Reviews - Jude the Obscure

992 reviews for:

Jude the Obscure

Thomas Hardy

3.7 AVERAGE

viimetinka's review against another edition

3.5

emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

anomandrewrake's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This is maybe the saddest book I've ever read.
I have great respect for Thomas Hardy. The other book of his I've read is Tess of the D'Urbervilles, and like that one, this book is effectively a challenge to the social mores of his day. (So much so that, after the two books, the outcry drove him to write poetry instead of novels for the rest of his career.)
Jude the Obscure is sad from top to bottom. It's about

aspirations that are never realized

and naivete that is steadily crushed. It's also about societal pressure and ostracism. It's also about the harm that parents can do children without even realizing it.
As much as title character and his struggles compel me, Sue Bridehead compels me more. It would be somewhat bold in 2024 to write a story about a woman pressured into marriage despite a (euphemized, in this novel) considerable aversion to physical intimacy. It's at least 10 times as bold for a book from the 19th century.
This book isn't for everyone even today. It's cynical toward the Victorian idea of marriage in a way that even some modern readers would find uncomfortable. It asks whether self-sacrifice is always a good, and it questions whether real marriage and legal marriage are the same thing. I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about this book, especially with how depressing it was. But I know I'll be thinking about it for a long time.

nonvitalcomponent's review against another edition

3.5

dark reflective sad fast-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

im0gen's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

kellyrenea's review against another edition

3.0

Hard Read

Hardy is definitely a classic author. I love his ability to create such 3 dimensional characters that feel real and that you can care about and understand their desire to better themselves.

But I have a hard time with all the horrid characters who come in and commit atrocities on the main character which ultimately leads to his downfall.

I had a lot of the same feelings with Tess of D’Ubervilles but at least in that novel I feel the heroine was able to fight back somewhat against her horrible situations, although it did ultimately lead to her end. Jude was awarded no such opportunity.

happylilkt's review against another edition

I am still mulling this one over, so I am not going to give it a rating yet. I can see why this was so controversial when it was published and while I didn't *enjoy* this one as much as some others by Hardy, it has a lot of meat.