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Cranford & Selected Short Stories
The sheer variety and accomplishment of Elizabeth Gaskell's shorter fiction is amazing. This new volume contains six of her finest stories that have been selected specifically to demonstrate this, and to trace the development of her art. As diverse in setting as in subject matter, these tales move from the gentle comedy of life in a small English country town in Dr Harriso...more
Paperback, 543 pages
Published
December 5th 1999
by Wordsworth Classics
(first published 1853)
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Sep 04, 2012
Faith Spinks
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fiction,
borrowed-from-library
It seems to have taken me almost as long to get around to writing this review as it took me to actually read the book. 'Cranford: and other stories' is really, as the title would suggest, more a collection of short to longer stories revolving more or less around the small town of Cranford and it’s slightly curious inhabitants.
Gaskell writes the stories well at times giving the impression of slightly mocking her quirky characters at the same time as taking them ever so seriously and presenting th...more
Gaskell writes the stories well at times giving the impression of slightly mocking her quirky characters at the same time as taking them ever so seriously and presenting th...more
I absoultely loved the BBC production of Cranford and decided I should read the stories. The collection I found actually contained Cranford, Dr. Harrison's Confessions, The Doom of the Griffiths, Lois the Witch, Curious if true, Six weeks at Heppenheim and Cousin Philis. I loved Cranford, it was a story about nice people, being good to each other with a happy ending and it was still wonderful! There was tragedy, but it was so amusing and tender and I just loved the way it was written. The charac...more
The back of the book promised variety among the stories that the book had, I have already read 2 novels for Gaskell and I thought I knew what to expect, but it turned out I though wrong.The promise was fulfilled with each new story. and I have to note her amazing ability in making a narrator tell a story he went through but was not the hero.
So here's a short review of each story:
Cranford: It captures the English society in an accurate way and not just the society but English people as well, th...more
So here's a short review of each story:
Cranford: It captures the English society in an accurate way and not just the society but English people as well, th...more
Dec 28, 2007
Elinor
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Anyone who hasn't read Gaskell and likes Victorian lit.
I missed the television adaptation but enjoyed this. It was short, sweet and amusing.
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Having been one of those people who saw the Masterpiece Theatre "Cranford" series prior to reading Mrs. Gaskell's works, I wasn't sure how I would enjoy jumping into the Cranford novel itself. I was worried that while I had fallen in love with Judi Dench's "Miss Mattie" so much, the relationship would not translate into the literary original. However, that fear was quickly banished as I realized how many of the stories had been truthfully dramatized from the novels. The lives of these women, the...more
Having just watched the Cranford DVD, I wanted to reread the novel. It has been many, many years since I first read it and I am so glad that I did. Different though it is from Mary Barton, North and South and Wives and Daughters, Cranford is more clever, more satiric and more touching than I remember. The short stories, which I had not known at all previously were wonderful, especially Cousin Phillis. Although Elizabeth Gaskell is not considered in the Victorian pantheon with Bronte, Dickens and...more
You have to admire the diversity in these stories - Gaskell introduces us to life in small English towns, to the rough nature of North Wales, to New England, France and Germany. Sometimes her stories are narrated by men, sometimes by women, sometimes by an omniscient narrator. Some of the stories are hilarious, some are bleak, some are fast-paced, some move along with a gentle, quiet pace. Some are very realistic, others have supernatural or fantastic elements to them.
I loved this collection an...more
I loved this collection an...more
The Cranford stories were a huge dissapointment. For instance, the reader does not learn until late what the name and age of the "I" is. And to me, that is very annoying. I need to know, to better identify with the carachter. I thought she was a lot older than she was and some events really puzzled me because of that.
If I disliked the book, why did I give it two stars, saying it was okay? I was only going to give it one star, but the other two stories were better, therefore the second star.
The f...more
If I disliked the book, why did I give it two stars, saying it was okay? I was only going to give it one star, but the other two stories were better, therefore the second star.
The f...more
A charming fictional account of daily lives of the women of Cranford, England, mid 19th Century. The story focuses principally on the life of Matilda (Mattie) Jenkins and her older sister (both spinsters) who continue living together after the death of their parents (their father was the village Rector). The narrative has no real plot but is rather a series of vignettes which detail the daily lives of these two women and the society ladies in their circle. Though traditional and set in their way...more
I saw the BBC series of Cranford when it aired on ABC TV a little while ago, and loved it. I bought the DVD, but will leave it for a little while before watching it again. No such restraint applies to the book though! I decided to read it for the 1% Well Read Challenge 2009 because I’ve left it rather late to finish this challenge and Cranford didn’t seem very long at 175 page…
What a pleasure it is to read these stories, and what a rarity it is to find that pleasure enhanced by having seen the t...more
What a pleasure it is to read these stories, and what a rarity it is to find that pleasure enhanced by having seen the t...more
Anyone who has ever hosted guests who didn't quite know when to leave will be amused by the gentle restrictions Cranford ladies placed upon themselves when calling on friends: 15 minutes, max! Replying to advice on these strictures, a newcomer asked how she was to know when 15 minutes were up when she didn't wear a watch---she was told to measure the time in her head (rather than worry about conversation).
