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3.36 AVERAGE
3.36 AVERAGE
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was like nothing I’ve read before. It’s a pretty simple book about a love story in a village and at first I felt quite bored in a way, like I won’t get anything out of this book. But now that I’ve finished it - I loved the story. I felt like I was a part of these people and their lives and I was really invested in their journey. Dick reminds me of my partner in a way, as I feel I will never be good enough for him.
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
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
This early Hardy novel made me think a little of The Vicar of Dibley - that's how good-natured the whole affair is. It came as a bit of a shock, used as I am to grim Hardy novels featuring rape, murder and general unhappiness. A very pleasant shock.
Hardy relies on whimsical depictions of nature in creating his idyllic pastoral landscape, decorating it with earthy villagers spouting demotic wisdom in West Country dialect. The love affair at the novel's heart evolves through the four seasons, giving a flavour of the employment and recreation of small 19th-century communities.
As always, Hardy is guilty of gross verbiage and confusing syntax, but the scenes are warmly and tenderly rendered. You could definitely accuse Under the Greenwood Tree of romanticising country life - the more strikingly because it's such a contrast to miserable depictions of the rural working class in Tess and Jude. Personally, I'm not immune to a little sentiment.
Hardy relies on whimsical depictions of nature in creating his idyllic pastoral landscape, decorating it with earthy villagers spouting demotic wisdom in West Country dialect. The love affair at the novel's heart evolves through the four seasons, giving a flavour of the employment and recreation of small 19th-century communities.
As always, Hardy is guilty of gross verbiage and confusing syntax, but the scenes are warmly and tenderly rendered. You could definitely accuse Under the Greenwood Tree of romanticising country life - the more strikingly because it's such a contrast to miserable depictions of the rural working class in Tess and Jude. Personally, I'm not immune to a little sentiment.
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
lighthearted
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:
No
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
This was a charming read. Set in a small English village, I just loved the descriptions of the characters & the settings. The language use by Hardy to make the characters come alive was marvellous.
Quite a cute, slice-of-life type of book. Under the Greenwood Tree deals with rural church's choir (or "quire" as they say) being replaced by a posh new harmonium, the love story of a middle class woman and a poor man, and the small-town politics surrounding these things. It's much happier than the other Thomas Hardy books I've read (no one dies!), but there's not enough meat to merit a second read from me.