"Then you will be happy, if you have a plan, Dodo, Perhaps little Arthur will like plans when he grows up."

--Celia in Middlemarch by George Eliot


This quote captures the heart of  Middlemarch for me: Dorothea and her plans, to build cottages, to produce a great work with her husband. For I too have plans, secret cheery little things, that I carry with me, and I do think they ensure my happiness to a degree I didn't have before I thought of them.


I want to write a novel, a private novel, meant only for me. I want it to describe a life I'd find fascinating, to portray a heroine I'd like to inspire myself to become. I have ideas about starting a magazine, one that reports on people who are in the middle of carrying out a creative idea and introduces them, through their profiles, to people who can help them do it. I have an idea for a computer program that would predict new interests you should try: if you like literature, should you try poetry? I like to think about how to design a therapy program in which people talk about what resonates for them in the books they like. I have a fellowship in mind that I'd like to start should I ever become wealthy: it would send people back to college to redo whatever aspects they wished they'd done differently--at least the redoable ones. I'd study psychology and literature


Once I read of Dorothea's plans, I read the novel like self-help. What could she teach me about how to carry out plans?
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My recommendation if you like the idea of Dorothea's plans: Clayhanger by Arnold Bennett. I felt the same eagerness to see how a person's plans turned out in that book as I did in Middlemarch.

Does this entry make you think of a book you enjoy? Or, if you like this passage but it doesn't remind you of any other book, tell me your favorite book instead.

Caroline: replacingmiddlemarch [at] gmail.com

Introduction

No two people read the same story when they read the same book, a librarian told me once. You might have no idea why Anna Karenina behaves the way she does but identify with the questions Levin asks himself and the answers he finds. Or you might have no idea what Levin is talking about but feel Anna Karenina's passion easily.


I wonder if people who find the same elements of a story resonant--the same character, event, passage, idea--would find they have other favorite books in common?


In this blog, I will describe what's on those pages whose corners I fold down as I read, those passages that I remember so long after I've finished the book. I've chosen quotes that capture the idea or question or character that resonates for me and I've given a little background on myself to explain why I care about each quote.


If you identify with any of the passages I've chosen--and especially if you identify with them for the same reasons I do--I'd love to get your recommendation for other books I should try.


Caroline: replacingmiddlemarch [at] gmail.com