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Dec 30, 2011

karen rated it:

there will probably be spoilers here. i will possibly rant. if you don't know what happens in tess, it is better not to read this review, although, frankly, to my way of thinking, hardy has so many superior novels, stories, poems, that you would be better served just avoiding this one and going on to one of the great ones like jude or mayor of casterbridge instead. but there is something sneaking up in me - a bubblingly vague feeling of well-wishing for poor doomed tess, that makes me think i mi More...

39 comments like (44 people liked it)

Feb 04, 2012

Steve rated it:

HEADLINE: A bad guy who is fabulously talented in bed and a good guy who fumbles sex can complicate life for a girl.

I ought to have my head examined for undertaking a review of Tess of the d'Ubervilles, the next to the last of Thomas Hardy's novels. My purpose in considering the idea was that I might perhaps persuade one other person to read this novel who might not otherwise. I am all about service to my fellow man. However, there are strange aspects of this novel that when d More...

4 comments like (18 people liked it)

Jun 10, 2011

Joel rated it:

There's this Lars von Trier movie called Dancer in the Dark, starring Björk of all people. She plays a poor factory worker in rural America. She's going blind (which is not great when you work around heavy machinery), but she needs to save up enough money to pay for an eye operation for her son. To escape her misery, she imagines elaborate musical sequences in her mind. She's also kind of an idiot.

Now, what Lars is going for here could be called misogyny or satire or sociopathy, but More...

43 comments like (33 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Cori rated it:

From my blog:

This book was fantastic. It was bleak and heartbreaking, but fantastic. I'm not sure I've ever been so sad for a main character before. But wow, Hardy can write. I'm going to outline the plot, including the ending, so please note that there are SPOILERS AHEAD.

Tess Durbeyfield, a poor girl, finds out she's actually the descendant of the once-mighty D'Urbervilles. She goes in search of work at her relatives' home, and meets Alec D'Urberville (no actual relation More...

6 comments like (54 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Melissa added it

This is mostly just a note for me-- I wrote it as I finished the book, and it definitely gives away the ending, but I wanted to post it here because I decided this would be a good place for me to keep track of my thoughts.
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I just finished reading Tess of the D'urbervilles, and I have to say I'm a little disappointed. Maybe disappointed is not the right word... but it's more than just bummed about the sad parts of the plot. Of course, I am sad about the way More...

5 comments like (21 people liked it)

May 17, 2010

notgettingenough rated it:

Not long ago I had a parting with my mother which was unexpectedly emotional. We both hastily pulled back from that, not being given to such displays with each other, but a few days later my mother wrote to say she was suddenly overwhelmed with the sense that there are more partings than meetings in life, if that were philosophically possible.

A mathematician, I fancy, would say this is a perfectly simple situation. If there is a parting, there must have been a meeting, just as for e More...

11 comments like (18 people liked it)

Jun 25, 2008

J rated it:

I could have been perfectly happy with Alec. Then Angel broke my heart. I had trouble making out the words through my white-hot indignant anger. Then I cried and cried and the type ran and all those painful words pooled down at the bottom of the page before running out onto my lap. I've never told anyone these things. Should I have? Does anyone care?

8 comments like (23 people liked it)

Oct 19, 2009

Shannon rated it:

Tess Durbeyfield is the eldest daughter of well-meaning but irresponsible working-class parents. Innocent, poor but hard-working, she lets her mother persuade her to go to the home of a d'Urbeville - thought to be a relative, with Tess's father the last of the ancient knightly house of d'Urbeville, now long extinct. Her father is convinced that others should call him Sir John and give him money; her mother, Joan, thinks that putting Tess in the way of gentle folk will win her a gentleman who'll More...

4 comments like (12 people liked it)

Jun 10, 2009

Bonnie rated it:

Barbara recommended Tess to me this summer.

This is truly a book for celebrating the beauty of our language. As I read, I rejoiced that English is my native language! Do try to read Tess as leisurely as possible.

Hardy is masterful at weaving an intricate plot. Tess is a resplendent character; she jumps from the pages of the book and emerges as a life force before our very eyes. Her beauty is palpable. The language caresses and jars. We are plunged into the life of s More...

