Product Description
Gabriel Oak is only one of three suitors for the hand of the beautiful and spirited Bathsheba Everdene.He must compete with the dashing young soldier Sergeant Troy and the respectable, middle-aged Farmer Boldwood.And while their fates depend upon the choice Bathsheba makes, she discovers the terrible consequences of an inconstant heart.

Far from the Madding Crowd was the first of Hardy's novels to give the name Wessex to the landscape of south-west England, and the first to gain him widespread popularity as a novelist.Set against the backdrop of the unchanging natural cycle of the year, the story both upholds and questions rural values with a startlingly modern sensibility.This new edition retains the critical text that restores previously deleted and revised passages. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Few masters have excelled Hardy's story-telling
Few masters have excelled Hardy's story-telling in Far From the Madding Crowd. This masterfully written work is undoubtedly one of the single finest exhibitions of the English language.

So, the novel's protagonist, is torn between three suitors. Yet, only through her experimentation in courtship with all three, and the suffering she consequently creates and endures, does she discover her proper mate.

This is a fine read for all lovers of great literature and should be particularly enjoyable for young ladies.

A good story, beautifully told
Simply put, the story is a love triangle involving one woman and three men. Which I suppose technically makes it a "love rectangle". The irresistible Bathsheba Everdene leaves a trail of emasculated destruction in her wake, until she inevitably meets her match. The story is a good one. However, the payoff comes not from the story - it comes from the descriptive language and wickedly accurate depiction of human character - or in some cases, lack thereof. I can only imagine that Mr. Hardy would have been an interesting man to have spent an evening with, over a few beers in the local pub. His well developed sense of humor and social justice shine through, and his descriptions of pre-Industrial Revolution England and spot-on assessments of human character make this book worth the effort and head-scratching that will sometimes be required of those not used to his flowery and very "English" writing style. Overall, highly recommended. I thought the ending had room for improvement. Perhaps Mr. Hardy had already worn himself out by the time he got to it? No problem, still 4 stars and highly recommended.

Forces of Nature
FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD, the first of Thomas Hardy's 'Wessex' novels, tells the story of a small troupe of farmers and their workers in a sheep-farming community in the fictitious county of 'Wessex'.

Gabriel Oak has been a shepherd since his teenage years, as his father was before him, but he's moved up and purchased, on credit, his own farm. The work is hard, but he is confident that he will succeed, and takes pride in being his own man. Then one day, a new woman arrives in town. Bathsheeba Everdene is beautiful, headstrong, intelligent, but incurably vain; Farmer Oak falls in love with her immediately. A few months later, he proposes, and is utterly rejected. Bathsheeba moves on to care for her dying uncle, and take over his farm. Gabriel continues farming - until tragedy strikes.

He and Bathsheeba will cross paths again, this time not as lovers, but as mistress and servant. Bathsheeba's beauty, vanity and impetuousness leave a trail of carnage in her wake, and Gabriel can only watch on as lives are destroyed, farms are ruined, and his own heart is crushed repeatedly.

Hardy is famous for his fatalism, and this is displayed no more than in the character of Bathsheba Everdene. She is not an evil person, as the above summary would suggest - but her stunning beauty and fierce intelligence combine with her vanity and impulsivity to create something like a force of nature, and though she means only good she seems to be able to do nothing but wrong by those who care for her. She has no more control over her nature than she does over the weather. One of the most interesting aspects of this character is that her vices - vanity, impulsivity, which Hardy attributes to her being young and beautiful - lead to the downfall of others, but she is continuously saved from downfall by her own intelligence and inner personal strength.

REal tragedy finally does strike Bathsheba, but rather than let it destroy her as retribution for her wicked ways, she grows from it. We may not be able to escape the hardship of life, Hardy seems to be saying, but we can grow and prosper by learning from it.

This was a fantastically entertaining book. The only warning that I could give with it is that it is slow-moving. The action comes in fits and spurts, and Hardy has a penchant for elaborate descriptions of the countryside, for farmhouses, churches and festivals. They are beautifully written, but take time to digest fully. Highly recommended.

Forget the infamous "love triangle"...
In Far from the Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy introduces us to the precarious "love square". At the core of all the turmoil is beautiful farm girl, Bathsheba Everdene - spirited, vain, intelligent and adept at toying with the hearts of men. Inevitably beguiled by her charms a humble and kind farmer, Gabriel Oak, fervently attempts to win Bathsheba's affections. Enter the competition: (suitor#2) Farmer Boldwood - a wealthy and temperate middle-aged man respected in the community, eventually plunges into maniacal obsession at the mere possibility of making the beloved Miss Everdene his wife; and (suitor#3) Sergeant Francis Troy - a dashing young philandering soldier, with his share of inner demons, ruthlessness and vanity, vies for Bathsheba's hand in marriage. Bathsheba's ultimate decision, and the cataclysm it evokes, lies at the epicenter of Hardy's unforgettable ambivalent story.

Far from the Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy's fourth novel, saw publication in 1874 and earned him widespread popularity as a writer. A delicately woven tale of unrequited love and regret, set in the mid-19th century, Far From the Madding Crowd is a masterpiece of pure story-telling. Hardy's classic style is a pleasure to read as he masterfully brings his characters and their dealings to life. I would not hesitate to say it definitely captured my heart as another favourite.

Far from a Madding Crowd--Miss Schmidt Period 3
Far from a Madding Crowd, by Thomas Hardy, was a very well written book that is equivalent to common soap operas of today.Hardy's classical romantic describes to us and lets us depict if the woman is in power of love or if her need to control love will overpower her.
Bathsheba's love life is what the plot is based on in the story.Bathsheba is the main character and doesn't realize the effect she has on men and her number of admirers. Many typical elements in a woman's love life are represented through her romantic affairs.Hardy portrays to a `T' the relationship with Gabriel. He will be there for her if nothing else works out.Gabriel is kind-hearted and is honest excepting any problems that need to be solved.He is heroic in saving Bathsheba's life and her farm numerous times.
Bathsheba's relationship with Boldwood is a typical situation of an eager and curious girl wondering if she could accomplish snatching the handsome, wealthy man that every girl has her eye on.Bathsheba has her fun with Boldwood then pushes herself away from him because she doesn't want him now that she can have him.Hardy tends to make the reader feel bad for Bathsheba's love interests because she is a heartbreaker.
Bathsheba's third love interest, Troy, is a challenge to Bathsheba because he is not totally openhearted and devoted to her.Fanny, Troy's first love interest, will always be in the picture during the relationship.This makes Bathsheba nervous because she wanted Troy all to herself and seduces him to the fullest to try to get his devotion. Troy has the most effect on Bathsheba's heart and the most effect on her mental breakdown.He enjoys experimenting with women's emotions, which is new to Bathsheba because she is used to being the controlling one.Hardy's descriptions of Troy and Bathsheba's relationship makes his female readers relate to her directly.
In the end of the novel Bathsheba falls back on the man she thought she was too good for, Gabriel.Gabriel was her cushion from emotional strain caused by the two other men in the story.This shows women's pattern for motivation to get what she wants but return back to what feels natural.
I like Thomas Hardy's e depiction of how women can be in a love situation.I dislike how everything in the novel was Bathsheba's fault because it made the reader hate the main character, I didn't feel bad for Bathsheba at all through out the novel. I did though feel bad for the men she played.
Thomas Hardy was a brilliant observer of women and how they tend to function in love.He emotionally and physically caught the pattern that women most likely have towards men and took it to the extreme in the romantic novel, Far from a Madding Crowd. ... Read more

Product Description
Far from the Madding Crowd (1874) is Thomas Hardy's fourth novel and his first major literary success. It originally appeared, anonymously, as a monthly serial in Cornhill Magazine, where it gained a wide readership; critical notices, too, were plentiful and mostly positive. Hardy revised the text extensively for the 1895 edition, and made further changes for the 1901 edition.

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This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

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"Under the Greenwood Tree" is the story of the romantic entanglement between church musician, Dick Dewey, and the attractive new school mistress, Fancy Day. A pleasant romantic tale set in the Victorian era, "Under the Greenwood Tree" is one of Thomas Hardy's most gentle and pastoral novels. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Worthwhile Hardy read
To any Hardy fan, Under the Greenwood Tree makes for a terrific read.Compared to his major novels, however, it most certainly ranks as one of his lesser efforts.Understandable, given the fact that it was also one of his first novels.The master was just getting his feet wet, so to speak.What Hardy achieved wonderfully within this novel is his ability to create a strong sense of place.The reader can't help but feel as if he is a part of the Mellstock choir, or enjoying the hospitality of the Dewy family as they celebrate the seasons.This book contains some of Hardy's most enjoyable and memorable characters, incorporating humorous and authentic dialogue exchanges. In certain sections, however, the dialogue is stilted and seemingly ungenuine, perhaps indicating Hardy's immaturity as a novelist.
The novel's structure derives from the natural seasons, as well as the pace of a young man's courting of a newly-arrived schoolteacher within the Mellstock community.Although the plot line is terribly straightforward, the reader's enjoyment comes from the strong picture painted of rural British life during the mid 19th century.

