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3.67 AVERAGE
3.67 AVERAGE
I'm so glad I read this now, rather than high school. My out-of-the-moment self was regularly frustrated with the convention of the entire book, and with Tess-the-doormat regularly offering to die for Angel, to accept her culpability for her rape, and so on and so forth, but I also was delighted by the seriousness and sincerity with which Hardy maintains her, in spite of all that, as a real, three-dimensional character.
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
So, this book made me want to throw it against the wall too many times to count. Girl gets drugged/raped, impregnated, infant dies, and she is completely blamed for it. Finally finds a good man, who marries her, finds out her virginity had been spoiled and fast tracks to Brazil. For years. What the actual f*ck? Finally, he decides he can forgive her (again, excuse me?) and returns home only to find she has been living/sleeping with her rapist because he promised to take care of her family. She kills the rapist, runs off with her newly returned husband, only to be found and presumably hung for murder. Her widow then marries her little sister. Points for excellent writing, but the feminist in me just can’t *love* this book.
Ufff. Tiene sus puntos. El personaje de Alec tiene su punto. Y se lee bien. Pero es tan melodramática, casi tremebunda, tan moralista y maniqueista, con golpes bajos y trucos narrativos demasiado patilleros para resultar verosímiles. Y es que en general me cuesta digerir las obras destinadas a hacernos creer que la vida es una mierda. Como si no lo supiera ya. Gracias, pero no es necesario cargar tanto las tintas.
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What can I say? I am just not a lover of so-called classics. There were certainly bits that I enjoyed and found interesting but mostly I just really wanted to finish this book to get to one I WANTED to read. (Read it at the request of someone I love.)
In a nutshell, it was melancholy. At the end of the day, I see no purpose at all for the life Tess had lived; she was a victim of circumstances, but paid dearly for things that were not her fault. I think it aptly portrays the pathetic situation of being a woman, and a "not-proper" one at that. Still, really really sad; literally breaks the heart and makes one ponder as to the meaning of our existence.
Would advice to read it leisurely though. It is a classic that ought to be read on the eves under a tree. Not a book to be rushed.
Would advice to read it leisurely though. It is a classic that ought to be read on the eves under a tree. Not a book to be rushed.