Never too Late to Read Classics discussion

Thomas Hardy is perhaps most famous for his powerfully visual novels, concerned with the inexorability of human destiny. His works unfold against a rural background drawn as an elegy for vanishing country ways, but which also provides much-needed comic relief.

Hardy was born in Higher Bockhampton, Dorset - and the fictitious Wessex where he sets most of his novels is clearly inspired by south-west England. Son of a stonemason, and trained as an architect, he wrote in his spare time until the success of his novel in 1874. He could then give up architecture for writing, and marry Emma Gifford, whom he had met in Cornwall in 1870.

Novels of character and environment
The Poor Man and the Lady (1867, unpublished and lost)
Under the Greenwood Tree (1872)
Far From the Madding Crowd (1874)
The Return of the Native (1878)
The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886)
The Woodlanders (1887)
Wessex Tales (1888, a collection of short stories)
Tess of the D'Urbervilles (1891)
Life's Little Ironies (1894, a collection of short stories)
Jude the Obscure (1895)

Romances and fantasies
A Pair of Blue Eyes (1873)
The Trumpet-Major (1880)
Two on a Tower (1882)
A Group of Noble Dames (1891, a collection of short stories)
The Well-Beloved (1897) (first published as a serial from 1892)

Novels of ingenuity
Desperate Remedies (1871)
The Hand Of Ethelberta A Comedy In Chapters, Volume I (1876)
A Laodicean: A Story of To-Day (1881)

Drama
The Dynasts: An Epic-Drama of the War with Napoleon (verse drama)
The Dynasts, Part 1 (1904)
The Dynasts, Part 2 (1906)
The Dynasts, Part 3 (1908)

Hardy wrote many Short Stories and Poetry Works as well.

Our Host: Trisha will lead us and answer any questions you may have.

I've enjoyed reading Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Return Of The Native, and Jude The Obscure in the past.

Thank you, Lesle. It’s good to welcome members to a new challenge at the start of the year. As we will choose our own book, when you comment here please state which book you are discussing & use spoilers where necessary in case some members want to read your book later.

I’m sure some members know his books very well, while others may be reading one of his works for the first time. Be aware that he uses a lot of dialect at times, which may be difficult at first if it is unfamiliar to you. To help with this, consider listening to a small section of an audiobook to get started, or try reading some parts aloud so you hear the words instead of being distracted by the strange spelling. But persevere - it always takes me a few pages to get used to the dialect again when I start one of his books.

I can’t tell you which books to read, but suggest that if you haven’t read any of his works before you may enjoy either The Woodlanders or Under the Greenwood Tree as they are a little more light-hearted than some of his other books.

I hope you will join in the discussion here & have fun reading the book you choose.

I aim to read Jude the Obscure - it isn’t my favourite, but it’s one that I’ve wanted to read again for ages.

Joseph wrote: "I've enjoyed reading Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Return Of The Native, and Jude The Obscure in the past."

So are you joining us this time, Joseph? Which book will you read?

I'm going to read The Well-Beloved since I haven't read that one for a while. Hardy is one of my top-five favourite authors!

I’m reading The Return of the Native.

Welcome, Rosemarie & Chad. I’m pleased you’re joining in & have chosen your books.

I've just started The Return of the Native, and I suspect that this is the first Hardy book I've ever read - although I don't know why that is the case.

That’s good news, John. I hope you enjoy the book.

I bought Desperate Remedies a few months ago so I will begin that once I have finished my current read.

That’s good, Gary - join in when you are ready.

I've read all 14 Hardy novels at least once and his short story collections A Group of Noble Dames and Life's Little Ironies along with his co-written story The Spectre of the Real: An end-of-the-century Narrative.
Thus, I will be reading the short story collection Wessex Tales and/or A Changed Man and Other Stories which I haven't read before except for the few stories included in Penguin books' own version of a Hardy short story collection, The Distracted Preacher and Other Tales which takes a few stories from each of the 4 more formal Hardy collections.

Interesting, Brian. The short stories are quite varied. Perhaps some other members will also read a few of the short stories if they have time.

I myself like reading short stories, but I do not have any of his so it will be a novel for me!

I'll be reading Far From the Madding Crowd.

John wrote: "I've just started The Return of the Native, and I suspect that this is the first Hardy book I've ever read - although I don't know why that is the case."

Awesome! Great to have someone else reading the same thing that I am.

