Customer Reviews (4)

A Mine of Cultural Exploration
I have read all of Hardy many times over.But this book has a special magic to it--the declining aristocracy, the emerging middle class, and religious dissenters.The formulas are all here.The plot is ludicrous towards the end; but the start, the germ, is fascinating.

For me, what this novel leaves out as it were is more important than what's here.By this I mean, I'd love for Hardy to have explored a theme that, apparently, hasn't really gotten explored and this novel would have been be a perfect opportunity for elaboration: that is, the persistence of reactionary Gothic in the midst of Victorian progress.Hardy does explore the nostalgia after a fashion: Paula Power in the end wishes she were an aristocrat and her castle intact.Well taken.

But what Hardy could have explored and didn't (he's hardly to blame) is the more global persistence of the gothic as a thoroughly middle-class hallmark of respectability, and even sensibility, given the fact that the gothic began life as a thoroughly ant-modern phenomenon.We think of all the grizzly "shilling shockers" of earlier decades.How is it psychologically, psychiatrically, that Victorians clung so to the past--a past with deep and obvious ant-progressive, anti-technological, commitments; even as they saw themselves as forging a new world?There a great Freudian "backward glance" here.Nostalgia, religious piety in the midst of the "ache of modernism", obsessions with death?Is this all there is to it? It sounds as if it's rich material for a soul doctor.

Read the novel.It's good.

A Laodicean is a fine 1881 love story by Thomas Hardy
The church is Laodicea was wishy-washy in its faith commitment to Christ. A Laodicean, therefore, is someone who is lukewarm. The lukewarm lady in this Victorian lady is Paula Power. Paula is the daughter of a later railroad tycoon Her very name "Power" is a symbol for the power of the industrialized world of railroads and progress. As the novel begins she stands in a Baptist chapel preparing to be baptized. At the last moment she refuses the sacrament.
This scene is the first sight the young architect George Somerset has of the woman he will work for and love. Somerset and his rival architect Havill engage in a contest to see who will get a lucrative commission to renovate ancient Castle De Stancy purchased by Paula's wealthy father. The DeStancy's represent the old aristocracy. Paula is friendly with Charlotte De Stancy and owns the castle.Paula is beautiful with a mind all her own. Not a shrinking lilly is she!
The novel has two love triangles. Paula is loved by Somerset and Captain William De Stancy the brother of Charlotte and father of his bastard son Will Dare 9 (who dare's to do dirty tricks with a will of his own!). De Stancy is stationed near the castle following years in India. Dare is a photographer who assists Somerset in his architectural drawings. He will steal the plans of the castle restoration giving them to the rival architect Havill. He will also claim that Somerset is a gambler and a drunk by forging a telegram and a photo of the young man.The novel is thus using a telegram and a photograph to advance the plot.
Photography and telegraphing are also symbols of the coming age of the modern world. Dare is a deceitful odious man whose plots for his Dad to wed the wealthy Paula are foiled in the end.
The second triangle involves George who is loved by Paula (her commitment to him is often lukewarm!) and the mousy Charlotee DeStancy.
The novel has many chapters set in the watering holes of France and Germany where the characters go for the waters and gaming. The book is well illustrated by the famed George DuMaurier who also wrote the novel
"Trilby."
Hardy was himself a trained architect. The novel has philsophical disucssions intermingled with the love story. The book has a relatively happy ending which is surprising.Tragedy is the usual endof most Hardy books. Hardy was a skeptic and an agnostic who finest work is in tragedy and not comedy.
This is a fine book with a story well told. It is not a major novel by Hardy but is still worth several hours of reading enjoyment.

Not Very Subtle, But Often Surprising
Thomas Hardy's 1881 novel, "A Laodicean" is often overlooked among his more noted works, like "Tess" or "Jude".While "A Laodicean" is not the most subtly developing Victorian novel in terms of romance, it is sophisticated and worth reading in other aspects.Subtitled "A Story of To-day," Hardy's novel effectively explores the relationship between the coming age of technology and the death of the aristocracy in pre-20th century Britain.

