Your Daily Penguin: Tess!

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[sadragolshan]

One of my very favorite books of all time.

[BabyTables]

Wow -- very interesting! I love Hardy (have read 6 of his novels), and one of the things I like best is that I always got the impression from his writing that he really understands people and how their minds work. I don't have any examples off hand, but I remember there being passages in Tess and other novels where he is describing a specific emotion or mental process or reaction that rang so true to me and put into words something that I had experienced before but could never articulate. Maybe I should be concerned that I have the brain of a freakish Hardy character :)

Also, I love the way he weaves pre-Christian places and rituals into his books -- I think it's cool and it makes me think about things like the shortness of human lives compared to the long arc of history, and free will versus being buffeted about by circumstance and society. Oh one more thing, I like how his books are set right when industrialized farming machines are making their way to the English countryside and the subtle commentary on how things are changing more rapidly than they've changed for hundreds of years before. But if you're not a fan, get rid of it! Project Gutenberg would certainly suffice!

[ramblingraconteur]

I’ll add to the chorus of Hardy fans qualifying their preferences. Sometimes I’m not sure if he’s going for a Greek tragedy set in Victorian England or if there is satire involved. The plots have a very haphazard feel, and I wonder how much publishing them in serial form factored into that. I find Tess interesting if we take out the marriage hinted at on the last page. Jude the Obscure is my least favorite, though I haven’t read The Mayor of Castrerbridge. Jude just feels unremittingly bleak!

Hopefully the next volume hits a different note!

[CourtneyFerriter]

Tess of the d'Urbervilles used to be my favorite book of all time, and I would reread it every year. I didn't like Jude the Obscure as well, but I just read The Mayor of Casterbridge over the summer after not reading Hardy in years and absolutely loved it.

I think one of Hardy's major points of appeal is how he grapples with religious questions, especially predestination/predetermined fate vs. free will. If his characters are "freaks" as you say, then they've been made that way by their environment and are helpless to change it. Tess is, per the novel's subtitle, "a pure woman" because Hardy demonstrates that Tess was corrupted through no fault of her own. I can see how the lack of agency would be frustrating to some readers, but I think the question of how much free will we actually have vs. how much our lives are predetermined based on circumstances beyond our control is an interesting one.

[GuiltyFeat]

I went through all Hardy's novels in my 20s and kinda loved them. I remember finding Tess a little unsympathetic when I was younger, but my opinion of her fate (her tragedy?) has evolved over the past 30 years.

Far From the Madding Crowd hit me fairly early on in my reading life and I went with it. The Mayor of Casterbridge was also serviceable. Jude the Obscure hit me hard and I can still break down sobbing when I think of his children, "Done because we are too menny". I know I'm an easy mark, but I read it before I was a parent and now I've been a parent for 25 years and it still haunts me.

Outside of those big four I probably had the best time with The Woodlanders and The Return of the Native. I'm not sure I'll ever revisit Hardy, but I don't regret a single moment that I spent with him.

[hannahwebster]

Thomas Hardy is my favourite author. I wrote my dissertation on him. I can see he might not be for everyone though.

[HannahsBooks]

I did not read Hardy until just a few years ago--and have absolutely loved everything I've read so far. The only major one I have yet to read is Jude, and that is on my October calendar. Under the Greenwood Tree and Far From the Madding Crowd are my least favorites. Tess and Return of the Native are my favorites. (Perhaps Hardy was really writing for us morose introverts rather than you puppy personalities?)

[keithparr]

'He lays it on with a trowel.' Which is probably appropriate for a stonemason turned novelist. 😆

[scallydandlingaboutthebook]

Yes I love Hardy but I can't imagine trying to persuade you that you should too. He stimulates a personal emotional response in me that is as much about his Wessex as specifics of plot and character.

[statuscold]

Far From the Madding Crown is a perfect example of why his books endure, and will be read 100 years from now. Other than Gabriel Oak, the characters in the book don’t act like “normal” people, just like most of us. I like Hardy’s unpredictability, although I could have done nicely without the shocker that awaits the reader of Jude the Obscure. For me, your description of Dickens, “boy oh boy, can he tell a story” fits Hardy perfectly. Thomlin’s biography of Hardy is first rate.

[duffypratt]

In my early 20s, I loved Hardy and read everything except The Dynasts. Favorites are Far From the Madding Crowd and A Pair of Blue Eyes. I have reread a few and still like them a lot, though not with the same fervor. Fortunately like most of us, I’ve only read several thousand books, so I don’t feel the need to discard great books I’ve read, whether I’ll come back to them or not. It’s nice to know they are there, even those I dislike. I can appreciate that your situation is different.

[barbaraboethling]

I've always enjoyed Hardy, and I've read everything I could get my hands on. It's been awhile, though, so I might re-read one and see if I still love it as much as I used to!

[mame-musing]

Within Claire Tomalin’s biography of Thomas Hardy there were anecdotes regarding various Hardy relatives and antecedents that may have inspired quite a few of his characters. I don’t recall that Tomalin made that claim, however as a reader I recognized certain similarities between the reported truths and Hardy’s fiction. I’ve read all the novels and will agree that they are not all equally rewarding reading experiences. When I was a teenager, I read “Tess” and it has remained one of my favorites. There are some strange characters sprinkled throughout the various narratives. The same can probably be said about many novels.

[wordscaninspire]

My 2nd favourite all times favourite author Thomas Hardy. But I still luv ya Steve and always enjoy your thoughts and comments. Personally I am blown away by his writing and the atmosphere he conjures up. Set in England I do really relate to his areas where his stories are set. I personally feel Hardy absolutely touches the essence of the reality of his protagonist's life situations and doomed fate. Just a rushed reply but I could talk for ages on Hardy... But you've really made me laugh when you almost threw the book behind you ha ha... I fully appreciate Thomas Hardy is not meant to be got by all. Every sentence / paragraph I often study and re read and Hardy is not for me a quick read. I live with each novel for many weeks and never want them to end. No spoilers here re my reactions to the endings.

[Wilsonn_esquire]

I couldn’t agree more! There’s specific prose thoroughly worth pinching in Hardy, but I’ve hated every one of his novels I’ve read - it’s like watching paint sob while it dries. I like his poetry, tho, inversely, less for its specifics than for its overall effect.

[robertdavis]

I feel out of the loop: I’ve only had the vaguest knowledge about Hardy, and clearly I’m either missing out or saved myself the trouble. Based on the comments it seems I ought to try, but knowing my usual alignment with Steve, I might end up less than enthused. Better to try and know for certain, though!

[desmondcarter]

I'm a fan of Hardy, but I'm also a really sentimental person.

[seangraham]

In my experience Thomas Hardy is REALLY hit or miss. ‘The Mayor of Casterbridge’ is the highlight of his work in my opinion. I agree that a lot of them are sort of nonsensical and unrealistic

[wordscaninspire]

I can't accept that Hardy is nonsensical... I think he understands the reality of one's life situation / circumstances and the decisions and circumstances that impact one's life and thereafter how it turns out. Ooooh I'm waffling now because I'm rushed.... By he's my 2nd most precious all time masterful fav author 📖

[jordanparsons]

I'm a huge fan of Hardy. I agree that many of his characters are "freaks, " but certainly that is also true for Dostoevsky. Does Dostoevsky bother you in the same way?