Book 153: The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy.

“Of love it may be said, the less earthly the less demonstrative. In its absolutely indestructible form it reaches a profundity in which all exhibition of itself is painful.” 

The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy is the first classic I've read and completely finished in recent months. It was the perfect choice as my first classic "back in the game" of regular blogging and reminded me why I love classics so much in the first place. Because while YA and genre fiction is fun and entertaining, it doesn't give me as much satisfaction and love as a classic does. Not to mention, Hardy is a superb writer and never disappoints me.

I've come to expect a number of things from Hardy when I read one of his novels-well-developed and rounded characters, a beautiful backdrop, and tragedy. The Return of the Native lives up to those things (although, I still think Jude the Obscure wins for being the most tragic of all the Hardy novels I've read).

The novel takes place in Egdon Heath-a beautiful piece of country that provides the dramatic backdrop to the actions of the characters. The main conflict of the novel centers on a very elaborate love triangle...err...square. Or something of that sort. The lonely Diggory Venn is a reddlemen in the area and is desperately in love with Thomasin Yeobright. She, while acknowledging the fact that Venn loves her, has already pledged herself to Wildeve (a man who has already messed up their wedding day once as the novel opens). However, Wildeve is also a bit confused about his feelings, as he also loves a woman named Eustacia Vye. It all comes to a head when Thomasin's cousin, Clym Yeobright "returns" from Paris and catches the attention of Eustacia (he is the native the title refers to). The rest of the novel is one of deception, false hopes, and the loss of hope as the characters struggle to understand their identities and who they actually love.

What I loved most about this novel is the way Hardy constructed the two quietest characters. The first, Thomasin Yeobright, is a woman who is very quiet. She is insistent on marrying Wildeve, even after he made her look quite scandalous, because it is the right thing to do. After that decision, she is a character that things happen to. She lives her life, relatively content in the decision she made, and things happen around her to change her life. The second quiet character, Venn, is one that I quite loved. He's very central in the beginning and end of the novel, but disappears for a bit in the middle. When the reader first meets him, he is pining for dear Thomasin and even proposes marriage to her. Once he learns that she won't have him, he insists on making sure that her life is as happy as possible. There are a couple of instances where he interferes in the actions of Wildeve or Eustacia to ensure Thomasin's happiness. That's the kind of man I can admire. He is more concerned with her happiness than winning her hand.

The other character I quite enjoyed is Thomasin's aunt and Clym's mother, Mrs. Yeobright. She appeared to be one of those meddling type of women, who assume their thoughts and wishes are the only way, and it must be done as they say. She is not content with the decisions either of her two charges take and winds up quite lonely. Her story was certainly one of the most tragic-I imagine watching your children pull away from you is quite a miserable experience.

As for Clym...I  really liked him and his hopes. He came back from Paris with the hopes of opening a school to educate his people-and he was focused on that dream throughout all the actions of the novel. He didn't waver from pursuing that dream, even with Eustacia's pressure to go back to Paris. His fate, by the end of the novel, was also quite tragic and I felt badly for him.

In all, the novel is really about the idea of hopes and dreams-and what steps you are willing to take to achieve them. All of the characters are consumed by something out of reach and it is their decision to either let the dream go (like dear Venn and his love for Thomasin), or to continue to pursue it, no matter the cost (like Eustacia's constant brooding and desire to leave Egdon Heath for Paris). Whether they get what they want or something else entirely is something I won't tell you.

This is definitely one of my favorite Hardys so far, and an excellent piece of Victorian fiction. I cannot recommend it enough!

“How I have tried and tried to be a splendid woman, and how destiny has been against me! ...I do not deserve my lot! ...O, the cruelty of putting me into this ill-conceived world! I was capable of much; but I have been injured and blighted and crushed by things beyond my control! O, how hard it is of Heaven to devise such tortures for me, who have done no harm to heaven at all!”

Book 147: Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy (A Victorian Celebration).

“Well, what I mean is that I shouldn't mind being a bride at a wedding, if I could be one without having a husband.”

I've come to love and respect Thomas Hardy. There is something so wonderful about his writing that it just draws me in from the first page. Far From the Madding Crowd is no exception. Hardy managed to build yet another story that drew me in and forced me to keep reading into the late hours of the night.

Bathsheba Everdene is a young woman with strong ideas and a sense of purpose about her life (and really, her name is all kinds of awesome). When the story begins, Bathsheba meets the farmer Gabriel Oak. Oak falls in love with her almost immediately and while he lives a humble life, he makes Bathsheba an offer of marriage. After turning him down, she leaves town and Oak suffers from a series of misfortunes (and while I know I shouldn't have, I had to chuckle at the scene with the sheep).