The novel begins with George Somerset, a flighty and intelligent young man who has tinkered with several pursuits, but is finally settling into architecture.Wandering about the vicinity of Markton village, he comes upon a rustic baptism.Paula Power, a young heiress whose late father was a railroad tycoon, refuses to be baptized, raising Pastor Woodwell's charge against her that she is a "Laodicean," a lukewarm believer.George is engaged to work on the restoration of Paula's new residence, Castle De Stancy.Somerset's fascination with Power is born and the action of the novel begins in earnest.

Some of the themes of interest include technological advance - the telegraph's intrusion into the most ancient spaces - the gothic castle and photography.With the image of the crumbling gothic Castle De Stancy, Hardy questions the relevance of hereditary aristocracy and religious fervor to the cosmopolitan modern age.With Paula, Hardy's lifelong interest in the independent heroine is complicated and subtly nuanced.With the fascinating Mr. Dare, Hardy plays with his gothic and colonial subtexts, prefiguring Bram Stoker's late 1890's "Dracula."

"A Laodicean" is worth reading because it is itself lukewarm - unsure whether progress is always positive and uncomfortable with the flippancy of both the aristocracy and new wealth.It is a book whose very instabilities and insecurities make it engaging.

Not one of Hardy's best, but an interesting read.
One of the interesting aspects of writing a thesis on imagery in Hardy's novels was getting to read some of the lesser known of his writings, this one included. While there is good reason for many of them to be little considered, "A Laodicean" is still worth a read if you are aHardy fan. It was largely written while he was bedridden after a mysteryillness in 1880-1881. In the novel. Hardy tries to capture the changingworld in the England of his day. Aristocracy and family names haddominated, but new wealth in the form of industry and technology werebeginning to assert themselves. Thus, his heroine Paula Powers can't makeup her mind which of her two suitors, an aristocrat and an architect, shereally wants. Even when she makes her choice, there is still doubt in hermind right to the end of the novel, hence the description of her as a`Laodicean', (from Revelation 3:14-22) someone who is neither hot nor cold.Many of the images and themes which we associate with Hardy's better knownnovels are here, but it never quite hits the heights. Still, it isinteresting to see this take on the changes on England's society near theend of the 19th century. ... Read more

Book Description
The Cambridge Companion to Thomas Hardy is an essential introduction to this most enigmatic of writers. These newly commissioned essays from an international team of contributors comprise a general overview of all of Thomas Hardy's work and specific demonstrations of his ideas and literary skills. Individual essays explore Hardy's biography, aesthetics, his famous attachment to Wessex, and the impact on his work of developments in science, religion and philosophy in the late-nineteenth century. The volume also contains a detailed chronology of Hardy's life, and a guide to further reading. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

"Exercising misery to its fullest extent."
In this first of a two-volume collection of Thomas Hardy's (1840-1928) short stories, Editor Kristin Brady (THE FIDDLER OF THE REELS AND OTHER STORIES 1888-1900) has drawn nine short stories from 1874 to 1888, the year Hardy published his first collection of short fiction, WESSEX TALES. During this period, Hardy also published FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD (1874), THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE (1878), THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE(1886) and THE WOODLANDERS (1887). With all the pathos of and these Victorian classics, his short stories deliver ideas and themes that receive greater development in Hardy's novels. This book, which includes an excellent history together with appendices of the texts, may be read as a collection of Thomas Hardy's measures of human misery. In "Destiny and a Blue Coat," "The Thieves Who Couldn't Help Sneezing," "The Distracted Preacher," "Fellow-Townsmen," "The Three Strangers," "The Romantic Adventures of a Milkmaid," "Interlopers at the Knap," "The Waiting Supper," and "The Withered Arm," his characters reveal their "rich capacity for misery . . . exercised to its fullest extent" (p. 126). For Hardy, life and love were synonymous with human suffering. Okay, so even if Hardy composes his fiction using only the black notes on the keyboard, his stories are certain to satisy readers (like me), who love reading Victorian literature.

