North & South discussion
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Wives and Daughters
Wives & Daughters
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Introduction and Preliminary Comments
Thank you so much! Great comments, very useful.
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Hi Trudy,I am going to be a little late starting this I think, but I will be joining in as soon as I can. Thanks for the first post, I'll make sure I revisit it before I begin the book.
Are we reading one chapter a week or how many? i never finished it first time around hence I look forward to making it to the end :)
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Fanny - I'm going to post threads for about 8-9 chapters at a time. This gets us through the book by the end of May (a 7-week read). It ends up being a little more than a chapter a day if you want to stay on a steady schedule.
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Thanks, btw. Glad you like my intro.
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Rebecca, ~Look back. Look back at me...~
(last edited Apr 12, 2015 03:35PM)
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I discovered a free kindle download (it's public domain after all) had a whispersync upgrade for only .99c that will help me keeping on target! It's delightfully narrated to and lovely to hear Dr. Gibson's accent
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By Nadia May. I love reading full immersion, it's so easy to go back and forth between reading and listening. I already had a public domain edition of wives and daughters but it wasn't whipsersync ready. Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0084ADOVK/r... via @amazon
http://www.audible.com/pd/Fiction/Wiv...
And I did check out the sample to make sure I wouldn't be bored to death :)
I'm listening to the Prunella Scales narrated version, that's very good too!
That price isn't bad either. Sadly audible doesn't show you which kindle edition it's linked too, so it's tricky pricing it the total book. FYI today's deal is Candide narrated by the delicious Jack Davenport (public service mention:)
Too bad Penelope Wilton's narration is abridged :(
Just getting started!
I've listened to the first 8 chapters already, I found it hard to put down. It's not my first time reading it though so I'll leave my impressions until everyone has caught up... except to say that it's funnier than I remember.
Is anyone else reading / listening with faces in mind of the memorable adaptation?
Yes, very much so :)
Not my first read either and hope to finish it this time around especially given the irony of the end ...
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Totally am! They were all wonderfully portrayed in the BBC adaptation.
Haven't yet started because I was hoping to find a hard copy (tough luck!). I found a pdf on the internet last night but it has 900 pages; my eyes are going to pop out. :(
Would you all mind if I joined the group read?I missed the group read of North and South.
The more the merrier :p
Great! Thanks! I'll begin reading tomorrow.
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I missed the group read of North and South."
Welcome, Andrea! We'd love to have you join us. It's never too late to add your comments for any group read, including the former N&S group read. I'm always interested in what others have to say and the subject never gets old. :)
I just started it tonight. Delighted to join you ladies in another group read!Funny note: I downloaded the free Kindle book from Amazon. The first line starts out "illustrationo begin with the old rigmarole of childhood." In some confusion, I went to the Gutenberg online version to compare it. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/4274/4...-.
It shows a pen and ink drawing of a father and daughter riding a horse and pony, and in the picture is a drawn letter T, which is the initial letter of the first line.
The image won't embed, but here's a copy of it: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/4274/4...
I checked down further in the novel and this is done a few more times. So if anyone else was confused too, I hope I've helped!
Trudy, thank you for the wonderful intro. I'm glad to participate here.
Also, when I finally get to read N&S, I will follow the earlier discussion here and add my own comments.
I'm adding my thanks to others, Trudy, for your insightful comments above. Rereading them now after finishing Chapter 16, they're much more meaningful to me now.
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This is my second read, so I'm inevitably gleaning much more this time because I know what clues to look for.
I believe one of the traits or moral virtues that Gaskell is examining is the capacity to be unselfish - the practice of putting others' needs/happiness before your own. Or at least the ability to be aware of what others may be feeling - an ability to genuinely sympathize with others.
I think we'll see characters in this book on all different levels regarding the expression of or omission of this trait. Some will have blind spots in otherwise good characters. Others leave much to be desired in this department!
Trudy, I'll have to keep this in mind as I read.Those of us who are reading for the first can benefit from your experience! :)
I have to confess that I finished the book this morning! Which of course means that by my rating system it's a five star, utterly compulsive read. But now having gulped the whole thing down in just a few days I'm going back to re-read it at a more sedate, Victorian pace. lol I did exactly the same thing with North and South :)
I'll try to avoid spoilers in the threads, but I'll just say if you are wavering on reading this folks--go for it--it's wonderful!
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I'll add new chapter threads slowly. I like to keep a steady pace for the group as a whole.
Oh, now you can watch the mini-series, right? I think you'll love it!
Thanks, Trudy. I literally couldn't put it down. Friday night I read until 3 am. And then I read most of Saturday afternoon. I just cared so much about all of the characters--even some of the flawed ones--that I had to find out what happened. Now I want to go back slowly as you say to see how Gaskell worked her magic on me and to savor all the fine points. As character-driven novels go, this is just magnificent. I'm looking forward to pacing myself with the group now that I've finished my guilty binge-read ;)
I'm of two minds about the mini-series. I really want to see it, especially the way they handled the end, but I also want to see Gaskell's art clearly and sometimes the strong visual images of a really good adaptation can take away from the reading process.
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The book always wins in fine detail. I've enjoyed imagining the characters from the adaptation in this read. They really do a great job of capturing the essence of these complex characters.
I think it's best to read the book first but the mini series was really well done. I'm not far short of finishing it either, I was thinking I'd have to start again to keep pace with the chat too!