Oak determines to leave in search of work, since he has failed as a farmer on his own land. He journeys to Casterbridge and then to neighboring Weatherbury. It is while on his trip to Weatherbury that he sees a huge fire and pitches in to help. And of course, the land the fire is on belongs to Bathsheba and she is forced to take him in as hired help.

In the time that dear Bathsheba has been away from Oak, she found a home on her uncle's large farm...and then her uncle died so she's in charge! Being a bit of an independent woman, she is determined to run things her way so that she may be successful. But as a woman in charge of a bustling farm with the potential to make a good deal of money, she becomes a bit of a pawn for a couple of men in town. The way that Hardy describes her is simply perfect:

“She was of the stuff of which great men's mothers are made. She was indispensable to high generation, hated at tea parties, feared in shops, and loved at crises.”

First, there is Gabriel, who fervently loves her even though she has no desire to really be with him. As a worker on her farm, he is treated as such. It's obvious that Gabriel still loves her. Throughout the novel, there are scenes where Gabriel is observing Bathsheba and her various forms of scandal. He shows a clear sense of devotion to her. I loved that about his character. It seemed that no matter how badly she screwed up, he was still there to offer advice and save her farm.

The second suitor on the scene was another farmer by the name of Boldwood. Unlike Oak, he is a successful farmer and is well-respected within their community. He is also swept away by Bathsheba's charms and her wildness. She plays around with him a bit, and even makes a hasty agreement to get married at some point in the future. Boldwood was so enamored with her that he didn't even see that she made the agreement in haste to get rid of him.

Enter the third suitor, Sergeant Troy. Unlike the other two, Troy is powerful and in command of himself. He's a take charge kind of man who flirts with Bathsheba and tells her lies. She is swept away by his charms, disappears, and returns as a married woman.

 “Bathsheba loved Troy in the way that only self-reliant women love when they abandon their self-reliance. When a strong woman recklessly throws away her strength she is worse than a weak woman who has never any strength to throw away. One source of her inadequacy is the novelty of the occasion. She has never had practice in making the best of such a condition. Weakness is doubly weak by being new.”

It is after her marriage to Troy that things fall apart in what I think it typical Hardy fashion. Bathsheba learns that Troy was not who she thought he was, Troy is called out for being full of it, and the other two men go crazy trying to protect Bathsheba and her assets as she is now the "property" of Troy.

This was simply fascinating to watch unfold. At first, I wasn't a fan of Bathsheba (except for her name because COME ON). I found her to be a haughty kind of a woman who was just trying to branch out on her own for the sake of causing some level of scandal. However, as the novel wore on, I got what Hardy was trying to show me. Rather than being allowed to be the free spirited individual she truly was, the men in her life found ways to squash that. Troy, in particular, seemed to be an option that she found appealing. By marrying him, she was choosing something risky over something sturdy, like Boldwood. It was only after she was married that she realized the position she was in. As a married woman, all her property, etc also belonged to Troy...who wasn't who he said he was.

That just crushed her spirit. And it left the other men, who probably did truly care for her, on the sidelines watching and waiting.

On many levels, I felt for her by the novel's close. To be a woman of passion and spirit in a society that tells you no? It has to be crushing. And to find a way to rebel, only to have it backfire? Even more so. I think this novel captures a lot of that Victorian mentality...and of some people's current mentality...that women can be pawns in marriages-used to gain land, money, etc. I would not have been able to stand it...and I think I would have had a little of her spunk had I been in her situation (or so I tell myself).

So yes, Far From the Madding Crowd was a great read and a good look at some of the social issues of the era. And, it wasn't quite as tragic as Jude the Obscure if that sort of thing throws you off (don't get me wrong, there were some moments that caught my breath, but nothing like that scene). I can't wait to get to my next Hardy!

“And at home by the fire, whenever you look up there I shall be— and whenever I look up, there will be you."

Author Focus: Thomas Hardy (A Victorian Celebration).

Welcome to this week's Author Focus post on Thomas Hardy! Considering I am currently in the middle of a Hardy novel (Far From the Madding Crowd), I thought it was fitting to feature him this week. Here are the other authors I have featured so far:

• George Eliot
• Wilkie Collins
• Charles Dickens

Hardy is quickly becoming an author that I love, so I am excited to share a little more about his life and his work. Like the other authors I am featuring, Hardy was a powerhouse during the Victorian Era, and his name was well-known.