G. Merritt ... Read more

Book Description
Only after Hardy's death did his poetry begin to receive theacclaim it demands. Experimenting vigorously with rhythm, stress andverse forms, Hardy colors the depths of his thematic efforts withtechnical vibrancy. Whether dwelling on personal grief or tender domesticdramas, his genius for rhetorical ambiguity continues to challengecritical expertise. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A minor disclaimer
Despite the increasing place Hardy's poetry has in the canon of English Literature it seems to me that he falls short of the very first rank. While he has a clanking originality of his own his poetry always seems to me lacking in a deeper soul music and sympathy. Consider one of his most well- known poems, 'Hap'
HAP

If but some vengefulgod would call to me
From up the sky, and laugh:"Thou suffering thing,
Know that thy sorrow is my ecstasy,
That thy love's loss is my hate's profiting!"
Then wouldI bear it , clench myself, and die,
Steeled by the sense of ire unmerited;
Half-eased in that a Powerfuller than I
Had willed and meted me the tears I shed.

But not so.How arrives it joy lies slain,
And why unblooms the best hope ever sown?
-Crass Casualty obstructs the sun and rain,
And dicing Time for gladness casts a moan...
These purblind Doomsters had as readily strown
Blisses about my pilgrimage as pain.

This poem centers on a basic Hardy theme, the cruelty of chance and accident which rule the world. Or to say this another way the lack of atraditional caring God who makes order and sense of the world.
While it is true that I am not especially enamored of this idea as basis for one's ultimate world- view my objection to the poem comes for other reasons. I do not think that this kind of abstract explaining is very effective as poetry.I again do not feel its music or deep soulfulness.
Again I may be completely wrong about this.

one of the greatest poetry collections
After the Library of America edition of Robert Frost's poetry, this might be the best collection of poetry there is. Not only is Hardy one of the best poets ever (easily top five in the English language), but Mezey does a great job at putting together this collection. He selects the best of Hardy's poetry and a highly representative selection as well. His introduction is very well written and highly informative. It's like taking a quick class on Hardy. The poems are very much annotated, almost too much, but the notes are at the back of the book, so they are unobtrusive. There is a chronology and Mezey includes a few quotes, some of them quite witty, from Hardy. And all for an affordable price. You really can't beat this, and Hardy is one of those poets that should be on everyone's shelf.

A quick list of my favorite Hardy poems: Hap; Neutral Tones; At a Hasty Wedding; The Last Chrysanthemum; The Darkling Thrush; Mad Judy; The Ruined Maid; The Man He Killed; Channel Firing; Ah, Are You Digging on My Grave?; Without Ceremony; The Haunter; The Voice; His Visitor; She Charged Me; At Tea; Over the Coffin; In the Moonlight; Near Lanivet, 1872; Something Tapped; The Ballet; A Backward Spring; At a Country Fair; A Night in November.

The Best Hardy Collection
If you are looking for a collection of Hardy's poetry, look no farther than this collection. The Penguin editors have done an incredible job of organizing the dense, complex body of Hardy's work into a very readable collection. This is more than just a simple "Hardy's greatesthits." Yes, there are the standard favorites here, but there is alsoan impressive collection of the writer's more obscure work. Reading theentire contents of this book is the best way to see the breadth of Hardy'sexistential and metaphysical angst. ... Read more