10 comments like (6 people liked it)

Nov 24, 2008

Laura rated it:

When I first read this at 18, I hated it with the heat of a thousand suns. Tess was weak, gullible, and apparently doomed to plunge herself from one bad situation into another, while Hardy was clearly a fatalistic atheist. Why on earth would anyone read him? I’m still wondering what possessed me to read other novels of his — perhaps a perverse desire to see if they were just as bad. Whatever the reason, I did continue reading him and surprisingly enough became a fan...but never of Tess! That rem More...

10 comments like (13 people liked it)

Aug 13, 2007

S.A. rated it:

A few people noted that Hardy is a bit of a hard read, and that turned out to be true. His style is jagged and choppy, bouncing around quite a bit, and never giving you a true glimpse of some scenes important to know how to interpret (such as the question of Tess' seduction or rape by Alec d'Urberville). However, overall, it is an interesting story at least and I enjoyed the book. But considering the ending seemed to be rather ill-fitting to the rest of the tale, I'll have to pass on giving it a More...

6 comments like (6 people liked it)

Mar 06, 2011

Amber rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 15, 2009

Werner rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 27, 2009

Jill rated it:

Wow. I really enjoyed this book. I was just really impressed with Thomas Hardy. It seemed that he was somehow able to communicate his story on a whole level beyond just reading words on a page. Not being a writer myself I have trouble trying to describe what I mean, but it was very obvious to me that he is a cut above many who call themselves authors.

The story itself seems to me to be the definition of bitter irony. Tess is such a deep and interesting character to study. I was g More...

3 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 29, 2012

Blair rated it:

I simply adored this book - so much so, in fact, that I didn't immediately want to write about it; I don't think I'm going to be able to properly articulate the effect it had on me. I loved so many things about it: Tess herself, who I fell in love with almost straight away and empathised with throughout; the painfully realistic depiction of emotions and reactions; the glorious, romantic descriptions of the landscapes the characters inhabited (which made me yearn for country life even more than I More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 05, 2008

Nathan rated it:

I love reading Thomas Hardy just to see what kind of terrible things he's going to put his characters through; Tess of D'Urbervilles is no different.

I also love when authors build ambiguity into their works. Was Tess raped, or was she willingly seduced? The second half of the novel is a completely different read depending on which you believe.

Having read the book for a senior seminar course in college, I got the opportunity to take a nice deep look into it, and I still f More...

1 comment like (6 people liked it)

Oct 25, 2010

Rachel rated it:

Wow...I don't even know where to begin. Has a more sympathetic character ever been created? Has a more heart-breaking book ever been written? I first read Tess of the D'Urbervilles in my A.P. English class, and immediately fell so, so deeply in love. The story, the heroine, the villain, the even-worse villain, the sadness of it all - plotted flawlessly and written masterfully, Tess of the D'Urbervilles will leave any reader weeping both in despair and awe. Thomas Hardy, wherever you are, thank y More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 09, 2011

Sara rated it:

Well, I know that I’m might be in minority because I think that Hardy's writing style is not all that depressing and maybe this is because ,I don’t enjoy too much reading about perfect characters ,or only stories with good ending , I like to read things that mirror and tells us what life really is /was for some people and certain times and places , to know the disturbing facts but realistic ones and try to not compare them with the modern time we all leave on , I just want to feel the story whil More...

8 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 11, 2012

Vishy rated it:

One of my favourite friends during my college days told me about ‘Tess of the d’Urbervilles’ first. I never got around to reading it at that time. My friend told me a little bit about the plot and it looked sad. So, when I got the chance to read the book recently, I decided to take it. I did a readathon a couple of days back and finished reading it. Here is what I think.

What I think

‘Tess of the d’Urbervilles’ is about a young woman called Tess who is from a poor family. T More...

6 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 19, 2011

Care rated it:

My first Thomas Hardy! Found this edition at the library to accompany my free eBook/iBook version. For bookclub.

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Maria rated it:

I hated this passionately, which is perhaps unfair, as the book is really quite admirable for tackling the subject of double standards applied to male and female sexual behaviour. But this is one of the most depressing, pointless novels I’ve ever read in my life. I have loathed this book for ten years and I will not stop.

