Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South Paperback – August 1, 2013

Don't get me wrong--Gaskell's novel is magnificent--a 5+++++. Where Dickens's portrait of England's early manufacturers and nascent factory system in Hard Times is caricature, Gaskell's is nuanced and complex. I wish this novel were better known and appreciated. My low rating is for the Penguin Classics edition, with introduction and notes by one Patricia Ingham, who is identified as a Fellow in English at St. Anne's College, Oxford. Since I was re-reading the novel, I disregarded the spoiler warning and read the introduction first. Apart from a few useful facts--e.g., that Gaskell originally intended to call her novel Margaret Hale after the protagonist but changed the title before publication in Dickens's Household Words, the introduction is mostly prefab class-and-gender analysis delivered in imprecise and inelegant jargon: "[Margaret] problematizes both the contemporary major discourses that justify [the workers'] emiseration: paternalism and 'the struggle for existence.' " The notes, by the way, which are not preceded by a spoiler warning, are full of spoilers; within the first couple of pages, at least two major plot developments are revealed. The notes are also full of Ms. Ingham's superfluous and condescending explanations of the significance of events and textual features (quotations, allusions, etc.) as if the benighted reader needs her guidance at every step. Finally, this edition is poorly produced: tiny font, poor contrast between page and type, and an inside margin so skimpy that it is difficult to read the full line without breaking the binding. What's happening at Penguin? at Oxford?

The title refers to the north and south counties of England, the north industrial, the south rural. Young woman from south is forced to move with her family to a northern industrial town where she butts heads with a mill owner. Themes include workers' rights; the tragic conditions of the poor and oppressed (most of whom are very honorable people); rampant disease (affecting all classes); unrequited love; familial devotion; spiritual faith; the price of success. Hard to put down. Well developed characters in a character-driven story. Thoughtful, sometimes disturbing, and often romantic. Historical setting: early 1800's.

This is a great read, and if you're familiar with or enjoy Austen's Pride and Prejudice, you will find similar plots, themes, and personalities. Gaskell's work is different in its own way to Austen's despite the similarities, and it raises important discussions on the image of Northern and Southern England, class, economics, and health that are fun to explore if you're a scholar. Many people coin this as the "darker" Pride and Prejudice, and in some ways it is. I mean, compared to Austen's own words that her work is sparkly, it's definitely different and some people are very concrete and stark on their opinions. Both are enjoyable and both are great to have on your shelf and both are important for their influence and study in Gregorian and Victorian England.

"North and South" is a well written novel by iconic Victorian author Elizabeth Gaskell. It is her third novel. It is of medium length, and, allowing for the fact that Victorian Literature is not the same as modern conversational American English, is mostly highly readable. I liked the novel very much.I have only read one other major novel by Elizabeth Gaskell prior to this one. It is her first novel, "Mary Barton". I liked this novel much more. Both of these novels are stories about different social and economic classes in Victorian England. Both novels include episodes of economic strife and extreme hardship among the urban poor. Both involve the examples of the rich being indifferent at times and virtuous at other times.I was ambivalent about "Mary Barton". There were times that I felt it was preachy and unrealistic. Sort of Charles Dickens without the wry humor and dimension of entertainment. Having now read this novel I am concerned that I was unfair in my assessment of "Mary Barton". This novel, "North and South" seems to have more wry humor and also a gentle romantic dimension that was pleasant and interesting to contemplate, while at the same time addressing very dreadful issues of poverty and hunger among the urban poor.I did not like it as much as many Charles Dickens novels but that is a fairly high bar for me. Of the Charles Dickens novels that I have read, this novel reminds me most of "Hard Times". I actually liked this novel better than "Hard Times" but I have liked every other novel by Charles Dickens that I have ever read better than this one.As for George Eliot, my favorite author, while Victorian, she stands alone in my personal literary universe. I find her work so nuanced, intellectually sophisticated, and multifaceted that I cannot easily compare her works to other authors, Victorian or otherwise. I suppose this novel most reminds of "Felix Holt The Radical". But to me the novels are at two different levels, as if one is comparing Christopher Marlowe to Shakespeare.If one is a Jane Austen fan, in the event that it matters, I have read every work that has been published authored by Jane Austen, including incomplete works published after her death. I still prefer Jane Austen to Elizabeth Gaskell. Jane Austen is, of course, pre Victorian. While humorous and romantic, Jane Austen's work does not focus on the extreme poverty of Industrial Age England.In summary, I am very glad to have had the opportunity to read "North and South". My opinion is that this novel has more warmth, gentle humor, and a romantic aspect that "Mary Barton" did not have. I am anxious that I am now being unfair in my recollections of "Mary Barton". It does all of this while still addressing the same important social and economic issues of the author's first novel. After a short respite from this author I believe I will next read "Cranford". Thank You...

