Read by ( )

Really great. ( )

Now I don't have anything against Elizabeth Gaskell but she just didn't blow me away with this one. It was truly a rollercoaster ride, but not in the exciting way that people generally mean. Rather, I got 157 pages into it reading a physical copy, put the copy down to study for finals, and didn't return until it was finally my turn to check out the audiobook from the library. In those 157 pages almost nothing interesting happened. In other words, the attendants were still seating people on the rollercoaster for a whole 157 pages. I was astonished when, on my 3rd or 4th hour of listening to the really too long audiobook while putting up wallpaper, suddenly things got interesting! I was really there for the mutiny and train station stuff which was pretty obviously foreshadowed, it just took longer to get there than my attention span would allow. So it was a fun rollercoaster after all. And yet, the rollercoaster slowed down for a good long time after the intense twists and turns, at which point I promptly lost interest once more and was glad to move onto my next book (a really quite old Chinese classic that is somehow managing to be much more exciting AND way saucier).Thank goodness for the mutiny, or else I would have had to give this classic only three stars. ( )

This book was slow and wordy. It is considered ro be a classic but I found it hard to read because of the archaic terms, old slang and foreign phrases that were not translated. It goes to show just how different the literary styles were in the early 1800s.
The plot was ponderous and never really came to much of a romantic conclusion. It was a let down after the anticipation that Margaret and John would finally declare their love for one another.
It was told from a Christian World View perspective. Mr. Hale was a vicar but had a crisis of faith and gave up his position, making it hard on his family. I came to respect the hardworking mill folks more than the upper class common people. You would think they would have had more compassion on the workers because most came from reduced circumstances themselves.
This is probably one time I enjoyed the adaptation more than the book.
*i borrowed this ebook from Prime Reading. All opinions are my own.* ( )

(4.5 / 5)

I've seen the BBC mini-series of this book several times in the past. I even watched it once with my husband, who appreciated the way that both sides of the labor dispute are presented--both the good and the bad of unions. While I've had moderate success in enjoyment of classics in my recent reading, I decided it was time to read the book that inspired a mini-series I love. I'm so glad I did.

One of the things that was great about reading the book is that, as is usually the case with books that are made into movies, mini-series, TV shows, etc., the characters were able to have more depth. We get to read about their thought processes, the reasons behind their actions, which are more difficult to put across on screen. In the case of Thornton, it gave me a lot more insight into his feelings for Margaret. I really appreciated the way he treated her on her dad's behalf, considering that he saw her as far too good for him and his dirty northern town. And sadly, she didn't do anything to dispel that feeling.

That is the crux of this story, though, as both sides--the northerners and the southerners--tend to make assumptions about the other, sometimes only due to a cultural difference. Other times due to a shortcoming on someone's behalf, or simply a bad day.

Unfortunately, I disliked Margaret more by the end of the book than I expected to. While some of the misconceptions are unfounded, she really was quite haughty and seemed even heartless at times, at least in regard to Thornton. As has been the case in the past when I read a book that I have already watched a screen version of, I can't really say for sure if Higgins would have become such a favorite character of mine as he did, if I hadn't first seen the mini-series, but I still really liked him in the book. One of my biggest frustrations was that Mr. Hale's reason for leaving the church is never really expounded upon. I found myself wanting to be able to have my own opinion about how good or bad of a decision it was to uproot his family, but I suppose Gaskell didn't think it was an important aspect to the story.

I do get why some don't care for the story. Some compare it to Pride and Prejudice in both positive and negative ways, though I haven't read it, so I can't comment. While I do sometimes want to sit both Thornton and Margaret down and tell them to stop being stupid and proud, I still quite enjoyed the book and recommend it for any who enjoys romance from this period, and for fans of the mini-series. ( )