Never too Late to Read Classics discussion

Wikipedia states that, until the 1950s most critics considered Gaskell "a minor author with good judgment and feminine sensibilities" and, as to North and South, "lacked the masculinity to properly deal with social issues."
However, in the 1950s, more critics started recognizing Gaskell's "growing stature in Victorian literary studies and how her innovative versatile storytelling addressed the rapid changes in her lifetime."
That explains why my English Lit texts, written in the 1960s, would have not yet included Gaskell when discussing Victorian authors. The texts would be slow to follow a critical bandwagon.

I have finished the book.

End of chapter 5:
Mr. Hale has little sense of practical matters when he states that they have to move in 2 weeks. Margaret ends up being the practical one to make the decisions about moving.

I am only on chapter 15, so I will not be finished for a while. My copy of the book has tiny print. I read Cranford in the spring and am enjoying this book too. I will definitely read more of Elizabeth Gaskell's books. I enjoyed reading your review of the book, Mimi.
As a note, in the 70's, books by this author were published under the name of Mrs. Gaskell.

No new posts in 17 days. I again must ard-ently request readers ketchup on this book as I relish more discussion.
I finished so long ago its already fading from my increasingly declining memory. Was it about the Civil War?

I finished this a few days ago. I thought the ending was a bit rushed. We saw Margaret suffering for so long, and then the suffering ended and things were wrapped up in a hurried manner.
I preferred the parts of the book set in the North-they seemed "truer" somehow.

That's exactly what I've been waiting to say, Rosemarie. It was a really good book, leisurely paced and then ... Bam. Its over. I was thinking "is that it?" I felt a little gypped of some pages of romantic dialogue and description. It was like a play rushing to finish before a government curfew.
This was a serialized story in Dickens' magazine, directly following Hard Times (now that I think about it, a short Dickens) and usually they drag serialized stories out. Oh well, overall it was still very good.
Now that I've read the book, I'm going to rewatch the 4 part BBC series and see how they handle the end and other scenes.

I agree with Rosemarie and Brian. I too felt the book ended quite abruptly. Just when John and Margaret declared their feelings for each other, end came the story.
I watched the BBC series before I read the book and comparatively the tv series had more romance than in the book. I liked their adaptation too although they have made certain changes. As to the end, BBC has done more justice to John and Margaret than Mrs. Gaskell.

Thank you Mimi for leading the Buddy Read!

Great comments and insight!

I'm a rather slow reader, in particular in foreign languages, so I am only one third into the novel. Hope you don't mind my laggard comments.
I am very much impressed by Gaskell's insight into the economic interdependence of employers and employees. At one point she lets Thornton even describe a desirable future state that sounds very much like the current co-determination right of the works council in Germany. Still, in those days there are deep prejudices between the different social layers, the workers (called "hands" by the employers), the "masters" (terribly reminds me of slave masters) and the non-industrial bourgeoisie, which Margaret and her family belong to. I am looking forward to the next 2/3 of the book.

Peter wrote: "I'm a rather slow reader, in particular in foreign languages, so I am only one third into the novel. Hope you don't mind my laggard comments.
I am very much impressed by Gaskell's insight into the ..."

Peter you are fine, one of the reasons we leave the threads open. Others will comment with you still.

Peter, we will look forward to your comments, be they laggard or haggard. The Germanic industrial perspective is indeed interesting.
I admire and respect, with a wee bit of envy, those like Rosemarie and you who can read in more than one language. At one point in high school French, I could handle Le Petit Prince, but that skill is long gone.

Peter, I noticed that the "masters" called the workers "hands" too. By doing that they basically took away their humanity and treated them as disposable tools.

I just finished watching the BBC production Of "North & South" which I first saw about 8 years before reading the book. The BBC made several minor changes or additions to the book, Of course, by seeing the movie first, I sometimes found myself anticipating scenes were that were in the movie that didn't then appear in the book, such as memorable scenes of Margaret in the factory.
I share Piyangie's opinion. The miniseries did a better job of leading up to the romantic climax and the ending romantic scene is an improvement on the book's.
Overall, the miniseries is mainly true to the book and is well done. Any changes and additions only serve to better convey the atmosphere, themes and intent of the book.

Finally I finished the novel. Even after 2 months with it I am sorry that it came to an end. I really enjoyed this book, even more than “Sense and Sensibility” by Jane Austen, to which it is often compared. What I like about it are the multitude of topics that are skillfully interwoven. Apart from the distance of wealth between the Hales and the Shaws/Lennoxes and the Thorntons , there is also the class conflict between workers (“hands”) and employers (“masters”), as well as the question of lifestyle in the countryside versus the city, both capital and industrial (Milton being a paraphrase of Manchester). Also side topics like the emotional distance resulting from geographical distance between Margaret in England and her brother in Spain and conflicts of faith between Margaret as a member of the Church of England, her father a dissenter and her brother a converted catholic – interestingly Gaskell’s father was a Unitarian priest. And of course the coming of age of Margaret from a strong young adult to a determined woman who has taken her life into her own hands.

Peter really enjoyed reading your comments. Thank you for sharing!