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amallard's review
lighthearted
2.0
There are five characteristics of a good Thomas Hardy novel.
- Wessex
- A woman wronged
- Ironic humour
- The element of insanity
- Tragedy
As it turns out, all the loveliness and charm in the world can't subtitute a shortfall of the tragedy.
le_corbeau_romantique's review against another edition
2.0
Five stars for gorgeous writing. Two stars for the main characters...:
klebere's review
3.0
Short and sweet. Lacks the depth of Hardy’s later novels, but still worth a read.
roseleaf24's review
3.0
Not my favorite Hardy novel, but a quick, fun read. The social commentary is not as deep or developed, but in some ways less rooted in the customs of the time. He definitely nailed church politics.
theliteraryapothecary's review against another edition
3.5
Audiobook narrated by Simon Vance
19th Century Classic. A Victorian Romance!
I reat this through audible (audio) only and whle it was great background book to listen to whilst doing other things, due to so many characters coming and going, it was hard to keep track of. In fact, after I finished I went to look up the plot only to find out the main point of the story was a romance (according to Goodreads) - not necessarily a bad thing, mind you - it just felt like there was a lot more happening.
CAWPILE breakdown:
Characters: 7 - As I mentioned, it felt like there were so many characters that it was hard to keep track. But the ones that I did notice regularly, I enjoyed.
Atmosphere/Setting: 8.5 - From what I know of Victorian England, the atmosphere and setting were very much on point.
Writing Style: 6 - It's not that Hardy's writing style is bad, it just doesn't exite me. It is easy for me to tune out.
Plot: 6.5 - This category is hard for me to rate fairly. The true plot itself is simple, some would say effective: a romance between two characters. Easy enough. Was it me or the writing style or the audiobook narration by Vance (or a combination) that led me to believe there was more? Is that bad Should I take that into account here?
Intrigue: 3 - There wasn't really a whole lot of intrigue for me here. Perhaps it was me, perhaps the writing - I just didn't feel it.
Logic/Relationships: 7 - In the end, when I read a short summary, it all made sense. The relationships could have been a bit better, more distinct in some cases.
Enjoyment: 5 - As a background audiobook it did fine. This is my second (or third?) Thomas Hardy novel and it felt as The Return of the Native did: good, not great, audiobook narration stole the show.
CAWPILE total: 37/7 = 5.2 = 3.5 stars
thewickedwitchofthemidwest's review
2.0
2.5 stars actually. This book was the first book I have read by Thomas Hardy and I was not impressed. Under the Greenwood Tree is one of Hardy's first books, so I will have to read more before I make a judgment about his writing, but I just did not find this one to be that great. Maybe I am missing something. However, I just could not understand the point of this book unless its sole object was just to entertain. Or maybe it is just a picture of village life. Either way, it was not my favorite.
There's a choir who are ousted by their new preacher and one of the churchwardens because they prefer an organ and the hot woman who plays it. Okay, so the choir offers some comedic aspects to the story but they play a rather small role. Also, it seems like they were just thrown in there and have little to do with the actual plot.
Alright, so our main characters are Fancy Day (the hot organist) and Dick Dewey (part of the choir). When Fancy comes to town she makes quite a stir, attracting Mr. Mayble (the preacher/minister), Mr. Shiner (churchwarden), and Dick Dewey (part of the choir/just your regular sort of guy). All these characters are just annoying, especially Fancy. Fancy is beautiful and vain. She is silly and only really cares if other people admire her especially men. All the three male characters have no discernable character traits besides their interest in Miss Day. This does not bother me overly much because the book does not try to go deeper than the surface of these characters. It knows that is all there is to these men(at least from this viewpoint), so I guess this fault is forgivable. Overall, it just felt unsatisfactory like these characters had not grown or changed at all, but again that probably wasn't the point.
Mildly entertaining but I wish I would have begun with a different one of his books.
There's a choir who are ousted by their new preacher and one of the churchwardens because they prefer an organ and the hot woman who plays it. Okay, so the choir offers some comedic aspects to the story but they play a rather small role. Also, it seems like they were just thrown in there and have little to do with the actual plot.
Alright, so our main characters are Fancy Day (the hot organist) and Dick Dewey (part of the choir). When Fancy comes to town she makes quite a stir, attracting Mr. Mayble (the preacher/minister), Mr. Shiner (churchwarden), and Dick Dewey (part of the choir/just your regular sort of guy). All these characters are just annoying, especially Fancy. Fancy is beautiful and vain. She is silly and only really cares if other people admire her especially men. All the three male characters have no discernable character traits besides their interest in Miss Day. This does not bother me overly much because the book does not try to go deeper than the surface of these characters. It knows that is all there is to these men(at least from this viewpoint), so I guess this fault is forgivable. Overall, it just felt unsatisfactory like these characters had not grown or changed at all, but again that probably wasn't the point.
Mildly entertaining but I wish I would have begun with a different one of his books.
hifza_k's review
2.0
Had to read it since it's part of my syllabus. I have lots of problems with it. The root cause being that it's set in a village with "simple" people. Fancy deserved anyone BUT dick. The main couple's relationship is toxic. But then again, I never really could feel happy for people willing to get married. So, I might be biased.
missbryden's review against another edition
5.0
I may not have enjoyed it as much if it weren't for the narration of this particular audio. I was thoroughly drawn in by the variety of voices he did and the humor he injected, and rhythm, not just when characters were speaking. Sweet and funny story. The economical backgrounds and discussion of and feelings on changes in church music are interesting. But it's not just the audio, Hardy, at least in this book (it didn't stand out so much to me in Tess of the D'Urbervilles, although I read that a long time ago, or Far From the Madding Crowd - maybe a little bit in that - those were quite different stories) uses such lively language and different sort of characterful phrases.