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Title: Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy, Signet Classic ISBN: 0-451-52725-9 Publisher: Signet Classics Pub. Date: 01 March, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.96 (103 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: A Tragic, Thought-Provoking Novel
Comment: Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy is a compelling and intriguing novel. Instead of most conventional novels that rely on plot, it places its emphasis on getting certain points and ideas across to the reader. It is a book meant to make the reader think, not as a leisurely Sunday afternoon story. The story takes us through a series of tragic events, starting first, in contrast, with Jude as a young child full of hopes and dreams, the primary dream being to go to Christminster to become a learned fellow. We follow his life as he marries Arabella, a woman who fakes a pregnancy to get Jude to marry her. Because their marriage does not have the foundation of love, it quickly crumbles and Arabella leaves Jude to go to Australia.
Jude then decides to follow his old dreams and travels to Christminster, only to find it was little like what he had imagined. There he falls in love with his cousin Sue, who in order to spite Jude, marries the schoolmaster Phillotson. She despises their marriage, and soon asks her new husband to let her leave. After much contemplation, he consents, and Sue runs off with Jude. The two start a life together with Jude worshiping Sue and Sue constantly pushing Jude away. They will not commit to marriage, and live a life together looked down upon by all of society. After a while, they get a surprise from Arabella, saying she has a son that belongs to Jude, and that he will be coming to live with them. Father Time, as he was nicknamed, comes to live with them. He is a very depressed young soul, burdened by things way beyond his years. Sue and Jude have two more children out of wedlock, and constantly move from town to town to get away from the jeers of society.
Just as things are starting to look up, as Sue seems to finally love Jude, Father Time decides to take things into his own hands and hangs himself as well as the other two children. Sue, being unable to cope with the situation, leaves Jude and goes back to Phillotson, saying it is her duty. Jude, left alone, is then visited by the vivacious Arabella, who gets him drunk so he will consent to re-marry her. Their marriage, however, is simply one huge lie, and Jude, from depression and a loss of hope, becomes sick and finally dies in his misery.
The main topics looked at by Hardy seem to be about goals and marriage. Hardy clearly defines Jude's many goals, for instance his pursuit of knowledge and his pursuit to win the love of Sue, but just as St. Jude, the saint of hopeless causes, Jude is never able to achieve them. The idea seems to conclude that no matter what your goals are, you will never be able to attain them. This is a depressing thought, and though it may be true for some people, I believe it does not clearly express the true things that happen in people's lives. Most people, if they have a goal in sight, do achieve their goals, bringing themselves happiness.
Marriage is clearly looked down upon in this book. Hardy shows marriage between both Sue and Phillotson as well as Jude and Arabella as a trap of unhappiness. He then contrasts that unhappiness with the life of "true" happiness that Jude and Sue had together, out of wedlock. This idea, in my opinion, is absolutely false. Marriage is meant to be the union of two people who love each other so much that they are willing to commit their entire lives to each other. It is meant as a means for happiness and love to blossom. Hardy's demented idea of marriage is clearly false.
Even though some of the philosophies in this book tend to be skewed, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It made me think on an entirely different level. I could sympathize Jude's pain, and though it may not be a leisurely novel, it is a classic that I recommend any educated person should study.
Rating: 4
Summary: Jude
Comment: Jude the Obscure is a saddening book that deals with the oppression that society can force onto people. Jude Fawley's many attempts to rise above his social class and to become something better than he was born to are crushed time and again through society or the forces of nature. The writing itself is very readable; in the beginning of the book, I was very amused by how naive Jude was and enjoyed the way that Thomas Hardy used the language. The quality of writing never suffered through the book, but the plot becomes more and more depressing. In the final scene of the book, where Jude is finally dying after his life of oppression and tragedy, you feel incredibly sorry for all that Jude had to go through. Throughout his entire life he had been mocked by Christminster and all that it represented for Jude. Jude did all that he could to get there and become a scholar, but he was told to stay in his class and be content with what he had. Oppression through marriage of all of the main characters (Jude, Sue, Phillotson, and Arabella) was also explored through the entire book. Arabella is the mistake that Jude made that he cannot escape from. His one wrong choice early in his life ruins his chance for having a normal relationship with Sue, and in his final days he has to live with that choice. The underlying themes here are explored well by Hardy and give the reader a chance to see life from a different angle and hopefully appreciate what they have.
One thing I disliked about the book was the constant tragic events. I understand that Hardy was trying to explore certain themes by using such depressing events, but it was too much sometimes. When little Father Time and the children of Jude and Sue died, I was probably as crushed as Sue was. That is perhaps the saddest point of any book that I have read and it caught me by surprise. The tragedy of it was much more than I was expecting, and that is probably what Hardy was looking for. I didn't appreciate being bombarded by such emotional manipulators by Hardy.
The characterizations in the book were wonderful. Jude's aspirations that continued to be subverted by his weaknesses made him the perfect tragic hero. Sue was realistic, but she was never strong enough to earn my sympathy. She was just too weak, despite being the "liberatedEwoman. I came to dislike Arabella right from the start, and my dislike grew with each appearance she made. Phillotson was perhaps the most pitiable character in the novel, especially when he is persecuted for letting Sue go. The minor characters in the story add to these main characters and help to reveal who that are and why they do what they do.
Overall, Jude the Obscure is an excellent novel, but it does have its bad points. The thematic elements in the novel are explored in a thought-provoking way and the characters are portrayed in a realistic and poignant way that helps the reader to understand who they are and why they are being slammed by forces outside of their control. Those forces, though, are sometimes too strong and detract from what Hardy is trying to do with the novel. I would recommend this book, but be prepared to leave aside time to think about it afterwards. This book makes you sit down and think after you read it. If you don't do this afterwards, there will be so much that you miss.
Rating: 4
Summary: This book ruined your life? Get serious...
Comment: Someone has posted that this book ruined their life. How pathetic. Did Hardy leave you so sad and apathetic that you were incapcitated to live a normal life or are you looking for someone to blame your miserable life on? Either way, it seems that this book has made a lasting impression, which any great book should do. I guess it should have a warning- WARNING TO READER: ONLY FOR THOSE WHO TAKE RESPONSIBILTY FOR THEIR OWN ACTIONS. That said, this is a book that people will be reading years and years from now. Hardy was one of those Modernists writers that was on the cusp; hard to label and not easliy confined into a period. Low Modernism? Late Victorianism? Forget the easilt attched titles and labels and enjoy.
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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: Tess of the D'Urbervilles (Penguin Classics) by Thomas Hardy, Tim Dolin, Margaret R. Higonnet ISBN: 0141439599 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 27 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $8.00 |
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Title: The Woodlanders (Oxford World's Classics) by Thomas Hardy, Dale Kramer ISBN: 0192835041 Publisher: Oxford Press Pub. Date: June, 2001 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
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Title: Middlemarch by George Eliot, Rosemary Ashton ISBN: 0141439548 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 25 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $10.00 |
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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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