North and South (Wordsworth Classics)
by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
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Book Summary Information
Author: Elizabeth Cleghorn GaskellEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1998-04-01
ISBN: 1853260932
Number of pages: 448
Publisher: Wordsworth Editions
Book Reviews of North and South (Wordsworth Classics)
Book Review: Passionate Characters You'll Love Getting To Know
Summary: 5 Stars
As so many others, I had never even heard of Gaskell until I saw (and loved!) the BBC miniseries of this book. I went to my local public library and discovered they had NOTHING by this author. So I ordered this book and have read it twice now, and while it's never going to replace Austen and Dickens in my heart, it is a good novel that I recommend to any BritLit fan. One of the things I liked most about this book (and the other works by Gaskell that I'm just now discovering) is that it's sort of like a bridge between the worlds of Austen and Dickens. I've read so much of their work that I feel I know the worlds they describe, but I always felt there was such a disconnect between them. In Gaskell I get to see the Industrial Revolution arrive on the scene and witness characters struggling to follow (and sometimes make up) the new rules of what is "proper." In Dickens' novels, it's always such a big deal whether a man is a "gentleman" or not, whereas in Austen it's much more clear-cut. So to see Margaret Hale dismiss John Thornton as "not a gentleman" and see him recoil as if slapped was fascinating to me. Margaret seemed to me as if she had just run away from a Jane Austen plot right into this new industrialized world, and she ran right into a Darcy-esque mill owner, of all things! So as her definition of a gentleman evolved, mine did, too. The style of Gaskell's writing can be slow, heavy on obscure (to me, at least) allusions, and sometimes lacking in humor. But her characters practically breathe on the page. I felt the character of Margaret especially was so fully rendered I expected her to jump off the page, and she was much more fully realized than the film version. Gaskell takes us right inside her thoughts to see Margaret's hopes, joys, expectations, and self-image. I really admired Margaret in the book because I could see how terribly "put upon" she was by her well-meaning but not-terribly-useful parents. No matter what happens, Margaret shoulders the burden and looks to no one else for help. And John Thornton is such a similar personality that they seem better matched than any Austen couple I can think of. Their love story is developed slowly and beautifully, and the book's final scene is wonderfully passionate and worth the wait, even if it doesn't involve a public display of affection on a train platform. So if you loved the mini-series and want an easy-to-read novelization of it, you may not like this book. But if you want to read a Victorian novel that has been overlooked by many readers (especially American ones, like me) pick this one up.
Summary of North and South (Wordsworth Classics)
With an Introduction and Notes by Dr Patsy Stoneman, University of Hull Set in the mid-19th century, and written from the author's first-hand experience, North and South follows the story of the heroine's movement from the tranquil but moribund ways of southern England to the vital but turbulent north. Elizabeth Gaskell's skilful narrative uses an unusual love story to show how personal and public lives were woven together in a newly industrial society. This is a tale of hard-won triumphs - of rational thought over prejudice and of humane care over blind deference to the market. Readers in the twenty-first century will find themselves absorbed as this Victorian novel traces the origins of problems and possibilities which are still challenging a hundred and fifty years later: the complex relationships, public and private, between men and women of different classes.Classics Books
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