Thomas Hardy was born on June 2, 1840, which makes him a later edition to the Victorian Era. He was lucky enough as a boy to be sent to school, but his family didn't have the money to send him off to university. Instead, he found work as an apprentice to learn a trade. Under a fellow by the name of James Hicks, Hardy became an architect. After a couple of years, Hardy moved to London and enrolled in King's College to learn more about architecture and pursue writing on the side.

It was also during these early years that Hardy began to write. His first novel, The Poor Man and the Lady, was finished in 1867, but failed to find a publisher. He was so frustrated by this, that he actually burned large portions of the novel and only a few pieces remain. After encouragement from a friend (George Meredith-another Victorian), Hardy continued to write and published Desperate Remedies and Under the Greenwood Tree anonymously.

Hardy wasn't a big fan of living in the city. After growing up in the country, Hardy wasn't used to seeing such differences in class and social standing. He eventually decided to leave London and focus more on his writing. He spent a number of years traveling the country to complete architectural work in parishes and rural communities (perhaps this inspired the work of Jude in Jude the Obscure?). It was on one of these missions that Hardy met and fell in love with Emma Lavinia Gifford. The two married in 1874, and Hardy's novel, A Pair of Blue Eyes, was inspired by their own love story. This was also Hardy's first novel that was published under his name.

He continued to write novels throughout the rest of the 19th century. It was after the publication of Jude the Obscure in 1895 that Hardy stopped writing fiction to focus on his poetry-something he felt he was better at writing. When it was published, Jude the Obscure shocked and riled up Hardy's audience. People were outraged at the depictions of sex and the relationships between the main characters. It was nicknamed "Jude the Obscene." This view of Hardy's work really bothered him, which led to that turn to poetry.

In 1912, Emma passed away and it wrecked Thomas. He pulled away and began writing more and more poetry, which is what he truly believed he was best at. He did remarry, in 1914, but his first wife really held his heart. Throughout the rest of his life, Hardy continued to write, but never had the same success as he did as a novelist. He passed away on January 11, 1928. There was a little kerfuffle over where he was to be buried, but a compromise was made. His heart was buried by Emma and his ashes are laid to rest in Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey.

One of the things that sets Hardy apart from some of the other Victorians is that he bridges a couple of movements in literature. While all of his novels were published within the boundaries of the Victorian era, many of his later novels also speak to the Realism movement. He liked to challenge the ideals of the Victorian era-like the issue of marriage in Jude the Obscure. He was also very protective of his writing, and after the reception of his last two novels-Tess of D'Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure-he swore off of writing fiction. I really wonder what kinds of novels he would have published in his later life-during the era of World War I, etc. We'll never know.

I am still beginning to explore Hardy's novels. I have read two-The Mayor of Casterbridge and Jude the Obscure- and I am in the middle of my third-Far From the Madding Crowd. I also have Tess of D'Urbervilles and The Return of the Native left on my 250 list. I have come to expect a lot from my Hardy novels-depth, description, and tragedy. But I love the way Hardy explores the dark aspects of Victorian life, and I cannot wait to read more from him (and about him).

If you are interested in picking up a Hardy novel, here is a list in order of publication (Hardy also has a lot of poetry-I own a complete collection, but sometimes his poems are published separately):

• The Poor Man and the Lady 1867 (most of the novel is lost)
• Desperate Remedies 1871
• Under the Greenwood Tree 1872
• A Pair of Blue Eyes 1873
• Far From the Madding Crowd 1874
• The Hand of Ethelberta 1876
• The Return of the Native 1878
• The Trumpet-Major 1880
• A Laodicean 1881
• Two on a Tower 1882
• The Mayor of Casterbridge 1886
• The Woodlanders 1887
• Wessex Tales (short stories) 1888
• A Group of Noble Dames (short stories) 1891
• Tess of D'Urbervilles 1891
• Life's Little Ironies (short stories) 1894
• Jude the Obscure 1895

What Hardy novels have you read and loved? Give me some more recommendations! :)

A Victorian Celebration: The Mayor of Casterbridge Giveaway!

I asked Twitter on Sunday whether I should read Middlemarch or Far From the Madding Crowd next, and those who weighed in steered me toward the Eliot title. And while I am perfectly happy with that choice (because I love Eliot so much), I'm still craving some Hardy.

