Middlemarch
Middlemarch by George Eliotby George Eliot
Shares rank 40 of 122 novels by recommenders
Readers praise its real-feeling characters and world, and its portrayal of personal ambition colliding with social obligation.
Readers praise its real-feeling characters and world, and its portrayal of personal ambition colliding with social obligation.
5 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Realistic characters and world
“The world feels entirely real, while still having a sense of beauty.”
Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?” “Eliot's world and characters are more real and true to life.”
Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?”
Other novels people recommend
The four most recommended other novels, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime and Punishmentby Fyodor Dostoevsky | 39 | 9 | 81% | 6 | — | Approved |
| The Brothers Karamazovby Fyodor Dostoevsky | 28 | 8 | 78% | 5 | — | Approved |
| Infinite Jestby David Foster Wallace | 26 | 5 | 84% | 9 | 10 yrs6 owners | Approved |
| The Great Gatsbyby F. Scott Fitzgerald | 24 | 9 | 73% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Middlemarchby George EliotThis page | 5 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
All 6 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“The world feels entirely real, while still having a sense of beauty.”
“Eliot's world and characters are more real and true to life.”
“The character arcs of Lydgate and Causabon are some of the best depictions of the collision of personal ambition with social obligation”
“it's good but I don't entirely see the hype”
“it's incomprehensibly great — unimaginable that a human could have written it”
“after reading Middlemarch three years ago”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.