Book Description
This collection includes The Son's Veto, which Hardy regarded as his best short story, On the Western Circuit, which his wife preferred, and the linked stories which come under the heading A Few Crusted Characters.Download Description
To the eyes of a man viewing it from behind, the nut-brown hair was a wonder and a mystery. Under the black beaver hat, surmounted by its tuft of black feathers, the long locks, braided and twisted and coiled like the rushes of a basket, composed a rare, if some-what barbaric, example of ingenious art. One could understand such weavings and coilings beingwrought to last intact for a year, or even a calendar month; but that they should be all demolished regularly at bedtime, after a single day of permanence, seemed a reckless waste of successful fabrication. And she had done it all herself, poor thing. She had no maid, and it was almost the only accomplishment she could boast of. Hence the unstinted pains.She was a young invalid lady - not so very much of an invalid - sitting in a wheeled chair, which had been pulled up in the front part of a green enclosure, close to a bandstand, where a concert was going on, during a warm June afternoon. It had place in one of the minor parks or private gardens that are to be found in the suburbs of London, and was the effort of a local association to raise money for some charity. There are worlds within worlds in the great city, and though nobody outside the immediate district had ever heard of the charity, or the band, or the garden, the enclosure was filled with an interested audience sufficiently informed on all these. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Just wonderful
What wonderful language! What wonderful characters! If you're looking for happy endings, don't look here. Tragedy, suicide, and deceivement abound in these short stories. (My 1965 hard-cover copy also includes A FEW CRUSTED CHARACTERS.) But if you appreciate remarkable writing that will take your breath away, this is it! Comparable to Hardy's THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE.

A fascinating piece of Hardy
As a great admirer of "Jude the Obscure" and "Tess of the D'Ubervilles," I was intrigued when I saw this collection of some of Hardy's shorter works, and was not disapointed.The common theme runningthrough these sketches is Hardy's dissatisfaction with the institution ofmarriage.Written in Hardy's impeccable style, these stories are short andbiting looks at the circumstances that surround and influence marriage. You'll find few happy endings among these tales, but they are an enjoyableread.It's always a pleasure to immerse oneself in Hardy's world andlanguage, and the twisted little plots Hardy creates show a side of hisgenius I had not previously realized.

These stories are not as profoundas some of Hardy's other works, and, by necessity, the characters are notas well developed.However, I would still recommend this book.For a fanof Tess or Jude, it's a fascinating look into the mind of Hardy at the timehe was writing these novels.And for someone who's never read any Hardy,they are an easy and enjoyable introduction to a wonderful author. ... Read more

Book Description
Far from the Madding Crowd, Hardy’s passionate tale of the beautiful, headstrong farmer Bathsheba Everdene and her three suitors, firmly established the thirty-four-year-old writer as a popular novelist. According to Virginia Woolf, “The subject was right; the method was right; the poet and the countryman, the sensual man, the sombre reflective man, the man of learning, all enlisted to produce a book which . . . must hold its place among the great English novels.” Introducing the fictional name of “Wessex” to describe Hardy’s legendary countryside, this early masterpiece draws a vivid picture of rural life in southwest England.

This Modern Library Paperback Classic is set from the 1912 Wessex edition and features Hardy’s map of Wessex. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

HARDY CLASSIC
EXCELLENT-HARDY DOES A WONDERFUL JOB OF DEVELOPING CHARACTERS AND PLOT-HE'S AN EXCELLENT WRITER

Forces of Nature
FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD, the first of Thomas Hardy's 'Wessex' novels, tells the story of a small troupe of farmers and their workers in a sheep-farming community in the fictitious county of 'Wessex'.

Gabriel Oak has been a shepherd since his teenage years, as his father was before him, but he's moved up and purchased, on credit, his own farm. The work is hard, but he is confident that he will succeed, and takes pride in being his own man. Then one day, a new woman arrives in town. Bathsheeba Everdene is beautiful, headstrong, intelligent, but incurably vain; Farmer Oak falls in love with her immediately. A few months later, he proposes, and is utterly rejected. Bathsheeba moves on to care for her dying uncle, and take over his farm. Gabriel continues farming - until tragedy strikes.