To get a little bit of that craving out of my system, I decided to put the second Hardy title I have sitting in my "giveaway" pile up as this week's giveaway for the event. :)

When I made my project list...I had never heard of Hardy. I don't know if that speaks to the level of my college education or my own ignorance, but he was never on a reading list and he was never brought up in one of my classes! But, I was curious so I added a slew of his titles to the 250 list, and the very first Hardy title I read was The Mayor of Casterbridge. It blew me away and made me a Hardy fan for life.

Now I would like to give one of you a new copy of the novel. To see if it strikes your fancy, here is a little summary taken from Goodreads.com...

"In a fit of drunken anger, Michael Henchard sells his wife and baby daughter for five guineas at a country fair. Over the course of the following years, he manages to establish himself as a respected and prosperous pillar of the community of Casterbridge, but behind his success there always lurk the shameful secret of his past and a personality prone to self-destructive pride and temper. Subtitled ‘A Story of a Man of Character’, Hardy’s powerful and sympathetic study of the heroic but deeply flawed Henchard is also an intensely dramatic work, tragically played out against the vivid backdrop of a close-knit Dorsetshire town."

To enter to win a new Barnes and Noble edition of Thomas Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge, read and complete the following:

• This giveaway will be open to any residents of the U.S. or Canada (my international participants, I have special giveaways planned for you later on).
• You MUST be a participant of A Victorian Celebration to enter.
• You MUST be 13 years or older
• You do not have to follow me or subscribe to qualify
• You MUST leave me your e-mail so that I contact you if you win
• The winner will have 48 hours to respond or I will pick a new winner.
• To enter, comment on this post and answer the following question: What Victorian title should I read next for the event? Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy or Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte? (or something else-you suggest!)
• The giveaway will be open until 11:59 PM on Friday, June 29, 2012 EST.

Good luck and keep up the great job reading!

A Victorian Celebration: Far From the Madding Crowd Giveaway!

I have been blown away by the response to this event. And while my own reading of the Victorians has been a little on the slow side (I only have one more week of school, then I'll be a Victorian reading maniac), you guys have been cranking out the most wonderful posts! I'm still catching up on reading all of the great things you guys have been saying.

One of the reasons I love events like this so much is the amount of community it brings together. I have discovered so many new bloggers over the last week or two! I love finding new-to-me blogs and discovering others who share the same passions.

Okay, enough of my sappy nature, on to the giveaway!

The second book I am offering up is Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy. This is a title I'm hoping to get to during the event. I've loved both Hardy books I've read so far (Jude the Obscure and The Mayor of Casterbridge), so I have high hopes for this one. Here is a synopsis from Goodreads.com...

"Far From the Madding Crowd tells the story of beautiful Bathsheba Everdene, a fiercely independent woman who inherits a farm and decides to run it herself. She rejects a marriage proposal from Gabriel Oak, a loyal man who takes a job on her farm after losing his own in an unfortunate accident. He is forced to watch as Bathsheba mischievously flirts with her neighbor, Mr. Boldwood, unleashing a passionate obsession deep within the reserved man. But both suitors are soon eclipsed by the arrival of the dashing soldier, Frank Troy, who falls in love with Bathsheba even though he’s still smitten with another woman. His reckless presence at the farm drives Boldwood mad with jealousy, and sets off a dramatic chain of events that leads to both murder and marriage."

Up for grabs is a new copy of the Barnes and Noble edition of Thomas Hardy's Far From the Madding Crowd. To enter, read the rules and comment below!

• This giveaway will be open to any residents of the U.S. or Canada (my international participants, I have special giveaways planned for you later on in the event!).
• You MUST be a participant of A Victorian Celebration to enter.
• You MUST be 13 years or older
• You do not have to follow me or subscribe to qualify
• You MUST leave me your e-mail so that I contact you if you win
• The winner will have 48 hours to respond or I will pick a new winner.
• To enter, comment on this post and answer the following question: Besides reading the Victorians, what is your favorite summertime activity?
• The giveaway will be open until 11:59 PM on Friday, June 15, 2012 EST.

Good luck and keep up the great job reading!

Book 108: Finished.

"You are Joseph the dreamer of dreams, dear Jude. And a tragic Don Quixote. And sometimes you are St. Stephen, who, while they were stoning him, could see Heaven opened. Oh, my poor friend and comrade, you'll suffer yet!"

Had I read this novel at the time of publication (1890s), I probably would have been involved in the outcry in some way. This novel was often referred to as "Jude the Obscene," which in my 21st century reader mind, I find a little exaggerated. But, had I been a normal, everyday reader in Hardy's society, I would have been shocked at the turn of events that take place in the second half of the novel.

