Comments on: Victorian Second Helpings (The Moonstone by Collins and North and South by Gaskell)

By: Susanna Crain

Susanna Crain — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 02:56:04 +0000

I’ve read many classics, but have never been able to read Dickens. I love movies based on his novels (Bleak House, David Copperfield, Nicolas Nickleby, etc.) but have not been able to make myself read the books. It’s not the genre–I’ve read Elizabeth Gaskell, Winkie Collins and even tackled Middlemarch (and enjoyed it too). I don’t know what it is about Dickens–I seem to read 10 pages and think “what did I just read?”

By: Susanna Crain

Susanna Crain — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 02:54:27 +0000

I’ve read many classics, but have never been able to read Dickens. I love movies based on his novels (Bleak House, David Copperfield, Nicolas Nickleby, etc.) but have not been able to make myself read the books. It’s not the genre–I’ve read Elizabeth Glaskell, Winkie Collins and even tackled Middlemarch (and enjoyed it too). I don’t know what it is about Dickens–I seem to read 10 pages and think “what did I just read?”

By: Rebecca Reid

Rebecca Reid — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:28:47 +0000

Trisha, looking forward to your thoughts! Shelley, I'll definitely revisit it! Glad you like it. Tuesday, it was abrupt. I think Gaskell's point (in the spoiler section above) is appropriate, but still, I too would have liked more romance!!

By: Tuesday

Tuesday — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:40:32 +0000

Yay! I recently read North and South and loved it, though I was disappointed at the ending too. It was so abrupt

By: Shelley

Shelley — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 22:59:31 +0000

The first 3/4 of Tale of Two Cities is a little slow, and then all of the excitement is in the last quarter of the book. I think in the end it’s worth it. It’s dramatic and unrealistic and I love it! Oliver Twist is actually my least favorite of his, while David Copperfield is my favorite. If you’re in the Victorian mood again, give it a try.

By: Trisha

Trisha — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:20:23 +0000

Yep, I first read The Moonstone about 10 years ago or so. I just thought it was so fitting you mention the characters as that was my connection to the book as well.

By: Rebecca Reid

Rebecca Reid — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:40:44 +0000

Trisha, I’m excited to see what you say about it — it was a reread for you, right?

By: Trisha

Trisha — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:19:57 +0000

It is definitely the characters in The Moonstone that make the story. Collins just created these beautifully unique voices in the novel. My review of it goes up on the 17th.

By: Rebecca Reid

Rebecca Reid — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:04:56 +0000

Jane, In retrospect I suspect I thought Betteredge was dragging too — I kept flipping to see how many pages until the next narrator!

Yes, I’d have to say, I’m really enjoying reading Victorians more than I thought I would. And Dickens was not as favorite as I thought he’d be. Ah well, I’ll keep revisiting him!

Yeay! That Gaskell post sounds really fun. I’m looking forward to it!

Nymeth, Oh I’m glad you’ve learned you love mysteries!! I’ll look forward to hearing about whatever you read next!

By: Nymeth

Nymeth — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:46:35 +0000

While I enjoyed the plot of The Moonstone more than you did (It turns out I’m a mystery fan! This is recent news to me ), I agree that the characters absolutely make the book

By: JaneGS

JaneGS — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:43:18 +0000

I’m almost done with The Moonstone and agree that the characters make the story rather than the plot. I actually thought the Betteridge section was dragging after awhile and I got impatient to move on. I wonder whether the serialization method of writing was a detriment in this case as with editing, I think this could have been a better novel.

Unlike Austen, whose works are polished and tight and not a word in excess, Collins got a bit long-winded…and I like long Victorian novels!

I think Oliver Twist is the best Dickens for first time Dickens readers, but Dickens is no longer my favorite Victorian by a long shot. I much prefer Gaskell and Eliot and the Brontes to Dickens.

I’ll be contributing to the Gaskell tour on Nov. 17 (top 10 things you should know about Gaskell to enjoy her works) but I plan to visit all the blogs on the Collins tour as a reader/responder.

I do get genre burnout–in fact I started Julie & Julia a few nights ago because The Moonstone was dragging and I need something easy to read to balance my psyche while I finished it

By: Rebecca Reid

Rebecca Reid — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:16:22 +0000

Court, ooh, thanks for the reminder! I’d forgotten off to request it from the library!

By: Court

Court — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 02:09:17 +0000

Now that you’ve read North and South, you should grab the BBC miniseries. The ending is a little bit different, and you can see a bit more of the attraction between Thornton and Margaret growing as the story goes on.

By: Rebecca Reid

Rebecca Reid — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:21:00 +0000

Jason, I am all the more excited to read Mary Barton now after reading North and South because like you said Gaskell did such a great job of capturing the people in a real way.

I like Dickens, at least the few I’ve read, because of the rosy outlook that comes in the end. I wouldn’t call Dickens realistic, but then again I wouldn’t call Austen realistic either. I like them both. Gaskell so far seems a nice combination of the two styles!

You mentioned Building Jerusalem before; maybe I need to look it up sooner rather than later.

