Show Notes
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell chapter 10 "Wrought Iron and Gold", narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on Patreon and support me as an independent creator :Dhttps://ko-fi.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/joinSummary:Mr Thornton comes over for tea rather late and is very anxious. At half past 7 the door is opened for him by Dixon. Mr. Hale greets him kindly and introduces his guest to his family. Mr. Thornton gets the idea that all of the cakes and biscuits that are laid out are very habitual to the family, especially Margaret, whom he observes setting the table and fiddling with a bracelet on her arm. He wishes that he could have watched Margaret longer, but it is time for tea. Margeret’s beautiful eyes look up to her father’s and Mr. Thornton is struck by her. Mr. Thornton and Mr. Hale talk none-stop, leaving no room for anyone, giving Margaret the opportunity to take in her guest’s figure. Her father, who is tall, seems small compared to Mr. Thornton. Mr Thornton’s face is also very strong, with a heavy brow and almost perfect teeth, which shine like the sun when the man smiles. Margaret is called back to the conversation by hearing her father quote Chevy Chase after Mr. Thornton talked about the fantastic minds of the early manufactures. Margaret is roused to defending her darling South, when she feels that Mr. Thornton has talked badly about it in comparison to his North. She says that he does not know anything about the south, and that there is far less suffering down there as opposed to in Milton, where the men are worked down to the bone. Thornton replies that she does not know the North either, but with a tone of voice of kindness, knowing that he hurt her. Mrs. Hale then pipes up to say that he in spite of the things their guest loves about Milton, he does have to admit that it is dirty and says that she needs to have the curtains washed once a week as opposed to once a month, if that, in the South. Thornton cannot defend Milton on that front but takes it as an opportunity to say how the Parliament has forced that upon them. The south forces laws onto the Northerners without knowing what life is like in the North (same as today…) Mr. Thornton says that he paid to have his chimney changed to burn the smoke too before this law was passed, but that if he had waited longer, until after the law was passed, he would have resisted against the parliament, feeling like they shouldn’t be able to force him to run a business in a certain way. Mr. Thornton goes to give a recap of the early days of the industrial revolution and talks about how these “early masters” became new kings in the area, dictating what hours people could do business with them and having a complete control over the trade. Mr. Thornton believes that if someone wishes to do business with him at midnight, he should be at the buyer’s beck and call. He says that the “early cotton lords” were tyrants over workers. He goes on to say that what he loves about the North is that a man, regardless of position, can rise through the ranks, causing Margaret to say that he must believe that all poor people exist because they have not worked as hard as he has then. He can only reply by talking about himself. He tells them that his father died when he was young and was thus forced to work from the age of 15 or so. He earned very little to support a family of 3 on, but his mother made sure to put away some of the money he made too, which then allowed him to become the man he is today. This history has caused him to believe that through suffering, instead of self-indulgence, you can become anything and believes that anyone that can read and write could become like him. He soon afterwards leaves, shaking hands with Mr. and Mrs. Hale, and receiving a curtsy from Margaret, causing him to think that the girl is far too proud…
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A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens Book 2 chapter 1 "Five Years Later" narrated by Isaac Birchall Subscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on KO-FI and support me as an independent creator :Dhttps://ko-fi.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/joinPodcast Link: https://open.spotify.com/show/13b1qP3WhCWxam9yc49vIF?si=4e279ef4f5f143a0Summary: 1780. Tellson’s Bank in London prides itself on being “very small, very dark, very ugly, very incommodious.” The partners believe that if it were more welcoming then it would lose its status as a respectable business. It’s located at Temple Bar, where the heads of executed criminals were displayed until very recently. Jerry Cruncher, the bank’s runner awakens in his apartment, in a dodgy part of London. He begins his day by yelling at his wife, the conversation culminating with him throwing a muddy boot at her. Around 9, he and his son camp outside the bank to await instructions. The door opens and a man calls for a Porter, at which Jerry heads off to do the job, leaving his son alone. SEO stuff I don't want to do. Charles Dickens' novel A Tale of Two Cities is one of the most sold books on the planet with over 200 million copies having been sold world wide. It is the most famous of Dickens' works and set in the bloody and violent French revolution. It blends the great history of the French revolution with the tale of a family. Raising enduring themes of imprisonment, injustice, social anarchy, resurrection, and the renunciation that fosters renewal, there is a reason that this novel has stood the test of time and has been enjoyed by readers all across the globe in many different languages.
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A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens Book 1 chapter 4 "The Preparation" narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on KO-FI and support me as an independent creator :Dhttps://ko-fi.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/joinPodcast Link: https://open.spotify.com/show/13b1qP3WhCWxam9yc49vIF?si=4e279ef4f5f143a0Summary:The next morning, Lorry arrives in Dover and gets out of the mail coach at the Royal George Hotel. After changing out of his travel clothes he transforms himself into his usual sixty-year-old businessman self. That afternoon, a waiter announces the arrival of Lucie Manette and says that the girl is ready to meet Mr. Lorry. Lorry meets the girl in her room and she says that she had word from the bank that some intelligence had been made respecting the small estate of her father – long presumed dead. After restating his duties as a businessman, Lorry tells miss Manette that the real reason she has been summoned to Paris is because her father has been found alive and has been taken to an old servant. Lucie is to go and restore her father to his health, and Mr. Lorry is to go and identify the man. Lucie then goes into shock, and he servant, Miss Pross rushes in to save her charge.SEO stuff I don't want to do. Charles Dickens' novel A Tale of Two Cities is one of the most sold books on the planet with over 200 million copies having been sold world wide. It is the most famous of Dickens' works and set in the bloody and violent French revolution. It blends the great history of the French revolution with the tale of a family. Raising enduring themes of imprisonment, injustice, social anarchy, resurrection, and the renunciation that fosters renewal, there is a reason that this novel has stood the test of time and has been enjoyed by readers all across the globe in many different languages.
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens Book 1 chapter 3 "The Night Shadows" narrated by Isaac BirchallSubscribe on YT or Join the Book Club on KO-FI and support me as an independent creator :Dhttps://ko-fi.com/theessentialreadshttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfOFfvo05ElM96CmfsGsu3g/joinPodcast Link: https://open.spotify.com/show/13b1qP3WhCWxam9yc49vIF?si=4e279ef4f5f143a0Summary:The narrator thinks about the secrets and mysteries that each human is to the every other. Lorry, as he rides in the mail coach with the two strangers, dozes in and out of sleep. His dreams are of the inner workings of Tellson’s Bank. But the shadows passing through the coach play tricks on him, and he dreams that he is digging someone out of a grave. He converses with this spectre and learns that the man has been buried alive for nearly 18 years. Lorry tells the spectre that he has been recalled to life and asks it if it wishes to live. He also asks “shall I show her to you? Will you come and see her?” The ghost has different answers to these questions all night, sometimes claiming that he would die if he were to see this woman, and at other times he pleads to see her immediately; at other times he weeps.SEO stuff I don't want to do. Charles Dickens' novel A Tale of Two Cities is one of the most sold books on the planet with over 200 million copies having been sold world wide. It is the most famous of Dickens' works and set in the bloody and violent French revolution. It blends the great history of the French revolution with the tale of a family. Raising enduring themes of imprisonment, injustice, social anarchy, resurrection, and the renunciation that fosters renewal, there is a reason that this novel has stood the test of time and has been enjoyed by readers all across the globe in many different languages.