He and Bathsheeba will cross paths again, this time not as lovers, but as mistress and servant. Bathsheeba's beauty, vanity and impetuousness leave a trail of carnage in her wake, and Gabriel can only watch on as lives are destroyed, farms are ruined, and his own heart is crushed repeatedly.

Hardy is famous for his fatalism, and this is displayed no more than in the character of Bathsheba Everdene. She is not an evil person, as the above summary would suggest - but her stunning beauty and fierce intelligence combine with her vanity and impulsivity to create something like a force of nature, and though she means only good she seems to be able to do nothing but wrong by those who care for her. She has no more control over her nature than she does over the weather. One of the most interesting aspects of this character is that her vices - vanity, impulsivity, which Hardy attributes to her being young and beautiful - lead to the downfall of others, but she is continuously saved from downfall by her own intelligence and inner personal strength.

REal tragedy finally does strike Bathsheba, but rather than let it destroy her as retribution for her wicked ways, she grows from it. We may not be able to escape the hardship of life, Hardy seems to be saying, but we can grow and prosper by learning from it.

This was a fantastically entertaining book. The only warning that I could give with it is that it is slow-moving. The action comes in fits and spurts, and Hardy has a penchant for elaborate descriptions of the countryside, for farmhouses, churches and festivals. They are beautifully written, but take time to digest fully. Highly recommended.

No need for titles
vivid, lucidly written, conjuring up images of serene hillsides and country life at every opportunity; you never feel less than a central part of the story, being able, thanks to Hardy's joyous descriptions, to picture every scne and character in the greatest of detail and desiring nothing more than to join the number of Wessex's inhabitants. Truly a wonderful book.

A masterpiece of brilliant fiction
This book has everything - sumptuous and beautiful prose, brilliantly realized characters, a magnificent page-turning plot, superb use of the English language, and a relatively happy ending.If you ever thought Thomas Hardy was not for you, read this book, it will change your mind forever.A classic among classics.Hardy's ability to construct sentences that perfectly convey the message is second to none. His use of vocabulary, his powers of decription, and his uncanny insight into human nature will make you practially weep with envy.

Far From Ordinary
Hardy is not my favorite author by any stretch of the imagination, but this is a work of beauty. Unlike other Victorian works (like those of Jane), "Far From the Madding Crowd" leave the chattering jiberish of scheming aristocrats behind to focus on the drama of the country and the working class. Also, this novel explores the "Woman Question" of the day (place in society) and presents a strong willed lead that breaks many of the molds of the time. Loyalty, love, loss, and understanding are all very beautifully and strongly discussed as well. A novel that should be required reading for all students. ... Read more

Book Description
A new edition of Thomas Hardy's timeless novel of two pairs of mismatched lovers.

One of Hardy's classic statements about modern love, courtship, and marriage, The Return of the Native is set in the pastoral village of Egdon Heath. The fiery Eustacia Vye, wishing only for passionate love, believes that her escape from Egdon lies in her marriage to Clym Yeobright, the returning "native," home from Paris and discontented with his work there. Clym wishes to remain in Egdon, however--a desire that sets him in opposition to his wife and brings them both to despair. Behind the narrative of The Return of the Native lie the tragic fates of Flaubert's Madame Bovary and Oedipus, and in writing the novel Hardy endowed his ordinary characters with the status of tragic heroes, seen especially in the ill-fated lovers and Damon Wildeve, who spoil their chances to master their own destinies. The Introduction and Notes featured in this new edition incorporate the most up-to-date scholarship on Thomas Hardy.

