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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Possibly the most depressing book ever written and I have been reading it off and on for six months.
I am now done and to tell the truth I’d gotten attached to the most pathetic lot in British literature.
Maybe not Arabella, she sucked.
I am now done and to tell the truth I’d gotten attached to the most pathetic lot in British literature.
Maybe not Arabella, she sucked.
This book! I knew it was supposed to be the most depressing, but I was a little sceptical as I kept reading and the characters didn't seem to have it as bad as Tess. And then The Thing happened. I love Hardy.
Thomas Hardy writes books that are real, have fascinating and capturing characters, and to be depressing in a way that many other authors don’t even come close to capturing. Similar to Tess of the d’Urbervilles there are some incredibly dark moments in this story which may be unsettling for some. Personally, I share Jude’s mentality much more than other of Hardy’s characters and as such found his interactions and choices worth studying. Additionally, as a depressive cynic, the overall mood here was not off putting and I enjoyed another of Hardy’s immersive experiences into the striving commoner’s psychology of the day.
This was a tragic story that reminded me of Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. I felt deeply sympathetic for the protagonists and their ruminations and confusion. The book searched me of many thoughts on how moralities attempt to govern romance and caused me to reflect on the difficulty of keeping a clear eye and acting authentically when the nature of one's feelings would bring society's censure or destroy the loved one's peace. As somewhat of an obscure intellectual myself, I have felt similar conflicts when, a nominal student of wisdom, in actual dealings, act or am tempted to act with impulse or hidden intention, or against my circumstances, or in misguided self-immolation.
dark
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
Struggled with rating this one. 3 1/2 maybe. Some days it was a five star read and others a two, with me wanting to throw it at a wall. But I can't understand those here who say it was boring, or none of the characters realistic.
The characters were so true to the personalities, it was painful to watch. I couldn't stand Sue---she made me crazy, and men who allow women to treat them that way make me crazier. The worst is that Jude would often describe exactly what drives Sue, show that he knew exactly what she was doing, and yet, still do whatever she bid.
It sounds like most people knew what to expect at the end. I was completely unprepared. I began knowing it would be bleak. It is Hardy after all. I expected loss. But the bedroom scene is a shock. I don't know. At that point, I was annoyed with every character and Hardy as well.
Still, there were so many lines, paragraphs and ideas that made me flip to the front to confirm it was published in the late 1800s. Amazing. I can only imagine the urgency and boldness one felt reading it when it first appeared.
It may take me days to fully recover, but it was a thoroughly enjoyable read and I found I did care about the characters, despite how annoyed with them I became (especially Jude with his whole family in the rain, homeless, while he indulges his dreams), and I know it will remain in my mind forever.
The characters were so true to the personalities, it was painful to watch. I couldn't stand Sue---she made me crazy, and men who allow women to treat them that way make me crazier. The worst is that Jude would often describe exactly what drives Sue, show that he knew exactly what she was doing, and yet, still do whatever she bid.
It sounds like most people knew what to expect at the end. I was completely unprepared. I began knowing it would be bleak. It is Hardy after all. I expected loss. But the bedroom scene is a shock. I don't know. At that point, I was annoyed with every character and Hardy as well.
Still, there were so many lines, paragraphs and ideas that made me flip to the front to confirm it was published in the late 1800s. Amazing. I can only imagine the urgency and boldness one felt reading it when it first appeared.
It may take me days to fully recover, but it was a thoroughly enjoyable read and I found I did care about the characters, despite how annoyed with them I became (especially Jude with his whole family in the rain, homeless, while he indulges his dreams), and I know it will remain in my mind forever.
On the whole, I found this a better read than either the Mayor of Casterbridge or Wuthering Heights, although Jude the Obscure reminded me of both novels in several aspects. Jude Fawley's passionate attachment to Sue Brideshead brought to mind Heathcliff and Catherine's relationship at several points. Meanwhile, Jude's battle against his social circumstances to become first a scholar and later to join the church, against his family history which apparently rules out marriage for Jude, recalls Michael Henchard's struggle to master himself and to atone for sending his wife and child away in a drunken fit. I think what set Jude the Obscure above the Mayor of Casterbridge and Wuthering Heights for me, were the controversial issues it tackled - the relationship between Sue and Jude, Phillotson's acceptance of Sue's relationship with Jude and his readiness to relinquish his claim on her, and on a more minor point, Sue's early rejection of conventional religion.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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