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North and South

Elizabeth Gaskell

Start date: May 1, 2014

Finish date: May 31, 2014

Discussion: May 2014 - North and South

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May 2014 - North and South

Bookshelf, Library Bag, or Donation Box (Reviews) North and South
By Shanea · 12 posts · 87 views

last updated Apr 14, 2016 10:21PM

North and South is Open
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Mar 31, 2010 SarahC rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: spring2010, elizabeth-gaskell

I began this novel as part of our Jane Austen group comparison read, asking “Is Gaskell’s North & South very like Austen?” Both authors changed our world with brilliant fiction for grown ups who really want to read novels which parallel life, emotion, our senses. Putting Austen and Gaskell together in a group beyond this isn’t necessary. In North and South when main character Margaret Hale reaches a maturity and decisiveness -- at that point, North & South is fully Gaskell’s and nobody else's th I began this novel as part of our Jane Austen group comparison read, asking “Is Gaskell’s North & South very like Austen?” Both authors changed our world with brilliant fiction for grown ups who really want to read novels which parallel life, emotion, our senses. Putting Austen and Gaskell together in a group beyond this isn’t necessary. In North and South when main character Margaret Hale reaches a maturity and decisiveness -- at that point, North & South is fully Gaskell’s and nobody else's that I could compare it too.

Would an Austen follower love this novel though? Probably very much.

Gaskell’s characters are created with a talented hand. Each character captures your attention in some way. The characters Margaret Hale and John Thornton made it impossible for me to put this book down. They live, breath, speak and evolve through this story. They allow us into their physical spaces. Their struggles are felt by the reader. You watch a relationship build even though these two characters are actually apart. We are allowed to witness the strong feeling of both people. It is a beautifully balanced novel in this regard. The story’s lesser characters, especially the Thornton women, Nicholas Higgins, Mr. Bell and Henry Lennox, will likely leave an impression on you.

And of Margaret Hale… At the story’s beginning, we have some belief that this woman will not remain static, but there is still enough mystery of her future movements to make us wonder. So we get to watch her growing knowledge -- enjoying the after-dinner conversation of the men at the dinner party, rather than that of the women. We find a Margaret who is brave and bold and moves to protect the men in her life. And at a point in her life, she knows that “she must one day answer for her own life, and what she has done with it…”

The plot is pure craftsmanship. Gaskell wrote of the difficulties of the format of a serialized story where she was restricted in length. Perhaps some events occur in the story with abruptness. Even so, I seldom read a novel with such a strong plot. Most of the turning points, the characters' actions, and revealing of emotion are perfectly placed.

This novel’s scenes are unsurpassed. North and South could define the perfect execution of scenes within a story. Some of the richest include the first meeting of the Hale and Thornton women, the strikers' riot, the touching interaction between Margaret and brother Frederick upon his rare visit home, and the novel's very beautiful final scene. And without Gaskell’s powers of presenting her story so visually, she could not have made the reader understand the world of the northern English manufacturing community.

Please give this novel a try. It is a rich classic that offers so much I can’t even describe. And it is also a strongly romantic story of a young woman's experiences of struggle, loyalty and a moving connection with a man of noble spirit.

Highly recommended. Surely one of the best of Victorian fiction.
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Apr 09, 2014 Ebster Davis rated it really liked it

I bought this book for fifty cents at the Senior Citizens Thrift Store. It was really nice because I could underline text and write in the margins at my favorite parts (which I did a lot because I enjoyed it very much, though I think the ending was a bit abrupt.)

It's about a woman trying to make peace with change in her life.

Unlike most of the books I've read from this era, it's not a social satire it is legitimately looking at political issues of the time and incorporating them into a drama. ( ...more

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May 03, 2014 Shanea rated it liked it

Shelves: classic, cwac, fiction, 1001, gb, romance

Despite trying to come up with polite things repeatedly, I have nothing nice to say. I also don't have anything particularly rude to say. This book is just... meh. Ehh. Average. Bleh. ...more

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Jul 12, 2013 Staciel rated it it was amazing

Shelves: rated-5-stars, classic-lit, best-summer-read

Like pretty much everyone here, I was first introduced to this story through the 2004 BBC miniseries.. I have seen it now several times, and have also recently purchased the 1975 adaptation as well....

As a result, I just had to read the book, and I enjoyed it as I did the movies-- if you are also a fan of the films, this book is a must.

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