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Title: The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy, John Sutherland ISBN: 0-451-52735-6 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: July, 1999 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (57 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: A literary miracle...and a very modern novel...
Comment: I'm re-reading this book that thrilled me years ago and thrills me today. Now, however, I realize just how "modern" it is, even more so than the works of Dickens, whom I also revere, but whose writing had a quaint quality that actually makes him the lesser artist, in my opinion. Hardy's writing is spare but nothing is left out. You feel it, you taste it, you live it. It has the firm, sure quality of a minimalist work of art, and yet the twists and turns of its plot are dizzying. I detect its influence on novelist Toni Morrison, I might add. I'd be willing to bet she's a Hardy scholar. I read many passages, many scenes, that reminded me of her "folksy" conceits. And I was amazed at Hardy's contemporary understanding of addiction, in this case alcoholism. In fact, Henchard is a "dry drunk." He abstains from liquor for 21 years, but his character defects and lack of spiritual awareness catapault him right back into his disease when he begins drinking again. In fact, his life spirals out of control faster and faster with his first return to drink, showing that alcoholism, like all addictions, is a progressive disease. A reviewer here said the book was depressing, and that Hardy is dark. However, the "light" in Hardy comes with his wisdom, not unlike Faulkner's, of human nature. There are so many themes of the enduring truths that one is uplifted just by the reading. Sometimes I mourn for the writers I will never meet, the ones who have passed on. Their teaching is so important to my own spiritual and artistic growth, that I have experienced a great love from them and for them. Hardy is one of those for me. Wherever he dwells now, I send him my appreciation.
Rating: 5
Summary: Loved this book!
Comment: I read this novel in English class, like most people probably did. It was one of the best assigned to us.
Hardy is a gifted author. He writes in a clear style with vivid descriptions that really bring the setting alive, without making the reader (at least this reader) feel inundated with borning, unnecessary detail.
The thing that I look for most in a novel, however, is quality characterizeations, and this book had them in spades. Dialogue was used effectively to flesh out characters. These are not stock characters, either. These people have flaws and shades of grey. They seem as though they could be real. I found that I could relate to the characters, and I did empathize with them, even when I didn't agree with their choices. Everyone had clear motivations. The characterization of Henchard shows that Hardy clearly understood the notion of the tragic flaw and the tragic hero/anti hero.
Students who have to read this book as part of their English class may find it a bit on the long side. I would urge you to stick with it; once you get through the initial chapters the book will pick up (a commonality that all British classics seem to share). The book is easy to follow and understand. It is a key novel that marks the shift from Romantic Age to the Victorian Age, so it's an important read for anyone who has a serious interest in English Literature.
Rating: 1
Summary: All cynicism, no realism, no insight
Comment: Modern novels can be so pretentious, with their needless philosophizing and conscious experimentation with the language. So isn't nice to read a classic novel with straight-forward writing that aims for no insight into society or people? Actually no, it's kind of depressing. The Mayor of Casterbridge relies on coincidence, melodrama, and, as the afterword in my edition puts it, "the constant exploitation of chance happenings to determine situation and hence the fate of his characters." I chose this Hardy novel because it was supposed to be character-centered. The story starts with Michael Henchard selling his wife and child at a fair. I thought this book would examine his redemption, it would be a Lord Jim type tale of profound psychological insight. A strange event like that is a good way to get a book started, but the crazy, unlikely events just keep a-coming. You feel nothing for the characters, ever. You learn nothing in the end, except life is cruel and if something can go wrong, it will. Read something else.
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Title: Jude the Obscure (Penguin Classics) by Thomas Hardy, Dennis Taylor ISBN: 0140435387 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: September, 1998 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
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Title: The Mayor of Casterbridge (Cliffs Notes) by David C. Gild ISBN: 0822008165 Publisher: Cliffs Notes Pub. Date: 18 September, 1959 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: Far from the Madding Crowd by Margaret Drabble, Thomas Hardy ISBN: 037575797X Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 11 December, 2001 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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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 |
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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 |
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