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What Thomas Hardy novel should I read? (vaguely-influence-my-future-centric)

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? by ChrisJabe

I've gotta read one before 6th form. Which?

ChrisJabe | 13 May '08, 09:38 | Send note | Report this | Reply

*future

darn

ChrisJabe | 13 May '08, 09:39 | Send note | Report this | Reply

ditto

medulla | 13 May '08, 09:41 | Send note | Report this | Reply

if you want a nice summery read

go with Under The Greenwood Tree

Otherwise, I wouldn't start with Jude the Obscure. Far From The Madding Crowd is a better introduction, and also really really nice for summer. Return of the Native or Tess of the D'Urbervilles would also be good.

If you want *really* depressing, read The Well-beloved

RockNRollMassacre | 13 May '08, 09:44 | Send note | Report this | Reply

what kind of stuff do you normally like?

Actually what music do you like?

Return of the Native has a very very slow build up before a crunching epic orgy of destruction towards the end: definitely the post-rock fan's novel.

Jude the obscure is unremittingly doom-laden, go for it if you like... Scott Walker, Khante or Sunn o))) I suppose.

MrScagdenSir | 13 May '08, 10:29 | Send note | Report this | Reply

I've only read Sons and Lovers

Was ok..bit like wading through treacle at some points.

The dad reminded me a bit of Prole's posts

ehwhat | 13 May '08, 10:42 | Send note | Report this | Reply

FAIL

D H Lawrence

MrScagdenSir | 13 May '08, 10:45 | Send note | Report this | Reply

Sons and Lovers

was by DH Lawrence. It is a brilliant book though.

rostov | 13 May '08, 10:48 | Send note | Report this | Reply

is your username

a reference to war and peace?

RockNRollMassacre | 13 May '08, 10:49 | Send note | Report this | Reply

Yes

Yes it is. Far From the Madding Crowd is the best Hardy by far. It's funny but it's also achingly sad in the depictions of the farm workers and the realisation that they are the last generation to live that way of life, after centuries of a life where the seasons was the only thing that mattered blah blah.

rostov | 13 May '08, 12:18 | Send note | Report this | Reply

yeah!

and when Sgt. Troy does sword practice around Bathsheba it makes my heart feel electric.

I think I might have to read it again this summer. With his strong evocations of the seasons, Hardy makes amazing summer reading.

RockNRollMassacre | 13 May '08, 12:23 | Send note | Report this | Reply

tess of the d'urbervilles

thanks for reminding me to re-read it!

sophiacherryx | 13 May '08, 10:44 | Send note | Report this | Reply

Return Of The Native

is pretty great. Eustacia Vye! She's no good in the best possible way. And there's a guy called Diggory Venn, who is awesome.

usa_nails | 13 May '08, 11:04 | Send note | Report this | Reply

I'm going to beautiful Dorchester later today so.........

I shall asvise you to read The Mayor of Casterbridge.

Dorset reprazent.

Alex-in-Ciderland | 13 May '08, 11:36 | Send note | Report this | Reply

Mayor of Casterbridge

I had to read it at school and see no reason why other people shouldn't suffer too.

Silentcommand | 13 May '08, 11:56 | Send note | Report this | Reply

Whatever you do....

DO NOT READ RETURN OF THE NATIVE

worst. book. ever.

nicotinepancake | 13 May '08, 12:00 | Send note | Report this | Reply

you are wrong

The Return of the Native is Spectacular

RockNRollMassacre | 13 May '08, 12:06 | Send note | Report this | Reply

Urgh

I really hate Thomas Hardy. I tried, I really did - I've read Return of the Native and Far From The Madding Crowd, but it's all so relentlessly Victorian. I don't like Victorian things.

proslo | 13 May '08, 13:10 | Send note | Report this | Reply

actually

he's really really NOT Victorian. You can see much more of the emerging modernist movement in him. He's agnostic, bleak, far more sexually explicit that most of his contemporaries and doesn't really go in for moralising. look at the reaction that Jude the Obscure or Tess of the D'Urbervilles got at the time.

RockNRollMassacre | 13 May '08, 13:13 | Send note | Report this | Reply

similarly

his poetry is a massive breath of fresh air in its simplicity compared to the overwrought ridiculousness of most High Victorian poetry.

RockNRollMassacre | 13 May '08, 13:14 | Send note | Report this | Reply

I get what you're saying

And I can see the modernist traits all emerging and so on. But it's still swamped in a very classical and rigid novel structure which I find very claustrophobic. It annoys me when a novel is very carefully designed around certain techniques (unity of time, five act structure, etc etc), and it's very obviously so designed.

And when I say "relentlessley Victorian" it's the language use. I know that's a rubbish reason for not liking some writing, but I really can't get into much written in English in the 19th century. It's all corsets and golly gosh.

proslo | 13 May '08, 13:20 | Send note | Report this | Reply