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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
Jude Fawley, born poor and orphaned at a young age, dreams of attending the university. The views of people in Jude's time are changing, but not enough to allow a low-born person like him to rub shoulders with scholars. Jude, still dreaming of his future education, is entrapped into a marriage with Arabella and has to sacrifice his dreams. He later breaks free from this union and picks up his dream of university learning again with an obsessive fervor.
Thomas Hardy really sucks you into this story with his writing. It's incredible to me that you can read this and from the very beginning feel the sense of doom coming on and - continue to read! I spent the entire time reading Jude the Obscure sighing - both in admiration of the writing and in a depressive state for Jude. Like most of Hardy's works, Jude the Obscure is tragic and it gets horrendously bleak with about 100 pages to go. How does one get sucked into a such a story? Why, with two foolish protagonists, of course! I couldn't decide what I wanted to do more: smack Sue or shake Jude. Sue leads Jude on, ignores him, leads him on, acts aghast when he reciprocates, leads him on, and on and on. She leaves her husband for him, yet refuses (time and again) to marry him because it would completely ruin their "pure" love. Jude somehow seems to be bulldozed into things and yet wouldn't be if he'd just pay a little bit of attention or say something (anything!). Jude and Sue can't seem to live within the accepted religious beliefs and laws of their time, but they also struggle with living outside of them.
I just feel this overwhelming sense of sadness after reading this book - and an absolute fear of octogenerian-looking children. (Father Time?! Could it be any creepier?!)
Thomas Hardy really sucks you into this story with his writing. It's incredible to me that you can read this and from the very beginning feel the sense of doom coming on and - continue to read! I spent the entire time reading Jude the Obscure sighing - both in admiration of the writing and in a depressive state for Jude. Like most of Hardy's works, Jude the Obscure is tragic and it gets horrendously bleak with about 100 pages to go. How does one get sucked into a such a story? Why, with two foolish protagonists, of course! I couldn't decide what I wanted to do more: smack Sue or shake Jude. Sue leads Jude on, ignores him, leads him on, acts aghast when he reciprocates, leads him on, and on and on. She leaves her husband for him, yet refuses (time and again) to marry him because it would completely ruin their "pure" love. Jude somehow seems to be bulldozed into things and yet wouldn't be if he'd just pay a little bit of attention or say something (anything!). Jude and Sue can't seem to live within the accepted religious beliefs and laws of their time, but they also struggle with living outside of them.
I just feel this overwhelming sense of sadness after reading this book - and an absolute fear of octogenerian-looking children. (Father Time?! Could it be any creepier?!)
dark
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
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-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
A sad portrayal of life for the working class in Victorian Britain
dark
reflective
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
challenging
dark
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Focusing on three main characters: Jude, Sue and Arabella. Jude initially marries Arabella but they soon split and Jude falls in love with Sue (his cousin). The continuous failings of Jude prospects to become something in life is underwhelming.
I can understand why this book was so controversial with religion and marriage being at the heart of the novel. Basicallly Jude isn’t a good person and neither is anyone else in the novel. It started hopefully but the last third was horrendous!! Especiallywhen all the children committed suicide!! just wasn’t a fan
I can understand why this book was so controversial with religion and marriage being at the heart of the novel. Basicallly Jude isn’t a good person and neither is anyone else in the novel. It started hopefully but the last third was horrendous!! Especially
The real protagonist of this novel is Sue: she explores the boundaries of individual freedom in Victorian society and is very unconventional in her behaviour). But her freedom expresses itself in a negative way, even destructive; she cannot give herself, not even to Jude, unless to keep him away of another woman. Her behaviour is inconsistent and that's just what makes it credible, though not sympathetic. Jude is the darling of the story, but also a kind of cue ball; he assimilates the ideas of Sue and for him that's fatal.
This is a truly naturalistic story: the hopeless life of Jude, especially embittered by his ambition to climb on the social ladder. Other themes: the attraction of the soul versus the flesh; the debate on love and convention, on open relationship and the bond of marriage; the city as a symbol of hypocrisy and rigidity, materialised in the stones and buildings; the fatal crossing of class limits and the consuming pressure of social conventions. But remarkably there's no determinism in the events Hardy describes. A nice background element is the explicit elaboration on train travel.
This is a truly naturalistic story: the hopeless life of Jude, especially embittered by his ambition to climb on the social ladder. Other themes: the attraction of the soul versus the flesh; the debate on love and convention, on open relationship and the bond of marriage; the city as a symbol of hypocrisy and rigidity, materialised in the stones and buildings; the fatal crossing of class limits and the consuming pressure of social conventions. But remarkably there's no determinism in the events Hardy describes. A nice background element is the explicit elaboration on train travel.
challenging
reflective
sad
medium-paced