The Return of the Native-Thomas Hardy

[nothingman87]

Have any of you read The Return of the Native? Do you recommend it? I just finished The Mayor of Casterbridge, which was great. Any thoughts?

[den]

I've only read Jude the Obscure and I see you have too but that's the only book of his I've read.

[avid_reader]

The Return of the Native is the best read of Hardy . It is simply a master piece . hope you enjoy the world of clym , wildeve eustacia , thomassin and diggory venn.

[Black Flag]

I bought The Return of the Native a couple of months back, but havn't read it yet. Actually, judging from the first page it may take some time getting in to.
I have read, however, Jude the Obscure and Far From the Madding Crowd. If you've ever read any of Hardy's works you know that they are like a tootsie roll pop--it takes a while to get to the "tasty center" but it's worth sticking with.
Today I bought Tess of the D'Umbervilles. I hope that both it and The Return of the Native prove to be as worth the read as the others.

[nothingman87]

I'm about 1/3 of the way of the way through The Return of the Native. Like you said it takes a few pages for the plot to heat up. After about the third chapter I really started enjoying it though. I found this to be less of a case with Mayor of Casterbridge, which had a few slow spots, and a total non-factor with Jude the Obscure, which never came to a stand still. I believe Hardy's novels improved chronologically, with MOC, Tess, and Jude to be his finest. It's just too bad he stopped writing novels after Jude. Damn you critics!!!

[Black Flag]

Glad to hear that The Return... stands up to the rest of Hardy (or at least makes a showing). I'll read it after Tess...

[avid_reader]

its not a tragedy as 'Tess .. ' .. wouldnt break your heart or make you want to cry .. but 'The Return ..' is good in its own way.. No one whoz read it can forget Diggory 'the Reddleman' Venn . its been around 7 years since i've read it ... i can still see him in my mind's eye .

[emily655321]

Never read Hardy before, but I have Jude the Obscure planned for when I finish Bros. Karamazov (going for a lot of last works lately, I guess). Glad to hear it's worth it -- no one around me has read it, so I'm going in completely blind. Which is the best way, I suppose. -- But for you guys familiar with Thomas H, are there books of his you would recommend reading first? You know, a better introduction to his style, or should I just dive right in as planned?

[Black Flag]

Originally posted by emily655321
Never read Hardy before, but I have Jude the Obscure planned for when I finish Bros. Karamazov (going for a lot of last works lately, I guess). Glad to hear it's worth it -- no one around me has read it, so I'm going in completely blind. Which is the best way, I suppose. -- But for you guys familiar with Thomas H, are there books of his you would recommend reading first? You know, a better introduction to his style, or should I just dive right in as planned?

Jude the Obscure was Hardy's last novel (the damn critics drove him to quit writing prose) and his best one I believe. For that reason I wouldn't make it the first to read in your debut of Hardy. To me Jude... is a fitting coup d'grace of Hardy's works, as the tragedies seem to keep getting worse and worse (or better and better if you like tragedies ) as his books progress and Jude... is the worst (or best) I think. I would suggest Far From the Madding Crowd except that it may seem a little dull for a first time Hardy reader. Try Tess of the D'Urbervilles--God knows the characters are screwed up enough to make it interesting.

[emily655321]

Cool, thanks. I'll try that one before I go for the ever-so tragic (although, I am one of those tragedy-loving sadists when it comes to the treatment of characters )

[Black Flag]

yeah, me too. Tragedy seems to match my mood most of the time.

[emily655321]

Aww. *hugs for Missour-ah* I know what you mean. Perkiness in books tends to get to me. Like, "hey, this is *my* fantasy world, get all these cheerful people outta here!" Or maybe I'm just a Sade to the "fake" people to make up for being such a bleeding-heart in the real world.

[EAP]

The Return of the Native is the first real classic I ever read and todate is one of my favorite one's.

If anyone has a problem getting past the first 50 pages, I'd advice them to choose a page at random from the book [Preferably the first 200 pages] and then move backwards from there. Might seem pretty strange but It often works for me.

[Black Flag]

Originally posted by emily655321
Aww. *hugs for Missour-ah* I know what you mean. Perkiness in books tends to get to me. Like, "hey, this is *my* fantasy world, get all these cheerful people outta here!" Or maybe I'm just a Sade to the "fake" people to make up for being such a bleeding-heart in the real world.

Ditto. The strange thing, though, is that while I love "down-and-out books" like C&P and All Quiet on the Western Front I also (at times) like Jane Austen and the Bronte's. Sometimes I think I may be a schizo

By the way, how did you know that pronunciation of Missouri? I thought only native Missourians were familiar with it.

[nothingman87]

Black Flag, What part of "Ole Mizzou" are you from?