Under the Greenwood Tree
I received unexpectedly prompt delivery of Under the Greenwood Tree, and the book was in excellent condition. I couldn't be happier!Thank you.

CHOIR AND A PRETTY GIRL
Under the Greenwood Tree is Thomas Hardy's first Wessex novel, a world that rivals that of Balzac and Dickens, but instead of focusing on life in the city, Hardy instead focuses on the happenings of rural life. Dick Dewy doesn't have many prospects in life except his good looks. That is, until he meets the new female schoolteacher, Fancy Day, whose father is rumored to have a small fortune saved up for his beloved daughter when she gets married. That's not to say that's why Dick is attracted to her. It's love at first sight, for him, at least. There's other men interested in Fancy too, particularly, the prosperous Mr. Shiner, and even the local vicar, Mr. Maybold! It's up to Dick to convince Fancy that he is the man for her, while overcoming both her and her father's reservations that he's not quite in the same social class. Not to mention his own doubts of self-worth.

Under the Greenwood Tree is a pretty straightforward early work by Thomas Hardy, the greatest English novelist. I maybe found it a little too simple, and the characters did not seem to be fleshed out very well. I didn't care much for Fancy, a woman who seemed caught up in her own vanity and whose love seemed to waver back and forth according to who asked for her hand in marriage, even though this is human nature. The local dialogue, as written by Hardy was a little hard to get used to, but you don't notice it after a while. This novel was sunnier in disposition than a lot of Hardy novels and should be seen as a work to be read by his fans, while the casual reader would be better served by his more famous titles.

Other titles I would recommend by Hardy are Jude the Obscure, A Pair of Blue Eyes, Mayor of Casterbridge. Other titles with a similar pastoral settings are Harvest by Jean Giono, and Dreamers by Knut Hamsun.

Excellent characterizations!
Thomas Hardy's family had a long history as players of instrumental music in the local church, and here Hardy creates an entertaining novel involving a fictional church choir.

The characterizations and dialogue of his "Mellstock Quire" are detailed and interesting.The plot includes some very funny scenes--with the scene involving the visit to the vicar being among the best.

You'll also find something in this book that you'll never see again--a Hardy novel with a (relatively) happy ending! ... Read more

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Introduction by Michael Slater ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

This book is worth reading, a terific love story!
i do think it's a wonderful fiction! in the process of reading this book, i was captivated by the twisted development of the story and also Hardy's mastery language. it gives you a great picture of beautiful scenery in rural England, and there is romance, expections for what happens next.i really enjoy it !

Forget the infamous "love triangle"...
In Far from the Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy introduces us to the precarious "love square". At the core of all the turmoil is beautiful farm girl, Bathsheba Everdene - spirited, vain, intelligent and adept at toying with the hearts of men. Inevitably beguiled by her charms a humble and kind farmer, Gabriel Oak, fervently attempts to win Bathsheba's affections. Enter the competition: (suitor#2) Farmer Boldwood - a wealthy and temperate middle-aged man respected in the community, eventually plunges into maniacal obsession at the mere possibility of making the beloved Miss Everdene his wife; and (suitor#3) Sergeant Francis Troy - a dashing young philandering soldier, with his share of inner demons, ruthlessness and vanity, vies for Bathsheba's hand in marriage. Bathsheba's ultimate decision, and the cataclysm it evokes, lies at the epicenter of Hardy's unforgettable ambivalent story.
Far from the Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy's fourth novel, saw publication in 1874 and earned him widespread popularity as a writer. A delicately woven tale of unrequited love and regret, set in the mid-19th century, Far From the Madding Crowd is a masterpiece of pure story-telling. Hardy's classic style is a pleasure to read as he masterfully brings his characters and their dealings to life. I would not hesitate to say it definitely captured my heart as another favourite.

Really far away from the madding crowd
The story takes place in rural part of England at the end of 19th century.Beautiful country and good description of many people peacefullyliving there are great background for love story of Bathsheba Everdene and Gabriel Oak. During the story they both changed very much. At the beginning she is very haughty and arrogant, but becomes delicate and tolerant. Gabriel is at the beginning of the story very tactless and even rude, but very soon becomes loyal and devoted. These changes make possible that those two young people fall in love. And Hardy could write in such a way that every reader can feel that this love is very deep.

after a terrible storm, the sun warms the earth...
Far From the Madding crowd is filled with the heartwrenching depiction of humanity that Thomas Hardy created so well, but unlike most of his other significant works it also has a satisfying ending a la Jane Austen. Perhaps it isn't his MOST perfect work, but it's definately the pleasantestto swallow. ... Read more

Product Description
Set against the backdrop of peaceful south-west England, where Thomas Hardy spent much of his youth, The Mayor of Casterbridge captures the author's unique genius for depicting the absurdity underlying much of the sorrow and humor in our lives.
Michael Henchard is an out-of-work hay-trusser who gets drunk at a local fair and impulsively sells his wife Susan and baby daughter. Eighteen years later Susan and her daughter seek him out, only to discover that he has become the most prominent man in Casterbridge. Henchard attempts to make amends for his youthful misdeeds but his unchanged impulsiveness clouds his relationships in love as well as his fortunes in business. Although Henchard is fated to be a modern-day tragic hero, unable to survive in the new commercial world, his story is also a journey towards love.
This edition is the only critically established text of the novel, based on a comprehensive study of the manuscript and Hardy's extensive revisions. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Fast but not as Advertised
Book came in speedy fashion but was not the edition advertised.I had to purchase another.

Great book
I loved the book!It is not for the faint of heart as it takes a little more time to read....the old English.The story is classic.

Depressing
Hardy was a naturalist in whose novels everything goes wrong.Michael Henchard is a drunk who "sells" his wife Susan and infant daughter Elizabeth-Jane to a sailor.Susan doesn't realize the sale is bogus because she is "simple," throws her ring away, and leaves with the sailor.When he sobers up next day, Henchard searches all over for his lost family, and finally enters a church and swears an oath over an enormous bible that he will not drink from his current age of 21 to double that age.Meanwhile, and 18 years later, when the sailor dies, Susan, with Elizabeth, comes looking for Henchard at Casterbridge.He is now a corn merchant and mayor of the town.As a teetotaler, he is described as drinking glass after glass of water at table for a town hearing.Eventually Susan, via Elizabeth-Jane, contacts Henchard and he pens a note suggesting that they meet at the "Ring."This last turns out to be a ruined Roman amphitheater or coliseum, a 1500-year-old relic full of ghosts and whose very name symbolizes the dark past.Henchard and Susan agree to remarry, playacting a courtship for public appearances, and to keep the daughter in ignorance that the sailor was not her biological father.After they marry, Henchard and the manager of his business, Farfrae, have a falling out because the latter shows the former up and makes a fool of him, making himself more popular than the mayor.To make matters worse, Elizabeth-Jane falls in love with Farfrae.

Frankly, that's as far as I've gotten.I know how it ends for Henchard, but I won't spoil the ending.Hardy is a mean naturalist writer, and has no sympathy for his characters whatsoever._Casterbridge_ was first published in 1886, when alcoholism was little understood - least of all by people like Hardy who didn't have the disease.It's all too easy for this author to condemn and be judgmental of alcoholic people.I would suggest for an alternative reading Eugene O'Neill's _The Iceman Cometh_, since O'Neill was himself an alcoholic and could rightfully speak for alcoholics.The subject, no matter in whose hands, is by nature depressing.All my editorializing aside, Thomas Hardy is a great novelist who has earned his place in the canon.His poetry is good, too._The Mayor of Casterbridge_ is worth pursuing to the end if you're not an alcoholic. ... Read more

Product Description
This edition presents a critically established text based on comparisons of every revised version.Hardy placed this tale among his Novels of Character and Environment, a group which is held to include his most characteristic work. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Under Hardy's standards?
This is my first Thomas Hardy book, recommended as it eases you into his style of writing, and man alive is it a strange style! Hardy makes sure the conversations of country folk sound genuine so you get a lot of "ye", "o'ny", "squizzling", "stimmilent", "onmistakable", "husbird", all of which takes a lot of getting used to. The main character, Dick Dewy, is a "tranter" something I had to look up -it's basically a driver.

Anyway, Dick Dewy falls for the new schoolmistress, the ridiculously named Fancy Day, courting her with competition from Farmer Shiner and Vicar Medley. The side story is of the church "quire" (choir) made up of fiddle players being phased out in favour of an organ played by Fancy Day. I say story, that's it really. As for Dick Dewy, he of course marries Fancy Day.

It's a very gentle and good natured volume, a bit like reading about hobbits (the impression I got from their odd way of talking) and their obsessions with carol singing, cider, and "nutting" (something about gathering nuts). A cross between The Darling Buds of May, and the Wind in the Willows but the characters are humans. Tolerably quaint, even amusing at times. There is an attempt at drama toward the end which is quickly resolved and seemed, frankly, a bit of a cheap lunge at the reader's attention and is quickly resolved anyway. That said, there's very little here besides and I guess that Hardy's reputation comes from more famous books "Jude the Obscure", "Tess of the d'Ubervilles" etc. than from this novel. Not a great book but a nice introduction to Hardy's writing and, from what I hear of his other books, probably his least depressing.