I have only ever read Tess and it was so depressing I have never read another book by him even after all these years. You can put the reply in a spoiler or send me a PM if we're already friends (my profile is private, so feel free to friend me, answer my question and tell me there--I'll say yes to members of this group) so others don't have to know, but I'd like to know any or all books he has that are not depressing or that might have a hopeful and/or happy ending.

Two on a Tower and Desperate Remedies are very different from Tess, which I've read twice.

I enjoyed Under the Greenwood Tree. I didn't find it depressing.

Karin wrote: "I have only ever read Tess and it was so depressing I have never read another book by him even after all these years. You can put the reply in a spoiler or send me a PM if we're already friends (my..."

Oh Karin, that’s sad. One of my friends has exactly the same opinion as you after being forced to read a Thomas Hardy book at school. It’s such a shame that some authors are spoiled for us by our first experience of them. I agree with Kathy - I also suggest you try Under the Greenwood Tree. Don’t expect a laugh a minute, but it has a gentle humour in places & is a lovely introduction to his books. No spoiler needed for this comment- I hope others may be encouraged to try reading this too. Rosemarie’s suggestions are good too - I liked both books, which she encouraged me to read ages ago. Until then I had read only his main novels - I love them but even I have to admit they can be very sad.

Oh just great!
I started reading Tess last night. I will continue though.

Tess is a very dramatic novel, with some really exciting moments towards the end, Lesle.
I really like Hardy's descriptions of nature-very beautiful writing.

My first Hardy read was Far From the Madding Crowd and I liked it greatly. As Rosemarie said, his descriptive writing of nature is simply breathtaking. I then read Under the Greenwood Tree which I enjoyed as well. Tess was my next choice, but I just couldn't go through it. I simply couldn't. It depressed me so. So I gave that up, which I rarely do, and started with Return of the Native. That didn't go well with me either! Since then I'm avoiding him, which is kind of sad.

The Mayor of Casterbridge is one of his less bleak novels. We studied it in high school for that reason, and I thought it was okay(which is high praise for anything read in high school).
I read it years later and can see why it was chosen. It has a very interesting beginning. And the rest is good, too.

The Mayor of Casterbridge was my first Novel by Hardy. It is a read with mixed feelings towards the characters and he did a good job keeping my attention and wanting to continue reading.

I picked up my penguin classic of The Return of the Native some time ago simply because it had a picture of the lovely Evelyn Nesbit on the cover and I had been reading about her fascinating story at the time. I’m glad to be finally reading it. I agree with Rosemarie about his descriptions of the countryside. Some beautiful prose.

I agree, Hardy’s descriptions of the countryside are wonderful. If you are ever fortunate enough to visit Dorset & the areas around, you will probably appreciate his books even more. But he was good at the tiny details too - just descriptions of the way people lived. He wrote about some characters living in huge mansions, but he was also aware of how ordinary people such as farm labourers lived.

It’s interesting that The Mayor of Casterbridge has been mentioned, but so far no one has chosen to read it. It’s one of my favourites & I like the settings used in the story as well as the actual story. I was very tempted to read it again this month, but decided I should keep to my original plan to reread Jude.

I don’t think I will have time to read Hardy in January but my husband, who has read several of his books, recommends I read The Mayor of Casterbridge. I’ve only read Two on a Tower. I’ve seen the 1979 movie Tess but not sure if I read the book! Tess of the d’Urbervilles is his favorite Hardy novel. I’ll pick one of the 2 to read later in the year.

That’s fine, Pam. There are lots of challenges & so many books - it’s impossible to do everything. Enjoy reading one of these when you have more time.

I'll put a note on The Mayor of Casterbridge for a possible future read. I looked into it after seeing so many of you recommend it, and feel it's less dreary than his other works.

On my first go round of reading the top 7 Hardy novels during 1978 to 1985, I found The Return of the Native a bit dry and enjoyed Jude, Tess, Woodlanders and Mayor more. When reading the rest of his novels and rereading his major novels from 2000 to 2020, I found that I enjoyed Return much more than the first time. Perhaps its being older and appreciating descriptions of nature more; or perhaps because I reread it as part of a Goodreads group with weekly discussions.
TROTN is great because both its setting, Egdon Heath, and a complicated woman, Eustacia Vye, make especially vital characters. To quote Holden Caufield, "I like that Eustacia Vye."
TROTN is one of my 2 favorite Hardy novels but like my other fave, Jude, may not be the best to serve as a first Hardy.
And Evelyn Nesbitt does make a great stand-in for Eustacia Vye .

