Alisa
05-24-2005, 06:07 PM
Gabriel Oak is one of the most honorable and likeable characters I've come across in a long time (by the end of the book, I admired him almost as much as I admired Jane Eyre). He's faithful, hard-working, patient, honest, wise, servant-hearted... it's too bad he fell for a girl as selfish and fickle as Bathsheba. If you couldn't tell, I really enjoyed the book, precisely because I came away with such strong reactions to the characters--Thomas Hardy made them come alive. Boring people can find just about anything to be "boring", even a really good book... I recommend reading it yourself before taking some of the advice written above.