From The Prince to Middlemarch

As I've said in previous posts, I am working my way through a large stack of newly purchased books; they are supposedly great pieces of literature.  Last week I finished The Prince; it is written in an extremely straightforward manner.  The author is trying to clearly and concisely present his ideas and opinions.  While I struggle to write in this way, I appreciated his success.  The new book I've started is George Eliot's Middlemarch.  I have truly stepped into a different world; I expected this with respect to the subject matter, point of view, time period, and customs.  But I never considered how wordy the book might be!!  Don't get me wrong; I love a book that is vivid and descriptive, one that can transport me.  With this book, I find myself reading every word but only taking in every third, fourth, or fifth word.  This seems to be plenty for me to follow along with the story.  I am sure that this was done on purpose to demonstrate how life felt to those of the time, class, and society.  (I had a word just a moment ago that perfectly describes what I feel, but it flew right out of my head.)  The plot seems like it might be interesting, but I could have done with a 300 page book rather than 700+ pages.