North and South

wow this was a heavy book, i really enjoyed most of it where it kinda dwelt on the disparity and gaps between the Southern gentility and Northern factory men. it asked a lot of questions about class hierarchy, the function of religion in the society as it was back then, and also like what constituted “breeding” at all, instead of only focusing on the upper-middle class societal politics that most novels at the time was wont to do. i kinda felt like the last 10 chapters were a little draggy though. i felt like after Margaret left Milton, the discussion and the contrast between the classes went away as well, and then we just have a series of events that first made her lonelier and then made her richer. as for the ending, i really wish there was more said of the reconciliation between Margaret and Mr Thornton, or that we had seen how she would behave with Mrs Thornton. there's so much that could have been said between them! she was once a subject of Mrs Thornton's disdain because she was a Southern gentlewoman who was too soft, i guess, and was poor, but now she's the one saving her son's entire business. and then how would her match with Mr Thornton be viewed by her aunt Shaw and her cousin Edith?? SO MUCH COULD HAVE BEEN SAID. what a wasted opportunity. but still the book did leave me happy and i really want to watch that mini-series now.

I was first made aware of Elizabeth Gaskell in a discussion about Jane Austen in which a good friend said that I should read Gaskell for truly great 19th century literature. I love Jane Austen, and that won't change, but I may come to love Gaskell too. This was my first novel by her, and it's fantastic! Having grown up very aware of the industrial revolution, it was fascinating to read about the north of England in this time. The characters are engaging, and the setting well described. My only complaint is that it was at times difficult to understand the workers, as they are written in dialect.

I still don't know why I love this book so much, I just do. I think this book is such a masterpiece. I will forever love this book and it will definitely remain one of my favourites my whole life. What I live about this book is that it's a mixture of Jane Austen and Charles Dickens. It mixes the stuff I love from both of those authors into one amazing book. It has the romance of a Jane Austen book along with the industrial and hardships of the working class seen in a Charles Dickens novel. I definitely recommend this book for anyone who's looking for a good read.

I never thought it possible, but this book supplanted Pride and Prejudice as my favorite romance, reasons being that it brings outside philosophical, political, and economic pressures into the romance. The romance is not just that there are misunderstandings and ruined reputations, but that there are actual lives at stake; entire towns that could fall if the mill workers refuse to work; people could be killed in riots; there is communal strife and an inability to communicate between the social classes.

This is an ambitious work that I am head over heels in love with because the prose is poetic, the themes are strong, and the characters sympathetic. Gaskell gives the secondary and tertiary characters all the love, compassion, and motive that is usually reserved for main characters alone. I could go into a detailed analysis of the writing tricks Gaskell uses to appeal to her audience (the sympathetic Victorian woman), such as describing the illnesses of those around Margaret, the way Margaret's eyes sometimes exhibit a childlike wonder or surprised pain, and the way Margaret shoulders the problems of those around her for that is her role as the daughter in the family (really, this is a brilliant piece of Victorian literature), but I won't.

I will tell you that if you like reading classics (my childhood was defined by classics, and I desperately miss the feeling of losing myself in that world), you must read this book. If your writing tends toward the classical style, this is a great example to take note of. There are moments when Margaret almost reminds me of Jane Eyre in her contemplations of her role as a female in the world, which makes sense because Mrs Gaskell was actually a sort of social friend of Charlotte Bronte's. In fact, Mrs Gaskell wrote the first biography of Charlotte, and helped create the rather mythological story behind the woman who wrote such great works as Jane Eyre and Villette.

P.S. The BBC made a two-part miniseries of this book in 2007, and it is excellent. Things have been changed, obviously, to fit the book into a four-hour showing, but it is a great adaptation and the reason why I read the book in the first place.

Originally posted at http://worderella.com/2008/02/book-north-and-south/

Such whiny people.

Very unsatisfactory, because I find the hero pretty unlikable. How much would it have cost him to give the “hands” a raise? But, sure, he got married to a rich heiress, and didn't need to... uh.
What ever.

Elizabeth Gaskell is a good author, but I dislike this book rather much.

It starts with a selfish man dragging his family away from their home to this dirty, sad industrial town in North, and then whining rest of his life because of the consequences.
His wife was terminally ill, and chose to not discuss with anyone (either), so when her family finds out, it's a terrific blow.
The father of the family expects his 18 years old daughter to deliver all bad news to his wife, and the mother makes the daughter responsible for the father's peace of mind. So when the mother dies, the daughter cannot mourn, because she has to take care of the father. Who, of course, mourns with all the emotional flagellations and excuses one can expect.
And, servants don't have any feelings, so we don't need to care one bit about the mother's maid, who loved her probably more than her husband and daughter. But, as servants don't have any feelings, it's totally fine to expect her to keep working without a hitch as if nothing had happened.
Also, for some weird reason, the couple had send their daughter to live and be raised by the mother's sister in London. So, when the father goes and dies at the old age of 55, the aunt comes and takes the girl back to London, where she is being treated as her cousin's companion.
The cousin is newly wed and has a son, and Margaret becomes the boy's nanny. Her cousin seems to be a total airhead who doesn't do anything.
So - next dies Mr. Bell who is a rich man who left his fortune to Margaret, and - of course - the London family decides she should marry her cousin's husband's brother, who is in love with her, to keep her close by as the cousin's companion, the boy's nanny, and to keep the money in the family.
But, Margaret has gone and fallen in love with what ever f his name is, the conservative a-hole mill owner, in the proper Pride and Prejudice manner (he asks her to marry her, she refuses, and then spends rest of the book being ashamed of how she did it, and Elizabeth Gaskell even invented a smaller scandal the guy can save Margaret from, to add more burning coals over her head, and make her “understand” what a swell guy he really is, even though the first impressions told differently.)
Frankly, I don't believe in that love, or the happiness of the marriage. The hero's basic values are very much against the heroine's basic values, his mother hates her, and there is a history of miscommunications, misunderstandings, and carrying a grudge.
Urgh.

Summary: In this classic, Margaret Hale is forced to move to the city with her parents during the time of England’s Industrial Revolution. She faces several challenges as she tries to get used to city life, and she begins to recognize the issues that exist between factory workers and their bosses.

This work exposes some of the injustices that occurred during the Industrial Revolution and explores the complex relationships between the factory workers and factory owners.

I loved this book, but I have to say, I might love the BBC adaptation even more. It's very true to the original dialogue & plot, and this is the kind of dramatic story that is fascinating to watch unfold!

That said, I found the book itself to be accessible and the characters relatable. The beginning is a little bit rocky as there are some hasty transitions, but after that it settles into a very thoughtful and interesting story. Plus, the romance. Even though the main characters spend most of their time at odds, it's very sweet!

I loved classic novels like this in high school, and yet I'd missed this one. If you're like me and had always heard of the book but never read it, definitely give it a try!

An absolute joy to read for me. The topics of this story interest me, and they're handled rather well. I easily grew fond of the characters and their interactions and was excited to read more.

The last 10 or so chapters gave me horrendous whiplash though. The book would have made it to my favourites, if it were not for the poor pacing and interesting story points that were left unexpanded.