North and South
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Description
'How am I to dress up in my finery, and go off and away to smart parties, after the sorrow I have seen today?'
Elizabeth Gaskell's compassionate, richly dramatic novel features one of the most original and fully-rounded female characters in Victorian fiction, Margaret Hale. It shows how, forced to move from the country to an industrial northern town, she develops a passionate sense of social justice, and a turbulent relationship with mill-owner John Thornton. North and South depicts a young woman discovering herself, in a nuanced portrayal of what divides people, and what brings them together.
The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.
Book Information
Posts
It takes a lot for a romance plot to capture me, but this one managed to do so (neglecting the fact that the main obstacle was the apparent impossibility in Victorian society for a short, clarifying talk between a man and a woman, which is kind of annoying when viewed from today). Margaret Hale is a great character and so is Thornton - who'd have thunk it that I could develop sympathies for an English industrialist from the 1800s, a class of people I commonly hold up as examples of the word 'despicable'?! But you live and you learn. Nevertheless, the book would not have been half as enjoyable without the aspect of the class and social struggle in the industrial north of England being a central focus, the fight between the capitalists and the workers. And while I still hold in my lefty heart that the view presented here is somewhat rose-coloured, it was still very satisfying and treated every character with the humanity they deserved. And I too change perpetually - now this, now that - now disappointed and peevish because all is not exactly as I had pictured it, and now suddenly discovering that the reality is far more beautiful than I imagined it.
It is an old book and I had quite some trouble understanding everything, especially from the Higginses with their written northers dialect. However, I liked the people and was able to understand and connect with the main characters. Margaret and John clearly care and respect each other from the beginning, John's romantic feelings are very obvious early on. The changing of Margarets feelings was not that "clear" to me, but otherwise very cute love story. There are too many deaths in this in my taste though. I read it mostly, because I really liked the 2004 TV show.
Loved it ♥️
Even though I struggled with the style and wording from time to time (as any non-native speaker would with a text that old, I guess), especially with Higgins and Bessy and their slang, I enjoyed the story a lot. And I'm happy I finally read the book after watching the BBC mini-series at least three or four times. I have to say, I enjoyed the similarities just as much as the differences between book and adaptation. Where the book is much better in portraying Margarete's father's inability to cope with the consequences of his choices, I think the show is better at portraying Bessy as a character to love and feel for, for example. My highlight, though, was the preface that gave historical context as well as a detailled discussion on Gaskell's intensions for this story, which painted at least some parts into a new light for me.
Description
'How am I to dress up in my finery, and go off and away to smart parties, after the sorrow I have seen today?'
Elizabeth Gaskell's compassionate, richly dramatic novel features one of the most original and fully-rounded female characters in Victorian fiction, Margaret Hale. It shows how, forced to move from the country to an industrial northern town, she develops a passionate sense of social justice, and a turbulent relationship with mill-owner John Thornton. North and South depicts a young woman discovering herself, in a nuanced portrayal of what divides people, and what brings them together.
The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.
Book Information
Posts
It takes a lot for a romance plot to capture me, but this one managed to do so (neglecting the fact that the main obstacle was the apparent impossibility in Victorian society for a short, clarifying talk between a man and a woman, which is kind of annoying when viewed from today). Margaret Hale is a great character and so is Thornton - who'd have thunk it that I could develop sympathies for an English industrialist from the 1800s, a class of people I commonly hold up as examples of the word 'despicable'?! But you live and you learn. Nevertheless, the book would not have been half as enjoyable without the aspect of the class and social struggle in the industrial north of England being a central focus, the fight between the capitalists and the workers. And while I still hold in my lefty heart that the view presented here is somewhat rose-coloured, it was still very satisfying and treated every character with the humanity they deserved. And I too change perpetually - now this, now that - now disappointed and peevish because all is not exactly as I had pictured it, and now suddenly discovering that the reality is far more beautiful than I imagined it.
It is an old book and I had quite some trouble understanding everything, especially from the Higginses with their written northers dialect. However, I liked the people and was able to understand and connect with the main characters. Margaret and John clearly care and respect each other from the beginning, John's romantic feelings are very obvious early on. The changing of Margarets feelings was not that "clear" to me, but otherwise very cute love story. There are too many deaths in this in my taste though. I read it mostly, because I really liked the 2004 TV show.
Loved it ♥️
Even though I struggled with the style and wording from time to time (as any non-native speaker would with a text that old, I guess), especially with Higgins and Bessy and their slang, I enjoyed the story a lot. And I'm happy I finally read the book after watching the BBC mini-series at least three or four times. I have to say, I enjoyed the similarities just as much as the differences between book and adaptation. Where the book is much better in portraying Margarete's father's inability to cope with the consequences of his choices, I think the show is better at portraying Bessy as a character to love and feel for, for example. My highlight, though, was the preface that gave historical context as well as a detailled discussion on Gaskell's intensions for this story, which painted at least some parts into a new light for me.