North and South

If you're a Pride&Predjudice Fan............

I first saw the BBC miniseries about 18 months ago. I was enthralled. The story has many similarities to the beloved Pride and Predjudice, but the setting and scope of the story are much deeper.

The story is primarily set in the two different worlds in Victorian England. Gently born and raised Margaret is pulled away from the genteel life she is accustomed to in the South of England, to live in a northern manufacturing town. The two very differing climates are metaphors for the experiences and people by whom she is surrounded.

Her own predjudices are tested along a personal journey that opens her heart and mind. Themes of devotion and love are timeless. The more weighty issues of poverty, fair business practices and moral duty are also timeless. In our age of greed, a lot could be gained by reading some of the Victorians like Elizabeth Gaskell and Charles Dickens.

This book may not be an easy read to everyone. But if you've read Austen and/or Dickens, it is an enjoyable book. This reader loves history and also loves good romance. I read the final chapter three times because I found it so deeply satisfying.

If you have seen the BBC adaptation, you'll find that it's not entirely true to the book. However, I found them to have the same soul and spirit. North and South is now part of my permanent collection.

6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

One of my favorite books

North and South always delights the reader with a glimpse into the north of England during the Industrial Revolution. The characters show the stereotypes of the day: the North was thought to be always busy, always working, always thinking of money; while the South was thought to be more relaxed and sedate. The resolution is very satisfying for the romantic.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

I loved it!

This book, like others of this era, takes a little bit to get into, but once in it, I love it! Lots of meat, i.e. at least 2-3 different stories going on that have substance to them.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

A touching story

I saw BBC's movie production of North and South first and then decided I had to read the novel by Elizabeth Gaskel. I was not dissapointed. If anything it will enhance the movie experience because it gives you more details/information about the characters, their actions and events that take place in the novel. This story tells of the hardships that people faced on a daily basis. The love story of John Thornton and Margaret Hale is especially touching because they both had to overcome prejudices 'on her part' and missunderstandings 'on his part'. What a wonderful novel. I highly recommend this novel to anyone who has already seen the movie. I have to admit both the movie and the novel of North and South surpasses all versions of Pride and Prejudice.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Sooooo GOOD!!

This book has become one of my favorites. It's up there with Pride and Prejudice. The guy is a true hero in this book.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Over the top!

The love story is fantastic but there is just too little of it. Mostly this book is political; regarding mill workers and the start of unions in England. Although interesting, it bored me after awhile.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

not complete!

This version of North and South stops just after Mr. Thornton proposes to Margaret, at pg 195. The book is fantastic and there is a complete, free version available.

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Supplanted Pride and Prejudice as my favorite

I never thought it possible, but this book supplanted Pride and Prejudice as my favorite romance, reasons being that it brings outside philosophical, political, and economic pressures into the romance. The romance is not just that there are misunderstandings and ruined reputations, but that there are actual lives at stake; entire towns that could fall if the mill workers refuse to work; people could be killed in riots; there is communal strife and an inability to communicate between the social classes. This is an ambitious work that I am head over heels in love with because the prose is poetic, the themes are strong, and the characters sympathetic. Gaskell gives the secondary and tertiary characters all the love, compassion, and motive that is usually reserved for main characters alone. I could go into a detailed analysis of the writing tricks Gaskell uses to appeal to her audience (the sympathetic Victorian woman), such as describing the illnesses of those around Margaret, the way Margaret's eyes sometimes exhibit a childlike wonder or surprised pain, and the way Margaret shoulders the problems of those around her for that is her role as the daughter in the family (really, this is a brilliant piece of Victorian literature), but I won't. I will tell you that if you like reading classics (my childhood was defined by classics, and I desperately miss the feeling of losing myself in that world), you must read this book. If your writing tends toward the classical style, this is a great example to take note of. There are moments when Margaret almost reminds me of Jane Eyre in her contemplations of her role as a female in the world, which makes sense because Mrs Gaskell was actually a sort of social friend of Charlotte Bronte's. In fact, Mrs Gaskell wrote the first biography of Charlotte, and helped create the rather mythological story behind the woman who wrote such great works as Jane Eyre and Villette. P.S. The BBC made a two-part miniseries of this book in 2007, and it is excellent. Things have been changed, obviously, to fit the book into a four-hour showing, but it is a great adaptation and the reason why I read the book in the first place. * Review originally posted at my blog, Worderella Writes: http://worderella.com/2008/02/book-north-and-south/ *

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Fantastic! But...