Where the first half of the novel meandered through the beginnings of Jude's life and his troubles, the second half rages on, throwing Jude, Arabella, and Sue into a whirlwind of dramatics and intrigue. The pastoral descriptions of the landscape and cities seems to disappear as the characters begin and continue to push the boundaries of acceptability in their communities.

It is hard to talk about the ending of the novel without talking about the shock value Hardy seems to employ. And while I do think he pushed his characters and their situation to the edge and beyond of what was deemed acceptable for society, I don't think he did it just for shock value. I believe, based on my readings of The Mayor of Casterbridge and Jude the Obscure, that Hardy simply does what his character desire him to do. In Mayor, he has a man sell his wife in the opening pages. But that is what is needed to propel that character forward into the actions later on in the story.

So when Hardy pushes the limits in regards to marriage, sex, class, and society in Jude the Obscure, he does it because it fits the characters. Jude is a poor man who works for everything he does have. And in that time period, class mattered when it came to religion, education, and societal views. I really do believe that as a person in the lower class and in poverty or slightly above, you are looked down on MORE for doing things against societal norms. But that also ties in issues of education and opportunity as well.

But as an individual on the bottom tier of society, and for being slightly different, Jude has to battle things that others in wealthier positions do not. He must also battle the negative legacy of his family. And I strongly believe that Hardy knew that. He had to create a character that had demons to fight, as well as a man who would push the boundaries of societal expectations because in his heart, he felt it was right to do so. This is where the novel excels. Not only does Hardy show a man purposefully going against what society wants and demands, he does it with the knowledge that he is right in doing so. That is powerful, especially for a novel written in the 1890s.

As for the two female characters, I feel the same way. While I really cannot stand Arabella, she is necessary to Jude's development. How else would he push the boundaries of marriage if his first hadn't started in a sham and ended so ridiculously? It had to be so for Hardy to explore what would happen to Jude later on. Sue, on the other hand, is so much like Jude. I really loved her, but her decisions drove me crazy throughout. As a female, she had more to deal with than Jude. When she was kicked out of school for not sleeping there one night, you have to think about the double standard that would exist (and does so prevalently today).

However, more than anything else in this novel that pushes the boundaries, it is what happens in the last 50 or pages or so that led me to finishing the book with my mouth gaping open. While I would love to just discuss it, I know I can't because you need to experience the sorrow with the characters. I was shocked. It also broke my heart. The complete meltdown of everything...it will simply shock you.

I finished this book with a sense of awe and respect for Hardy. I can certainly understand why after the public outcry of this novel he wouldn't write novels any longer. I can imagine how his readers in the 1890s would have felt getting to those last pivotal scenes. I can imagine how they would have felt to read about different attitudes towards marriage, love, and happiness. Overall, though, I left feeling like I completely understand the need to let characters experience and live in the way they needed to. Jude had to live his life in a certain way, and Hardy fully accomplished letting Jude do so.

More than anything, I really want to pick up another Hardy title off my shelf and dive in (although, I honestly don't know if any could beat this one). In fact, I want to read all of his novels, to savor his words and the way he constructs such marvelous stories. I think it might be safe to say that Hardy is a new favorite. :)

"But no one came. Because no one ever does."

Book 108: Meandering...

I am at the halfway point in Hardy's Jude the Obscure, and I feel like I have been on a trip. Hardy just seems to be meandering along, and I am going with him. Together we have seen the beginnings of his title character, and we have watched as things go awry.

The novel begins with its central focus on Jude. We meet him as young boy saying farewell to a teacher who is leaving town. Jude idolizes this teacher and one day wants to be come a scholar in the town of Christminster. But as someone who will have to work to support himself, it seems as if Jude has a hard road.

The beginnings of the novel paint out Jude's life clearly. He works part-time in his aunt's bakery, and it seems as if the other townspeople mock him. There was a scene where he was harassed for reading while making deliveries. It seems as if his dream to be a scholar is not well-supported. But you do have to admire someone who, at such a young age, sends away for grammar books in Greek and Latin to learn from, and who study every night by candlelight.

And when Arabella Donn has her sights set on Jude, it all seems to fall apart at the seams. I think it is obvious to the reader that Arabella really doesn't love Jude. I mean, I believe she wants to love him, but really, she is just using him because she thinks he is a good fit. Clearly, he is not. And when she wants to speed things up a bit to get him to commit, she does.

