Like Austen’s works, North and South is narrated by an omniscient narrator and, thus her readers are allowed to peep into the mind of both hero and heroine and perceive exactly what they each feel at any given moment. Gaskell’s prose does lack that tempo that Austen uses so well and there’s none of that droll repartee that I dearly love in Austen’s writing, but North and South does have something, its own charms, if you like. As one might expect from a Victorian novel, North and South does dwell upon right and wrong, good and evil, generosity and vice, but as the book also boasts a solid plot, believable characters and a healthy dollop of good old romance the passages which dwell heavily on moralistic considerations are fairly palatable, even for the modern reader.Īs for the Janeites out there, sadly I can’t award North and South with having the same wicked wit and shrewd character depictions of Austen’s novels, but it is certainly an agreeable book to read. In the same way as Mr Darcy, Gaskell’s heroine, Margaret, is somewhat blind to her own faults and vanities. North and South is very much concerned with the morality and pride of its leading lady and gentleman (not to mention the other characters!).
I originally bought it following a recommendation I had had from a fellow blogger who described it as a “Victorian rewrite of Pride and Prejudice”. Well, it’s taken me a month but I have finished reading North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell.
0 kommentar(er)
