«... the cloud never comes in that quarter of the horizon from which we watch for it.» (Volume I, Chapter II: Roses and Thorns) ~ «‘... I know you despise me; allow me to say, it is because you do not understand me.’» (Vol. I, Chapt. XXIV: Mistakes Cleared Up) ~ «‘Loyalty and obedience to wisdom and justice are fine; but it is still finer to defy arbitrary power, unjustly and cruelly used—not on behalf of ourselves, but on behalf of others more helpless.’» (Vol. I, Ch. XIV: The Mutiny) ~ #Finished: #NorthAndSouth by #ElizabethGaskell • Rating: 10/10 • Favourite characters: Margaret Hale, Mrs. Thornton, John Thornton, Henry Lennox, Nicholas Higgins • Favourite chapters: Volume 1 Chapter 22: A Blow and Its Consequences; Volume 1 Chapter 24: Mistakes Cleared Up; Volume 2 Chapter 7: Mischances; Volume 2 Chapter 27: ‘Pack Clouds Away’ • My review in a nutshell: An unforgettable social novel, based on binary oppositions and contrasts between England's North and South, the industrialism and nature, masters and workers, the poor and the wealthy, tyranny and rebellion, the harsh today and the nostalgized past; and on the disappointments about such oppositions, showing the excess on any side might be unpleasant; this book is also a romance with a groundbreaking heroine more mature and stronger than all of her 19th-century counterparts. ~ «‘... Have faith in the immortality of the soul, which no pain, no mortal disease, can assail or touch!’» (Vol. I, Ch. XXI: The Dark Night) ~ «‘The most proudly independent man depends on those around him for their insensible influence on his character—his life.’» (Vol. I, Ch. XV: Masters and Men) ~ «‘But I know she does not care for me. I shall put myself at her feet—I must. If it were but one chance in a thousand—or a million—I should do it.’» (Vol. I, Ch. XXIII: Mistakes) ~ «‘Those who are happy and successful themselves are too apt to make light of the misfortunes of others.’» (Vol. II, Ch. XXVII: ‘Pack Clouds Away’) ~ #Gaskell #MargaretHale #MrThornton #JohnThornton #MrsThornton #NicholasHiggins #MrHale #MrBell #MrsHale #HenryLennox #Milton #englishnovel #book #books #bookstagram #literature #reading #read #instabook #classics https://www.instagram.com/p/B9wazMYANXG/?igshid=1ux9wnzo7m4l0
