A Laodicean

[108 fountains]

One reason I was first attracted to this website is that I can find many titles that simply are not available in bookstores or even for online purchase. I am a fan of Thomas Hardy and had already read all his better known works – Far from the Madding Crowd, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Tess of the D’Urbervilles, The Woodlanders, etc. So I was pleased to find access on this site to his lesser-known titles. I am nearing the end of one of them now, A Laodicean.

At first, I could see how this book would be less popular than some of his others. The first half moved slowly, in fact the first few chapters were incredibly slow. It starts off with an account of one of the main characters, an architect by trade, and goes into so much detail about the trade that I sometimes thought I was taking Architecture 101. It also gets into some detail about religious schisms and tensions that were taking place in England at the end of the 19th century (this might have been of local interest at the time of publication, but seems to just get in the way of the modern reader).

But as I prepare to embark on the final four chapters, I must say that in the second half of the book, Hardy’s genius for unexpected plot twists, revelations of secrets, and conflict within conflict, along with his brilliance in characterization and gift for both dialogue and narrative, comes on in full display. I really do appreciate this website giving me access to works that just are not easily available anywhere else.

I am curious if anyone else out there has ever read A Laodicean and, if so, what did you think about it?

[kev67]

The description of the architecture trade and the religious tensions sound like they may be more interesting to me than the plot twists. I enjoy Hardy's descriptions of work folk activities. He must have studied them closely. Of course, Hardy had been an architect himself.

Where does the title A Laodicean come from?

[mal4mac]

It comes from the Biblical reproach to the Laodiceans for being lukewarm about religious practices. In Hardy's novel the heroine, Paula Power, can't face baptism by total immersion, hence she's "a Laodicean".

Hardy was an architect for some period of time, so you can't blame him for using all that knowledge in one of his many novels. I haven't seen him do it that much elsewhere, although "Jude" has quite a lot of stone masonry going on. This is quite a late novel, I wonder if he was getting nostalgic about his old profession? If you take "Under the Greenwood Tree", an early novel, there isn't a hint of architecture in it! (Maybe he just wanted to escape the hard grind of the day job at that point...)

[kev67]

It comes from the Biblical reproach to the Laodiceans for being lukewarm about religious practices. In Hardy's novel the heroine, Paula Power, can't face baptism by total immersion, hence she's "a Laodicean".

Hardy was an architect for some period of time, so you can't blame him for using all that knowledge in one of his many novels. I haven't seen him do it that much elsewhere, although "Jude" has quite a lot of stone masonry going on. This is quite a late novel, I wonder if he was getting nostalgic about his old profession? If you take "Under the Greenwood Tree", an early novel, there isn't a hint of architecture in it! (Maybe he just wanted to escape the hard grind of the day job at that point...)

I think Hardy's father was a stone mason.

Presumably Paula Power was a Baptist, or wanted to convert to being a Baptist.

[108 fountains]

Yeah, it's an unfortunate title though because 1) you have to look the word up in a dictionary, and 2) Paula's religious conflict plays a minor role in her overall character, and the larger religious conflict in the story plays only a small part in the overarching theme of the story, which is the conflict between tradition and modernism.

[Whosis]

I'm not sure what website you're talking about. Would you recommend it?

[108 fountains]

Sorry I wasn't clear. I just mean this website - onlineliterature.com. If you click on the link to "Authors," you have more than 300 to choose from, and thousands of titles.