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jenmcmaynes 's review for:

Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
2.0

On the plus side, Hardy excels at descriptions of the countryside. The thunderstorm scene and Troy’s sword ‘attack’ on Bathsheba were particularly memorable.

On the negative side... where to start? Wooden, unbelievable characters, boring scenes of country life, constant commentary regarding how stupid and weak women are, sudden changes of heart that are so unbelievable that I rolled my eyes, lack of clear motivation for anything, comic ‘simple’ peasants that aren’t actually funny...ugh. I could go on and on. I really was not impressed. I feel like this is considered a ‘classic’ based on the strength of Tess and not its own merits, which are few.