By: Rebecca Reid

Rebecca Reid — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:53:18 +0000

JoAnn, The Gaskell was so delightful! I hope you enjoy which ever is on your schedule. Lezlie, I'll get back to it! just not in the next two months. Amanda, I did enjoy The Moonstone, just wasn't a favorite. I hope you like it when you get to it! (PS I know you don't want to read Dickens but I did enjoy the others I read! I seriously think it was just a matter of burnout this time around.) Chris, oh yes, enjoy N&S! The spoiler is kind of an expected thing, so not too spoilery. Jenny, oh yes, that Miss Clack. Gotta love her presence in the book! Steph, I'm glad I'm not alone in the reading burnout. I don't pay attention to the gender of the authors of the books I read. I'm more interested in the novel and characters and plot! Interesting though that the male classic authors have just not enough romance for me. North and South was more satisfying in that way. Hmmm. I'm thinking I'm craving Jane Austen right now actually.... Maybe don't start with Tale of Two Cities....it seems rather complicated... Stephanie, I wonder if we knew more about the revolution we'd enjoy it more? WordLily, I'm so glad to hear that so many people love Tale of Two Cities. I'm definitely going to get it again in a few months. Emily, I have the Vintage edition of Mary Barton from the library for the Classics Circuit, so I will get to that (but maybe in another week after I've taken a break from Victorians!). Sylvia, thanks for the encouragement! I'm so glad you like it so much!! I actually took Two Cities back to the library this week but I will revisit it next year or maybe in a few months when I'm feeling ready to tackle Victorian literature again. I just need a break now.

By: Jason Gignac

Jason Gignac — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:48:27 +0000

I’m so glad you liked North and South! Despite my flippancy when writing the review, it’s a book that’s stuck with me. I had to love Ms Gaskell for trying so had to tell the truth. I like Oliver Twist, but in many ways, I liked North and South more, because with Dickens, you know everything will sort of end up with Tiny Tim up on Scrooge’s shoulder, you know? Gaskell has a beautiful way of letting people remain imperfect, but still find their happiness – particularly I enjoyed this in her relationship with her father, which felt really poignant – looking back now after reading, for instance, Building Jerusalem, and getting a bit more background on nonconformism, and Northern vs Southern living mores, I like it even more. Gaskell was always willing to admit that the bpeople who aren’t like her are okay too. I don’t feel that way with Dickens.

That being said, I love Tale of Two Cities, and am sorry it didn’t work out for you! I still think we should do a French Revolution Classics Circuit sometime .

By: Sylvia

Sylvia — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:42:35 +0000

Hang in there with A Tale of Two Cities. The influx of new characters will stop and their connections will be revealed. Though I have my doubts about Carlyle’s historical philosophy, on which the book is based, it was a thrilling story in the end.

By: Emily

Emily — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:40:47 +0000

I loved Betteredge and Clack, too. I think Collins really excels at crafting lovable (or irritating, but fun to read) characters. I’m becoming really intrigued by Gaskell; I haven’t read anything of hers, but I was recently tempted by the beautiful Vintage editions of North and South and Mary Barton. A shallow but effective incentive to read a new author!

By: WordLily

WordLily — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:25:43 +0000

Tale of Two Cities is one of the few books that sort of redeems Dickens for me. I remember liking it.

And yes, I think we all get burned out on certain types of books from time to time.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:17:27 +0000

A Tale of Two Cities is the only Dickens I have only read. I couldn’t stand it–easily one of my least favorite books of all time. I put it down when I was almost done with it, which seemed silly at the time but I could not read one more word!

By: Steph

Steph — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:42:57 +0000

I get reading burn out all the time, and find that I really can’t read too many books from a certain genre all in a row or that definitely fatigues me. Just recently I felt tired from having read too many male authors in a row, so that just goes to show you the extent to which I like to diversify my reading.

I am trying to read more Classics, but I think that it’s possible to maybe even heighten my enjoyment by spreading them out so that they each get a chance to stand on their own, rather than them potentially all bleeding into one another. Maybe I’ll even get around to tackling Dickens… you know he’s my literary arch-nemesis after all!

Really enjoying the Classics circuit, and it’s lovely to see that everyone who’s posted so far seems so enthusiastic as well!

By: Jenny

Jenny — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:02:24 +0000

I’m loving the Wilkie Collins tour so far – thanks for organizing! And I’m glad you liked The Moonstone. Like you say, it’s the characters that make it fun. Miss Clack alone is worth the price of admission.

By: Chris@bookarama

Chris@bookarama — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:38:30 +0000

I won’t read your spoilers since I want to read N&S.

I enjoyed The Moonstone but I wouldn’t say it was my favorite either.

By: Amanda

Amanda — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:34:06 +0000

I get burned out on different types of books sometimes. I think it happens to all of us.

I’ve heard, though, that the Moonstone is just not as good as the Woman in White. Not that it’s bad, just that it’s not as good. I still want to read it, though. On the other hand, I have no desire to read Dickens…

By: Lezlie

Lezlie — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:01:58 +0000

Sorry you had to give up on A Tale of Two Cities. I had a difficult time wrapping my mind around it for a while, but in the end it turned out to be one of my all time favorite books.

Lezlie