North and South review

Recently, I read North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell on onlineliterature.com (one of my favorite sites EVER). I enjoyed the book, but caught myself doing some major skimming. Gaskell wrote this for publication in a magazine, which may account for its length. Parts of the story drag on with LOTS of detail. Gaskell wraps up the story pretty quickly, and I found myself wishing she had edited out some of the description to focus more on the characters. Margaret and Mr. Thornton go from hating each other to loving each other too quickly, and more exploration of the relationship's development would have been nice. My reaction is probably related to the contemporary romances I read where the authors never mess around with too much description. Just another example of how smut has warped my brain :)

*This review is also posted to my Goodreads page.

onlineliterature.com, I love you

On slow days at work, onlineliterature.com is a total lifesaver. I discovered the site when I was working on my reading list for my MA degree in English. When it was slow at my student job (anyone sensing the theme here?) I would go online and try and get some chapters read of the early 21st century novels I had to read. This summer, I read the entire Anne of Green Gables series in snippets. In hindsight, these books weren't the best at-work reads since I always cry when Matthew dies (never good to mist at work when you're trying to look busy!). I don't want to give the impression I don't work or that I don't like my job, because I do; however, sometimes a chapter of a good book makes the 30 minute lull between busy times feel more productive then say, facebook, a trap I'm all too easily drawn into.

My latest onlineliterature.com find was Crome Yellow (1921) by Aldous Huxley. I had a professor suggest this book to me a while ago, but never had time to read it. Now that I have, I've added some of Huxley's other novels to my ongoing reading list. Huxley seems like an author who would be fun to hang out with. He has a dry sense of humor and he really captures the awkardness in everyday life, especially the weird moments when characters are trying to be the most serious. Like a lot of other English novels from the 1920s, Crome Yellow is about the upperclass leisure lifestyle and Huxley presents a group of people vacationing together. I always leave these kind of books wishing I could vacation for months at a time, wear party clothes, and eat fabulous dinners. I'll keep my fingers crossed for the lottery, and bide my time until then.