I love North and South so much. If you enjoy Austen and Dickens you will absolutly love Gaskell. But! My problem was not with the book it was with the introduction. I know people don't necessarily read the intro but I did with this book. It just made the whole book seem like a sexual thriller. That just deeply confused me. So buy this and you wont regret it but you could skip the introduction.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Great book!

I first saw the BBC movie and I read the book straight away. It is a very well written, enjoyable novel set in Victorian times and through the main protagonists it introduces us to the divide between the industrial north and the more gentlemanly, leisurely south and how different the outlook, temperament and lifestyle of the people from each place is. I truly enjoyed the book. People often compare it to Pride and Prejudice - I would not go that far, but the love story is compelling and the author`s social awareness and sensitivity, her portrayal of the industrial revolution and its effects on people is magnificent and very real. I liked the main characters very much. Recommended.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Loved! Loved! Loved this timeless novel!!

I couldn't put this romantic novel down!! Ms. Gaskell did an outstanding job transporting ones back to a time where it took a man of strong character to eek out a living for his family and keep his dignity and humility in the industrial north of England. The strong love and determination of Mr. Thorton to win the heart of the woman he loved, Miss Hale, will be an inspiration to ones who read this novel!! This novel is a must read for all us "romantics" who desire to be transported to to a time where love between a man and a women is spell-binding!

Great Read but Several Errors...

The book is very well-written; it was hard for me to put it down sometimes. However, there were several grammatical errors (punctuation marks lacking or put in awkward/disruptive places, missing words, missing letters, and misspelled words). You're basically getting what you paid for ($.99, I believe). Also, sometimes the page numbers were off (go from page 80 to 82 or repeat the same page number twice). Nothing was missing from the book (as far as I could tell) because the following page made sense continued from the previous. Overall, I would recommend this book because of its literary quality (descriptions, accurate dialects, witty rebuttals between the characters, etc.).[It felt like a mixture of Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre.] However, the errors can sometimes throw you off and disturb you from an otherwise enjoyable read.

Great book!

This is one of my favorite books. It shows the difference of classes and regions.

Wonderful

I could not put it down, after reading this I watched the BBC movie.. it too was equally wonderful!

never read!!!

dont know anything about it great right? absolutly I still dont know what I'm rating I'm silly yippy ! am I making you laugh hope so!!!

0 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

Classic love story flavored with social division and labor struggles in mid-Victorian England

This Naxos Audiobooks edition was sensitively read by Clare Willie whose characterizations reminded me of the voices of the actors in the 2004 North and South mini-series. I was so drawn into the story by her melodic intonations that I have never enjoyed my commute to work as much as the 18 hours and 36 minutes during this audio book recording. Gaskell's powerful story of the division of workers and master told through the eyes of a haughty girl from the south of England who is thrown against her wishes and better judgment by her father's life choices into a foreign world of the working class struggles of a northern mill owner is her most beloved work for good reason. Margaret Hale and John Thornton are a romance to remember and savor again, and again.

Laurel Ann, Austenprose

A Victorian age analysis of the Industrial Revolution

In 'North and South', Elizabeth Gaskell effectively analyzes and dissects Victorian era social norms. The novel's protagonist, Margaret Hale, is an independant-minded woman who is not afraid to speak her mind or take charge of a given situation. Her story is one of self-discovery, as she comes to face great hardship in the city of Milton (Manchester) and learns to empathize with the plight of the less fortunate. Gaskell paints a huge canvass of characters from all different social backgrounds: the poor, factory workers, the middle class, the educated, capitalists, and manufacterers. Margaret Hale makes a good protagonist because she serves as a sort of middle-ground character: an outsider who is able to befriend both the rich and the poor. The novel serves as a commentary on the class struggle and social unrest of mid-nineteenth century Britain. It deals with the motivations behind these problems and seeks to reconcile them. I found the novel to be a fascinating character study and a complex look at how the Industrial Revolution affected British society. The story drags, however, in some parts and becomes rather contrived near the end. Like all Victorian novels, 'North and South', is long and sentimental. Still, if you're interested in British literature, 'North and South' is worth checking out. Elizabeth Gaskell deserves more attention for her body of work.

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