*this next little section may contain spoilers, but it is only for the first 100 pages*

I can see why Jude following her upstairs would have outright shocked readers back then. Obviously he doesn't give us details, but we all know why kind of evil shenanigans Arabella is up to when she leads him up. And then she pretends to be in the family way. Reading this as a modern-day reader, I wasn't shocked at all. I had to check myself and remind my 21st century mind that this book came out in the 1800s. Men and women having sex outside of marriage and children born out of wedlock were ostracized. It just didn't happen. There would have been an uproar (today we all seem a bit lax, don't we?).

And of course Jude HAS to marry her to save face, and it is only once they are married that she pulls a "just kidding" card. What a manipulative girl! I was shocked by her manipulations and they only seem to be getting worse as the story progresses.

*end of spoilers*

When his marriage begins to fall apart, we also watch Jude meet Sue, his cousin. I don't want to say more, since I am still in the middle of their little saga. But I know that Hardy is going to throw me for a loop eventually. I know that things will not end well for Jude or Sue, and that manipulative Arabella will be back to ruin everything.

However, before I end this first post on Jude the Obscure, I have to comment on the fact that I really think Hardy is a delightful writer, whether he meanders or not. I love that he is drawing me in slowly to his characters and story. He really takes the time to let me know their true characters before pushing them forward. I miss that kind of skill in many modern-day novels. I think that too often authors are worried that they need to tell rather than show. So I will continue to let Hardy hold my hand and guide me through Jude's life.

Onward....

Book 108: Jude the Obscure and Book Stats.

Title: Jude the Obscure
Author: Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)

First Published: 1895 (in complete book form; it was serialized originally)

My Edition: Nook Book :)

Pages: 485 (or so Homer tells me...)

Other Works Include: Far From the Madding Crowd (1874), The Return of the Native (1878), The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), The Woodlanders (1887), Tess of D'Urbervilles (1891), The Well-Beloved (1897)

Thomas Hardy is one of the many reasons I am glad that I started this whole shebang. I had never heard of him (I know, crazy!), and I read him for the first time just over a year ago. I picked up The Mayor of Casterbridge on a whim and really just sank into it.

I have loved this process of re-discovering the Victorians. I have always loved George Eliot, but I have strayed away from her contemporaries. I think, because of my negative experiences with Dickens, I used to see them as wordy snobs. But I have really come to realize that they really give depth to their characters and stories. And yes, Dickens is still too wordy for my tastes.

With my first Hardy experience, I was really drawn to the characters. Hardy was an experimental writer, and that really showed in The Mayor of Casterbridge. I am curious to see how this one compares. From the little that I have discovered, I know that this was Hardy's last novel. And like Mayor, I am expecting a lot of social commentary. I am also expecting it to be on the depressing side (Mayor was slightly sad, and I have heard that this one is exceedingly so). Nevertheless, I am sure it will be a great reading experience.

I am also reading this one on Homer. I do have a paperback version, but I think mixing it up won't hurt, and Project Gutenberg has seriously become my best friend. Knowing that I am reading this on Homer, I know it will take me a little longer-Homer wears out my eyes a lot faster. This will be my second Nook reading experience!

If you are interested, here are the three posts I wrote on The Mayor of Casterbridge:

• Book Stats
• Characters v. Plot
• Finished

I feel I should also point out that I still have a number of Hardy novels on my list: Far From the Madding Crowd, Tess of D'Urbervilles, and Return of the Native.

What experience do you have with Hardy? What other Victorians do you love or hate?

Book 42: Finished.

I think that I picked a great Hardy novel to begin with. I am always a little wary of picking up an author off my list that I haven't read before (or even heard of-again, my English education seems to have been not as extensive as it should have been). So far, I seem to have been lucky with the unknown authors I have read (Forster, Arnow, Dostoevsky, Morrison, Zola, and Emily Bronte).

Although, truth be told, I have only had one horrible experience in re-reading Charles Dickens' Great Expectations, and lukewarm experiences with Albert Camus' The Stranger and Chekov's The Cherry Orchard.

Anyway back to Hardy. Many of his other titles I have heard mixed things about. It seems like Hardy might be one of those writers you either love, or you hate. I could be wrong, but based on what I have seen, that seems to be the case. And after finishing this lovely novel, I may be in the "love" camp.

