Reviews with content warning for Animal death - North and South

What a wonderful book! "An industrial re-writing of Pride and Prejudice", as Jenny Uglow put it in her introduction to the novel; though "North and South" deals with heavier (and more important, in my opinion) topics.

I loved the meditations on religion, class and morals, the picturesque descriptions of the North and the South, and how real every single character felt. I only wish we had gotten more romantic moments and a less abrupt ending (E. Gaskell had to rush the last chapters).

I'm going to include my favourite passages but mark some of them as spoilers if they are lengthy.

'You must grant me this one point. Given a strong feeling of independence in every Darkshire man, have I any right to obtrude my views, of the manner in which he shall act, upon another (hating it as I should do most vehemently myself), merely because he has labour to sell and I capital to buy?'
'Not in the least. Not in the least because of your labour and capital positions, whatever whatever they are, but because you are a man, dealing with a set of men over whom you have, whether you reject the use of it or not, immense power, just because your lives and your welfare are so constantly and intimately interwoven. God has made us so that we must be mutually dependent.'

'But what win ye have? There are days wi' you, as wi' other folk, I suppose, when yo' get up and go through th' hours, just longing for a bit of a change—a bit of a fillip, as it were. I know I ha' gone and bought a four-pounder out o' another baker's shop to common on such days, just because I sickened at the thought of going on for ever wi' the same sight in my eyes, and the same sound in my ears, and the same taste i' my mouth, and the same thought (or no thought, for that matter) in my head, day after day, for ever. I've longed for to be a man to go spreeing, even it were only a tramp to some new place in search o' work. And father—all men—have it stronger in 'em than me to get tired o' sameness and work for ever. And what is 'em to do? It's little blame to them if they do go into th' gin-shop for to make their blood flow quicker, and more lively, and see things they never see at no other time—pictures, and looking-glass, and such like. But father never was a drunkard, though maybe, he's got worse for drink, now and then. Only yo' see, at times o' strike there's much to knock a man down, for all they start so hopefully; and where's the comfort to come fro'? He'll get angry and mad—they all do—and then they get tired out wi' being angry and mad, and maybe ha' done things in their passion they'd be glad to forget. Bless yo'r sweet pitiful face! but yo' dunnot know what a strike is yet.'

"A bad-looking fellow, I can assure you, miss. Whiskers such as I should be ashamed to wear – they are so red."

My favourite:

...all the time it would have been a relief to believe her utterly unworthy of his esteem. It was this that made the misery—that he passionately loved her, and thought her, even with all her faults, more lovely and more excellent than any other woman; yet he deemed her so attached to some other man, so led away by her affection for him as to violate her truthful nature. The very falsehood that stained her, was a proof how blindly she loved another—this dark, slight, elegant, handsome man—while he himself was rough, and stern, and strongly made. He lashed himself into an agony of fierce jealousy. He thought of that look, that attitude!—how he would have laid his life at her feet for such tender glances, such fond detention! He mocked at himself, for having valued the mechanical way in which she had protected him from the fury of the mob; now he had seen how soft and bewitching she looked when with a man she really loved. He remembered, point by point, the sharpness of her words—'There was not a man in all that crowd for whom she would not have done as much, far more readily than for him.' He shared with the mob, in her desire of averting bloodshed from them; but this man, this hidden lover, shared with nobody; he had looks, words, hand-cleavings, lies, concealment, all to himself

'It is the first changes among familiar things that make such a mystery of time to the young, afterwards we lose the sense of the mysterious. I take changes in all I see as a matter of course. The instability of all human things is familiar to me, to you it is new and oppressive.'

'After all it is right. If the world stood still, it would retrograde and become corrupt, if that is not Irish. Looking out of myself, and my own painful sense of change, the progress all around me is right and necessary. I must not think so much of how circumstances affect me myself, but how they affect others, if I wish to have a right judgment, or a hopeful trustful heart.'

🥲

He knelt by her side, to bring his face to a level with her ear; and whispered-panted out the words:
— 'Take care.—If you do not speak—I shall claim you as my own in some strange presumptuous way.—Send me away at once, if I must go;—Margaret!—

Content Warnings

thecirclek's review

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emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I had enjoyed a miniseries adaptation of this book many years ago and decided to give it a read (well, a listen). Overall it was fine, though in many passages there was a lot of redundancy. (How many times did I have to hear about her "pleading eyes"?!). I enjoyed some of the humor, and the development of the central romance was okay. I would warn sensitive readers that out of nowhere in the last act was a really horrifying description of intentional animal cruelty--just terrible. This was okay, but not quite as fun or well-written as I'd hoped.

Content Warnings

columnclub's review against another edition

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informative reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.5

There's a lot of interesting stuff here, but it felt a little lukewarm overall, in both the politics and the romance. I did love the last few lines, though.

Content Warnings

jagotole's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

jowmy4's review

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emotional hopeful reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is one of my absolute favourite books. I have read this book a few times before, and this time listen to an audiobook. It was even better than I rembered it being. The beginning is very slow and quite difficult to get into, but sets up important context which pays off later in the book. I think this is, objectively, a good book, but I'm also aware that probably the reason I love it so much is because it hits a lot of my personal preferences: class and social issues, rural villages, industrial towns, a variety of interesting family dynamics, friendships, characters learning and growing, and seemingly-unrequited romance. The characters are all really well developed, as well, and Mrs Thornton and Mr Thornton are probably two of my favourite characters of all time. The story is sad at points, but I had a big smile on my face at the end.

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