Silas Marner by George EliotMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
What a great read! I decided that I was going to read harder books to my 10 and 9 year old. I didn't know if we could do it but we did!
This beautiful book is about a man who was wronged in many ways and flees town. He settles into a new town vastly different than the one he was from. Since he is new he is viewed as different and questionable. He spends the first 15 or so years there in isolation as a weaver. As he spends every moment spinning his gold his money piles up. It becomes his obsession.
One dark day someone comes and steals his beloved gold. Silas, our weaver, is devastated. A short time later a little girl shows up that is unknown and orphaned. Silas takes in this young child and raises her. His heart melts and he changes himself. He becomes a part of the community.
But who is this girl and where did she come from? Will he ever find his gold again?
This book is a tough read. The first several chapters I had to explain a lot of things to my boys. Sometimes we wouldn't make it past a couple of sentences with out having to talk about it. We pushed through. They were riveted. The classic went through them.
Several times when we would be doing family work Jared, (my 10 year old), would ask me ask me questions. "Why did that man take Silas' money?" "Why did the town people think Silas was bad just because he was different?" "Why did Silas only care about his gold?" Jared asked many thought provoking questions.
The main principle played out in this book is that even if you repent a price still must be paid. It really gave the boys (and me) a lot to think about. Other values portrayed include love, forgiveness, work, friendship, family bonds and marital relationships.
This was a beautiful book with beautiful words.
We must not underestimate what are children can take in.
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4 comments:
It sounds like a good one. I will have to find a copy. It's amazing how children respond to real stories like these. Something you don't get from cartoon network.
This was very inspiring! Thanks for the reminder not to underestimate my children.
This really sounds like the movie "A Simple Twist of Fate" with Steve Martin. Have you seen it? Now I'm going to have to add Silas Marner to my reading list.
I just did a search and found out that the movie is an adaptation of the book.
"A Simple Twist of Fate is Steve Martin's re-telling of George Eliot's Silas Marner." - http://www.reelviews.net/movies/s/simple_twist.html
I don't agree with the movie review as I thought it was a lot better than they wrote. It wasn't a perfect movie, but it was a great story. Now I definitely have to read the book.
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