I love the ambition of what Hardy tried to accomplish in this exploration of one man's character. Taking Mayor Henchard from the drunken idiot who sold his wife in the first pages of the novel, to the end where he begins to regret the decisions he made...well, it was a wonderful journey of a man who could very well be the man next door. I loved the complications between Henchard and his daughter, as well as the people around him. He made a wonderful villain...and a person who really wanted to root for.

I also really liked his daughter. She began as a mostly uneducated woman, but she really made big strides to learn and better herself. That is a quality I truly admire in people. I mean, to work hard to learn new things and grow at any age is commendable. It is a trait I hope that I have.

In any case, The Mayor of Casterbridge was a wonderful novel about the way choices can impact your life, and at any stage of your life. It was a novel I fell in love with, but I am curious to see the depth in Hardy's other work before I can judge him.

"Her experience had been of a kind to teach her, rightly or wrongly, that the doubtful honor of a brief transit through a sorry world hardly called for effusiveness, even when the path was suddenly irradiated at some half-way point by daybeams rich as hers. But her strong sense that neither she nor any human being deserved less than was given, did not blind her to the fact that there were others receiving less who had deserved much more. And in being forced to class herself among the fortunate she did not cease to wonder at the persistence of the unforeseen, when the one to whom such unbroken tranquility had been accorded in the adult stage was she whose youth had seemed to teach that happiness was but the occasional episode in a general drama of pain," (292).

Book 42: Characters v. Plot.

I am new to Thomas Hardy, but one thing I have learned from researching him and his work, is that Hardy was very experimental in his writing. He completed a whole collection of novels to explore different aspects of novels. A large number of them focused more on the development of his characters and exploring human nature.

There are generally two main directions a novel is developed: focused on characters, or focused on plot. These appeal to a large amount of people and usually readers are really drawn to one or the other (I'm not saying that you would never read or enjoy the other, but we usually have a preference).

Personally, I would much rather read a story with highly developed characters. I like character development and I think it is one of the hardest things for writers to accomplish. Creating a three-dimensional, likable, appealing character is no easy feat. There are certain challenges to making a character realistic, and to truly capture all aspects of human emotion and motive.

So I am starting to like Hardy's style in The Mayor of Casterbridge. I feel like Hardy is exploring all different angles of human nature within all of his main characters. Their motives are explained and their lives are the story. It is not based on plot, but on the actions each character takes. Personally, I find this more realistic. I find that our lives are dictated by the choices we make, not by what happens around us. Circumstances do not change us, our actions and responses do.

Thus, I love what Hardy is trying to accomplish. His main character, the mayor Henchard, has made some horrible decisions to change the course of his life. In the first few pages, the reader watches as Henchard, his wife, and daughter stop in for food and drink in a rough tavern. There, Henchard gets carried away with his drinking and eventually becomes drunk. As he drinks more and more, Henchard rants about the uselessness and burden of his wife. In his drunken state, he auctions off his wife and daughter to the highest bidder. A seaman buys the two women and when Henchard wakes the next morning, he realizes what he has done.

He makes a vow not to drink for twenty years before moving south and starting over, in Casterbridge.

He makes a new life for himself and rises to prosperity. He is eventually elected mayor and seems to have everything going for him. Of course, his wife and daughter return to find him and Henchard has to come to terms with the decisions he made. The perfect life he built for himself begins to unravel.

It is an interesting premise and I am curious to see where Hardy's characters take themselves. I am curious to see how their actions shape the story around them and change the course of their lives.

I guess I shall see.

Book 42: The Mayor of Casterbridge and Book Stats.

Title: The Mayor of Casterbridge: The Life and Death of a Man of Character
Author: Thomas Hardy (1840-1928)
First Published: 1886

My Edition: Amsco Literature Series (I bought this last September at my library book sale-the copyright date is 1971)
Pages: 292

Other Works Include: Far From the Madding Crowd (1874), The Return of the Native (1878), The Woodlanders (1887), Tess of D'Urbervilles (1891), Jude the Obscure (1895), The Well-Beloved (1897)

Hardy was also well-known for a number of other novels and short stories. He was also a poet, but used his novel writing as experience and to pay the bills (must be nice, huh?).

For my personal challenge, I will be reading a number of Hardy's novels, including Far From the Madding Crowd, The Return of the Native, Tess of D'Urbervilles, and Jude the Obscure. Unfortunately for me, I have NO experience reading any of Hardy's works, so I am going into this completely blind.

Again, I must mention how I feel like my English degree is somewhat of a joke. It never prepared me for this.

