Under the Greenwood Tree?

[nothingman87]

Has anyone read this book? How is it?

[subterranean]

Hardy is one of my all time favs now . I went to bookstore last saturday and I check out 3 Hardy's book, "The Trumpet Major", "Under the Greenwood Tree", and "Far From The Madding Crowd". Well I decided to buy the last one, since Scher said it is her fav Hardy's book .
At the momment, I'm still reading "The Return of The Native". I'll buy the Greenwood next

[shishman_gramps]

Hi. I got into this book simply because it was in the syllabus for G.C.E. "O" Level 2 or 3 centuries ago. I was a tender 16 year old, and this was an epically boring book, right along with Wilkie Collin's "A Woman in White" and ol' Geoff Chaucer's "Pardoner's Tale". Got the "O" level pass, and 3 months later, spent 2 weeks in bed. either ill or weak from shock at passing. Nothing to read, bored silly, I read Tom's little book again, or should I say I actually read it.
OK, it's a romantic view of village life, but beautifully written, and I have read and re-read Tom's books many times since. "Mayor of Casterbridge" is very fine, although "Jude" and "Far from..." are slower paced, with less interesting characters.
ENJOY!!!!!

[mingdamerciless]

so i love hardy. One sunday i settle down to watch a nice tv adaptation of under the greenwood tree. nice and relaxing . . . or so i thought.
I couldnt believe it when they said it was set in JERSEY!!!!!!! i mean Jersey of all places. not that there is anything wrong with Jersey, but when Hardys old grey Dorset churches are shown as orange French looking ones, well . . . Part of Hardys charm is his incredible descriptions about the places he knows but this adaptation completely destroyed that. aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh. did anyone else see this? If so come and share your anger with me!! he he

[ultima ratio]

I enjoyed this book, even though it was different in nature to Hardy's typical writing themes. If you are looking for a very simple plot which has a great deal of local folklore and stories, kind of like some of the middle chapters of far from the madding crowd, you will probably enjoy it. I found the story quite sweet, and thought Hardy reflected the innocence of his characters quite well.