Fine Early Effort
Though probably Thomas Hardy's most overrated novel in that it is often put in his top tier but is really below it, Under the Greenwood Tree is a fine work - a must for fans and for several reasons possibly attractive for those usually not keen on Hardy.

It is certainly very different from Desperate Remedies, Hardy's first published novel - a striking early instance of great diversity. Under is in many ways more similar to later work but also unique in several ways. Though imbued with Hardy's singular genius in embryo, Desperate was essentially an entry in the then popular sensation genre; it is immediately clear that Under is the kind of book he actually wanted to write, though he later admitted to holding back on the darker elements that became his signature. Hardy had not formally launched Wessex - the part-real, part-dream area, based on his native Southwest England, that he made world famous -, but this has much in common with the great Wessex novels and is always put with them. It is thus notable for a profound sense of place. Perhaps no one equals Hardy at making place so important that it is an integral part of the story; setting is never mere backdrop with him. Though early, this is a preeminent example. Closely based on his rural England hometown and the surrounding area, Under's Mellstock comes alive as very few settings do - all the more remarkable in that it is so very different from our world. Hardy's profoundly rural countryside was disappearing even before his birth and had largely passed away by the novel's 1872 publication. Yet it is a mark of his genius that it seems as real as any contemporary setting. His descriptions of things like trees and roads are lush and vivid, giving a vibrant peek into a bygone era, not to mention being beautiful - nay, near-sublime - in themselves. Hardy clearly had not only a great knowledge of the area but a vast love for it; this comes across in every aspect of the writing, and Under greatly benefits. Related to this is his great appreciation of nature's beauty; Under also conveys a grand sense of this, showing Hardy had a strong Romantic streak despite realist leanings.

Perhaps even more valuable is the insight into Mellstock's people; Hardy's Preface notes that the portrait is essentially realistic, thus giving a good idea of how early nineteenth century English villagers thought, lived, and acted. It indeed goes far beyond this, as the culture it describes had been virtually unchanged for a thousand years. Under is largely a comedy of customs, a fascinating glimpse at the mores and standards behind rural culture plus compellingly realistic depictions of speech - Hardy's dialect mastery was already in place - and other elements. Hardy indeed considered Under primarily a portrayal of The Mellstock Quire, a group of church musicians with a long tradition of performing sacred music not only in chapel but at each individual neighborhood cottage each Christmas. His family had been in the real-life equivalent for generations, but the custom was gone by the time of the book. He returned to the subject several times in both prose and verse, but this is the fullest depiction. We get a good idea of how this quaint custom worked along with associated elements; it was a lifelong fascination for Hardy, and he conveys much of its wonder and interest despite such a thing being now near-unimaginable.

Hardy thought this aspect so important that he wanted to call the book The Mellstock Quire and indeed later subtitled it so, but the Quire's goings on happen episodically by the wayside. The ostensible main plot is a very simple love story of the kind that had been told countless times before and nearly as often since. There are some complications - a minor love triangle, class and financial obstacles, etc. -, but the story basically turns out as anyone would have predicted. This may disappoint those used to Hardy's later grand and complex plots but could even be a relief to those who dislike them. Hardy is in any case such a master that he makes the story seem fresher than one would have thought possible, interesting us in the characters and engrossing us in the story far more than the material would seem to warrant. The picturesque, nostalgic setting has much to do with this by making the story seem less typical than it is, but another important ingredient is timelessness. Love may be the most universal feeling, and very few have depicted it as realistically and movingly. Even at this early juncture he writes of young love and first love in a way that will be strikingly familiar to anyone who has ever experienced them. His dramatization of their roller coaster ride - ups and downs, hopes and fears - has rarely been matched; no one can walk away from Under without new appreciation for why love is not only the best thing in life but also one of the most trying. Hardy of course later wrote far more darkly of it, but this is a genuine instance of his vision. He is almost unequaled at portraying emotion, and this early work runs us through a gamut of them; they ring true because of their universality but also because of his stunningly individual genius.

Characterization, always a Hardy strength, is also very important. Fancy Day is a memorable heroine and has many facets characteristic of Hardy's more famous later examples. With a strong independent streak and far more education than nearly all women - and many men - of her time, she was a very advanced character for an early nineteenth-century rural setting and, indeed, for 1872. Under does not take on women's issues in the overt way of later Hardy, but the discerning can see implications in addition to the seeds of what was to come. Dick Dewy is not a typical Hardy hero but has many admirable qualities and quickly gains sympathy. Hardy is well-known for intriguing, nuanced preachers, and Maybold is no exception. There are subtle critiques of the profession and of religion but nothing like his later scathings. Maybold is above all notable for being balanced; he is certainly far from the stock Victorian preacher. Then there are of course the Quire members, who often steal the proverbial show. Colorful rustics became a staple of Hardy novels but were never again so prominent. Entertaining and often humorous - especially the aloof and mentally limited Leaf, very unusual in Hardy for being almost purely comic -, they are close to laughably naïve by today's standards, but honesty and good-heartedness make them more admirable than risible.

This brings up another important point - Under is often called Hardy's gentlest novel and probably is. Perhaps English fiction's most famous tragedian, he is known for immensely dark and depressing work, and this is a bold exception. Comic elements are obvious, but a blithe light-heartedness pervades nearly the whole; it often feels almost like Dickens' lighter side. Perhaps even more fundamentally, Under has an idyllic quality none of his other novels even approach; the setting has a near-magical air and is put forth almost as paradise. It is often said of later Hardy fiction that the plots almost seem malevolently contrived to inflict the most possible damage on innocent characters, but there is none of that here. Clear implications of humanity's cosmic insignificance, the lack of Providence, the sense that earth is not conducive to human life, and the cruelty of fate and chance - so common in later Hardy - are also missing. Hardy later said he regretted the Quire's depiction, feeling he almost burlesqued them and that they were fit for higher things; the Preface suggests he felt constrained by circumstances to write a happy story. Those turned off by his blacker moods will thus be not only relieved but likely surprised that he could convey the opposite sentiment nearly as believably and movingly.

There are in fact darker forces lurking even here, though so deep that they never really surface. Fans and scholars will see points where Hardy could have easily made a tragedy as well as factors that were later used in just such a way. The climactic scene between Fancy and Maybold is a paramount example; initial readers could only have been shocked at such an unexpected turn, and those who have read more representative Hardy will be surprised at how long it took. In great contrast to later Hardy, though, it is resolved almost immediately via the kind of coincidence he later reserved almost exclusively for tragedy. His critics have always claimed that he has an overreliance on melodramatic chance, but anyone who knows anything about him knows he used it deliberately; he was mesmerized by it and extensively milked its dramatic import. He was well aware of how chance can not only ruin lives but seem nothing less than cruel; this is an interesting early instance of how it can sometimes work the other way. The final scene is another case in point. There are many reasons to think Dick and Fancy will be happy, but it is important to realize the significance of the novel stopping before the marriage really begins. The irony of Dick's last words is devastating, and it is hard to feel confident about a marriage with such an undercurrent of falsehood; later Hardy certainly showed its often catastrophic effects. Fancy's secret will likely never come out, and Dick would probably forgive even if it did, but marriage is certainly not what he thinks. Hardy probably stopped here because it was the only way he could write a basically happy story, which says much, as does closing with irony. There is also a slight hint of the fatalism that would come to dominate his work in the cyclical plot based around the seasons. All is kept in check here but soon exploded uncontrollably; Under remains valuable as a counterpart, of varying and substantial value to fans and others. Those who have read a later novel or two and liked them should read about six or seven before this, but those turned off by Hardy's darkness should consider skipping to it.
... Read more

Product Description
Jude Fawley is a bright but impoverished stonemason who aspires to attend university and become a scholar. H is failure to fulfill the expectations of the two women he loves points to his final tragedy. Concerned with the destructive conventions of marriage and the English class system, Jude the Obscure is a raging indictment of Victorian society; the censure of this insightful book was almost without precedent in the history of English literature. ... Read more

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This book an EXACT reproduction of the original book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

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Charts Hardy's life and artistic career. ... Read more

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Contents Include: Wessex Poems and Other Verses Poems of the Past and the Present Poems of Pilgrimage Miscellaneous Poems Imitations Retrospect Time's Laughingstocks More Love Lyrics A Set of Country songs Pieces Occasional and Various Satires of Circumstance Lyrics and Reveries Poems of 1912-13 Miscellaneous Pieces Satires of Circumstance Moments of Vision Poems of War and Patriotism Finale Late Lyrics and Earlier Keywords: Wessex Poems Poems Of The Past And The Present Love Lyrics Miscellaneous Country Songs Imitations Retrospect Pilgrimage Patriotism Finale ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Incredible Collection, Amazing Value
Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) has the incredible distinction of being one of England's greatest novelists of the nineteenth century and one of its greatest poets of the twentieth. This is a testament both to his long life and his remarkable literary range; perhaps no other author has plowed both fields so well. Hardy began writing poetry in his very early teens and turned to it seriously in his late 20s but reluctantly moved to prose after a few rejections showed him that poetry was not the best way to make a living. This occupied him for about a quarter century, and within a few years he became one of the world's greatest and most popular novelists and short story writers and remains so. However, unbeknownst to the public, he continued writing poems. With a few trifling exceptions, none were published when his prose came out, but the extremely negative reception of his last two prose masterworks led him to act on his long-delayed goal of becoming a published poet. Wessex Poems, his first collection, came out in 1898, and seven more followed, the last - Winter Words - a few months after his death. His poetry was naturally first looked on with a mix of curiosity and suspicion, but about halfway into his poetry publishing career he became one of the most popular and acclaimed English poets and continues to be. Indeed, more than a century after his first collection and over seventy years after his death, Hardy is bigger than ever. This is all the more incredible when we realize that even the most famous, acclaimed, and popular of the great poets are read less than ever and that poetry in general has perhaps never been less read.

