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A review by upsidedown10
Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
emotional
reflective
medium-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
3.25
This was a tale of two halves for me. The first half, I found very slow paced, but in a relaxing and pastoral way. I was vibing along with the descriptions of farm life and the villagers' stories even though not a lot was actually happening. Then the second half, things start to spin tighter and tighter until we come to the dramatic and quite explosive ending.
I liked both Shepherd Gabriel and Farmer Boldwood as characters and I found the twists and turns with them very interesting. I found Troy to be a little tedious as a character and I wasn't very engaged when he was on screen. Then we have Bathsheba, who I partially liked, but it was hard to love her when it felt like Thomas Hardy didn't like her. She was very wishy washy as a character and I found that I could feel the author moving the story more than I would have liked.
I also found the writing to be a little difficult to read compared with other classic books of the time. Hardy gets a bit tedious with his descriptions of farm life and I can see how this could be perfect for people looking for some cottage-core vibes, but it didn't make it very engaging for me. I was immensely grateful for the audiobook for this one.
I liked both Shepherd Gabriel and Farmer Boldwood as characters and I found the twists and turns with them very interesting. I found Troy to be a little tedious as a character and I wasn't very engaged when he was on screen. Then we have Bathsheba, who I partially liked, but it was hard to love her when it felt like Thomas Hardy didn't like her. She was very wishy washy as a character and I found that I could feel the author moving the story more than I would have liked.
I also found the writing to be a little difficult to read compared with other classic books of the time. Hardy gets a bit tedious with his descriptions of farm life and I can see how this could be perfect for people looking for some cottage-core vibes, but it didn't make it very engaging for me. I was immensely grateful for the audiobook for this one.