Thomas Hardy

[tyred]

I have always loved his poetry but never really got along with his novels.

I did read Tess of the d'Urbervilles (SP?) about 14 years ago (can't really remember much beyond thinking it very dark, sinister and depressing) and read part of the Mayor of Casterbridge (I left it behind me on a bus and never replaced it. Never did find out how it ends).

This past few months I have been going through a sort of "read the classics" phase and after reading Frankenstein, Dracula, A Tale of Two Cities, Wuthering Heights, Pride and Prejudice, Jekyll and Hyde, John McNabb and re-read much of my Sherlock Holmes collection. This is partly due to starting to take my own writing more seriously and wanting to see what I can learn from the masters and also just because I feel I should as many of these books have been popular for so many years I figure they must be worth reading.

I'm beginning to turn my attention back to Hardy and thinking I should maybe give him another chance. I realise this is a "How long is a piece of string?" type question but was wondering if any Hardy fans can give me reasons why it's worthwhile to read his novels and maybe make suggestions as to which of his efforts are reasonably light-hearted.

P.S. Suggestions for non-Hardy classics that are worth reading are also wlecome.

 

[Stu Plows]

Liked him in Batman.

 

[Rapples]

I'd re-read Tess, and Mayor of Casterbridge.

Return of the Native I quite like, but Far From the Madding Crowd is probably my favourite.

He also wrote a lot of short stories, most of which are entertaining and not too sinister.

[QUOTE 3055368, member: 1314"]
He writes novels in a soap-opera style - cliff-hanger chapter endings. That's no bad thing nut it makes his novels rather overly-manufactured in feel.
[/QUOTE]
"In accordance of with the habit of the time, his novels first appeared in monthly instalments in magazines before being published in three volume form."


But then I'm sure you knew that CoG.

 

[Dave Davenport]

Another vote for Far from the madding crowd.

 

[Rapples]

Another vote for Far from the madding crowd.

And the film with Julie Christie, and Alan Bates is a masterpiece

 

[Dave Davenport]

And the film with Julie Christie, and Alan Bates is a masterpiece

I'd agree on that too!

 

[sazzaa]

Completely f***able in Bronson.

 

[Mattonsea]

Far From the Madding Crowd is my favorite by far. The historical record of Dorset and its agricultural past is fascinating.

 

[tyred]

Looks like Far from the Maddening Crowd then. Time to hit the charity shops. I still my Tess somewhere in my library big pile of books crammed into the bottom of my wardrobe.

 

[Gravity Aided]

http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/thomas-hardys-ale-making-another-comeback.61764/

Another one for Far from the Madding Crowd or Return of the Native.

 

[User169]

http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/thomas-hardys-ale-making-another-comeback.61764/

I'll believe it when I see it. brewinvest have been sitting on the rights for a couple of years and no sign of any beer.

 

[Archie_tect]

I loved reading Jude The Obscure, although it can be pretty depressing at times. Why do I like it? It paints a detailed picture of working life at the time. It is well written, albeit really sad. All of the characters are beautifully described and portrayed.

Oh, and do finish the Mayor of Casterbridge - a truly great novel.

(You can probably tell.......I'm a Hardy fan)

The Mayor of Casterbridge.... set book for O or A level, can't remember which. Is it just me that wrote-off authors who had books set for English!!

Hated it then and can't imagine ever reading it again... well now I think about it I only ever read the book through once and then used the revision notes!

Henshaw and Hobson ['s choice].... if I've got the names right.

 

[hopless500]

I loved reading Jude The Obscure, although it can be pretty depressing at times. Why do I like it? It paints a detailed picture of working life at the time. It is well written, albeit really sad. All of the characters are beautifully described and portrayed.

Oh, and do finish the Mayor of Casterbridge - a truly great novel.

(You can probably tell.......I'm a Hardy fan)

• Me too. I reckon the Mayor of Casterbridge is more cheery than Jude the Obscure. The premise of selling your wife and her being silly enough to go along with it is a good start! Jude the Oscure is great, but the undercurrent is pretty depressing. I've read it several times and no doubt will read it again though. Loved Tess of the D'urbevilles and The Trumpet Major and several others, but they all have that black note to them. But it is interspersed with more cheery stuff and they are good reading. Just don't read when susceptible to being down!

 

[Gravity Aided]

I liked how Thomas Hardy sort of preserved, in words, the old ways of the English Rural Folk. Many of us who are not English Rural Folk would have no idea , were it not for him, I believe. Although it is hard for anyone to gauge Midwestern Americans from Sherwood Anderson or Edgar Lee Masters, Hardy seems pretty representative of what was the common element and basic gist of the clash between the modern world and what came before.

 

[Brains]

The Mayor of Casterbridge.... set book for O or A level, can't remember which. Is it just me that wrote-off authors who had books set for English!!

Hated it then and can't imagine ever reading it again... well now I think about it I only ever read the book through once and then used the revision notes!

Henshaw and Hobson ['s choice].... if I've got the names right.

Despite being an avid reader, going through a book or two a week in my teenage years and probably averaging a book or two a month thereafter, and having so many books in our library that when a local Oxfam bookshop started up in central Greenwich we supplied their entire opening stock delivered in 4 car loads. It did not include a single Thomas Hardy.

In 1972 my English teacher at school so thoroughly managed to put me off "Far From The Adding Crow" (as we knew it) that not only have I never finished it, I reallly really don't care what happens to any of the characters or have any interest in anything Thomas Hardy may have written thereafter .