This magnificent collection essentially includes every poem Hardy wanted published. Hardy is my favorite poet, and this is my poetic Bible. To have so many great poems in a single book is almost beyond belief. The sheer number is amazing - hundreds, eight books' worth, over nearly nine hundred pages. I lack space to do justice to Hardy's range and productivity, but one piece of trivia says much - the index covers the entire alphabet. As editor Michael Irwin points out, Hardy is probably the only major English poet of whom this can be said. Here we get an appreciation of just how much ground Hardy covered. Though interested in a few core subjects that he returned to again and again - love, fate, theodicy, rural English life, the Napoleonic Wars, nature, animals, etc. -, he wrote at least one poem about every conceivable subject. His treatments were also widely variant; Hardy famously wrote some of the most depressing poetry ever but also some of the most beautiful, emotional - and, indeed, some of the most humorous. He can be both lyrically beautiful and intellectually vigorous and is one of the very few poets able to match form and depth without sacrificing either; only Alexander Pope and Percy Shelley among English poets are in his league here. Also, unlike even many of the best poets, he made a conscious effort to consistently vary prosody; out of the roughly 1100 poems he wrote, he used over eight hundred different meters. He constantly experimented with rhyme, stress, and other poetic tools, making his output perhaps the most diverse of all English poets'. On top of all this, despite being unusually prolific, he was a consummate craftsman, revising poems until they were perfect. Proof of this comes in the astonishing fact that some poems written in his 20s were not published until his last volume, he having toiled over them in intervening decades. One never tires of reading his poems because they constantly shift, keeping things fresh and vigorous. Perhaps even more notably, in striking contrast to nearly all artists in all fields, Hardy never lost his touch, writing consistently great work well into his 80s. Everyone will of course have a favorite among his poetry books, but his last was essentially as good as his first; one would be extraordinarily hard-pressed to find another artist of whom this could be said. W. B. Yeats is the only one who comes to my mind, but he lived significantly less long and was not nearly as prolific. Hardy's poetry is so consistent that no poem stands far above the rest, in great contrast to, say, T. S. Eliot; all are almost equally great. This makes him difficult to anthologize, as there is little to choose by other than subjective favorites, though a handful of poems have acquired near-universal acclaim. A full anthology is thus ideal, making this book an absolute treasure for enthusiasts and even better for novices. Hardy's consistent greatness makes any "Selected Poems" superfluous; even those who have never read him would be better off starting here. This is an imposing brick for neophytes, but they will be glad they invested in it; it will take a long time to read - and even longer to appreciate -, but it will be time very well spent. Besides, anyone who loves the poems will want to keep them forever, returning again and again to favorites and looking from time to time on forgotten ones with pleasant surprise.

Yet Hardy's poetry is not for everyone. His greatness has long ceased to be seriously questioned, but some are turned off by his style and much of his subject matter. It is too much to say that he is a poet one either loves or hates, but it is not hyperbolic to state that those who love him do so near-obsessively while others think him overrated if respectable. Several trademarks are recognizable despite the great variety. Hardy began writing seriously in the mid-Victorian era. Free verse had made major inroads in America and France, but formal poetry was still dominant - and, in England, almost exclusive. He continued writing formal verse though he lived well into the modern era where poets like Ezra Pound and Eliot made non-traditional forms the norm. He was nearly alone in preserving the old guard but did it so well that Pound himself later remarked that no one had taught him anything about writing since Hardy died. Those who prefer modern forms may thus find Hardy old-fashioned, stiff, and formal, though even many who swear by non-traditional poems make an exclusive or near-exclusive exception for him.

Other characteristics exacerbate this tendency. Like many writers of his era, Hardy had little formal education and was essentially self-taught. Also, unlike nearly all writers then, now, and before, he came from a very humble background and was always haunted by social stigma. This comes across even with his constant refining; though technically impeccable, he certainly lacks the formal sweep of liberally educated poets. Thus, somewhat paradoxically, he is too formal for some and not formal enough for others. Exacerbating this last is his heavy use of dialect, surprisingly not so much in dialogue as in narrative. Hardy was steeped in the history, culture, and folklore of his native Southwest England - an area he made world famous as Wessex -, which profoundly influences every aspect of his writing, not least in his near-unequalled sense of place. Those attune to or appreciative of such things will love his work all the more, but those indifferent to them may have hard going, and those who dislike them may be unable to get past them. Additionally, perhaps partly because of his background, Hardy uses many non-dialect terms that may be best called "dictionary words" - often archaic words known to very few and used by almost no one, especially in speech. This would seem pretentious in most writers but clearly came naturally to Hardy. These things make reading his poems somewhat slow and difficult at first, but as usual with such things, they are second nature after a relatively short time. It would truly be a shame if anyone declined to read him because of them. Those familiar with his prose will not have much trouble, as these elements appear in his fiction to a lesser degree. Indeed, despite all this, Hardy is not really obscure; in fact, generally speaking, he is remarkably clear and concise. Unlike many pre-modern poets, he does not revel in allusions, especially classical ones, that are now obscure. Unlike nearly all moderns, he does not revel in allusions that are simply obscure per se. He is notably direct, writing bluntly about subjects of interest to all in plain ways that are far more accessible to most than poetry often is even at its best. This may be the main reason for his enduring popularity.

Finally, though Hardy's doom and gloom reputation is exaggerated because he wrote many light-hearted poems, including a surprising amount of satirical and even simply humorous ones, he does have an unusually high number of dark poems, and the general bleakness of his thought comes through at nearly all times. Those who prefer optimistic literature should certainly look elsewhere - though they will be missing some of the greatest poetry ever written, not to mention much of reality. Conversely, readers interested in Hardy's life and philosophy will be very interested in this aspect, as the poems give great insight into these areas. Hardy frequently said that there is more autobiography in a hundred lines of his poetry than in all his prose, and we can see this in many instances. It is clearest in the famously moving poems about his wife's death but also vivid in those memorializing minor events. However, not all the poems are personal; Hardy is as diverse here as elsewhere. There are many contemporary references, the most famous being a poem about the new century ("The Darkling Thrush," perhaps his greatest work), a Queen Victoria memorial, and some of the finest World War I poems. Their most notable feature is lack of didacticism or any heavy-handedness; even the war poems cannot be called political in the usual sense. Hardy not only strenuously avoided party politics but also repeatedly insisted that poetry should record impressions rather convictions - an important truth forgotten even by greats like William Wordsworth and Alfred Tennyson later in their careers. Thus it is that many of the poems, even some of the most personal, have widely different, even contradictory, views and conclusions. Hardy was unapologetic, well aware how receptive he was to chance and change. Also, like all thinking people, some of his views changed over time - though he was in general remarkably consistent, forming core positions in his 20s and 30s and keeping them through his long life. All this gives his poems a strong sense of verisimilitude and is doubtless a large part of the reason so many identify with them so strongly and intimately.

As for this particular edition, it is ideal for anyone wanting Hardy's collected poems in an inexpensive edition. Aside from the few surviving poems Hardy did not want published, everything is here except his long verse dramas The Dynasts and The Famous Tragedy of the Queen of Cornwall. Though very popular and highly regarded in his life, especially the former, these are now considered well below the works included here and are somewhat hard to find. The dedicated will certainly want to seek them out, especially after reading this, but their inclusion would have swelled the book to unmanageable size. The exclusion is no major loss at any rate, and there is certainly enough here for anyone. However, those who want a deluxe edition may be unsatisfied; like all Wordsworth publications, this is meant for general readers who do not want to spend much. The value is simply incredible for what is included, but devotees and nitpickers may miss a few things. There is an excellent editorial introduction but no footnotes. Hardy's obscure vocabulary and plethora of local references makes this last an occasional pain, but a glossary greatly alleviates the former, even if more than a few words that should be there are absent. Title and first line indices make browsing easy, and the print, unlike some other Wordsworth omnibuses, is quite large. Lack of line numbers will bother some but will not be a problem for most. The binding is not on par with more expensive editions' but is very good for the price; my copy has held up almost perfectly over years of frequent browsing.

