I have acquired a copy of North and South on March 12th and could it be a coincidence that I started watching this series the day after John Jakes, the author of the book trilogy, died or was I meant to watch and fall in love with the adaptation of his grand work? I believe there are certain things that are bound to happen and I'm sure glad it happened to me.
Book II begins rapidly with so many different plotlines and new characters presented, and by the end of the first hour we're already in battle. In this series battles are being fought everywhere, both in and out of the battlefields with emphasis on love's trials and tribulations and war related matters which is where actually the subtitle for the series comes from.
What differs Love and War from Book I is that Orry and George-centric storylines are now shared with political debates and military strategies almost equally but still leaning toward personal battles which is a good thing: the vicissitudes between the series' many characters, with its eloquently written dialogues are a joy to watch.
The friendship is the core of this series and how strongly it holds despite all odds: people may be on the opposite sides of the barricades but they are still bonded by something much mightier than anything else in the world - love. No matter how far gone your personalities from one another, if you are able to put your differences aside, bear the grudges and find common ground, mutual sentiment, love and respect for one another then it is something no war can ever destroy.
The phenomenon of the Civil War is truly fascinating from the historical standpoint and we see it firsthand through North and South. We see people angry at each other for being born in different places, with different beliefs, we see people so stubborn and intolerant toward one another that they would rather die than say they are wrong, we see friends changing their shoes and betraying each other the very minute the war is declared but whose war is it? Surely not those who stand by their friends and family, choose kindness over anger, reason over foolishness and love over war.
This war divides people but by doing so it unites them when both sides start asking a handful of questions. Why are we fighting? Who are fighting? Who is the enemy? What are we fighting for? Little by little they come to the realization that they cannot exist without each other and it's a great pity that so many died for all the rest to learn that lesson. This series has really made me want to sink in the history of the Civil War but I'm sure I will not get as much out of history books as I have already gotten from this superb miniseries.
Love and War utilizes so many set pieces, recreates the whole streets with buildings (the opening sequence to the first episode alone opens up your mouth and eyes wide at how big and grandiose the sets actually were), it choreographs the battle scenes a bit too amateurishly for my taste, with all those explosions, shootouts, armies of people marching on but splendidly nonetheless - simply because war plays a second fiddle in this great big story: love always comes first.
By the end of the last episode in Book II you not only feel like a part of Hazard/Main family, you become one for real. The end of the war brings you some kind of relief and a whole lot of tears along with it but deep down you know there's so much more to be done and although I've heard Book III is nowhere near as good as the first two I would hope to see otherwise.
Book II begins rapidly with so many different plotlines and new characters presented, and by the end of the first hour we're already in battle. In this series battles are being fought everywhere, both in and out of the battlefields with emphasis on love's trials and tribulations and war related matters which is where actually the subtitle for the series comes from.
What differs Love and War from Book I is that Orry and George-centric storylines are now shared with political debates and military strategies almost equally but still leaning toward personal battles which is a good thing: the vicissitudes between the series' many characters, with its eloquently written dialogues are a joy to watch.
The friendship is the core of this series and how strongly it holds despite all odds: people may be on the opposite sides of the barricades but they are still bonded by something much mightier than anything else in the world - love. No matter how far gone your personalities from one another, if you are able to put your differences aside, bear the grudges and find common ground, mutual sentiment, love and respect for one another then it is something no war can ever destroy.
The phenomenon of the Civil War is truly fascinating from the historical standpoint and we see it firsthand through North and South. We see people angry at each other for being born in different places, with different beliefs, we see people so stubborn and intolerant toward one another that they would rather die than say they are wrong, we see friends changing their shoes and betraying each other the very minute the war is declared but whose war is it? Surely not those who stand by their friends and family, choose kindness over anger, reason over foolishness and love over war.
This war divides people but by doing so it unites them when both sides start asking a handful of questions. Why are we fighting? Who are fighting? Who is the enemy? What are we fighting for? Little by little they come to the realization that they cannot exist without each other and it's a great pity that so many died for all the rest to learn that lesson. This series has really made me want to sink in the history of the Civil War but I'm sure I will not get as much out of history books as I have already gotten from this superb miniseries.
Love and War utilizes so many set pieces, recreates the whole streets with buildings (the opening sequence to the first episode alone opens up your mouth and eyes wide at how big and grandiose the sets actually were), it choreographs the battle scenes a bit too amateurishly for my taste, with all those explosions, shootouts, armies of people marching on but splendidly nonetheless - simply because war plays a second fiddle in this great big story: love always comes first.
By the end of the last episode in Book II you not only feel like a part of Hazard/Main family, you become one for real. The end of the war brings you some kind of relief and a whole lot of tears along with it but deep down you know there's so much more to be done and although I've heard Book III is nowhere near as good as the first two I would hope to see otherwise.