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3.67 AVERAGE
3.67 AVERAGE
love love loved it. Hardy captured the life and perspective of a woman in a time when modernity was being introduced to such rural areas of England. The freshness of philosophy residing in Angel Clare vs the strict religion of his family outlined the fuzzy edges of this change from religion to atheism that was extremely satisfying to read. The imagery, the references, the use of nature - it was all perfect. Very quickly realised it was one of my favourite books read thus far.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
3,25 stars
I read Tess of the d'Urbeville's because a friend of mine recommended it, stating it had been a favorite of hers for some time. Sadly, I didn't have the same experience, and this Thomas Hardy book will have to do with an only "alright" rating from me.
Tess of the d'Urbeville's is a long and pretty depressing book, which is one of the reasons it didn't rate highly for me, because it felt kind of like a chore to get through. There was so little happiness in it, that you rarely felt a reprieve from the pretty dismal state of Tess's life. The flowery writing often spending quite some time on things which were irrelevant to the overarching plot also didn't help matters, making the book even longer.
Despite not very much enjoying this book, I do have to admit it is not a bad book. Just one that doesn't read easily or with much joy.
Thomas Hardy creates a pretty believable and strong narrative about a young woman who, after falling victim to a mean and deceitful man, becomes an outcast to her (victorian) society. It explores how, despite having real blame in this situation, she is the one to bear the brunt of it. And as the story goes on, Hardy also explores how hypocritical society often was in viewing men and women for this very same "fault".
Through this Thomas Hardy creates a story which discusses a very important problem which still sadly is quite relevant today.
Overall it is a pretty well written book. It's biggest flaws in the actual writing quality being that through the flowery writing the story could probably have been 50 or more pages shorter. The lack of enjoyment from reading it is a more personal matter, but in my case the part which is most prominent in my experience of this book.
So in the end I doubt I will re-read or recommend this book easily, but I must admit that it presents an important narrative overall.
I read Tess of the d'Urbeville's because a friend of mine recommended it, stating it had been a favorite of hers for some time. Sadly, I didn't have the same experience, and this Thomas Hardy book will have to do with an only "alright" rating from me.
Tess of the d'Urbeville's is a long and pretty depressing book, which is one of the reasons it didn't rate highly for me, because it felt kind of like a chore to get through. There was so little happiness in it, that you rarely felt a reprieve from the pretty dismal state of Tess's life. The flowery writing often spending quite some time on things which were irrelevant to the overarching plot also didn't help matters, making the book even longer.
Despite not very much enjoying this book, I do have to admit it is not a bad book. Just one that doesn't read easily or with much joy.
Thomas Hardy creates a pretty believable and strong narrative about a young woman who, after falling victim to a mean and deceitful man, becomes an outcast to her (victorian) society. It explores how, despite having real blame in this situation, she is the one to bear the brunt of it. And as the story goes on, Hardy also explores how hypocritical society often was in viewing men and women for this very same "fault".
Through this Thomas Hardy creates a story which discusses a very important problem which still sadly is quite relevant today.
Overall it is a pretty well written book. It's biggest flaws in the actual writing quality being that through the flowery writing the story could probably have been 50 or more pages shorter. The lack of enjoyment from reading it is a more personal matter, but in my case the part which is most prominent in my experience of this book.
So in the end I doubt I will re-read or recommend this book easily, but I must admit that it presents an important narrative overall.
I admire what Hardy was doing with this novel, from the subtitle describing Tess as "A Pure Woman" to finally allowing her a measure of revenge. The novel is also technically excellent. At the same time, however, it is profoundly depressing to read about the terrible violence done to Tess by the men in her life, and so I couldn't really say that it feels good to read this book. I am glad I did, but I won't be re-reading this one.
Not my favourite Hardy, though still equally a memorable and frustrating read.
Pleasantly surprised by this novel! I was under the impression that Hardy's writing was quite dry and description-heavy but there was an awful lot of dialogue and action for its time. A very interesting read, predictable in some places but still quite good!
I like strong female characters...I don't believe Tess was one of those...too much self pity