The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910 discussion

For discussing the final chapter of the book, and the book as a whole. If you have not completed the book be aware that there may be spoilers posted here.

I've just finished reading and I am so thankful this group chose Gaskell for a 3 volume read. I had never read her work before so it was a delightful surprise to read something for which I had no preconceived expectations. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and yet found it such as contrast to North and South. North and South dealt with such broad social themes as the Industrial Revolution, the changing relationships between classes, the contrast between and the strengths and weaknesses of rural, traditional Southern England and the urban, modernizing North, while Cranford deals so much more in the small, interpersonal relationships between friends of longstanding, where not much happens but where the individual and collective actions within a small, close-knit community make such a profound difference in everyone's life. I became so interested in the small community she describes and yet for the life of me I cannot say why. To me, this speaks to Gaskell's gift as a writer. I am eagerly looking forward to the 3rd novel coming up, and would love any suggestions of other Gaskell favourites.

Frances, Wives and Daughters is my favorite Gaskell, of the three I have read so far (including North and South, and Cranford). I think that Gaskell seems to have almost a dual personality - part Dickens, and part Austen. Of course, not exactly like either, but in a general sense, in that it seems to me that some of her novels have more social commentary, and some are more intimate novels of manners. I would put North and South in the former, and Wives and Daughters and Cranford in the latter. I've got to get around to ordering Ruth for next month - I'm looking forward to reading another Gaskell novel!

Oh yes, Cranford immediately made me think of Gaskell as Dickens' female counterpart in terms of the gift for creating quirky characters that will stick in the readers' memory for a long time.
I love both her social awareness (North and South is the only other Gaskell novel I've read up to now) and her ability to create literary gems such as Cranford - in my opinion, this novel is not devoid of social critism, Gaskell just manages to wrap it up in wonderfully humorous anecdotes.

I have the collection of The Cranford Chronicles, which I think means there are a couple sequel novellas to follow this book... I may have to just forge ahead.

I definitely want to re-watch the BBC series now (I don't think I was able to see all the episodes the first time through), especially to put the names and faces together with a much better understanding of what's going on. All I remember from watching the first time was a big conflict about the railroad coming through town, and that's not even mentioned in book one.

I've already read Gaskell's Wives and Daughters, and the sad little Mary Barton story. While I didn't care for Mary Barton at all, I liked Wives and Daughters well enough... but I've loved Cranford. I may or may not decide to read North and South, altho' I do already have it on my Kindle, just in case the day arrives when I just have to have another reading of E. Gaskell :)

Janice, I took a quick look at that book, and it looks like someone has combined three of Gaskell's novellas that were used for the miniseries. I would guess that they have combined them to reflect the combined story used in the miniseries? Gaskell wrote Cranford, Mr. Harrison's Confessions, and My Lady Ludlow as separate works.

Denise wrote: "Janice, I took a quick look at that book, and it looks like someone has combined three of Gaskell's novellas that were used for the miniseries. I would guess that they have combined them to reflec..."

Sorry, I misspoke. I don't actually have The Cranford Chronicles (that was the closest link I could find on GR). What I have on Kindle is The Cranford Novellas which includes all three of her original Cranford novels. I downloaded it free from Girlebooks (a great site).

http://girlebooks.com/ebook-catalog/e...

I just finished Cranford. What a wonderful read. I will miss the ladies. There was laughter, sadness, honorableness, the true meaning of friendship, and reconciliations. Gaskell truly did an amazing job of capturing the nuances of life. It's my third Gaskell. She's quickly becoming a favorite. I am looking forward to the next one.

This book literally grow on me until I was truly inmerse in the stories of this group of devoted lady friends. I was surprised with them and sad with them. If it wasnt for this group I'm not sure that I would had passed the 3rd chapter haha, so thanks for this! I'm not sure that I would read the next Gaskell 's book, it is really hard to find a copy in spanish of her, and as you can read, my english is not good enough to read an entire nobel in victorian english. But I was gratefully surprised with this one! :D

Karel wrote: "This book literally grew on me until I was truly immersed in the stories of this group of devoted lady friends. I was surprised with them and sad with them. If it wasn't for this group I'm not sure t..."

Thanks for your fresh and delightful perspectives, Karel! Hope you can find the Spanish translations that will enable you to rejoin us soon, if not with Ruth, with others. I suspect your English is much better than you realize, given the quality of your comments here, but I can understand that tackling a novel in other than one's native language could be time-consuming. I don't expect to ever be able to do so, other than occasionally short phrases where a translation doesn't seem satisfactory.

Yes, well done Karel. It was good to have you with us! Your English is very good but it must be a lot easier to get all the nuances of a Victorian novel if you read in your own language. There is a paperback Spanish translation of Ruth available on Amazon.com but perhaps the postage would make it too expensive.:-

http://www.amazon.com/Ruth-Websters-S...

MadgeUK wrote: "There is a paperback Spanish translation of Ruth available on Amazon.com but perhaps the postage would make it too expensive.:-

http://www.amazon.com/Ruth-Websters-S...... ..."

Madge/Karel -- it appears to me as if the less costly paperback edition at that location is not in Spanish, at least if the "Look Inside" feature is working properly. This same seems to be true of the Kindle version and the hardcover -- i.e., those seem to be English, too.

This is one of the places where I get very frustrated with some of Amazon's listings.

(For the more expensive Spanish paperback, shipping could be free, at least w/i the U.S. It appears that there is also special consideration available for students, but I don't know the process for qualifying.)

Karel - You are amazing. Your English is very good, indeed. You actually make jokes in English so I know you've got a wonderful grasp of it. Don't sell yourself short in that area. I really enjoyed watching you grow to enjoy the novel, and all your comments. I hope you join us again soon.

Oh, you are really nice! If I dont find an spanish copy I would try to read in victorian english and see how it goes ;D

Oh, you are really nice! If I dont find an spanish copy I would try to read in victorian english and see how it goes ;D