tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020849054403226268.post4717503992356617794..comments2024-02-25T19:19:39.854+11:00Comments on I prefer reading: Sylvia's Lovers - Elizabeth Gaskelllynhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04509400868331534237noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020849054403226268.post-15744820820411657622014-08-31T14:21:12.744+10:002014-08-31T14:21:12.744+10:00I thought Kinraid was more Sylvia's ideal of a...I thought Kinraid was more Sylvia's ideal of a man than anything else & that was why he was presented so sketchily. He's also not present for much of the book. His effect on Sylvia & Philip is more important than the real man. As I said, I felt much more sympathy for Sylvia the second time I read it, especially as she was used by both Kinraid & Philip without a chance to have any influence on her own future.lynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04509400868331534237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020849054403226268.post-35287338480528006222014-08-31T04:28:19.206+10:002014-08-31T04:28:19.206+10:00An insightful review.
This is one of my favourite ...An insightful review.<br />This is one of my favourite Gaskell novels.<br />I do feel, though, that because she rushed to complete it, she left out details that might have helped make it less One is anything but a cursory development of the theme of Sylvia[s disillusionment with Kinraid after he marries so soon after losing her.<br />then again, why is the depiction of Kinraid so sketchy <br />compared to that of Hepburn and Sylvia:? I take the point that mystery makes a character intriguing, and certainly she has gone out of her way to make Kinraid's character, as Nancy Henry says in the <br />introduction to my edition,hard to interpret. Because he <br />kills two press gang members initially (escaping inevitable hanging for that because he is taken for dead) but later, ironically, is promoted in the Royal Navy to Captain - where, as we know from Hornblower, he would have routinely to use press gangs to round up enough men to leave port, and not be too scrupulous about whether they were sea faring men or not -he comes across to me as an opportunist, and a man with hot but fleeting emotions. He swears he'll wed Sylvia or no-one, but he's married seven months after their last dramatic meeting. <br />Sylvia forgives Hepburn, but he's betrayed her too. I feel that both men betray her in their individual ways and it's a shame she didn't have the opportunity to go <br />to sea and have adventures herself. Then she'd never <br />have been so infatuated with Kinraid, or need to rely on Hepburn's money.<br /> <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020849054403226268.post-41787667545464545092011-07-26T18:14:23.795+10:002011-07-26T18:14:23.795+10:00I was still irritated by Sylvia at the beginning b...I was still irritated by Sylvia at the beginning but I felt much more sympathy for her as the book progressed. She really did have a lot to cope with.lynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04509400868331534237noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3020849054403226268.post-26621586132432488202011-07-25T19:56:03.502+10:002011-07-25T19:56:03.502+10:00I read this years and years ago, more because of t...I read this years and years ago, more because of the Whitby connection as it is a place I love, than anything else.<br />I remember being equally irritated by Sylvia at the time, so maybe I need to re-read it from a more mature perspective (!) and see if I feel more sympathetic towards her!<br />Shamefully it is still the only Gaskell I have read, despite having several of her books on my shelf! These are books that I am going to read when I 'have time'!LizFnoreply@blogger.com