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3.68 AVERAGE
3.68 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Quite a chewy read, there were plenty of highlights but the main flow of the book was quite monotonous.
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
dark
emotional
sad
slow-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
I read the Amazon Whispersync version of this book which allowed me to go between listening to a professional narration of the book and reading it, which is good because the book is LONG. The book did keep my attention and will probably stay with me for a long time, I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because of the length and how slow it moved at times.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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:
Complicated
This book has had a reputation in my life for being the most depressing book in classic literature. What is interesting is that I was listening to an audiobook of another book while I was reading this one; the other book was also incredibly depressing and ladled copious amount of nihilism upon its characters. Comparing this book and that book to each other, they are both equally heavy with intense subject matter, themes, and deplorable characters. Both, also, have bleak endings that leave you stunned.
So why did the other book get a 2.5 and this one got a 5? Hardy's writing is far superior to modern, "award winning" writing because of the major difference between these two novels: one is a beautiful, haunting rendering of a woman fighting for hope and love, and the other is a grey playground for the author to torture his characters with a magnifying glass. Tess is a story with nuance, beauty, and delicate storytelling choices that renders a silent, thoughtful tragedy of a woman wronged in a world that would have otherwise likely forgotten her. Hardy's writing shows us the social issues of the time, whereas the other book hammers it into your head over and over again, using pretty prose to cover up the weak storytelling choices being used.
Tess is a really special book and character to me, and I am deeply affected by the evil that Tess had to fight through and the hope she fought (and sometimes failed) to hold onto. I recommend this book over any contemporary tragedies any day.
So why did the other book get a 2.5 and this one got a 5? Hardy's writing is far superior to modern, "award winning" writing because of the major difference between these two novels: one is a beautiful, haunting rendering of a woman fighting for hope and love, and the other is a grey playground for the author to torture his characters with a magnifying glass. Tess is a story with nuance, beauty, and delicate storytelling choices that renders a silent, thoughtful tragedy of a woman wronged in a world that would have otherwise likely forgotten her. Hardy's writing shows us the social issues of the time, whereas the other book hammers it into your head over and over again, using pretty prose to cover up the weak storytelling choices being used.
Tess is a really special book and character to me, and I am deeply affected by the evil that Tess had to fight through and the hope she fought (and sometimes failed) to hold onto. I recommend this book over any contemporary tragedies any day.
I did not care for this book as much as I would have liked to. I appreciate Hardy's purpose in humanizing and bringing light to the outrageously constricting society of which it is reflective, but as the book approached its end, I did not feel myself rooting for Tess as I would have liked to. While I certainly feel sympathy for her in that Hardy does well in painting her as a character doomed from the very
moment of her conception, I simply couldn't read through the last three sections of the book without cringing and wanting her to evoke the strength I know she has and trample the memory of Angel Clare into the dust. He deserves as much of her wrath as Alec does.
It's a complicated book. In an intellectual sense, I liked it, but in the most important sense, the soul sense, I did not.
I guess I have to read another of Hardy's to understand what it is that makes him a great.
moment of her conception, I simply couldn't read through the last three sections of the book without cringing and wanting her to evoke the strength I know she has and trample the memory of Angel Clare into the dust. He deserves as much of her wrath as Alec does.
It's a complicated book. In an intellectual sense, I liked it, but in the most important sense, the soul sense, I did not.
I guess I have to read another of Hardy's to understand what it is that makes him a great.