Edited with Notes by Tony Slade with an Introduction by Penny Boumelha.Download Description
One of Hardy's classic statements about modern love, courtship, and marriage, The Return of the Native is set in the pastoral village of Egdon Heath. The fiery Eustacia Vye, wishing only for passionate love, believes that her escape from Egdon lies in her marriage to Clym Yeobright, the returning "native, " home from Paris and discontented with his work there. Clym wishes to remain in Egdon, however -- a desire that sets him in opposition to his wife and brings them both to despair. Behind the narrative of The Return of the Native lie the tragic fates of Flaubert's Madame Bovary and Oedipus, and in writing the novel Hardy endowed his ordinary characters with the status of tragic heroes, seen especially in the ill-fated lovers and Damon Wildeve, who spoil their chances to master their own destinies. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (62)

Rickman reading of Return of the Native
Fantastic reading of the book. The first chapter is slow due to detailed writing of scenic attributes but once the plot unfolds it is riveting. It is easy to feel for the characters due to the unbelievablejob that Alan Rickman does narrating the story, He has the proper voice inflections for each character to really project the appropriate emotions meant by the author. I have listened to book narrations before that have failed miserably at that important aspect and subsequently ruined the experience. Rickman is a master at it.Although it is fairly long, it did not detract at all as I listened to it on the way to work each day. I actually found myself wishing it were longer!I would highly recommend "reading" this via the audio book.

A Suberb Recording
First, let me confess that I bought this because I am a fan of Alan Rickman's wonderfully rich, mellifluous baritone and the idea of spending hours listening to him read one of the classics of English literature is was absolute heaven to me. And, I can honestly say, I was not disappointed; the recording is absolutely brilliant.

Using ever nuance and range of his distinctive Rickmans each character that poulates Egdon Heath his or her own distinctive voice and cosistantly applies it throughout from the beginning to the end of the story. When he reads the description of the wild and desolate heath, Rickman's voice turns Hardy' prose into sublime poetry.

Get the CD Version January 2007
Get the CD version just out .
When I had to read this book in High School I found it excruciatingly BORING. But Alan Rickman did such a good job, now I think this story is BETTER than Wuthering Heights.

From AudioFile
" The suffering that follows is mitigated somewhat by the ending, but more by the mastery of Alan Rickman's reading. At the start, Rickman senses the voice for each character in Hardy's fictional world, and he maintains each character's personality throughout. He even manages to project Hardy's subtle shadings of tone with the rhythm and tempo of his narration, throwing in a song here and there because, in spite of his gloom, there is a festive strain to Hardy, as well. If you have a hard time reading this classic English writer, this is how to do it. "P.E.F. (c) AudioFile, Portland, Maine.
Yes and he can even do the womens voices without doing falsetto ! Rickman won the Best Talking Book or Talkie thing for this and deservedly so.
I enjoy talking books and often use them as I drive long distances and this is the best one I have heard so far. I hope Alan Rickman , or another English actor, reads some more Thomas Hardy books for us in future.

Good but nothing spectacular.
Hardy is very good at descriptions.The language he uses makes the people and scenery come alive.While this is true I personally feel that I would have preferred to read other books over this one.A good book but nothing special.

The return of the native
This book has been taught in lit classes for years excellent but sad book.
Michael B Vye ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description
Within weeks of Thomas Hardy's return to his native Dorchester in June 1883, he began to compile his `Facts' notebook, which he kept up throughout the years when he was writing some of his major work - The Mayor of Casterbridge, The Woodlanders, Tess of the d'Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure.

From his intensive study of the Dorset County Chronicle for 1826-1830, he noted and summarised into 'Facts' (with the help of his first wife, Emma) hundreds of reports, many of them suggestive 'satires of circumstance', for possible use in his fiction and poems.

Along with extensive reading in memoirs and local histories, this immersion in the files of the old newspaper involved him in a wider experience - the recovery and recognition of the unstable culture of the local past in the post-Napoleonic war years before his birth in 1840, and before the impact of the modernising of the Victorian era.

'Facts' is thus a unique document amongst Hardy's private writings and is here for the first time edited, the text transcribed in 'typographical facsimile' form, together with substantial annotation of the entries and critical and textual introductions. ... Read more