July Group Read: Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell
Discussie2014 Category Challenge
Sluit je aan bij LibraryThing om te posten.
Dit onderwerp is gemarkeerd als "slapend"—het laatste bericht is van meer dan 90 dagen geleden. Je kan het activeren door een een bericht toe te voegen.
1cbl_tn
Welcome to the discussion thread for Mary Barton! This is a Victorian social novel set in an industrial city in northern England. It was Elizabeth Gaskell's first published novel. Gaskell was a contemporary of Dickens and the Brontes, and Dickens published her work in the literary magazines he edited.
Since we'll be reading at different times and different paces during the month, it would be helpful to include chapter numbers with comments. The relatively new spoiler tag is useful for hiding plot details from those who haven't yet reached that point in the novel.
Since we'll be reading at different times and different paces during the month, it would be helpful to include chapter numbers with comments. The relatively new spoiler tag is useful for hiding plot details from those who haven't yet reached that point in the novel.
2cbl_tn
I'll be reading the Project Gutenberg version on my ereader, but I won't be starting until later in the month, after I finish Armadale.
4leslie.98
I have plenty on my plate right now too, so mid-month is about right for me. I am looking forward to this, as I liked her Cranford and Wives and Daughters very much. I wasn't as big a fan of North and South and it seems like this may be more like that (industrial Northern city setting in particular as opposed to village life)...
5cbl_tn
If I can finish Armadale this week I may start Mary Barton over the weekend. I'll be traveling so ebooks will be easier to read than paper ones.
6MarthaJeanne
I've read about a quarter of it now, and really enjoying the read.
7BookLizard
I've started it. Trying to read a couple of chapters a night.
8leslie.98
I am also about a quarter through. I am enjoying it much more than I did North and South...
9cbl_tn
I've read the first couple of chapters, but I may not make a lot of headway until the weekend.
11MarthaJeanne
I'm just over half way, and it's already quite exciting.
12leslie.98
I am done now & found it much more exciting than I had expected. I thought it would be social commentary with some romance, so this was a pleasant surprise!
13MarthaJeanne
Wow! This was a very good book.
14cbl_tn
I finally finished the book late Sunday but it's been such a hectic week that I've just now written my review. I hadn't read a lot about the book beforehand so the murder was a surprise. I was expecting the romance. The beginning was a little confusing since Mary's mother was also Mary Barton. I wasn't entirely sure which one of them was going to be the subject of the book.
I thought it started out a little awkwardly, with much made about Esther's disappearance, then nothing more about her until near the middle of the book. The romance started out a lot like The Small House at Allington, but it took a different twist that I liked better.
The ebook that I downloaded from Project Gutenberg included a lot of notes about terms or phrases used as part of the local dialect. I found that I didn't need most of those notes. Either the terms were familiar to me (possibly a lingering influence from immigrant ancestors many generations ago), or the meaning seemed obvious from the context.
I think Gaskell succeeded at highlighting the social problems of the working class in England's industrial region in a story with entertainment value. This book is very different from Cranford and Wives and Daughters, but in some ways I liked it better.
I thought it started out a little awkwardly, with much made about Esther's disappearance, then nothing more about her until near the middle of the book. The romance started out a lot like The Small House at Allington, but it took a different twist that I liked better.
The ebook that I downloaded from Project Gutenberg included a lot of notes about terms or phrases used as part of the local dialect. I found that I didn't need most of those notes. Either the terms were familiar to me (possibly a lingering influence from immigrant ancestors many generations ago), or the meaning seemed obvious from the context.
I think Gaskell succeeded at highlighting the social problems of the working class in England's industrial region in a story with entertainment value. This book is very different from Cranford and Wives and Daughters, but in some ways I liked it better.
15MarthaJeanne
I also found the Gutenberg notes to be mostly unnecessary. It would have been better if they were at the end and not stuck in the running text.
16soffitta1
I finished this last night. I really enjoyed it, it is hard to make a point without the story seeming clunky, but the balance here was good.
17cbl_tn
>16 soffitta1: Was this your first book by Gaskell? It was my third, after Wives and Daughters and Cranford. The more of her works I read, the more I like her. She's becoming one of my favorite authors.
18MarthaJeanne
I have read a lot of books about this time period, but they have mostly been written from an unemotional point of view. The advantage of this fictional approach is that it makes the underlying forces so much more understandable. People sick and starving, and watching their children die of sickness and starvation mean a lot more when they have become real people to you.
19MarthaJeanne
>17 cbl_tn: It was my first, and I will have to try more.
20soffitta1
Re 17, actually this is my third after Cranford and North and South. I have also seen a great adaptation of Wives and Daughters, from ten or so years ago.
I read the first two after seeing the adaptations, both very good, but she does get so much detail into her work. I actually find her less clunky than Dickens, as her dialect seems natural rather than there for comedic effect.
I spotted this in a charity shop not long before it was suggested as a readalong, perfect timing.
I read the first two after seeing the adaptations, both very good, but she does get so much detail into her work. I actually find her less clunky than Dickens, as her dialect seems natural rather than there for comedic effect.
I spotted this in a charity shop not long before it was suggested as a readalong, perfect timing.