside.
I find that as I am reading the novel, much of this commentary, which can be couched in high-flown language, passes me by and I am getting only an impression of the meaning Eliot is conveying. I do not find this a satisfying reading experience and it has coloured my opinion of 'Felix Holt, the Radical' as a whole.
The novel centres on three plots: an election held in a Midlands town in 1832, a love story and an inheritance. The inheritance plot is the least successful of the three; it is a complicated story of subterfuge and false identity and Eliot is not really on top of it and there are loose ends at the end of the novel which are not satisfactorily tied up.
The small cast of characters are all well drawn and have a believability about them. I do think the novel is mis-named as Esther Lyon is the predominant protagonist rather than Felix Holt.
I enjoyed `Felix Holt, the Radical', but only up to a point. There is always the sense for me that Eliot is keeping her reader at arm's length and I like to be more fully engaged when reading a novel.
Format:Paperback
Perhaps unjustly neglected among George Eliot's later novels, Felix Holt is an enjoyable, if demanding, read. Featuring Esther Lyon as one of Eliot's characteristically proto-feminist heroines, it is at heart the story of her choice between the `middling delights' of marriage to political opportunist and all-round bounder Harold Transome (and the ensuing life of `well-cushioned despair' at Transome Hall), and the authenticity of life with the title character, political reformer Holt. But it's far more than that: it throws up a complex issue of inheritance (which, as in Thomas Hardy's novels, also functions as a metaphor for questions about what, in an age of rapid change, is worth retaining); examines in depth the murky world of nineteenth century politics at the time of the 1832 Reform Act; and has a great deal to say about women's choices - and their consequences - via the very contrasting personae and story-arcs of Esther Lyon and Arabella Traherne.
Eliot has a gift for sympathetic portrayal of character and meticulously-researched plot, both of which this novel displays abundantly. And while some critics have complained that the plot relies heavily on chance and coincidence, and that Felix Holt himself is a rather wooden figure, there's no doubt that Eliot uses the turn of events, and Holt's character in particular, to make some powerful observations about the necessity of shaping your destiny, rather than being shaped by it. In her excellent and accessible introduction to this Penguin Classics edition, Lynda Mugglestone argues for the validity of Eliot's vision, and the centrality of the court-room scene for an ultimately positive portrayal of Esther Lyon as a woman who stands equal to Holt in her chosen life-path. Very satisfying.
Eliot has a gift for sympathetic portrayal of character and meticulously-researched plot, both of which this novel displays abundantly. And while some critics have complained that the plot relies heavily on chance and coincidence, and that Felix Holt himself is a rather wooden figure, there's no doubt that Eliot uses the turn of events, and Holt's character in particular, to make some powerful observations about the necessity of shaping your destiny, rather than being shaped by it. In her excellent and accessible introduction to this Penguin Classics edition, Lynda Mugglestone argues for the validity of Eliot's vision, and the centrality of the court-room scene for an ultimately positive portrayal of Esther Lyon as a woman who stands equal to Holt in her chosen life-path. Very satisfying.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Some moving and memorable moments, but too many dull parts in between
This novel about class conflict in an English county town at the time of the Great Reform Act had some quirky and quite interesting characters. Read more
Published 11 months ago by John Hopper
Only for the most committed Eliot fans
Eliot tries her best to engage with the political ferment surronding the Reform Acts of the 1830s, but such themes prove to be beyond her, just as they were in Middlemarch a few... Read more
Published on 6 July 2009 by ZPQA
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