1 comment like (12 people liked it)

Nov 29, 2011

Rebecca rated it:

Is it sadistic of me to complain that Tess of the D’Urbervilles doesn’t end tragically enough? Up until the last couple of chapters, I was bound and determined to add this book to my list of All Time Favorites. Tears streaming, tissues gracing the floor all around me (husband checking in on me to make sure I was all right – but leaving fairly sure that I wasn’t), I gathered up my wits just after that particular moment (which shall not be named) and waited for the more tragic moment I knew was More...

10 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 31, 2009

Chris rated it:

Tess is one of the more depressive novels I've read lately. My wife will attest to the fact that I have a strange affinity to depressing stories. With that in mind, let me say that I really enjoyed this book.

The writing was at times a bit too much for me for the reason that I get annoyed at many 18th and 19th century novels...namely, that Hardy focuses far too much on minute descriptions and in-depth analysis of setting and location. Don't get me wrong, I love a vivid and lush env More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 18, 2010

ShaLisa rated it:

This book made me want to scream. Everything changed for me with the murder leaving me to question Tess - a strong, honest, undisputedly honorable woman who suffered a life-long penance while only a victim or a child-like, persuaded beauty who finally gave into temptation making her momentarily mad.

I regarded Tess with high esteem working hard to survive and, later, provide for her family and who seemed undeterred in her refusal of Alec although he had the power to make her life e More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 19, 2010

Kelly Jo rated it:

Here we have the story of world's most sentimentally ignorant and un-worldly girl (woman) who is sent to claim her connection to some ancient noble family at the bidding of her uneducated drunk of a father and her self-absorbed mother. At the Noble Manor, she is raped and has a child, thus tarnishing her reputation forever. We listen to her bemoan her state of affairs, her sinfulness, her complete belief that the rape was her fault. She goes to work, swears she'll never marry, meets Mr. Perfect More...

3 comments like (10 people liked it)

Apr 02, 2009

Rachel rated it:

I'm not one for Victorian Literature, in general. Hardy's Tess is the kind I especially dislike. Obviously this is a review based solely on my opinions, likes and dislikes; not an objective one of any kind.

He needed an editor. Of course this book was originally published in serial form, which is a reason (not a good one, but a reason nonetheless) for the meandering wording and description.

Writing and lack of hard-cutting editorial work aside, I simply don't share Hardy's More...

2 comments like (4 people liked it)

Aug 08, 2008

Elizabeth rated it:

No more! I cannot take another word. While set in the beautiful vales and fields of summer, it's a bleak story and I could not take another misfortune happening to Tess. Either that, or I could not take any more religious debates disguised as instruction or differences of opinion or the comment of an innocent girl, a "child of the soil."

The book definitely taught me more than I ever wanted to know about the workings of a dairy, but, I was interested at the same time. Hardy More...

14 comments like (14 people liked it)

Jun 24, 2008

Heather rated it:

This book my grandma and Abby talked about and I was curious. Thomas Hardy has a very poetic way of writing. I really enjoyed the deeper themes he brought up like "family names/heritage," "Acceptance," "religion," "love/lust," "perservering." I really connected with Tess as parts of her life I could really empathize with and she had such strength at times.
Some of my favorite lines: "better to have offense than truth concealed" More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jul 27, 2010

veronica rated it:

I tried so hard not to like this book. My first attempt at Hardy several years ago was unfruitful, but now I can't remember why. "Tess" is my first Hardy but now I can't wait to get "Jude"! The whole time I was reading this book, I couldn't help but have Richardson's "Pamela" peering over my shoulder. Where Richardson left off, I feel Hardy picked up - a strong moral message does not a novel make, and I think in Tess Hardy excells at fleshing out a woman as morally More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Feb 13, 2008

Nicole rated it:

My mother began reading this novel out loud to me during those long, tedious summer months, and thus began a new tradition. At first, we attempted to make this a family activity, but after the boys started cracking jokes at the descriptive Old English like Tess "bouncing her womanliness", we decided that our boys were not mature enough to appreciate good Victorian literature. However, the feminine members of our family loved this book. Nicole insists that this novel will make a classic More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

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