Hardy is amazing.

To all you people out there that are reading this book for school and finding it terribly boring well I did it in school as well and I read it on my own first of all and absolutely adored it.
It had so many twists and turns and I couldn't put it down.
Honestly, it is only because you are reading it and methodically going through it and picking out stuff that it is so boring. Read it all on your own and you'll get hooked. :D
I'm actually really sad that Hardy is being called boring. He's one of the best and most amazing writers of all time!
I love his gloomy endings.
I think he's the male, pessimistic version of Jane Austen.
:)

I completely agree, he makes me smile when I read, and that is very rare. A delight to read, I love his work! Not read all his work, or the title you mentioning but still Hardy = great!