Mrs. Gaskell's 19th Century town of Cranford was a gentlewoman's society. We learn that all...more
Mrs. Gaskell's 19th Century town of Cranford was a gentlewoman's society. We learn that all...more
Cranford - I greatly enjoyed reading about this independent thinking little town. This story was very funny from the first sentence: "In the first place, Cranford is in the possession of the Amazons; all the holders of houses above a certain rent are women." I think it is the funniest book by Mrs. Gaskell I've read so far. It lacked the romance of North and South and Wives and Daughters but had very memorable characters and some bittersweet romance on a much lesser scale. Now on to Mr. Harrison'...more
Cranford was a sweet book. Miss Matty is a female Mr. Pickwick (to me Judi Dench is a bizarre casting choice for the TV show, for sure). Gaskell has an exclusively feminine view of the world; even in Confessions and My Lady Ludlow the major storylines involving men are narrated or dominated by women. In the latter the structure of a narrator is really pushed beyond a reasonable extreme; at points one is listening to events described by a person telling another person, telling another person, tel...more
This book was very different from North and South, the novel by Gaskell I had already read. I had seen the series that has been made of Cranford, which was great. The `Cranford` bit was wonderful, quite nice and touching. Most of the other short stories were too short after my taste - I'd have liked to know more about the character's background etc. This however does mean they were nice stories! I particularly liked the fact that Gaskells skill to write on a diverse set of people is displayed -...more
Oh dear... yes very charming but I am finding it duller than dull.
Soldiering on as it's a book club selection and feel I need to read as much as possible.
Later:
Well I soldiered on to the end but it never really grabbed me apart from 'Mr. Harrison's Confessions'. I don't think I really gave myself enough time to read this but even so would it have made that much difference?
I did feel that in was a window into the past and more natural than the highly dramatic novels of Dickens and the like. In...more
Soldiering on as it's a book club selection and feel I need to read as much as possible.
Later:
Well I soldiered on to the end but it never really grabbed me apart from 'Mr. Harrison's Confessions'. I don't think I really gave myself enough time to read this but even so would it have made that much difference?
I did feel that in was a window into the past and more natural than the highly dramatic novels of Dickens and the like. In...more
I am only about 50 pages into the book. I love it already. It is actually really funny.
What a delightful peep into 19th English women's world!
Cranford has gotten a bit boring - I've found it keeps my interest and I see the humor better if I read a chapter at a time, which I think was the way it was initially published - works well in that form. The BBC miniseries version was good from start to finish.
1st impression: funny and sweet and ironic - my 2nd go at a Gaskell book and so far it's as good as North and South, while being more humorous (gently) and less bittersweet
1st impression: funny and sweet and ironic - my 2nd go at a Gaskell book and so far it's as good as North and South, while being more humorous (gently) and less bittersweet
Delightful writer. Delightful characters.
The stories that begat the DVD. Great!
Jun 03, 2009
Raelene
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
bookclub-picks,
the-books-of-2009
Lovely, just lovely. The prose was nice and crisp and the wit was both candid and amusing. I particularly enjoyed the narrator's voice - endearing and as slightly inept as the other characters. I got a kick out of Gaskell's characters, their goofs and social forays and especially the way she's chosen to write of her very un-Victorian subject matter: the life and times of good and strong, though unmarried, women. A very nice collection of amusing small-town stories.
Cranford:
This book, although enjoyable, was a lot harder to get to grips with than Jane Austen. The first book in the omnibus, Cranford still holds the village charm that the BBC production created. Having watched the TV series first, it is easier to watch than read, in my opinion. I have yet to read the remainder of the books in the omnibus, but I will definitely make sure they are read as they are books worth reading.
This book, although enjoyable, was a lot harder to get to grips with than Jane Austen. The first book in the omnibus, Cranford still holds the village charm that the BBC production created. Having watched the TV series first, it is easier to watch than read, in my opinion. I have yet to read the remainder of the books in the omnibus, but I will definitely make sure they are read as they are books worth reading.
"There is many a young cockerel that will stand upon a dunghill and crow about his father, by way of making his own plumage to shine." - Cousin Phillis
". . . she would have despised the modern idea of women being equal to men. Equal, indeed! she knew they were superior." - Cranford
". . . she would have despised the modern idea of women being equal to men. Equal, indeed! she knew they were superior." - Cranford
This took me ages to finish. Part of me just wanted to get through it, the other loved most of the stories. I didn't see the BBC production, but i hear they wove the various tales into each other and I can see then why they were so popular.
Though interesting, descriptive and true of English country lives in Gaskell's era, I found the BBC adaptation of the stories easier to understand on the screen then I did in the book. Sorry Mrs Gaskell, just not my cup of tea this time!!
A classic, and one where it doesn't take much to realize why it's one. Not entirely my cup of tea, but I can appreciate the issues, the writing, and the compassion in it.
I really enjoyed this book! Entertaining AND a classic! Not much happens, but the day to day events of this 19th century small town are described in a witty and engaging way.
In need of a bit of a comfort read after the sometimes-harrowing Bridge on the Drina
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Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, née Stevenson (29 September 1810 – 12 November 1865), often referred to simply as Mrs. Gaskell, was an English novelist and short story writer during the Victorian era. She is perhaps best known for her biography of Charlotte Brontë. Her novels offer a detailed portrait of the lives of many strata of society, including the very poor, and as such are of interest to socia...more
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