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North and South

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North and South

By: Elizabeth Gaskell
Narrated by: Flo Gibson
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About this listen

 Against a background of industrial unrest, misery, suspicion, jealousy, and the deaths of family and dear friends, the star-crossed love between mill owner John Thornton and the cultivated Margaret Hale is put to the test.Public Domain (P)2006 Audio Book Contractors, Inc. Classics Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Romance

Critic reviews

"[Gaskell] was a keen observer of human behaviour and speech, among both industrial workers in Manchester and farming and country-town communities, and a careful researcher of the background and technicalities of her novels." ( The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature)
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I bought this book as holiday listening, having read it years ago and enjoyed it as much as ever. It may be a chunky novel with unambigious Victorian values but there is something engagingly subversive in well bred Margaret Hale's attraction, almost despite herself, to a 'bit of rough' northern mill owner that keeps one listening. The narration is a little odd though, particularly the way the reader drops her voice mid-sentence. However I found I barely noticed after a while. Overall, if you enjoy a good, old fashioned read, you will love this.

Enjoyable

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Would you consider the audio edition of North and South to be better than the print version?

Any audio book has the advantage of enabling you to listen as you do other things. I preferred the audio version for that reason.

What was one of the most memorable moments of North and South?

Although the ending seems to screech to a halt, it has to be the most memorable part for me and Mrs. Gaskell herself was not happy with it, or so I have read. However, it is the desired happy ending after everything that has come between Margaret and John.

Which character – as performed by Flo Gibson – was your favourite?

I thought that Margaret was a little too feeble. She was a strong character and she seemed to simper a little. Overall, each character was clearly recognizable which is helpful.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I have read the book too often to shed tears any more and being a Victorian tale there are not many laughs in it.The deepening gloom up to the last few pages is all too apparent.

Any additional comments?

I considered the pace of the narrator to be just right. A quick tempo was kept all the way through, which I like. The accents I am not too sure about but it was an enjoyable listen and I am pleased to have this in my library.

Brilliantly lively telling of a familiar story.

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I know this story and love it but this version is deeply disappointing. The quality of the recording is muffled and I have needed to keep the volume up much higher to hear it. The voice of the narrator doesn't suit the age and period of the story. It is sadly reminscient of the paranormal woman from Poltergeist the movie. While I love this book, I am struggling to stay focused on the story telling and this just takes too much effort to relate or feel for the characters. Simply disappointing ....

Disappointed

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I read this book several years ago and very much enjoyed it, so bought the audio version so my husband and I could listen together on holiday, as we are both admirers of Mrs. Gaskell's work. The narrator's reading voice is dreadful, quite unsuitable for a book of this period (or any period come to that - will not buy any more books read by her). It actually sounds worse on our downloaded version than the excerpt on the web page. We initially thought it was being played at the wrong speed - shades of Pinky and Perky. Too off putting, we gave up after 10 minutes, as we just could not enjoy listening. Would not award any star rating at all if the system would accept this review without a star.
This is the first duff we have downloaded from Audible.

An awful recording of a great book

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