Anyway, from what I have gathered about this particular Hardy novel, is that it is an experiment in character development. Hardy liked to play around with characters to see what they would do, which is something I am rather fond of. I am a sucker for well-developed characters as opposed to new and interesting plots, so if this is true about Mr. Hardy, I think I might have a new best friend.

In any case, I know nothing about the content of the novel, except that it takes place in a fictionalized place in England, which Hardy calls Wessex, and it centers on the life and actions of one man.

Here's to hoping that this is a great first experience!

Sunday Salon: May 16, 2010.

I finally feel like I have a chance to breathe this weekend! I have been on the go at work for a while and I thankfully am enjoying a 4-day weekend that started yesterday. The break is much needed and I have a lot of plans for what I want and need to accomplish.

We went to a wedding yesterday for a good friend I went to college with. We really are at that age where everyone we know is starting to settle down a bit.

Today I am going to relax with my little sister, bake some goodies, and have a Disney movie marathon. It will be a great time to relax and chill out, and cuddle with the kitties.

Yesterday I made a post giving the details of the Cranford Read-Along. If you haven't already, go and visit (and perhaps sign up) to participate! Later on today, you're going to see the sign-up for Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift if Cranford is not your cup of tea. Either way I hope you will consider reading at least one of these with me.

I went to my library's used book sale on Friday, which I had been looking forward to for weeks. Imagine my disappointment when I went in to find that there were not nearly as many books as in past sales. I made it a point to ask a volunteer if donations were down, but she told me that on Thursday a man and a woman came and loaded up 35 boxes of books. When they were asked about the quantity they were buying, they said they were buying them to sell on Ebay.

I was really upset with this. I understand that the sales are open to the public and anyone can come in and buy the books, but I was always under the impression that the sales were also for the community, not for someone to make a profit. I said as much to the volunteer, but she told me the library still made money off what the couple bought, so it was all the same to them.

When I went to the sale in September, I went armed with the list of books I am planning to read. I found a great selection and ended up bring home something like 40 books. I even left a great number there that I wanted so I wasn't going overboard. However, by the time I made it to the literature and classics section, I was lucky to find a grand total of 30 or so books there (there were hundreds at the previous sale). I picked through and found a few that I wanted, but it is obvious that the couple who purchased so many really picked out everything.

So, that was a huge bust and I am sorely disappointed, but I ended up with a couple of great finds, including a beautiful green hardcover collection of some of Mark Twain's novels. I also found a great teaching resource book, as well as 4 more books off of my list. I also bought a couple of fun things for the future, including a two book collection of D.H. Lawrence short stories, and another Willa Cather novel.

I managed to finished The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy yesterday, and I rather enjoyed it. I was worried I wouldn't like it, since I have quite a number of Hardy novels on my list, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was a wonderful novel.

I think I am going to dive into Of Mice and Men to finish off the LOST books challenge, and try to get through some more of Holmes.

Happy Reading!

Sunday Salon: May 9, 2010.

I am glad that another week is done, but it seems like time has been moving fairly quickly recently. You agree?

I had a very full and busy week, with some subbing jobs and some others things going on with my summer job at the park. Things are starting to pick up, which is wonderful. We have a lot more going on so there is more to do. People are starting to come back on staff, which is always a good thing, as those of us who have been working can get a little sick of each other after a while.

In regards to reading, I have had an off couple of weeks, but it picked up over the last couple of nights. I honestly think my brain needed a rest, so I took a break. It seems like I am back on, however, as I flew through the next book of Sherlock Holmes stories, The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, in only a day. I also started The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy, which I am enjoying immensely.

I haven't had a chance to dive into Milton's Paradise Lost yet, and to be honest, I don't think now is the right time to get into something that requires my full focus. So perhaps in another month or two I'll be up to the challenge.

I have some great things planned for the coming month. Tomorrow will debut the first of what will hopefully be many "Classic Interviews." I hope you all tune in and think about participating. I would love to have you!

The vote for the first read-along I am hosting also ends today, so I hope you voted for the book of your choice! Either way, I'll definitely go with the top 2 choices and host two at the same time. It offers a little more variety and if one book doesn't suit your fancy, I hope the other one will.

I am hoping to get through the next Sherlock Holmes book of short stories this week (The Return of Sherlock Holmes), as well as finishing The Mayor of Casterbridge. I also have a week or two to finish up the LOST books challenge. Technically I could count The Brothers Karamazov towards it, but I feel like I need to read one more book solely for that purpose. We'll see what happens though.

Anyway, stay tuned for details about read-alongs on Tuesday, as well as other posts during the week. Happy Reading!