All told, this is essential for anyone who loves Hardy's poetry or is curious about it. This last should include anyone who likes English poetry, especially from the Victorian era, and fans of Hardy's fiction. It would be hard to find even an anthology containing many poets that has more greatness and variety than this - and we cannot but be in awe when we see this is the work of one man. Fans already know it well, and it is hard to believe others will not after reading.

poetry that eschews obfuscation...
Have you ever read poetry that left you wondering what in the world the poor guy/gal was trying to say? Ever wondered if the poet was deliberately trying to leave you to choke in the dust of their own confusion? (hey, that's pretty poetic)! Ever felt that you'd like to revoke some poetic licenses? My guess is that if any of these feelings apply to you... you weren't reading Hardy at the time. Hardy may be a bit pessimistic, (Philip Larkin correctly remarked that "the dominant emotion in Hardy is sadness") and for him the glass may be forever half empty... but he's always clearheaded, and he makes sense. No confusion or rambling. The hundreds of poems in this huge volume span a lifetime, and are written by a man who considered himself a poet by choice; a novelist by necessity. Poetry was his heart's passion. This is why someone as great as Ezra Pound could claim that "no-one has taught me anything about writing since Thomas Hardy died."

For pathos, depth of content, and variety of style and rhyme, I think you have to go to Shakespeare or Browning to find anyone to compare with Hardy's verse. Who has written anything to rival "The Darkling Thrush" in the 100 years since? Let me know.

O.K., I'm stranded on a desert island... give me the Holy Bible and this book, and don't rescue me too soon..... ... Read more

Product Description
"Two On A Tower" (1882) is a tale of star-crossed love in which Hardy sets the emotional lives of his two lovers against the background of the stellar universe. The unhappily married Lady Constantine breaks all the rules of social decorum when she falls in love with Swithin St. Cleeve, an astronomer who is ten years her junior. Her husband's death leaves the lovers free to marry, but the discovery of a legacy forces them apart. This is Hardy's most complete treatment of the theme of love across the class and age divide and the fullest expression of his fascination with science and astronomy. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Sadly Overlooked
Two on a Tower is among Thomas Hardy's least known novels, and though not in his top tier, is excellent and would be nearly anyone else's best. It certainly deserves a far wider readership, as it has both many usual strengths and is in several ways unique, making it worthwhile for both fans and others.

The main unique factor is the astronomy focus. Hardy had significant interest in and knowledge of astronomy, which pops up in his work here and there, but only Two deals with it extensively. The main male character is an astronomer, and the field gets considerable attention; readers can learn a fair amount about it from Two, as there are many technical terms, historical references, and other descriptions. The focus is indeed so strong that Two might almost be called proto-science fiction; astronomy is not integral to the plot, but its background importance is very high. Hardy was no scientist but researched extensively, taking great pains to be accurate, and it shows. The science has of course changed much in the century plus since, but the basics here focused on are essentially unaltered, and we also get an interesting historical perspective. Hardy in any case adapts astronomy to his purposes, not least by using terminology metaphorically - a risky move that could have been disastrously corny but is very well-done. More importantly, he shows it through the lens of his infamously pessimistic, naturalist philosophy. Many astronomers think of their field as one of wonder and beauty, but Hardy sees it very differently. Two is well worth reading for these factors alone, especially for anyone interested in astronomy.

The astronomy angle also has other important effects, not least in portraying the scientific mindset and culture of science just as it was beginning to arise. Much later novels like Sinclair Lewis' Arrowsmith (1925) are almost universally credited with first showing this, but Hardy was far ahead of his time here as in so many ways, essentially displaying it all in 1882. Two even anticipates stereotypes - such as scientists taking things too literally and being socially inept - not common until after World War II. It dramatizes many important related issues:scientists' single-minded devotion to study, the pure vs. practical research problem, the annoying but impossible to ignore finance issue, etc. It also incorporates related themes closer to Hardy's heart-centered, empathy-driven worldview:the problem of study vs. society, love vs. work, etc. Such dynamics are very complex, and he handles them deftly, making them not only interesting and thought-provoking but affecting.

All this may sound as if Two is inaccessible, but it is thankfully very far from so. Early chapters seem to move the book toward true early science fiction, well away from previous Hardy territory, but this soon proves untrue. It changes to his central concern:a story of - in this case quite literally - star-crossed lovers with consequent issues of class, law, morality, and religion. Fans will probably be glad, while some others may be disappointed, but the drama is so well-done that is surely impossible not to be at least moved. This plot aspect is very similar to several other Hardy works, and some elements are virtually verbatim, but many usual strengths are at near full force. Chief among them is Hardy's near-unparalleled portrayal of emotion; whatever else we think of the characters, it would take a hard heart indeed not to feel for them. Hardy always deals in universal human emotions, making his highly dramatic works accessible to all. The characters themselves are also very engaging; Hardy is famous for heroines, and Viviette is another in his long list of great ones and deserves to be much better known. Swithin is in many ways engrossing, if less sympathetic, while Louis and the bishop are two of his more memorable villains. The latter two may be somewhat one-dimensional, but the main characters are richly complex and full of verisimilitude. Finally, Hardy always pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable, and Two, like several of his other novels, was viciously attacked, even condemned, for undermining religion, law, and morality. Hardy's 1895 Preface notes that things had changed so much even by then that readers would be hard-pressed to find anything offensive, and Two is so superficially tame by our standards that the very idea of it causing controversy is laughable. However, time has allowed us to get past such trappings and appreciate Hardy's still unfortunately valid points about laws that are unjust and/or nonsensical, a church that is corrupt, and a society that is hypocritically prudish and optimistically self-important.

Strong as Two's core is, occasionally questionable execution keeps it well below Hardy's best. Different as it is in some ways from his other novels, it in other ways exaggerates tendencies that many always dislike in him. The plot is very dense, probably too much for many, with multiple twists in such quick procession that it is easy to dismiss the book as unbelievable. Hardy's heavy coincidence use is often noted; it is common in Victorian fiction but even more so in him, which often annoys those favoring more straightforward recent novels. However, unlike weak writers who rely on it for plot and hope we will not notice, he uses it deliberately and even draws attention to it because of his deterministic beliefs. Fans inevitably come to terms with this, but he arguably simply goes too far here, especially as he does not take as much trouble to justify it as usual. In addition, while there are no plot holes in the usual sense, some points, especially about Louis, are never explained. To be fair, it must be noted that Two has an incredible amount of suspense, far more than we expect from Victorian works. He also has a nearly scientific ability to know what we expect and do something different, which is highly admirable in any writer. On the other hand, the dialogue is also almost certainly Hardy's most artificial - so much so that it is at times nearly risible. Finally, Two is arguably a bit overly melodramatic, especially the rushed ending. Hardy later classed it as one of his "Romances and Fantasies" where realism was not consciously maintained, and his Preface admits the book was not well put together. This is partly because, in contrast to his usual practice, he did not proof the serial or revise for book publication; in addition, several differing manuscripts floated around at once, and not all changes were implemented. Hardy was usually an inveterate reviser but gave Two unusually little attention, and it shows. A thorough revision would likely have fixed at least several weaknesses, but Two is still quite strong.

All told, though Two should be no one's first Hardy novel, anyone who likes his others should certainly pick it up eventually, and those who have disliked one or two may also find it appealing.

Poor Thomas Hardy....
... with one foot mired in Victorian propriety and the other in the modern world! On one hand to be so eager to challenge conventions, and on the other to be unable to bluntly declare his heroine pregnant! No novel I've ever read has been so plainly riven between two paradigms. Curiously, Two on a Tower begins in the democratic age of modern skepticism and then regresses inexorably to the class-conscious, superstition-bound era of Gothic romance.

The first three chapters of the book are as engaging an opening as any Hardy ever wrote, establishing a glorious setting in an abandoned tower in rural 'Wessex', introducing two prepossessing characters who will unquestionably become the love-interest of the tale, and brilliantly contrasting the folkways of a vanishing rural culture with the intellectual turmoil implicit in the discoveries of science in the modern world. The scene in which the new vicar attempts to persuade his local yokel choir to sing at A440 rather than the time-hallowed A415 is preciously funny, reminiscent of the earlier Hardy novels "Under the Greenwood Tree" and "Far from the Madding Crowd." But in close juxtaposition, the young 'leading man' - Swithin St. Cleeve - eloquently describes the fearsome anxiety he feels at realizing the infinitesimal insignificance of humankind in the scope of the cosmos. What he portrays is exactly what I (and you too, dear reader?) feel upon looking into deep time and empty space -- the feeling I call astrophobia. Swithin, admirably, is not daunted by his own insight; rather he aspires to contribute to that very knowledge which has made his traditional worldview unsustainable.

Enter the woman, of course. Lady Constantine is an abandoned,abused wife, living the hollowest chivalric mockery of traditional male-female relationships. She's beautiful, she has resources, she's impressionable and impulsive... and she's eight years older than Swithin. She will, obviously from first appearance in the text, seek to find her 'realization' in Swithin's potential as a scientist and in her own role in furthering that potential. Obstacles, need we say, will arise. From chapter four onward, this promising 'novel of ideas' quickly transforms itself into the most rhapsodic Avon Romance, superior to Danielle Steele only in the quality of descriptions. I should say, however, that as an Avon Romance, Two on a Tower is a darn good one.

