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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
63 of 64 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful Book,
By
This review is from: South Riding: An English Landscape (Virago Modern Classics) (Paperback)
South Riding is a massive novel (564 pages)--but a quick read.
It deals with a huge cast of characters. Sarah Burton is technically the main one; but the tapestry is enormous, and Holtby has such a sure touch for characterization that she breathes life into even the minor figures. In breadth of scope and generosity of heart and mind, Winifred Holtby reminds me of George Eliot. She seldom judges, though she obviously has her preferences and dislikes. She sees the interrelationships of all classes and all actions. But Holtby is a better stylist than Eliot. She is both clear and poetic, both brief and profound. Her apprenticeship as a journalist served her well. She gets right to the heart of feelings and facts, yet they shimmer with life and richness. She is particularly good on the imponderables--why a sensible and self-confident progressive like Sarah Burton should fall so incongruously in love with a feudal troglodyte like Robert Carne; why Carne should sacrifice everything for his neurotic-and-psychotic wife Muriel. She is also good on depicting the sweep of history. Though her characters are real people, they are also emblematic of historical trends: the long slow death of the landed aristocracy, the encroachment of urbanization and industrialization, the flattening of tragedy and democratization of hope. A wonderful book
29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Beautiful, Wise Novel,
By Jamakaya (Milwaukee, WI) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: South Riding (Paperback)
I hope the recent BBC/Masterpiece Classic version of "South Riding" will compel more people to read this beautiful book, and I hope its publisher will issue a new edition here in the states. It is superb.In "South Riding," Winifred Holtby presents a mosaic of Yorkshire life in the 1930s, exhibiting profound understanding and compassion for a wide array of characters of different classes, ages, and aspirations. There are probably about 15 main characters involved but she is so skillful in describing each of their circumstances that I had no trouble keeping track of them as I progressed through the book. Each chapter is like a perfect short story of its own, providing a character's background or motivation, introducing an obstacle or conflict, showing people as allies or at cross-purposes, always moving the action forward. "South Riding" has everything: family love and family dysfunction, selflessness, greed, romance, loneliness, poverty, wealth, sex, births, deaths, folly, nobility, humor, hope, despair, good and bad government, conflict, compassion, corruption, and both sad AND happy endings! It is similar to George Eliot's "Middlemarch" in its ambitious, broad canvas of English life and its attention to individual detail. But I agree with another reviewer here that it is less long-winded and preachy than Eliot (sorry, George). Holtby's style is brisk and clear and very easy to read. I believe "Middlemarch" was set in 1830s England, and I wonder if Holtby was consciously writing a "Middlemarch" for the 20th century. She certainly succeeded admirably. Sadly, "South Riding" was first published in 1936, a year after Holtby's death at age 37. Having read the book, my only regret is that so many of my friends have not. Perhaps the 2011 TV adaptation will give it new life. To those who liked the TV show, please DO read the book. As is often the case, the book includes more detailed plot and characterization. It's beautiful and wise, and highly recommended.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An undiscovered classic,
By Ruth Axtell Morren (Maine, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: South Riding (Paperback)
I would never have read this if a friend had not lent it to me with the news that Masterpiece would soon be airing the dramatization of it South Riding. It took me a couple of chapters to get into the story. Unlike other reviewers, I did have trouble keeping so many characters straight and was too lazy to keep looking back at the list with descriptions at the beginning of the book. It was also a little annoying to keep being switched from character to character every chapter or scene, but that is a typical writing device. But, soon I was completely engrossed in the life and times of the characters of 1933 South Riding, Yorkshire. What a gem of storytelling. By reading the book so soon prior to watching the BBC production, however, I was quite critical of the show. They left out so much! They would have done much better to have dramatized it over several episodes as Masterpiece Theatre productions used to do in the good old days. I did find the casting superb, and I'm sure if I had seen the TV production later or had not read the book, I would have found it fine.
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