Please post your thoughts and questions on The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy. You can find the online copy here.
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Please post your thoughts and questions on The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy. You can find the online copy here.
Book Club Procedures
I love the Return of the Native and consider it one of Hardy's best novels. I have read it about 6 times, and plan to read it again, later in October, anyhow, so the result of the bookclub probably won't matter much for me, except that if people post about it, so will I, and it would be fun to share. I find all of his works haunting, but this one most of all, since he refers to the superstitions of the country folk, the character of Eustacia and other Pagan things! And as most of it takes place in Autumn, it is a fitting book to read this time of year and I hope it becomes the book of the month read for us all. :nod:
i have also read this book but its been awhile so i will try to reread it. Has anyone seen the movie with Catherine Zeta-Jones in it? It was one of her first movies.
Yes, I have seen the movie, and own the DVD, and watch it often...in fact, I make it a habit to watch it every late October! It is a condensed version, but very well done, very well acted, and bleak scenery which really sets the whole tone of the story. She played Eustacia perfectly, and after watching this, I could actually feel for Eustacia...more on that, later, if we end up reading and discussing it!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lady19thC
Yes, I saw C.Z. Jones in that movie and I knew she was going to be a star!!!
I really want to read "Return of the Native" but just didn't get the chance.
I've never read the book, and it's on my booklist. :p I've read the summary, so I'll defnitely be reading it this October. (I'm currently reading on something else.)
I am officially starting to read TROTN today!
Just wanted you to know! :D
Some extremely memorable descriptionary passages. Even when Hardy is writing about some supposedly mundane task, you can be pretty sure that he will add something unique, a clever twist, that will make reading through it not a chore but as pleasurable as the more fast-paced passages. There isn't much that happens in the way of full-blown action, yet Hardy manages to pack the book with enough intrigue and tension that it reads more like a John Grisham meleodrama than a relatively dry social satire.
I remember reading into the wee hours of the morning, propped on a uncomfortable chair and my legs getting numb from being still for too long. And during that read I ran the whole gamut of emotions, from extreme indigination to out-right fury at Eustacia's antics whilst chuckling at the brilliant way Hardy manages to imbue irony in his prose.
I have never read this and just recently really got turned on to Hardy's poetry... will definately check this out!
It's too hard, there's too many words. At least in the first 2 chapters.
Papayahed, it's a slow start but once you get past the first two chapters I think you'll really enjoy it. :)
Should be reading it shortly, got another book to finish first :D
I'll take your word for it and keep trudging along. I don't want to offend anyone but if next months book is by and englishman I am not reading it!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Darlin
I agree with Papaya that it is a veeeeerrrryyyyy slow start! read the first three chapters and yawned all the way through... I think that is Hardy's problem in general; he tries so hard to impress and be 'literary' that his readers get lost in the books.
:lol: Honest, it'll get better!Quote:
Originally Posted by papayahed
I have read 1/3 of the book and the plot is getting a little interesting even though Hardy's wordy, detailed descriptions are not! ;)
I am begining to wonder if Eustacia and Wildeve are the most self-obssessed characters I have ever come across (only in Literature! ;)). What they call love is surely nothing more than a confirmation of their own vanity and/or of their power on others?
I gotta admit I quite enjoyed chapter 2... I'm curious about the title... I'm waiting for a Native to return, so far no one of that description seem to have appeared...
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Originally Posted by Jay
Yeah, I'm picturing a caveman type guy with a bone in his nose. When does he return??
I was more picturing someone ... less :p native, they're talking about the Norse gods at the bonfire, was kind of hoping someone more exciting than a caveman... why not turn it into a fantasy and have a Viking in the 19th century? :p
I guess that kinda makes more sense.....
:p YES! :D
HA! this could turn into a totally different book....
What do you mean? You wanna say it is NOT a sci-fi novel with a few fantasy features? :eek:
No, it is about a Native American coming back home after playing baseball for a major league club. Keep reading! :p
It is? And why does your siggy sound familiar... have I read that in a book recently? :D
*gasps* You read??? 'Get outta here!' ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay
Still toiling away...
What are 'heath-croppers'? Till I read the above, I thought they were people working in the heath...Quote:
They were surrounded by dusky forms between four and five feet high, standing a few paces beyond the rays of the lantern. A moment's inspection revealed that the encircling figures were heath-croppers, their heads being all towards the players, at whom they gazed intently.
Thought the scene where Eustacia gets pricked in the Church very funny; reminded me of The Crucible.
Yes, I do read, it happens... once in a while ;)
(reporting I've finished Book One)
Talking about heath... I still need to find out what that actually means :D
Heath..........Aren't those candy bars?Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay
Do you crop candy bars?:D
Sure, don't they grow in fields?? Wouldn't that be beautiful: Starbursts as far as the eye could see.......
KitKats... ;)
Someone said KitKats???
:D
I am a regular KitKat cropper... Wherever I see them, I gather them and take home for later on consumption.
Heath
I have finished reading it. And I am very disappointed with it over all. A very weak storyline, which is slightly better than a soap opera in heaths at best of times, characters without much depth, Hardy's over-indulgence in descriptions and words add up to a very poor reading, I think.
Now I am wondering how I would feel if I read Tess and Madding Crowd; especially latter which I thought is the best work of Hardy.
Both of those are on my to read list, now I'm not so sure...
Do I have to finish this book? Isn't it november yet?
Just checking in. Sadly I never finished this. I read it several years ago and really enjoyed it even to the point of wanting to read more of Hardy's books but I just couldn't read it a second time plus I was so busy.
I'm curious did anyone else finish the book besides Scheherazade?
Definitelly not on time but I'm still trying, lol.
But to answer your question: not me... not yet (sense the optimism? ;))
I hope that I will complete it in next two or three days before my holidays are over....
I'm reporting that there's 2 more books to go... so far I'm thinking I could make it.
I hope Eustacia is a very uncommon name anywhere. The name's making me go maaaad! Eustacias (personalities) should be banned.