Significant coincidences and momentous chance encounters are the heart's pulse of the Victorian novel, the organizing principle, the primary means of compression of action, the successors to the "deus ex machina" of earlier epics. Every Victorian novel has a few of them, and it's silly to object since they are intrinsic to the genre. This almost-Post Victorian novel has more than its share, and they seem awkward here precisely because they fail to serve the modernist themes and dispassionate observations of the author. Perhaps in the age of pre-modern credulity -- that is, of religious certainty -- such fortuitous interventions of 'fate' were taken for granted. One could build a critical career, I think, by maintaining that the 'modern' novel was born when the last coincidence was excluded from the plot.

I'm surprised that most of the previous reviewers have been charmed by this strangely tragic tale. I would have guessed that no one had ever been satisfied with its outcome. Certainly it was not a success at the time of its publication, and it hasn't received much respectful attention from literary scholars since. Me? I enjoyed it a lot, at the same time as feeling disappointed in it. Poor Thomas Hardy had the most divided 'soul' of any novelist who ever wrote, aching for the old certainties and the quaint tranquillity of pre-modern England yet somberly aware of their futility. He couldn't keep his footing on both sides of the chasm, so he chose to cultivate nostalgia for the very objects of his mockery. When a living man defines himself as 'conservative,' he effectively consigns his mind to hibernation. Hardy's 'conservatism' was a surrender to pessimism, a confession of defeat before the battle.

Two on a Tower is a minor Hardy novel dealing with starcrossed lovers
When you look at faded photographs of the aged Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) the elderly gentleman looks like anything but an insightful author whose speciality is the human heart. Bald! Stooped over and clad in black. An old man who loved old dogs, his old home in Dorset and old memories of the days of yore in his childhood home in the West of England.
Yet Hardy produced some of the greatest novels in the English language. In this minor work of 1882 he presents us with a tragic/comic love tale of
starcrossed lovers.
Swithin St. Cleeve is a twenty year old amateur astronomer. Each night the young man ascends an old tower built on the site of a Roman campsight. The Tower is on the property of the Constantine farm. Swithin becomes acquainted with Mrs. Constantine whose name is Viviette. She is forlorn and lonely. Her wastrel and wealthy husband has left for a safari junket in distant Africa. Viviette is a romantic woman who dreams of poetry and love. She quickly becomes enamored of the Apollo of the Tower joining him for long evening sessions of watching the stars in panoply over the dark skies of Wessex. Her interest leads her to purchase expensive astronomical equipment for Swithin. With the improvements in the tower telescope the boy hopes to become famous as an astronomer. Perhaps, the couple dream, Swithin will become a member of the famed Royal Academy having his research work published to wide acclaim. Swithin does submit a paper for publication only to learn, to his deep chagrin, that an earlier scientist had already been published on the subject.
Viviette and Swithin fall in love-she harder than he!. They secretly wed but are spotted in the town where they get the wedding license. Viviette's brother has seen them. He and the society in the village frown on marriage between two partners coming from different classes.
Later, to her utter horror, Viviette learns thatthe odious husband she had thought had died in Africa was still alive at the time of her clandestine wedding to Swithin. Constantine did die in Africa but still breathed when the marriage with Swithin was consummated. Viviette also learns that Swithin will receive an annual bequest of 400 pounds per annum if he follows the instructions of his late benefactor a relative.
The relative was a doctor who was a hater of marriage. Swithin will lose the bequest if he marries before he is 25! Therefore, the couple decide to keep the marriage a secret. Complications and accidents abound!
Viviette decides that Swithin should have his career opporunities spiked by his leaving on a long scientific trip to South Africa. While he is gone she learns she is pregnant with his child. The couple had planned to publicly wed in a ceremony when he reached 25 but now this idea is scotched. Viviette has lost her fortune due to her husband's death. She hastily is wed to a dull, pompous, fat and old bishop. He dies soon after the wedding. She is left to raise the boy who is really the son of Swithin and not the deceased cleric.
After a few years Swithin returns home to discover Viviette a widow. His son is now a toddler. Viviette has aged badly though she is till in her 30s. Swithin has fallen out of love with her. Instead, he is smitted by the fetching beauty and talent of Tabitha Lark the organist of the local church.
Hardy shows nature as apathetic with the human predicaments of his characters. TheHardyian universe is bleakly godless. People are the mere playthings of the chances of nature. In Hardy's view we are open to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune on a dangerous rock called earth. There is no consolation to be found in the church.
This novel evinces the author's interest with older and younger lover. Also on display is his examination of love between a poor man and a richer woman.Class is important since Swithin comes from a lower social order than Lady Viviette. Such marriages were condemned by the prim Victorian society abhorred by Hardy.
Viviette is a woman of complexity, romance and compassion. Her heart and not her head rule her lugubrious existence. She is the one character in the book to be remembered; Swithin is a cardboard lover who is lacking in maturity and wisdom.
Thomas Hardy is a poet whose prose is evocative of the English rural countryside.His evocative picture of the peasants is well drawn from childhood remembrances. The transient glories of an English year in the country is well drawn. This is a short but satisfying way for Hardy fans to read another fine novel. It is also a good first novel for Hardy newcomers.

Writing Exceeds Story
The language of Hardy is exceptional. His understanding of love and its motivations is too. If anyone else would have written this story, it would be worthless. Since he did, it's worth reading, though slow the first seventy-five pages and the ending is unexpected and unnecessary. I strongly suggest reading Wolf's Revolution for a story of this kind.Revolution

She's 33, not 105
I am a huge Thomas Hardy fan, and I was not disappointed with this book. At first all the technical astronomical information was slow, but the love story started and that was forgotten. My only complaint about Two on a Tower is the ending. It seems very rushed - everything comes crashing together in about 10 pages. It wasn't realistic for Viviette to age so much and no longer be beautiful 4 years later, considering she was only 33 at the end of the story. Sir Constantine was possessive, jealous and terrifying but she still kept her health and beauty after suffering with him. The bishop was full of himself - how is that worse? A few years with him and all of a sudden she's an old woman with a heart condition? Swithin comes back and says he'll marry her, she's overcome with joy and BOOM! She dies in his arms. I also find it strange that neither Swithin or Viviette acknowledged that the boy was his. Didn't people in the village realize who he looked like, since people were already suspicious of the lovers? What will happen next, Swithin takes his son in and marries Tabitha Lark? A very good, sad, complicated romance. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (20)

Horrible formatting for the Kindle edition - Oxford University Press Edition
This is a review of the Kindle version of the Oxford University Press edition of this book. Far from the Madding CrowdThe book itself is fine.However, the font style and formatting used by the Oxford press is really unattractive, and there is no way to change the font style.You can change the size of the font but not the actual font style itself.It is a very old style and looks like something from the 1800s.I'm sure this was fine for printed books in the 1800s, but it looks horrible on a Kindle 2 screen in the 2000s.Come on Oxford, when you convert your books to an e-reader format, you need to put some thought into how the work will be displayed on e-readers.When given a choice, I always use the Oxford edition of classics, but for this book I switched over to the Penguin edition just because of the way the work is displayed on the Kindle 2 screen.Horrible job Oxford!

a mediocre classic
As classics go, Thomas Hardy's "Far From the Madding Crowd" is mediocre.That is, it is better than some.But not nearly as good as others.As is often the case with classics, the motives and emotions of the main characters aren't fully developed in a way that makes their actions understandable to the reader.As a result, they tend to be a little flat.

In this book, for instance, both Boldwood and Gabriel Oak persist in loving Bathsheba over the years, despite how she has treated them and despite knowing how badly she has treated the other.Both of them wish to marry her for the duration of the book even though there are no redeeming qualities in her that would make a normal, healthy man want to marry her (except for being beautiful, of course).Their mindless devotion to her made no sense to me.

The strength of this novel is in its plot and in the conflicts between the various characters.The narrator, also, was excellent and added much to the story.

All in all, I enjoyed this story for the classic that it is, but it is not one I will ever listen to again.

Great copy of a good novel
The norton critical edition was very useful for this novel.Having all the background about the novel as well as all the footnotes throughout the novel really aided me in my understanding of the novel.Without the information in these footnotes, the book would not have had the same meaning for me.The book itself was also very good, although a bit difficult to read.It was very interesting and it led me to a better understanding of the Victorian era and trials ordinary men at that time had to go through.A good read.

Great book, awful editing...
This is a wonderful classic for many reasons.But, I urge you not to read this edition, because the notes are terrible!There are notes for things that are obvious, and a lack for those things which need them.The worst offense, however, is that one of the notes (which readers are likely to check, as it gives background on a forgotten song sung by one of the main characters) gives away not only the important action of that short chapter, but also gives away the main line of the story.Awful, awful editing...

Forget the infamous "love triangle"...
In Far from the Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy introduces us to the precarious "love square". At the core of all the turmoil is beautiful farm girl, Bathsheba Everdene - spirited, vain, intelligent and adept at toying with the hearts of men. Inevitably beguiled by her charms a humble and kind farmer, Gabriel Oak, fervently attempts to win Bathsheba's affections. Enter the competition: (suitor#2) Farmer Boldwood - a wealthy and temperate middle-aged man respected in the community, eventually plunges into maniacal obsession at the mere possibility of making the beloved Miss Everdene his wife; and (suitor#3) Sergeant Francis Troy - a dashing young philandering soldier, with his share of inner demons, ruthlessness and vanity, vies for Bathsheba's hand in marriage. Bathsheba's ultimate decision, and the cataclysm it evokes, lies at the epicenter of Hardy's unforgettable ambivalent story.

