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luvdass's review
4.0
This is the first Hardy novella I read. Hardy is a poet at heart and loves building on dramatic scenarios. One could see through the flawed yet lovely characters; dialogues are almost lyrical and a reflection of his inbound English mannerism.
romankurys's review against another edition
2.0
A rather short piece of writing, I believe this was Thomas Hardy’s first try at telling a story.
All things considered I felt it was a solid 2 Stars. Not that I did not like the story, per say, I just feel there isn’t enough of one in here.
Characters: 2
Small range and almost no development. Things just sort of happen and while they do evoke some feeling out of me, I just wanted to finish the story and have it be over with regardless of what happened to the hero and heroine.
Plot: 3
There was actually a good premise of a plot here. My gripe is needing a lot more pages to really flesh it out, make me care make me want to know more. Really felt like a short story more then anything. Overall a very solid plot, but once again, not enough.
Setting: 2
Nothing special or unusual here. Very bland surroundings with names of towns thrown in but no real setting immersion. Somewhere close to London but far enough to feel suburban is all I got from it.
This being Hardy’s first work, I get it. My advice is to not begin with this if you’re not familiar with Hardy, like I was not. It does not produce a good first impression. Just a semi boring chore of a read. I hope he gets better, there has to be a reason he remains a published classic even today.
Roman “Ragnar”
All things considered I felt it was a solid 2 Stars. Not that I did not like the story, per say, I just feel there isn’t enough of one in here.
Characters: 2
Small range and almost no development. Things just sort of happen and while they do evoke some feeling out of me, I just wanted to finish the story and have it be over with regardless of what happened to the hero and heroine.
Plot: 3
There was actually a good premise of a plot here. My gripe is needing a lot more pages to really flesh it out, make me care make me want to know more. Really felt like a short story more then anything. Overall a very solid plot, but once again, not enough.
Setting: 2
Nothing special or unusual here. Very bland surroundings with names of towns thrown in but no real setting immersion. Somewhere close to London but far enough to feel suburban is all I got from it.
This being Hardy’s first work, I get it. My advice is to not begin with this if you’re not familiar with Hardy, like I was not. It does not produce a good first impression. Just a semi boring chore of a read. I hope he gets better, there has to be a reason he remains a published classic even today.
Roman “Ragnar”
61dccain's review against another edition
5.0
A charming start for Hardy in his quest to tell sad stories of impossible love
realbooks4ever's review
2.0
A short novel with excruciating agony and a tragic ending. Wait, isn't that what ALL of Hardy's books are about? Hardy's "Lost Novel" is clearly an unpolished work. I would recommend this only to students of his writings.
~Stephanie
~Stephanie
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