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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really wanted to like this highly-reviewed book. It's right in the range of things I like to read, and written by someone whose other works I have appreciated.
And yet...I couldn't find a sympathetic character in this book, including the heroine. She comes from a family full of useless people - men and women alike. She displays quite a bit of uselessness herself. I mostly wanted to grab her by the forearms, push her out my front door and shut it behind her.
What's personally interesting is that I got within 100 pages of finishing this book and gave up. I guess I was on the fence for a long way up to that point.
And yet...I couldn't find a sympathetic character in this book, including the heroine. She comes from a family full of useless people - men and women alike. She displays quite a bit of uselessness herself. I mostly wanted to grab her by the forearms, push her out my front door and shut it behind her.
What's personally interesting is that I got within 100 pages of finishing this book and gave up. I guess I was on the fence for a long way up to that point.
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I don't know why it took me until now to discover Elizabeth Gaskell, but I'm so glad I have. I wish I had read this book back when I was starting my career working for manufacturing companies.
As with her other works, this is a wonderful depiction of character made richer by a thoughtful and what must have been very progressive view of social issues. I always felt the gulf between management and the workers was bridgeable, if only management were willing. I conducted a series of focus groups with workers in the mid-80s and I'll never forget that, in more than one session, workers said, "They just want us to check our brains at the door." Meaning that management was not interested in their ideas or opinions. Apparently this was true in the 1850s as well. As my least favorite president (sorry, cannot get the man out of my head) would say, "Sad."
As with her other works, this is a wonderful depiction of character made richer by a thoughtful and what must have been very progressive view of social issues. I always felt the gulf between management and the workers was bridgeable, if only management were willing. I conducted a series of focus groups with workers in the mid-80s and I'll never forget that, in more than one session, workers said, "They just want us to check our brains at the door." Meaning that management was not interested in their ideas or opinions. Apparently this was true in the 1850s as well. As my least favorite president (sorry, cannot get the man out of my head) would say, "Sad."
At first I was very excited to find what I thought was a hidden gem in the canon of classics: like a new Jane Austen or a Bronte, just by a different author. The writing style and the initial intrigue of romance led me to believe this was what I was in for.
Alas... not really. The story was boring for the most part, filled with political discussions of strikes during what I gathered was the Industrial Revolution in England. The only way I got through the story at all was because it was audio, and I could tune out for long stretches of time and then tune back in again without missing much. Also, unfortunately the only person I consistently liked in the entire book was Mr. Thornton, who for the vast majority of the story was the rejected lover of the heroine, Margaret. For her part, I found Margaret haughty, self-righteous, and not just opinionated but disdainful of everyone else's judgement save her own. Her father was weak and sweet, but impossible to respect. Her mother was negative and hypochondriacal at first, and later horribly selfish. Her cousin Edith was feather-brained and pretty but self-absorbed. Mr Thornton's sister and mother were both also self-centered, and the sister judgmental and weak. His biggest detraction is his determined love for Margaret when she's done absolutely nothing to deserve it.
Why did I bother finishing the story, you ask? I almost didn't a number of times, but there was just enough intrigue between Margaret and Mr. Thornton that I wanted to see how it ended, even though I could see it coming from a mile away. I felt like Gaskell was attempting to rewrite "Pride and Prejudice" in a sense, as Thornton was the great man with a closed mind at the beginning, while Margaret was supposed to be the cheeky poor beauty who opened his mind to the world. She eventually does become more tolerable. Can't say I'd recommend it though.
Alas... not really. The story was boring for the most part, filled with political discussions of strikes during what I gathered was the Industrial Revolution in England. The only way I got through the story at all was because it was audio, and I could tune out for long stretches of time and then tune back in again without missing much. Also, unfortunately the only person I consistently liked in the entire book was Mr. Thornton, who for the vast majority of the story was the rejected lover of the heroine, Margaret. For her part, I found Margaret haughty, self-righteous, and not just opinionated but disdainful of everyone else's judgement save her own. Her father was weak and sweet, but impossible to respect. Her mother was negative and hypochondriacal at first, and later horribly selfish. Her cousin Edith was feather-brained and pretty but self-absorbed. Mr Thornton's sister and mother were both also self-centered, and the sister judgmental and weak. His biggest detraction is his determined love for Margaret when she's done absolutely nothing to deserve it.
Why did I bother finishing the story, you ask? I almost didn't a number of times, but there was just enough intrigue between Margaret and Mr. Thornton that I wanted to see how it ended, even though I could see it coming from a mile away. I felt like Gaskell was attempting to rewrite "Pride and Prejudice" in a sense, as Thornton was the great man with a closed mind at the beginning, while Margaret was supposed to be the cheeky poor beauty who opened his mind to the world. She eventually does become more tolerable. Can't say I'd recommend it though.
Wonderful book set in the middle of the 19th century in northern England. Rev. Hale has given up his position in the church as a protest against his conscience. The family moves from the south of England to the northern industrial town of Milton (Manchester). The backdrop for this love story is the rise of unions against the "masters" (industrialists) with insights into the lives of both groups - stark poverty vs. wealth. Rev. Hale's daughter Margaret is the protagonist and takes on a similar role as Elizabeth Bennet does in Pride and Prejudice...she is prejudiced in favor of the southern England way of life (Kent) and against the more earthly manners of the north. Her love interest is Mr. Thornton, an owner of a mill in Milton and one who is at odds with the union. Their relationship seems doomed from the beginning. Will love triumph or are their differences too large to overcome?
Reseña completa aquí: http://avp-avuelapluma.blogspot.com.es/2013/02/resena-47-norte-y-sur-de-elizabeth.html
En resumen: Norte y Sur es una lectura totalmente recomendable para todos y en especial para los amantes del género y aquellos que quieran saber algo más sobre la cara menos amable de la época.
En resumen: Norte y Sur es una lectura totalmente recomendable para todos y en especial para los amantes del género y aquellos que quieran saber algo más sobre la cara menos amable de la época.
Loved this book so much. Not only the story, but also the allusions that are woven into it (to name a few: Bible, Odyssey, Don Quixote, Faerie Queen). This story is like a mix of Austen and Dickens in the best way possible.
I am also thinking of Milton’s Paradise Lost, based entirely on only knowing that it’s an Adam and Eve/garden of Eden and Fall story (as I haven’t read it myself yet). It didn’t occur to me until someone said “Milton” out loud at book club, but then the thoughts started to germinate.
I am also thinking of Milton’s Paradise Lost, based entirely on only knowing that it’s an Adam and Eve/garden of Eden and Fall story (as I haven’t read it myself yet). It didn’t occur to me until someone said “Milton” out loud at book club, but then the thoughts started to germinate.