Ruth
05-24-2005, 06:07 PM
I liked this book. I liked it mostly because of the way Hardy depicts the times and places of the novel. I really don't find his characters or their behaviours believable. An earlier comment here likens it to a modern-day soap opera and I have to agree. It is contrived. I know novels have to be invented and they are fictional but this one in particular I find to be almost too contrived to give it the more serious consideration that it deserves for its strengths. I find it a naive melodrama. It reminds me of the types of stories used in the early days of film. <br>There are circumstances, like the sale of Susan, that would at first seem unbelievable but when you consider the times and the proximity to the legality of slavery are beleivable. What do I find unblievable then? I find that everyone was always in the right place at the right time. It is just too implausible that everyone would find out what they needed to know by overhearing, that people would die or disappear when the story-line required it etc. For instance Susan Henchard was listening or evesdropping at the hotel right when Henchard admitted to Farfrae that he was ashamed of his past drunken behaviour, ie. when he sold Susan to Newson. Also Elizabeth-Jane was listening at the window exactly when Henchard relayed to Farfrae his strong desire that Farfrae remain in Casterbridge. This was so that she would see how easily Henchard took a liking to a stranger so that her and her mother would have the courage to approach him. <br>I found these things throughout - unbelievable not because of each instance because of the amount of them in total. <br>But I still liked reading it although I don't like it as much as I do more believable works.