Far from the Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy's fourth novel, saw publication in 1874 and earned him widespread popularity as a writer. A delicately woven tale of unrequited love and regret, set in the mid-19th century, Far From the Madding Crowd is a masterpiece of pure story-telling. Hardy's classic style is a pleasure to read as he masterfully brings his characters and their dealings to life. I would not hesitate to say it definitely captured my heart as another favourite. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

Thomas Hardy was a private man who created his own literary world in the Wessex Novels
Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)has been chronicled in several biographies. The recent Claire Tomalin and the classic by Michael Millgate on Hardy are both superb. In this new work by British scholar Ralph Pite our understanding of this reticent, complex, enigmatic, orderly and romantic man is explored in depth.
Hardy was born in Dorchester to lower middle class parents. He became an architect and did not go to university. Hary was an autodidatic man who enjoyed studying Latin, Greek and the Church Fathers. He became an agnostic who,nevertheless, enjoyed rural church music, biblical study and
even considered going into the ministry.
He is most noted for his great Wessex novels among which are such classics as "Far From the Madding Crowd", "Tess of the D'Urbervilles."; "The Mayor of Casterbridge."; "The Return of the Native."
"The Woodlanders," "Jude the Obscure."Two on a Tower," "The Laodicean,"
"A Pair of Blue Eyes," "The Hand of Ethelberta," and others including several short story collections. Hardy was a renowned poet whose long epic poem "The Dynasts" concerns the conflict with Napoleon. He turned to poetry after the publication of "Jude the Obscure" which was heavily criticised for its sexual honesty and opposition to church and university.
What makes Pitt's book stand out is its careful examination of Hardy's emotional life. He had a long and miserable first marriage to Emma. Hardy later married his secretary Florence. He had platonic crushes on several society and literary ladies such as his good friend Francis Henniker.
Hardy was something of a recluse who hated to be touched. He and Emma had no children and spent most of the year in their gloomy home "Max End" located near Dorchester. Hardy did not wear his heart on his sleeve; was harsh with servants and enjoyed solitude devoted to his writing.
Thomas Hardy was a good man despite his faults. He hated cruelty to animals, supported liberal causes and loved his family. The loss of a relative in World War I and that horrific event in the annals of humanity were searing to his sensitive soul.
Thomas Hardy was a gifted novelist and Pite has served his subject well.

'It's time to take him at his word - and to doubt his every word'
Ralph Pite has written a thoughtful account of the influences, life and times of Thomas Hardy.

Thomas Hardy is an author whom many of us have studied as part of English literature either formally, or as we read through the classics.He died less than 100 years ago, and yet we know very little about the man behind the author.What we do know creates a sense of a series of slightly out of focus images which are, sometimes, contradictory.Seeking to make sense of this is difficult and it can detract from enjoying Hardy's prose and poetry.

Ralph Pite does not have all of the answers.What he does is to present, in sharper focus, the relationships that were important either in Hardy's life or as potential influences on his writing.Pite does this in elegant prose: as accessible to the more casual interested reader as it will be to the more academically inclined student of Hardy.

Knowing Hardy will never be easy: he always is present in the shadows.But some of the insights in Pite's book sometimes let the sun shine through more brightly.And, quickly, before the shadows shift again I could sense the man who might have been behind the author.

Highly recommended to those who seek to better understand Thomas Hardy.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith ... Read more

Product Description
Both major novelist and major poet, with a distinctive off-beat and intensely personal style, Hardy is a modern writer born out of his time. ... Read more

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Product Description
In a fit of drunken anger, Michael Henchard sells his wife and baby daughter for five guineas at a country fair. Over the course of the following years, he manages to establish himself as a respected and prosperous pillar of the community of Casterbridge, but behind his success there always lurk the shameful secret of his past and a personality prone to self-destructive pride and temper. Subtitled 'A Story of a Man of Character', Hardy's powerful and sympathetic study of the heroic but deeply flawed Henchard is also an intensely dramatic work, tragically played out against the vivid backdrop of a close-knit Dorsetshire town. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Drama at its best, or satire at its best?
About two thirds through this undeniably great work, I began to question everything I thought I knew about this book.Kicking off in high drama and then barrelling on in that fashion with not even a stop for air, the twists and turns in Hardy's tale of morality, regret, and character seemed to occur due to the faults and failures of the principal actors, and not thanks to any plot contrivances on the part of Hardy.Which ever the case, this is a great testament to Hardy's writing abilities, but as the story progressed, the idea that Hardy was pushing the limits of "fate" and "tragedy" to its extreme seeped in.By the time I finished the book and sat puzzled over the complete change in tone for the last two paragraphs, I realized that Hardy had written one of the greatest pieces of satirical tragedy ever.
Based on an actual inicident Hardy read about in a local newspaper, a husband, travelling on the road with his family, gets drunk and auctions off his wife to the highest bidder.After being offered a considerable amount of money, the wife is sold and she willingly leaves with the highest bidder, daughter in tow, as the drunken husband stays behinds and drinks.
End first scene, cut to 18 years later. The man has become a teetotaler and has so righted his life, he has become the Mayor of Casterbridge.The wife enters the town, beautiful now older daughter in tow, looking for her former husband now that her husband-by-auction has died.They meet, work out a plan to remarry, and set about doing that.
We then discover that the Mayor is already engaged to another woman.We discover that one of the Mayor's enemies is interested in wooing his daughter.We discover that the girl he believes is his daughter- has been told is his daughter!- is not actually his daughter.Discovery after discovery rain down upon us, each one forcing the characters to react in ways that while always consistent with their characters, creates further drama and eventually, tragedy.
Hardy is an incredible author and even if this was nothing more than a tale about character and ethics, it would be an incredible read.When viewed as a satire of such tales, however- like an updated Job story without the God aspect, with the Mayor being Job- the work rises to another level.Hardy is funny, and even in the context of obviously serious works, there are occasional lighthearted moments.But once one grasps this complex work as a satire of similar works, Hardy verges on being hysterical.The Mayor of Casterbridge is a living character with obvious faults, but the heap of abuse that Hardy piles upon him in no way corresponds with his initital heinous act.Unless, of course, you're trying to be funny.
Regardless of whether this is meant to be taken seriously or not, it is an underrated (as far as Hardy books go) classic.
(And those last two paragraphs I alluded to above: their tone, syntax, vocabulary all sound like they come from a different book.To me, it sounded like Hardy was having one last laugh, foolishly trying to validate all the tragedy that occurred with two "intellectual" sounding paragraphs. One last bone to throw to those so absorbed in morality tales that they couldn't see that this whole journey was a farce.)

The Rise and Fall of Michael Henchard
Thomas Hardy was never one to refrain from controversey in his writing, as is evidenced by his decision after the negative reviews that "Jude the Obscure" received to never write novels again but to devote himself entirely to poetry."The Mayor of Casterbridge" opens with perhaps one of the most unique plot devices in Edwardian/Victorian literature, when Michael Henchard, a young haytrusser becomes drunk at a country fair and sells his wife and daughter to whoever will pay five guineas for them.What follows afterwards, for Michael Henchard, is a life tinged by regret, even as he finds himself prospering in all other manners."The Mayor of Casterbridge" is a compelling story of how falsehoods and regrets can overshadow one's life if they are allowed to do so.

After selling his wife and daughter, Michael Henchard vows that he will not touch alcohol for twenty-one years and manages to build himself up to the position of a prosperous businessman and mayor in the town of Casterbridge.As he nears the twenty-first year of his oath, his wife Susan returns, finding him in his exalted position, and Henchard knows the only right thing to do is "remarry" her since they have been legally married all these years, and therefore make it possible for him to claim Elizabeth-Jane as his true daughter, not just step-daughter.Yet life has many secrets for Michael Henchard - some he keeps, like the fact he is engaged to another woman, and one shocking one that his wife keeps from him that will desperately impact his dealings with Elizabeth-Jane.While Henchard has prospered up to this point, a falling-out with his foreman, the Scotsman Donald Farfrae, leads to his eventual downfall in both his private and his public life.As evidenced by the selling of his wife, Henchard allows his quick temper to get the better of him, and he sets his mind on revenge to all those who have wronged him, whether acutal or not.Therefore, he constantly finds himself at odds with Elizabeth-Jane, with Donald Farfrae (whom he would like nothing better than to kill), and with another woman from his past who has upset his life.

Michael Henchard is truly a tragic character, for while it may be easy to dislike him for his roughness and his callow actions, he is not entirely an evil man.His fault is that he regrets his actions, just usually too late."The Mayor of Casterbridge" is a surprisingly fast-paced read, with a vivid setting and an extremely intriguing character in Elizabeth-Jane.The web that Michael Henchard manages to spin for himself is compelling and familiar, as these characters and their motives transcend beyond the time period captured so effortlessly by Hardy.

