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3.46k reviews for:
Tessa d'Urberville: Historia kobiety czystej
Róża Czekańska-Heymanowa, Thomas Hardy
3.67 AVERAGE
3.46k reviews for:
Tessa d'Urberville: Historia kobiety czystej
Róża Czekańska-Heymanowa, Thomas Hardy
3.67 AVERAGE
slow-paced
Loveable characters:
No
Well I'm glad that's over. This was a difficult book to get through but I DID finish it. Tess was a sad character whose beauty only brought her sorrow. Alec D'Uberville was a terrible human being who ruined a young life. I did not like him. Angel Clare was a weak, judgemental husband. How dare he do what he did to poor Tess! All the characters let pride get in the way of everything. It became very tiresome. The writing in this book is older and sometimes difficult. I skipped a lot of descriptive paragraphs towards the end. I was startled by Tess' action in the end and did not like the ending of the book. Bizzare.
This is a pretty interesting book. The story and so on is one thing, but what interests me is the unusual nature of the book and its narrative. Part of this is because I just don't know how this was perceived when it was published. Probably it was controversial, if only because of the subject matter.
Sex, unwed pregnancy, anti-Christianity, etc. This being a Victorian novel, it's not surprising how characters respond to a pregnancy out of wedlock, but what I think is interesting is how this narrative works both as a tragedy and a satire at the same time. I can think of few, if any, other books that do this same thing. Especially because the satire doesn't lessen the tragedy but strengthens it.
Hardy is often very biting with his satire. Or at least this is how I read this novel. I may be misreading it, but it seems clear that much of this is satirical or at least ironic. But it's also a very emotional novel, and those emotions are so caught up in social propriety and Christian morality. While Tess is the heroine, she is depicted as both fallen and tragic, but there's also a strong sense that she is being victimized by a culture of small meanness.
And so I feel as if Hardy is critiquing his own society but also using its culture to create a complicated and tragic figure. He's demanding these moral scolds understand and empathize with Tess. Which requires them to hold their own society in contempt, at least a bit. He's asking you to both spread and shed your Christian kindness. Your morality demands you see Tess as a sinner, a fallen woman, but your emotions demand that you see her victimized by this society. She may be a sinner, but she's also just a generally kind and good person.
It's a very interesting book. More complex than I expected.
I've been sort of failing to find novels that interest me for a few years, honestly. Occasionally I stumble into one that I love, but I've mostly been reading nonfiction because so much fiction has been missing for me lately. I've been meaning to read some of these Victorian novels as sort of an experiment to see if the greats of the past can rekindle something in me.
This novel didn't really hit me in the way I hoped, but I do find it one of the more interesting novels I've come across recently. So the start to this little experiment is a success.
We'll see how the rest go.
Sex, unwed pregnancy, anti-Christianity, etc. This being a Victorian novel, it's not surprising how characters respond to a pregnancy out of wedlock, but what I think is interesting is how this narrative works both as a tragedy and a satire at the same time. I can think of few, if any, other books that do this same thing. Especially because the satire doesn't lessen the tragedy but strengthens it.
Hardy is often very biting with his satire. Or at least this is how I read this novel. I may be misreading it, but it seems clear that much of this is satirical or at least ironic. But it's also a very emotional novel, and those emotions are so caught up in social propriety and Christian morality. While Tess is the heroine, she is depicted as both fallen and tragic, but there's also a strong sense that she is being victimized by a culture of small meanness.
And so I feel as if Hardy is critiquing his own society but also using its culture to create a complicated and tragic figure. He's demanding these moral scolds understand and empathize with Tess. Which requires them to hold their own society in contempt, at least a bit. He's asking you to both spread and shed your Christian kindness. Your morality demands you see Tess as a sinner, a fallen woman, but your emotions demand that you see her victimized by this society. She may be a sinner, but she's also just a generally kind and good person.
It's a very interesting book. More complex than I expected.
I've been sort of failing to find novels that interest me for a few years, honestly. Occasionally I stumble into one that I love, but I've mostly been reading nonfiction because so much fiction has been missing for me lately. I've been meaning to read some of these Victorian novels as sort of an experiment to see if the greats of the past can rekindle something in me.
This novel didn't really hit me in the way I hoped, but I do find it one of the more interesting novels I've come across recently. So the start to this little experiment is a success.
We'll see how the rest go.
Tess is so sweet, but so SO simple that watching her go down the path she is led is tough. She persevered in a “resigned to my fate” kind of way, and not the “finding my inner strength and will to succeed” way, which is usually the saving grace is books like these. Didn’t love, three stars because Hardy’s writing redeems it a bit.
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is yet another one of those books that I heard of but never read before. I finally decided to give it a try, and I was very surprised by what I found. Admittedly this is a very difficult book to get through, but it is exceptionally good at portraying its message and in providing meaningful imagery. It is a depressing book, but I don't think the book is any worse because of that, since the tone is intentional and definitely gets the point across.
I have to say, I really admire this author for what he did in the novel. Here is a man tackling the sexual roles of men and women and actually portraying the unbalance in a good way. I could always get the sense that the men were being condemned for what they did to Tess, and the treatment of her always felt wrong or tragic. There are many things about this book that can be rage-inducing, but I believe it's meant to be that way. The author wants to show that the double standard is wrong.
I also found the author's portrayal of religion to be very interesting. How characters viewed religion, how they behaved because of those views, the final scene with Tess at Stonehedge were all very good. It's pretty hard to miss the imagery and meaning he puts behind these things, especially when there are characters named Sorrow and Angel in the story.
Overall, I think this is a very good book. I feel like it should be more exposed in schools. Especially with the issue of double standards. I think there is a lot that can be discussed, and a lot that can be questioned and put into a new perspective.
I have to say, I really admire this author for what he did in the novel. Here is a man tackling the sexual roles of men and women and actually portraying the unbalance in a good way. I could always get the sense that the men were being condemned for what they did to Tess, and the treatment of her always felt wrong or tragic. There are many things about this book that can be rage-inducing, but I believe it's meant to be that way. The author wants to show that the double standard is wrong.
I also found the author's portrayal of religion to be very interesting. How characters viewed religion, how they behaved because of those views, the final scene with Tess at Stonehedge were all very good. It's pretty hard to miss the imagery and meaning he puts behind these things, especially when there are characters named Sorrow and Angel in the story.
Overall, I think this is a very good book. I feel like it should be more exposed in schools. Especially with the issue of double standards. I think there is a lot that can be discussed, and a lot that can be questioned and put into a new perspective.
I hate this book. Simply because of how it ended. Some people love it, but that ending destroyed my heart.
english literature a level made this more interesting than it would have been if i’d just read it. tess was boring tho
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Still one of my favorite classic novels. So depressingly wonderful.