Trisha wrote: "Karin wrote: "I have only ever read Tess and it was so depressing I have never read another book by him even after all these years. You can put the reply in a spoiler or send me a PM if we're alrea..."

Kathy wrote: "I enjoyed Under the Greenwood Tree. I didn't find it depressing."


Thanks to all for the suggestions. I like the sound of this one with gentle humour that is not depressing and will try this one.

The following are the 7 most read Thomas Hardy novels according to Goodreads and their respective GR ratings.

Tess of the D'Urbervilles - 3.81 avg rating — 254,853 ratings — pub. 1891
Far From the Madding Crowd - 3.94 avg rating — 139,650 ratings — pub. 1874
Jude the Obscure - 3.81 avg rating — 68,866 ratings — pub. 1895
The Mayor of Casterbridge - 3.84 avg rating — 57,040 ratings — pub. 1886
The Return of the Native - 3.87 avg rating — 35,675 ratings — pub. 1878
The Woodlanders - 3.87 avg rating — 14,991 ratings — pub. 1887
Under the Greenwood Tree - 3.66 avg rating — 11,799 ratings — pub. 1872

Best Thomas Hardy Books & Novels from the Penguin Classics:

https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/20...

Gives the top 5 and a bit of reasoning behind with possible spoilers.

Lesle wrote: "Best Thomas Hardy Books & Novels from the Penguin Classics:

https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/20...

Gives the top 5 and a bit of reasoning behind."

Thank you, Lesle - an interesting article that gives a good summary. Just a gentle warning to anyone reading one of these books for the first time, I suggest you finish the book before reading the article as it may include some spoilers. Though I suspect the general outline of most of these is fairly well known due to films & various discussions.

I decided to listen to the audiobook of Far from the Madding Crowd. I normally struggle w audiobooks (falling asleep, getting distracted and disliking the narrators voice) so I rarely listen to them. This one is really good! I especially love the narration by Nicholas Guy Smith. I’ve decided to listen while driving back and forth to my dad’s house (1hr round trip). I also have the paperback to fall back on.

All your reasons listed is why I cannot do Audio.

But...driving for an hour could possible be different!
Best wishes Pam!

I just purchased A Pair of Blue Eyes and Return of the Native. I'm hoping to get to A Pair of Blue Eyes and Tess of the D'Ubervilles in 2022! They are both on my Goodreads! I read Far from the Madding Crowd last year and absolutely loved it!

A Pair of Blue Eyes I have been searching for Cami!

Our threads once Archived stay open they just fall way down in the threads. Even if it is years later another Member will comment!
Which I think is a perk of the group as I can never stay caught up!!

Currently reading Far From the Madding Crowd! Thomas Hardy is my favorite Victorian writer. He makes you devoted to his main characters and I'm obsessed.

So far my fave Thomas Hardy is Tess of the D'Urbervilles!

He is my favourite British writer. I also really like his poetry.

Madel wrote: "Currently reading Far From the Madding Crowd! Thomas Hardy is my favorite Victorian writer. He makes you devoted to his main characters and I'm obsessed."

I’m so pleased you like his books, Madel.

Madel wrote: "So far my fave Thomas Hardy is Tess of the D'Urbervilles!"

Tess is the one I am reading!

I'll try Desperate Remedies

I have started Desperate Remedies (I'm on page 37) and I am enjoying it now that I have got into it a bit.

My first Hardy was The Return of the Native which I read as part of an English Lit class in college. I subsequently decided to read the classics, and I have bought several of Hardy's works, several of which I haven't read yet. I read Wessex Tales last year and enjoyed those short stories, and DR is shaping up nicely.

I saw the two part mayor of Casterbridge on Youtube and became fascinated with Thomas Hardy. There is a very good audiobook of same on Librivox the reader is Bruce Pirie.

Gilbert wrote: "I'll try Desperate Remedies"

Glad to have you join in with us Gilbert!

Gary wrote: "I have started Desperate Remedies (I'm on page 37) and I am enjoying it now that I have got into it a bit..."

Let us know how it goes Gary!

Francis wrote: "I saw the two part mayor of Casterbridge on Youtube and became fascinated with Thomas Hardy. There is a very good audiobook of same on Librivox the reader is Bruce Pirie."

I will have to look into that Francis. I really enjoyed the book. Thanks!