North and South in Reading 1001

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

Shelves: classics, vic-lit, 1001-books

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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Jun 07, 2011 Kristel rated it really liked it

Shelves: 1001-books, 1001-challenge, nook

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell, was written as a serial and published in a magazine Household Words published by Charles Dickens. It was published as a book in 1855. The story is about Margaret Hale, the second child and daughter of a Vicar and mother of a respectable London family. Margaret has spent most of her childhood years in her aunt's home living as sisters with her cousin Edith. At nineteen, Margaret is returning to her own family and her cousin is marrying. The story contrasts li ...more

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Jul 19, 2011 Sara rated it liked it

Shelves: 1001-books

Margaret Hale is a pretty young woman growing up in her aunt's fashionable London household alongside her cousin, Edith. Due to the impending marriage of Edith to one Captain Lennox and subsequent move to Corfu, Margaret is to return to her father's vicarage in the English countryside. She arrives there just in time for her father to draw her into his confidence regarding his inability to continue in his position. He takes a job as a tutor in the northern manufacturing town of Milton during a ti Margaret Hale is a pretty young woman growing up in her aunt's fashionable London household alongside her cousin, Edith. Due to the impending marriage of Edith to one Captain Lennox and subsequent move to Corfu, Margaret is to return to her father's vicarage in the English countryside. She arrives there just in time for her father to draw her into his confidence regarding his inability to continue in his position. He takes a job as a tutor in the northern manufacturing town of Milton during a time of industrial unrest between the mill-owners on the one hand and the mill-hands on the other. The Hales find themselves in a curious position, befriended both by the powerful manufacturer, Mr. Thornton, and Nicholas Higgins, a Union leader. Coming from the South, they are ignorant of the adversarial relationship between the hands and the masters and find themselves in an interesting position of trying to make each side understand the other.

This is my first novel by Elizabeth Gaskell and I was quite favorably intrigued by her treatment of the industrial revolution and how it played out. I found the best parts of the book to be those that depicted the antagonism of the masters and the hands to be of particular interest, most especially the riot in the midst of the strike. I also thoroughly enjoyed the numerous discussions between Mr. Thornton, Mr. Hale, Mr. Higgins, and Margaret regarding the merits of their positions regarding industry and economy.

On the other hand, the the romance aspect of the novel, felt thrown in, as if she felt she had to include it in an attempt to emulate other well-known women authors of her time and those that came before, particularly the Bronte sisters and Jane Austen. I don't feel that it really added much to the story and it seemed completely unnecessary.

Interestingly enough, it seems to me that Ms. Gaskell gave far better depth and personality to her male characters, particularly Mr. Thornton and Mr. Higgins than she was able to give to the women. The women read to me as cookie-cutter characters while the men seemed to fairly leap off the page.

I think her treatment of the Industrial Revolution and the interaction between the workers and the masters and it's treatment of social issues of the time is a unique one and what earned the book it's place on the list of 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. If it weren't for the romance and uninspired female characters I would certainly have rated this book higher. ...more

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Jun 11, 2013 Kai Coates rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: group-bookish, group-the-victorians

I jokingly referred to this book as "Pride and Prejudice and Politics", but I feel the description has merit. Margaret Hale has been raised in London by her rich aunt and superficial cousin. When her cousin marries, Margaret is sent back to live with her parents, a parson and the wife who never forgave him for not having more money, in the idyllic setting of Helstone. Mr. Hale decides to leave his job and moves his family to the northern industrial town of Milton. It is an interesting novel of c ...more

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