Everybody's talking about the Bronte sisters or Austen but to me this book can at least be put on the same level and even higher than some books of the former writers. Not only a tale of a family moving from rural southside to urban northside but also show the struggle of classes, between employer and employees and the unions, which is still going on in 2018. The good thing is that Gaskell shows both sides so it makes it difficult for the reader to chose sides. Oh yea, why do 2 people liking each other so much always have to make it more difficult than necessary?

This is where the reviewer needs two different star ratings, one for the author and one for the eBook. I would have given the author 4 stars and the eBook 2 stars, so I have averaged out at 3 stars.This love story is set during the industrial revolution in England. It tells of a young woman who was born and bred in the south (the New Forest and London) and moves north with her parents to the fictional industrial town of Milton. To say what happens to the protagonists would be to spoil your enjoyment, but the style is highly charged throughout, unreservedly emotional and bordering on the melodramatic. Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading it and was always keen to pursue the next phase of the plot.Elizabeth Gaskell's style has some irritating features. Each chapter is headed by a quotation. I can not understand the purpose of this. If it gives away what is about to happen, it should be avoided, and if it does not, it seems a waste of time. Perhaps the literary convention of the period was to show off in this way, but I recommend skipping over the quotations and just reading the main text.There are a few sections of text that are not in English. Gaskell assumes that the reader is sufficiently well educated to be able to translate these - I was not. There are no footnotes or editorial additions to provide the missing translation, so whatever they meant was completely lost on me.Sometimes the author contrives a conversation between two or more of the characters in which she seems to be presenting her own theories on the advantages and disadvantages of industrialised manufacturing. The dialogue does not ring true in the mouths of the people involved and certainly does not advance the action of the story.Furthermore, from time to time, the author does not make it clear who is speaking, so the reader has to carry on regardless, hoping to pick up a contextual clue, or has to backtrack to try and work it out.I do not know if the novel was incomplete, but the ending is extremely abrupt and rather unsatisfactory in my opinion.The eBook is not the worst I have encountered but it comes close. I suppose it is unfair to criticise a book that costs nothing, but I found 57 proof reading errors and there were more that I did not bother with. The most annoying problem is caused by using single quote to delimit speech and then omitting the opening or the closing single quote. This means that the reader can not always tell when a character has started speaking or stopped speaking.I recommend this book to anybody who enjoys a good romance with serious undertones, and is interested in the social conventions and attitudes of the time. However, you might find it less frustrating to spend more money on a better edited eBook.

Mrs Gaskell is one of my favourite nineteenth century authors. In typical style of her times she gives lengthy descriptions of emotions, thought processes and decisions being made. However, her setting is unusual for woman of her time.The plot places Margaret, an impoverished genteel young woman of strong personality between the indolent life of the wealthy southerner and the hard working self made wealthy factory owner of the north. Initially she dislikes the dirt, noise and business of the industrial city and looks down on men of trade. However as she interacts with rich and poor in her new environment, she begins to see the true worth of these people.Margaret identifies the divide between master and worker during a strike and suggests how each can gain a better understanding of the challenges and false ideas they have about each other.The daughter of a clergyman, Margaret lives by a strong moral code. However, this is severely tested and causes her much heartache and soul searching.By the end of the novel she has grown from a young girl who lived at the beck and call of her wealthier family members into an independent woman who asserts herself in ways not necessarily accepted by others.As Mrs Gaskell was the wife of clergyman in Manchester, she was able to use her first hand knowledge in this book which sets out to inform society about misconceptions held about the industrial powerhouse of the nation, with ideas for some possible solutions.

North and South was serialised on TV some years ago in a beautifully balanced story - and romance mixed with a sobering social history - Blake's dark satanic mills in their grim reality. I'm on my second read and enjoying every page. I'm using my Kindle reader BUT a word of caution - my partner bought the hard back from Amazon - its OK to add a little glamour to your shelves but the font is very small.

I loved the BBC series, and got the urge to read the book.I had not read any of Mrs Gaskell’s writing before. I loved it. Published in 1854, and set in a long gone era, it read like a much more modern piece of fiction.... set in rural Hampshire, London and an industrial town in the North that specialised in Cotton production with the prejudices of each setting deftly explored.Characters deliciously deliniated, showing the constraints each class operated under and running through it all this love story of Miss Hale and Mr Thornton ... it was interesting to see how much of the dialogue between characters was included verbatim in the screenplay of the TV series.I am now a firm fan of Elizabeth Gaskell & can’t wait to read her other work.