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A review by theshiftyshadow
Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
5.0
I absolutely loved this.
Batsheba Everdene is the most modern of heroine's I've come across in classic literature. Spirited, independent, smart, business like and really quite likable on top of all of that.
Bad timing, silly mistakes and youthful folly lead her into quite a few scrapes, mostly involving men. Three suitors pursue Bathsheba and she does her best to navigate these relationships and do what's best for herself and her farm. Gabriel Oak, her ever loyal shepherd, Farmer Boldwood, the older neighbour who is drawn out of his solitude when he meets Batsheba and Captain Troy, a charming but reckless soldier who sweet talks his way into Bathsheba's life and heart.
What I really liked about this is that Batsheba is never made to seem like the silly woman at the centre of a love triangle (square?), she's never painted as heartless or mean, or as deliberately toying with any of the men. There are a few instances where she wobbles and has a "womanly moment" but I found these moments made her even more endearing, they show her as the young girl she really is underneath the strong confident woman she has to be for everyone else. The men are there and they play a part but she is the centre and she is the one who makes the decisions, on the farm and in her life, and as I said she comes across as a very modern woman and is extremely likable for it.
Batsheba Everdene is the most modern of heroine's I've come across in classic literature. Spirited, independent, smart, business like and really quite likable on top of all of that.
Bad timing, silly mistakes and youthful folly lead her into quite a few scrapes, mostly involving men. Three suitors pursue Bathsheba and she does her best to navigate these relationships and do what's best for herself and her farm. Gabriel Oak, her ever loyal shepherd, Farmer Boldwood, the older neighbour who is drawn out of his solitude when he meets Batsheba and Captain Troy, a charming but reckless soldier who sweet talks his way into Bathsheba's life and heart.
What I really liked about this is that Batsheba is never made to seem like the silly woman at the centre of a love triangle (square?), she's never painted as heartless or mean, or as deliberately toying with any of the men. There are a few instances where she wobbles and has a "womanly moment" but I found these moments made her even more endearing, they show her as the young girl she really is underneath the strong confident woman she has to be for everyone else. The men are there and they play a part but she is the centre and she is the one who makes the decisions, on the farm and in her life, and as I said she comes across as a very modern woman and is extremely likable for it.