Reviews

Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

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mirandaaaa's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Another book finished today wat??? Although admittedly had like 20 pages left of this for like 3 weeks so... not too arduous.

Hardy’s descriptions of nature and the English pastoral year are lovely, hence why Hardy is most definitely one of my favourite ‘classics’ writers. Also, the fact he throws in a bit of misery to go hand in hand with idyllic countryside bliss. Perfect recipe. I can’t believe it took me so long to read another Hardy tbh, although I think the whole concept of a ‘Classic’ still low-key scares me.
The writing is accessible, and the story is addictive. Who doesn’t want to read about some love triangle unrequited love popping off. The characters are so realistic, and you can easily, like all Hardy novels, see how they got to this position. The finale was pretty spicy too (although did accidentally read spoilers rip). But I do think it was all covered quickly, like he’d ran out of printing time or something. Andthentheygotmarriedtheend.

In all though, honestly such a good book to read, although I find it interesting that people market it as feminist, Bathsheba (ugly name idk what Hardy was thinking) needs to have men sort EVERYTHING out for her. A bit annoying tbh but she still speaks her mind, so I’ll give some kudos to that. Also, this amazing line happens: “It is difficult for a woman to define her feelings in language which is chiefly made by men to express theirs.” WOW. Hopefully it won’t be as long until my next Hardy book.

kate_cherniakh's review against another edition

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dark emotional medium-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? Yes

4.0

connorreid1's review

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challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

kdawn999's review against another edition

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4.0

Bathsheba Everdene is a fierce character, and I'm glad to have met her in Hardy's book. She lives up to and surpasses the Biblical portent of her name. She's much more of an Emma than an Elizabeth (bear with me as I interpret everything through Austen), but thankfully Hardy doesn't seek to hammer a lesson to us about women's inconstancy or vanity. Though Bathsheba is vain (our first encounter with her is, like Milton's Eve, as she admires her reflection), her self-love is shown as natural to her beauty. As the Eve of the book, rather than be responsible for Adam's fall, we get to see her temptations from 3 suitors/Satans--one which turns out to be her Adam in the end. Far from the Madding crowd didn't stir up the emotions in me that Tess of the D'Urbervilles did with its tragedy, but Hardy's writing is excellent in it. The book is almost worth reading simply for the pastoral scenes and the hilarious banter between the farmhands.

monazaneefer's review against another edition

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4.0

I can't decide whether this ought to be 4 stars or 5. It does fall short on what a 5-star book usually is for me but it's also so wholesome at the same time.

For me, I loved the characters without needing to root for most of them. For eg: I liked Boldwood and felt sorry for him

Spoiler

(especially in the end)

but his speeches were quite melodramatic so that was a hindrance. And I didn't like when Hardy, in the first half, would explain the psyche of each character without us seeing it for ourselves. 'Show, don't tell' would've been the way to go. It felt like watching the characters from a window without being intimately close to them. That did eventually go away though. Once Hardy established that with nearly every character, the characters spoke for themselves which automatically shook those cons away. Nevertheless, by then I couldn't spark a deep connection with the characters, despite loving them.

As for the far-overwhelming positives, one of them is Hardy's descriptions; it's like honey to the eyes. To read his work is to read the descriptions as much as one would for the story. The two are so interwoven. The story in of itself was beautifully constructed with the plot well-rounded and refined. The characters were terrifically multi-dimensional.

I'm glad to say that I have finally discovered Thomas Hardy :") I want to devour all his work, although I'm a bit daunted by those novels that have a strong rural dialect within their characters' speech (so I've heard of Under the Greenwood Tree). If anybody has a recommendation on which I should read next, let me know.