Excellent
Nineteenth century literary classic, details a man seeling his wife and daughter and the long term consequence. It's a pretty powerful and deeply ambitious story, one that makes up for a couple feeble plot stimulators with a powerful psychological representation. What's most interesting is the protagonist, the titular individual. A man so committed to drunk and evasion that he will sell off his own family. Also a man that works across the rest of the novel to redeem himself from this moment, but not without much backsliding and fresh egotistical mistakes. He's also capable enough to claw his way up into a position of wealth and authority, but then later lose that fortune, and the book is quite effective in showing the degree to which his admuirable qualities are tied in with his core defects. He's far from a monster, and for all the damage his pride and spiteful rejection cause to other lives there is much to admire about him, his strength of character, his general optimism and the way he's able to come forth with strong ethical choice at the most surprising moments. He's an intriguing, complex and overall plausible character, most notably in the way that none of his grand transcendetal moments lack, the way he continually reverts back partially to his earlier ways.

More generally, the work shows an engaging cynicism about the status of class, gender and hypocrisy in contemporary England. There are some very strong critiques in here against Victorian society, to the extent that I'm surprised it attained the popularity it did in its own time, and these are always coonected to an engaging novel. It makes me a lot more interested in reading the other nineteenth century literary classics I've so far neglected. And more Hardy, of course.

Worse than: Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Better than: A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Also better than: Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy

Masterpiece of the Highest Order
The Mayor of Casterbridge is not Thomas Hardy's most famous or acclaimed novel, but in the opinion of this die-hard fan it is his best. The later Tess of the D'Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure are generally considered his masterpieces, but while this lacks their epic grandeur and sociopolitical relevance, it is more immediately arresting, has a more conventionally interesting plot, and features one of literature's best tragic heroes. I give it the highest possible recommendation not only for fans but for anyone even remotely alive to literary greatness.

Hardy in his day was nearly unique in mixing high literary elements with what would later be called pulp factors. Hard as it is to imagine, he was like William Faulkner and Stephen King in one - a true artist with mass appeal, both critically acclaimed and bestselling. However, his early nineteenth century rural English settings, heavy dialect use, eccentric vocabulary, and other characteristics make many current readers think his books slow going. The Mayor is the obvious exception, beginning almost immediately with one of the most arresting and unforgettable scenes in all literature - nothing less than a drunken man selling his wife and child to a stranger out of anger and disgust. As often with Hardy, it is based on a real incident, but he dramatizes so vividly that we cannot help being enthralled. The drama indeed reaches such a fever pitch in these first few pages that even those normally averse to classic literature can hardly help being pulled in.

Such a beginning sets a very high standard, and it is a testament to the book's greatness that it never disappoints - and, indeed, hardly lets up. The popular aspects of Hardy's fiction made him more influential on later writers, especially mainstream ones, than nearly any other classic author; it is almost impossible to exaggerate his impact, which is such that even many who have never read him have been greatly influenced without knowing it. These strengths are present even in his earliest fiction, but The Mayor is the preeminent example. Supremely engrossing and intriguing, it is full of plot twists that will keep even the savviest readers guessing and ends in one of the most spectacularly memorable conclusions ever. One could not expect more from even the most entertaining pulp novel - and The Mayor of course has a wealth of great artistry to boot. To be sure, this Hardy aspect has always had critics bemoaning apparent overreliance on complex plots and melodramatic coincidence, the implication being that Hardy was unable to make a story without them. However, anyone even remotely familiar with him knows that he was intensely interested in coincidence, chance, and fate, using them deliberately to dramatize what dominated his thought. Those aware of this can see how well his writings work out the implications of his bleak impressions:that humans are near-laughably insignificant on the cosmic scale, that no force sympathetic to humans or generally benevolent controls the universe, and that human life is essentially miserable with little chance of success at love or other happiness. More specifically, his work illustrates what he called the Imminent Will - an unconscious force controlling human action. What seems luck or chance may thus be very much otherwise, though we can do nothing about it. Many have said that he has an almost malevolent attitude toward his characters, plotting so that things work out in the worst possible way and cause them the greatest possible suffering, but this is simply Hardy's view of the human condition. The Mayor's complicated plot is an essential example - perhaps the preeminent. Hardy was later somewhat unsatisfied, thinking that it suffered more from serialization's effects than any of his other novels. He worried that he included too many improbabilities and twists in an effort to include an exciting event in every installment but noted with satisfaction that the events arise naturally from the story, and so they do. Those who do not like this feature elsewhere will be unconvinced - or even have their view cemented -, but those for whom Hardy's tragic vision speaks powerfully will be in awe of the masterful execution.

There are several keys to its success. Hardy reiterated over and over again that probability of character, not of action, is what matters, and this proves it. The book works mainly because its characters are so believable and often identifiable; we care about them in spite of - or arguably even because of, such is Hardy's skill - the highly-wrought events. It has one of Hardy's largest casts, and the four main characters are some of his most fully realized and memorable. Three are unsurprisingly doomed to near-constant suffering:the admirably strong-willed and hard-working but fatally impulsive Michael Henchard; Elizabeth-Jane, who has great empathy and love potential but is so passive that others constantly step on her with impunity; and the dignified but overly passionate Lucetta. The fourth, Donald Farfrae, is one of Hardy's most original and interesting. He was not one to champion a creation, but Farfrae is probably his most thoroughly positive and genuinely likable. Other characters are drawn to him almost irresistibly, and so are we; intelligent, industrious, and positively infectious, he is drawn with a good humor almost never seen in Hardy and gives much of the book's appeal. He is also notable as a sympathetic and nuanced Scotch character from an English writer.

But this is of course mainly Henchard's story, and what a story! Hardy based his tragic fiction on ancient Greek models, but Henchard is his only true example of the tragic hero central to those works - a character who is in many ways admirable but imbued with a flaw that proves his downfall. "Impulsiveness" perhaps sums up his and is manifested in various ways; many know such a person, but the far more important thing is that we can see ourselves in him. He is in some ways an Everyman despite obvious flaws and has several admirable qualities, not least how he raised himself from extreme poverty to relative wealth and prominence by sheer force of will. However, his fall is even greater than his rise - in fact, one of the greatest and most affecting ever imagined. It is a true testament to Hardy's artistry that he makes us care for Henchard despite him being in many ways despicable; for him to win our hearts after the opening scene seems not only impossible but perverse to even conceive, yet Hardy pulls it off. There is much to dislike, but he is fully and thus frailly and tragically human. Whether or not we think him redeemed, he is more sinned against than sinning, as even those he has wronged eventually see. Yet he also undeniably caused his own demise; what seems like bad luck or wretched fate is really his bad decisions' delayed consequences. His end is one of the most highly tragic and sympathetic ever written; he dies miserably alone and fully broken, denied even the last ray of light that a guilty conscience and sincere repentance could have potentially given. The scene with his final note - complete with misspellings belying the lack of education and humble background that made his rise more remarkable but that he was in many ways unable to overcome - is one of the most moving I have ever read. It is the culmination of what is a highly emotional work throughout; Hardy runs us through a gamut of feelings as only he can. The pathos is at times almost unbearable, and few readers will not cry at least once. Indeed, aside from Les Misérables, which I believe is unquestionably the greatest creation of all-time, no other book out of the hundreds or thousands I have read has moved me so often or deeply. Other than Victor Hugo, Hardy has no equal at conveying emotion, and this is his supreme example. Later works, particularly Tess, show the tragedy of the human condition on a grander scale, but only Oedipus Rex itself even rivals this as a supremely moving depiction of individual tragedy. Indeed, I can say without hyperbole that nothing else I have ever experienced - artistic or otherwise - has driven home life's profound tragedy with such conviction or force.

This alone is of course more than enough reason to read the book, but the work is also notable for other reasons. Chief among these is another perennial Hardy strength - great sense of place. Perhaps no one equals him in making place so vivid that it is essential to the story; setting is never mere background with him. He is of course best-known in this regard for Wessex - the part-real, part-dream country based on his native Southwest England that he made world famous. Setting is not as important here as in some other works, but the Casterbridge focus is particularly noteworthy. Based on the real-life Dorchester, Casterbridge is Wessex's largest town; nearly all Wessex stories and a considerable number of the poems mention it, and many take place there in part. However, this is unique in being almost entirely set there, giving both a fascinating glimpse into Southwest England's early nineteenth-century hub and filling in much of the background to other works. This is invaluable to fans and of considerable interest to historians and others.

Relatedly, Hardy's work is well-known for showing modernity's ache, i.e., how technology and other advances were rapidly and drastically changing a society that had been essentially the same for a thousand years. The Mayor in particular portrays its effect on agriculture and other business aspects, depicting all with realism and human interest. Some current readers may think this makes the book drag somewhat, but it will be a big attraction for others, especially those keen on the background to the book and its importance to Hardy's life and thought.

I simply cannot praise the novel highly enough; it is one of the all-time greatest artistic achievements, a supreme creation of artistry and, more fundamentally, the human heart. Suffice it to say that anyone sensitive to the unforgettable final two paragraphs, which sum up Hardy's grim but eminently practical view of existence in his fine inimitable style and conclude by calling happiness "the occasional episode in a general drama of pain," will not find the sentiments more vividly dramatized anywhere. This is enough - perhaps even all anyone could ask for.

mayor of casterbridge
One of Hardy's best novels. The characterisation are excellent and the descriptive writing is superb. I recommend it highly. ... Read more