Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Jude the Obscure: An Authoritative Text: Backgrounds and Contexts Criticism by Thomas Hardy, Norman Page ISBN: 0-393-97278-X Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: January, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.65 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.94 (100 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: not yet Tess, but complusory Hardy material
Comment: Jude the Obscure is a sad book of legendary proportions. Not until reading did I realize how utterly depressing/tragic it is. This doesn't mean it's bad; Tess of the d'Urbervilles (also by Hardy) is also depressing yet it is moving, and is an excellent read. Jude the Obscure, at least for me, falls short of the mark.
Jude the Obscure is about a man who wanders (..literally across all southern England) looking for happiness in marriage and life. He's a deep-thinker who is incredibly naive and, due to bad luck and the social neurosis of the Victorian era, finds himself moving further away from his objectives with each passing...page! Just when you think Jude's life is about to turn for the better it turns horribly tragic. While similarities to Tess of the d'Urbervilles abound, Tess's tragic turn was expected and plausible. Jude's misfortune comes from nowhere, and so it seems like Hardy is playing a cruel trick on the reader.
So I disagree with the strongly opinionated reviewers before me. Jude the Obscure is neither great nor terrible. I find it to be rather formulaic Hardy, which for many readers will be reason enough to read over and over again.
Rating: 5
Summary: The human experience at its lowest point... maybe
Comment: I read this rather difficult novel in one weekend. The story of Jude Fawley's rather turmultuos life is engrossing and memorable. It seems that some people in life always make wrong decisions, and things never really go their way. Jude is one of those people. I couldn't help but feel sorry for the idealistic young man who only hoped for one thing, to study at Christminster and live a life in the church or university as a scholar.
If I only had half the enthusiasm and drive that Jude started out life with, I would be successful beyond my wildest dreams. Yet Jude was never able to benefit from his hard work and study. He was constantly held back by family obligations, work, society and poverty.
As depressing as Jude the Obscure is, I loved it from beginning to end. I felt that there are some valuable lessons to be learned from the book. Unconditional love, the ability to look beyond financial boundaries, and the value of hard work in order to achieve goals are some of the things that today's readers can walk away with.
Rating: 1
Summary: This book ruined my life
Comment: I read this book in high school because my demented English teacher wanted all of us at 16 to share her pain from a lifetime of mistakes. The book horrified me then, and it horrifies me now. As I approach 30 I deal with many of the issues that Jude had. Women, you can't life with them, you can't fit them in a blender. I don't want the resposibility of a family, but don't want to die alone. I think that a lot of my fear of marriage and commitment have to do with this book. Women can and will ruin your life, and getting married is the first day of the end of your life. It is crazy how my life has progressed so far to mirror this book, and I can only imagine that I will marry my current girlfriend that I know is wrong for me, and have a terribly unhappy life where my kids will kill themselves in a closet. Oh, did I put spoilers in? It's an old freaking book Jack so shut your pie hole. Did I manifest this book to become my life story? I don't know, but if I hadn't read it I truly belive that I might have had a chance of being happy in this life.
 |
Title: The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy, J.I.M. Stewart ISBN: 0375760067 Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 14 May, 2002 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
 |
Title: The Woodlanders (Oxford World's Classics) by Thomas Hardy, Dale Kramer ISBN: 0192835041 Publisher: Oxford Press Pub. Date: June, 2001 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
 |
Title: A Visionary Nation: Four Centuries of American Dreams and What Lies Ahead by Zachary Karabell ISBN: 0060084421 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 15 June, 2002 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
 |
Title: Tess of the D'Urbervilles (Penguin Classics) by Thomas Hardy, Tim Dolin, Margaret R. Higonnet ISBN: 0141439599 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 27 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $8.00 |
 |
Title: Middlemarch by George Eliot, Rosemary Ashton ISBN: 0141439548 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 25 March, 2003 List Price(USD): $10.00 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
