"Homeliness" in Hardy

[estelwen]

Hello all! Reading "Far from the Madding Crowd" for the first time, I am stuck again by Thomas Hardy's powerful evocation of homeliness in the Wessex countryside.

Particularly delightful to me were his descriptions of Gabriel Oak's rolling shepherd's hut and the depictions of 'rustics'--Joseph Poorgrass, Henery, and the old maltster--that abound throughout the book.

Did anyone else find these gentle descriptions captivating? What other books do you find this kind of attention to detail that escapes tedium? Particularly, what British books in the Victorian period?

Thanks!

Emily

[dfloyd]

Cakes and Ale, a thinly disguised tale of Hardy supposedly written about a Hardy in his eighties.

[mal4mac]

Wordsworth's poetry - The Old Cumberland Beggar, etc ...

Dickens doest "interesting homeliness" well, though, usually, in urban settings rather than the countryside.

[LitNetIsGreat]

It's quite a constant thing with Hardy, you could do far worse than to look at many of his other works to find the same thing, reaching towards his masterpiece of prose Jude the Obscure. Away from Hardy, you can certainly find the restlessness in the major works of the Brontes also Gaskell's North and South springs to mind as well.

[Uroboros1989]

I have to admit that I didn't "Far from the Madding crowd", however, even the title refers to the homeliness. I've read "Tess of the d'Urbervilles", i really recommend it, but the ambiance of fatalism can arouse mixed feelings. So i have to reat this one in order to compare both of them ;)

[kiki1982]

I have to admit that I didn't "Far from the Madding crowd", however, even the title refers to the homeliness. I've read "Tess of the d'Urbervilles", i really recommend it, but the ambiance of fatalism can arouse mixed feelings. So i have to reat this one in order to compare both of them ;)

Far from the Madding Crowd is much more positive. tt was not yet the Naturalism that Tess was. I have heard Jude the Obscure is still sadder than Tess. It is lying waiting to be read after I think The Notre-Dame of Paris. I personally cannot get more than two books like Tess in a year, because otherwise I get depressed, but I still like them when I read them. From time to time some really sad story makes you feel how lucky you are yourself.

Maybe Scott would be a good suggestion for this topic too, with spurts of course. The start of Ivanhoe is quite nice, once you gt past the very long description of the wood.

[LitNetIsGreat]

Far from the Madding Crowd is much more positive. tt was not yet the Naturalism that Tess was. I have heard Jude the Obscure is still sadder than Tess. It is lying waiting to be read after I think The Notre-Dame of Paris. I personally cannot get more than two books like Tess in a year, because otherwise I get depressed, but I still like them when I read them. From time to time some really sad story makes you feel how lucky you are yourself.


It is perfectly noble to weep for people from fiction because they are more real, than real people, from real life. I suffer for Jude all the time.

[mal4mac]

"A Midsummer Night's Dream" - can anyone be more homely, rustic, and delightful than Bottom and his mates?

Mozart's "The Magic Flute" has some of the most homely and enchanting characters I've encountered, especially Papagena, the bird catcher, and his chums. The musical backing is pretty good as well... "Papagena / Papageno!" is as homely and enchanting as it gets:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87UE2GC5db0

Radio 3 just started playing the overture to the Magic Flute while I was writing this. Spooky.

[Janine]

estelwen, welcome to this forum! I have read most of Hardy's books and I think all of them portray this rustic 'homeliness' quality....that is one of the charms of his writing. I would probably recommend to you "Under the Greenwood Tree"....not a tragedy and full of interesting characters of that nature. I also, would recommend "The Woodlanders" which is set among apple orchards. If you want something set on the moors and more stark, but beautifu,l you might read "The Return of the Native", although it goes back to being classified with his tragedies. I liked "Far From the Madding Crowd" emensely...and just saw the A&E movie version again....wonderfully depicted. Do you realise the story goes through all four seasons. "Under the Greenwood Tree" does this as well. I love "Tess" and "Mayor of Casterbridge" is excellent with all it's twists and turns in the plot. However, those are more fatalistic, even though both contain a great many rustic characters, which one would find very fascinating.

[johnw1]

In terms of pastoral style evocations of homeliness I'd recommend George Eliot and especially Silas Marner and Adam Bede.

[estelwen]

Hello all! And thank you for your posts... more good thoughts. mal4mac, I greatly enjoyed the tie-in to Mozart and "Midsummer's Night's Dream". Papageno/Papagena has always been one of my favorite operatic moments--although I am much more familiar with the piano sonatas, and find in them many things, homeliness not so much! Anger, passion, sighs, all of these of course expressed with the greatest elegance.

kiki, "Jude the Obscure" is in my top five books of all time. Yes, sad, yes, depressing, but real, or so it was to me. I cried several times in reading the book but it was not mawkish melodrama which was evoked; rather, true, considering thought. Janine, I'm glad you like the A&E version of "Madding Crowd"... I've been hesitant to watch any Hardy adaptations for fear of the usual disillusionment.

Again, thanks all, and I enjoyed reading your words.

[kiki1982]

Janine, I'm glad you like the A&E version of "Madding Crowd"... I've been hesitant to watch any Hardy adaptations for fear of the usual disillusionment.


I watched that one too and I enjoyed it. It's a little less symbolic than Hardy, but still, it evokes the 'homeliness' so well. Also beautiful images of the countryside.

A%E seemed to know what it was doing very well in the 90s. I dont know how they are doing now, but all their adaptations then were pretty good.