Works of Thomas Hardy discussion

What appeals most to you about Hardy's writing? Also, what other authors do you enjoy that you think a fan of Thomas Hardy would enjoy?

I was suggesting Hardy to a friend the other day because she likes Victorian literature. I'm not sure how she will react because the reason I like Hardy is probably antithetical to the reason she likes Victorian literature since Hardy wrote in response to the problems people dealt with in keeping up appearances in Victorian society. So many of his plots revolve around people who fall victim to societal rules with many tragedies and follies existing because they either break these rules or seek to follow them exactly (even when nobody is looking). I think that's what appeals to me most about his writing ... his commentary on the problems with the rules of Victorian society.

My author suggestion for Hardy fans is Oscar Wilde and Nathaniel Hawthorne.

My author suggestion for a Thomas Hardy fan would be Edith Wharton. Her Ethan Frome in particular seemed quintessentially Hardyesque to me, though tragic ironies of the common folk and regionalism proliferate all her work just as they do Hardy's prose and poetry. Many critics complain about the darkness of Ethan Frome too, just like they did Hardy's work.

Dan wrote: "My author suggestion for a Thomas Hardy fan would be Edith Wharton. Her Ethan Frome in particular seemed quintessentially Hardyesque to me, though tragic ironies of the comm..."
Both are two of my favorite authors, yet I never thought of Ethan Frome as Hardyesque before. Now that you mention it, I really see it - except for the length. I second your recommendation.

George Eliot is often mentioned with Hardy. While I really like and recommend Middlemarch and Daniel Deronda, neither evoke Hardy that much. However, Eliot's Adam Bede and The Mill on the Floss explore themes, attitudes and locales similar to Hardy's.

I'm fascinated with his use of fate. It's always there, lurking. I feel like its use was woven deftly into some of his plots, and in others it was a bit clunky and less believable. Often it takes the form of a character that has power over another because of a shared experience in the past. A line from the film "Magnolia" could be Hardy's modus operandi: "You may be through with the past, but the past is not through with you."

I often think D.H. Lawrence deals with many similar themes to Thomas Hardy. Perhaps it is the use of a strong female lead but I would recommend the Rainbow as a good choice for a Hardy fan.

Lawrence wrote a study of Hardy in 1914 and certainly shares a love of nature and a reaction against modernity and industrialisation.

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it's nice to have another Brian on here who lists both Thomas Hardy and Richard Russo as favorite authors.

Ha ha! My man Brian. My men Thomas and Richard.

I agree that his approach to the whims and vagaries of fate and feel that sometimes his novels might have been structured using flowcharts, with the wrong decisions taken at erm...fateful moments in his characters’ lives.

Yet, my tutor, Hardy scholar Ron Draper said to me 40+ years ago, that Hardy’s overarching philosophy was summed up in his poem During Wind and Rain. I concur with dear old Prof Draper’s succinct analysis.


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