North and South in Catching up on Classics (and lots more!)

Jun 05, 2009 Everyman rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: classics

After enjoying other Gaskell books, I found North and South disappointing. The writing was plodding, the plot was uninspiring. It was mostly a polemic about the working conditions in Victorian England, but those have been handled much better by other authors.

The love interest was unconvincing, and seemed to be there mostly because she needed some sort of emotional hook, but for me it didn't work.

I would recommend sticking with her Cranford series and Wives and Daughters. She wrote a few others ...more

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Oct 22, 2017 Kelly_Hunsaker_reads ... rated it it was amazing

Shelves: classics, 1001-books, vic-lit

Read for Victober 2017.

I loved this book because it was quiet and slow and completely enchanting. Mrs Gaskell told her stories with a graceful build of story told without huge plot points and without shocks and surprises. She told her stories with nuance and subtlety. I expected a romance and instead I got characters who are stubborn and silly and unique; characters who refuse to see that they are in a romance. Ms Hale and Mr Thornton were obviously going to end up together but neither knew it. Read for Victober 2017.

I loved this book because it was quiet and slow and completely enchanting. Mrs Gaskell told her stories with a graceful build of story told without huge plot points and without shocks and surprises. She told her stories with nuance and subtlety. I expected a romance and instead I got characters who are stubborn and silly and unique; characters who refuse to see that they are in a romance. Ms Hale and Mr Thornton were obviously going to end up together but neither knew it. This quote, for me, tells the entire story:

"He shook hands with Margaret. He knew it was the first time their hands had met, though she was perfectly unconscious of the fact."

Honestly, I am not a reader of romance novels and so I am possibly the worst reviewer of a romance book. And as read through the reviews of so many others here on Goodreads I realized that many saw a true romance while many others saw none. I think I am somewhere between. This is not a romance where the characters are a couple and you see their growth together. You won't see stolen moments and kisses. And yet, in some ways I found that to be truer to real life. Romance, for me, is about those moments when the emotion surprises me. Some of us call the feeling "butterflies." So let's look back at that one quote:

"He shook hands with Margaret. He knew it was the first time their hands had met, though she was perfectly unconscious of the fact."

For me, that is romance... Mr Thornton had butterflies -- he felt the romance. He stubbornly refused to accept it, as did she. But his emotions were raw and Mrs Gaskell gave the reader dozens if not hundreds of such glimpses into her characters' heads.

This book was one that I read in two days -- listening while too active to read. I enjoyed each moment, as it felt quite magical. And then, since it ended it has also made me think. I realize that I learned a lot about life in England at the time. History came to life for me through its pages and so the original 4 star rating became 5. ...more

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Jul 16, 2008 Laura rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: victorians, read-2010, 3ms, classics, 1001-books-you-must-read-before-you, hf-19th-century-europe

Discussion at Victorian's group. A masterpiece by Elizabeth Gaskell showing the struggle of the 19th century woman to survive under a Victorian society. ...more

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Sep 09, 2009 Christy B rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, fiction

I waited sometime after reading this book to figure out what I thought of it, but I'm still not sure. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either. I think I was subconsciously comparing it to Wives and Daughters, which was my first Gaskell read - and so far, my favorite.

North and South started out good enough. With the moving to Milton, the early interaction with Thornton. The subtle arguments between Margaret and Thornton were thoroughly entertaining.

I found that I was comparing Margaret and ...more

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Mar 03, 2018 Julie rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classic-novels, fin-2018

I feel like I am grading on a curve, rating this book 3 stars. Did I actually like it? Or do I like the idea of it? I usually adore 19th century British novels so started this novel with high hopes. I'd seen the BBC adaptation of Gaskell's Cranford and loved it as well, so felt sure I was in for a treat with North & South. Oh my, what happened?

The book starts off slow & I struggled to make myself pick it up and read it. The novel finally - finally! - picks up speed in the last hundred pages. How I feel like I am grading on a curve, rating this book 3 stars. Did I actually like it? Or do I like the idea of it? I usually adore 19th century British novels so started this novel with high hopes. I'd seen the BBC adaptation of Gaskell's Cranford and loved it as well, so felt sure I was in for a treat with North & South. Oh my, what happened?

The book starts off slow & I struggled to make myself pick it up and read it. The novel finally - finally! - picks up speed in the last hundred pages. However, at that point, it develops too quickly. I wish she had spread out events in the book more evenly, instead of cramming so much in at the end. It reminded me of when you are writing something on a posterboard and then, uh oh, dang, you are running out of room so you have to start writing smaller and leaving less space between words so it will all fit. The end result looks somewhat sloppy and ill thought out.

My first issue with the plot came at the beginning, when the reader learns that Mr Hale, for some vague & unspecified reason, has decided to leave the Church of England & his job and move north to an industrial town. Um, what? WHY?! Hold on, this seems like a major, major decision and plot point but it is glossed over by Gaskell. Maybe she thought specific attacks on the Church would give her negative publicity or even prevent publication? I could not get behind Mr Hale's decision because I had no idea where that decision came from. I wanted a lot more focus on religion than I got.

I also never followed why Mr Hale decided to move his family so far north and reside in such a different environment. As self punishment? Who knows. Oh sure, Gaskell writes the reason was that Mr Hale had a friend from the north who could help him get a job as a tutor. Hello, that friend lived in Oxford, not Manchester/"Milton" - why not move there and get a job tutoring? You know, in a college town. Located in the South. That would have made more sense and also been less upsetting & healthier for Mrs. Hale & Margaret.

Once in Milton, the reader is subjected to long winded speeches by various characters, concerning industrialization & unions. It didn't further the plot, merely gave Gaskell a mouthpiece to expand on her own political beliefs. It was very heavy handed. Dickens is able to put forth his viewpoints without bludgeoning the reader over the head with them. I wish Gaskell was able to weave her thoughts more deftly into the actual story of the book.

As for the romance, it is so, so cliched. Perhaps when the book was written, it was more fresh? Austen does the same set up more gracefully and more entertainingly with Darcy & Elizabeth. Margaret spends 95% of the book loathing Mr Thorn for no real apparent reason other than to manufacture some romantic tension. Mr Thorn becomes wildly enamored of Margaret, who treats him shabbily, because....uh, who knows. Maybe he's a masochist. Her haughty, regal beauty? I was rooting for them to not get together at the end. Poor Mr Thorn, once the sexual desire fades, he's going to regret his decision.

Ok, then why 3 stars if I have so many complaints? Good question. I felt that there WAS a good story, buried under all the dross. I enjoyed many of the supporting characters. I am interested in that period of time in England. I liked her Cranford story. Like I said, I am grading on a curve. ...more

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