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The Book Club

The Book Club: Middlemarch by George Eliot with Heather Mac Donald

The Book Club

PragerU

Books, Arts

4.41K Ratings

🗓️ 16 February 2021

⏱️ 33 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Is a life of duty and self-sacrifice noble or ridiculous? What can 21st-century readers take away from Middlemarch, A Study of Provincial Life, one of the great English novels? Heather Mac Donald joins Michael Knowles for a discussion of George Eliot’s comprehensive tale of marriage, idealism, loyalty, and profligacy in a nineteenth-century English town. In our fast-paced world, it’s tough to make reading a priority. At least it used to be. At Thinkr.org they summarize the key ideas from new and noteworthy nonfiction, giving you access to an entire library of great books in bite-size form. Read or listen to hundreds of titles in a matter of minutes: start your free trial today at https://thinkr.org/

Transcript

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0:00.0

Welcome back to the book club. I'm Michael Knowles and for this month we will be reading this brief little 850 page book, Middle March, by George Elliot, with a wonderful guest.

0:21.3

But first, before I introduce her, in our fast-paced world, it is tough to make reading a priority.

0:27.0

At least it used to be, but at thinker.org, they summarize the key ideas from new and noteworthy non-fiction,

0:33.5

giving you access to an entire library of great books

0:36.9

in bite-sized form. You can read or listen to hundreds of titles

0:40.4

in a matter of minutes. From old classics like Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and

0:44.5

influence people to recent bestsellers like Jordan Peterson's 12 Rules for Life.

0:48.8

If you want to challenge your preconceptions, if you want to expand your horizons and most important of all you know,

0:57.0

if you want to sound smart at cocktail parties, you can go to thinker.org, that is THI N K R

1:02.7

or no e no time for that start a free trial and put your mind in motion.

1:08.0

We will now turn to middle march and we will turn to our guest Heather McDonald the contributing editor at

1:16.2

City Journal fellow at the Manhattan Institute author of the Diversity Delusion author

1:21.4

of the war on cops you're a very busy woman.

1:24.3

Well, absolutely, when we can try and get around with COVID now, but yes, I have to get around

1:30.5

the rules.

1:31.5

I can't believe with all that you do,

1:32.9

that you would have us read an 850 page book

1:35.7

for this episode, but I'm so glad that you did.

1:38.4

It is so comprehensive, it is so global in its vision

1:42.2

of human life and human struggle and human misunderstanding that it rewards many times through

1:47.7

So could I ask you Heather I know this is probably impossible. We always have our guests give a little summary of the plot of the book.

1:55.8

The trouble with Middlemarch is,

...

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