I hope you decide to re-read, Louise--it will be fun to have company on our next go-round. I broke down and ordered the DVD. So much for literary purism ;)
I watched the mini-series years ago, and while I remember that I enjoyed it, I actually can't remember it at all! So when I begin the re-read I will be fresh to imagine my own characters :)
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I'm impatient for Ceri and Becca to begin adding their comments! lol.
I hope to start it in about a week, very late, I'm afraid :(
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Rebecca, ~Look back. Look back at me...~
(last edited Apr 21, 2015 05:23PM)
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Sorry I'm so late to the party, Trudy!! :D
@ Andrea: Very happy to have you with us for this one. :) As Louise said, the more the merrier!
Becca wrote: "Don't worry Ceri, I'm only just starting it now! I got the book about a week ago but I had three other books on the go at the time, and I've been busy. :( I'll have to work hard to catch up!Sorry..."
Thanks Becca.
I'll look forward to Ceri and Becca's reflections when ready!
I'm just getting started as well, through chapter four I believe. It's a reread for me as well, but it's been years. I do remember I was never as enthusiastic about this one as I am about North and South. It probably doesn't help that I just finished The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, so it was difficult getting in to something like this. I do remember how well the performances in the BBC miniseries enhance the characters in the book, especially Micheal Gambon and Penelope Wilton, and Tom Hollander and Rosamund Pike are always great to watch. I may have to pull out my copy and watch it again.
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Becca wrote: ":O Michael Gambon and Rosamund Pike are in the series?! *goes to find series immediately* I love them! Looking forward to this even more now!"They are indeed. Michael Gambon plays Squire Hamley, with Penelope Wilton as Mrs Hamley, and Rosamund Pike is Lady Harriet Cumnor.
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I'm just about to start it too. I just don't have the time, what with work and exams and so many beautiful books at my disposal :sighs:
I am really looking forward to watching the mini series, especially with the actors that are starring in it. I am a big fan of Penelope Wilton & Rosamund Pike! This will definitely be on my to do list after I finish the book!
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My life in a nutshell! Well, minus the exams, at least for the moment. I hope your exams are going well? :)
The threads for discussion will be posted soon. We'll aim to read 8-9 chapters a week.
I've written below a no-spoilers introduction to the story that may help illuminate what to look for as you read. At the very least, I hope it will entice you to think about what Gaskell meant to convey in this work. I've condensed some of the concepts elaborated upon in the official introduction to the book included in the Barnes & Noble edition, written by Dr. Amy M. King.
Introduction:
Wives & Daughters first appeared as a serial (1864-1866) in the Cornhill Magazine alongside stories from fellow literary luminaries Anthony Trollope and Wilkie Collins. Gaskell died suddenly in 1865, leaving the story unfinished. Fortunately for the reader who engrosses himself in this long tale, the story was near completion and the ultimate resolution of events is clearly designated. The story only lacks that final satisfaction of reading how Gaskell would have brought the book to its evident conclusion. (The BBC adaptation invents a very sweet ending.)
As in North and South, Gaskell's novel centers on the experiences of a girl - Molly Gibson - on the threshold of womanhood. Far from the gray and bustling industrial town of Milton, however, the events of this tale take place in the quaint, lush countryside town of Hollingsford (modeled, as in Cranford, after Gaskell's childhood home of Knutsford).
It's important to note that Gaskell chose to step back in time some forty years to capture the way of life in England before the rushing progress of industrialization began to affect the country with dizzying speed. Set in the 1820s, this is the era freshly recovering from the Napoleonic wars -- before the railroad and before the Reform Laws began to give voting rights to more of the middle class.
Wives and Daughters: an Every-Day Story is Gaskell at her brilliant best, detailing the nuances of family life and the complexities of the interchanges in community life. And here, as in North and South, the author examines the role of class distinctions in society and its effect on individual freedom. (The foremost families in the story include those of a titled earl and an untitled "squire" whose ancestors have owned land in the neighboring village for centuries.)
Unlike the more authoritative narrative style of Austen, Gaskell's narrative style is subtle and the reader is required to make her own observations of character as daily events unfold. The texture of relationships into which Molly finds herself woven creates a rich tapestry of human personalities and situations in which we can continually discover the unalloyed substance of Molly's nature.
Since Molly is the central character of the novel, it is particularly fitting that her social position allows her to fluidly move into the circles of the various levels of society. Her father's avocation as the town doctor is a position of somewhat ambiguous esteem in that era, which allowed the individual to claim much of his esteem by his own conduct and practical success.
Natural science plays a part in the novel and the author cleverly draws a parallel between the observation of plants and insects and the overarching observation of humans -- both as individuals and in their role within the larger community of fellow creatures. It is in this context of scientific observation, reason, and knowledge that Gaskell seems to silently question the supremacy of men, for in this story we find men of science (most notably Dr Gibson and Roger Hamley) making blunders in personal judgments, which a more careful observation might have avoided.
By the time we finish what is written, we are given the opportunity to make our final analysis in regard to our examination of Molly Gibson as a specimen of humanity and can determine for ourselves whether she is "every-day" common or truly extraordinary.
The considerations that Gaskell subtly raises may consist of some the following. You will undoubtedly think of others:
Are differences of class natural or constructed?
What constitutes good judgment or true intelligence?
Is the human race one species?
What is the place of women in general society -- or in a world of reason and science?
What skills or traits deserve our highest esteem?
Has society progressed since this captured era?