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Title: Tess of the D'Urbervilles (Penguin Classics) by Thomas Hardy, Tim Dolin, Margaret R. Higonnet ISBN: 0-14-143959-9 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 27 May, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $8.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.33 (6 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Perfect for a Book Club
Comment: Some great discussions come out of this book. Thomas Hardy has a very distinct style, and uses the environment essentially as another character, so it may be beneficial to at least have some familiarity with England before reading. No one can read this book without having strong opinions about the characters, especially the two main men. This is one of the standout pieces of literature of its time and is well worth the read.
Rating: 1
Summary: Wake me up
Comment: A great windbag of a novel, Hardy seems to think that not only does a grassy meadow take half a chapter to describe, he thinks that everyone else agrees with him. Please. Not the largest complaint I have, but surely the first, is that Hardy's style is like looking up looking up "stone pillar" in a thesaurus, then two others, and then writing down every single synonym. It takes pages for him to describe a dairy farm, and at some point you wonder if he's introducing the farm as a character, it gets so much time.
Not that he seems to spend that much time on his characters; they are created with little that interests, and contain less development that a homeless shelter under President Bush.
Tess is described, at great length, and quite often, as a beautiful woman. Okay, so what? Her personality is so weak I wonder if he even thought about what she would do in a situation, or just had her do whatever the other characters wanted her to do, until the very end, when she makes an out of character action that is supposed to be shocking, but is more perplexing; the character described in the rest of the book wouldn't do that, and there is nothing to indicate why she has a sudden change of being.
Angel is built up as the "perfect prince in shining armor" until he finds out about Tess's secret, when he suddenly acts like a selfish and snotty child that is the very opposite of what he has been in the rest of the book. Then he switches back at the end, with little thought as to why by Hardy, at least not much that is apparent in the book.
Let's see, boring writing style and poorly done characters, what else is there? Ah, plot. The only way to describe plot is that it made the description seem riveting and his characters thought out. He's spend the time to talk about Tess getting a job, then the next chapter she is suddenly running away from it; I felt robbed of the time spent in the build up, and knowing more in detail of what happened in the intervening time from when she got the job to when she quit would have helped with her character. And when you think there is no need for detail, Hardy's got more than enough. He spends ages talking about Tess and Angel's time together at the dairy farm, but none of their actions change the way they feel about each other. He could have cut our some of their horse riding, and no one would complain.
In short, Hardy's the kind of writer who is analogous to a storyteller that likes the sound of his voice; just because he can say something, he does. And in his endless drivel, what might be interesting is skipper over. This guy could have used and editor.
When it first came out, this book was ill received, and I see no reason for anything to have changed since.
Rating: 3
Summary: Maybe it's just not my style...
Comment: It seemed to me that Tess of the D'Urbervilles was a bit dull at times, but the storyline as a whole was quite interesting. There is a great deal of imagery, so much that I deemed it to be in the way of my actually getting absorbed in the novel. Surprises abound, but they are surrounded by lengthy passages describing everything and anything. Nature, being an important aspect of the novel, receives so much attention, and Hardy expounds upon it so meticulously, that it becomes an effort to read through everything. I was disappointed in the very beginning by this style of narration (actually, thinking of Hardy's other novels, it is very much like him), but by the end, I found it to be absorbing. The character of Tess is very memorable, and awe-inspiring. I recommend this if you have plenty of time to devote to a novel (not looking for a quick read), and if you like Hardy's style; if you do, you'll find this to be a very good read.
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Title: Jude the Obscure (Penguin Classics) by Thomas Hardy, Dennis Taylor ISBN: 0140435387 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: September, 1998 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
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Title: Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte ISBN: 0553212583 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 October, 1983 List Price(USD): $4.95 |
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Title: The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy, J.I.M. Stewart ISBN: 0375760067 Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 14 May, 2002 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
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Title: Far from the Madding Crowd by Margaret Drabble, Thomas Hardy ISBN: 037575797X Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 11 December, 2001 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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Title: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen ISBN: 0553213105 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 December, 1983 List Price(USD): $4.95 |
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