Reviews

This book is tragic. When you grow up without loving parents, with a history of broken marriage, surrounded by people talking about how terrible marriage is and how destined you are to a bad one, it is difficult to build a solid marriage. This is not the fault of the institution of marriage, though. It is the fault here of poverty, limitations on women, and a church with a pharisaical attitude about women and marriage. We also see clearly here how easy it was and is for people with a variety of ill intentions to take advantage of decent people. This was Hardy's last novel, as he was so frustrated by the reaction to the book; I can understand both sides of that, as I think the view of marriage he presents here is as narrow as the view he was arguing against.

I felt for these characters and was engaged in their stories, even as they made frustratingly stupid decisions. It was a slow read, but in a good way for me. I didn't mind spending time in this world with these people. I don't know that marriage has changed as much since this time as or characters expected, but opportunities for women and for the poor have in many cases expanded. I think today, Jude would have been able to go to college, and Sue would have been able to support herself and stay single, at least for long enough to avoid Philottson. Philottson and Arabella would not, however, find it difficult to make their same bad decisions and live their same miserable lives.

I enjoyed this book, and I'm glad I read it, but it is not a Hardy novel that I will likely reread.

kirkdean547's review

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5.0

I give it five stars because I “read” it by listening to Michael Ian Black’s podcast, Obscure. Had I read it for real I probably would have given it four stars. The podcast adds certain analysis and humor that I don’t think I would have gotten otherwise.

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