Jude the Obscure
by Thomas Hardy
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Read in May, 2008
recommended to Katherine by:
Jeanne
My former boss gave me this book with a post-it note on the cover that said, "Very Sad," and far from having any genuine interest in reading it, I brought it with me on the train to New York because it is the smallest book I own and could fit in my backpack. I read Tess of D'Urbervilles, also by Hardy, a couple years ago and don't remember being this engrossed at all! Jude the Obscure was amazing. I couldn't put it down.
My former boss was right, however -- the story is full of suf...more
My former boss was right, however -- the story is full of suf...more
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Read in April, 2008
This is one of the most painful stories I have ever read. That being said, Hardy focuses on several themes that require great reflection. On the one hand, it can definitely be taken as a morality play where characters who commit atrocious acts reap devastating consequences. On the other hand, it could be argued Hardy was casting a large part of the blame for the tragedies in the novel on society and their lack of acceptance to Jude and Sue for their acts of impropriety. On this level, the bo...more
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To continue our readings of Thomas Hardy's novels, my mother read Hardy's final novel. The preface of this book says that Hardy became so irritated with those pesky critics explaining what he meant by this and that, and what he was trying to prove that he decided to put an end to his writing career. What a shame!
However, I do see how this novel was deemed so controversial, even more so than Tess. The couple just live together while having children without ever being married. This is common n...more
However, I do see how this novel was deemed so controversial, even more so than Tess. The couple just live together while having children without ever being married. This is common n...more
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Read in July, 2006
My summer reading is still going strong. It took me a lot longer than I thought it would to finish Jude the Obscure, but I did and I really liked the book. It was a slow read not because it was boring, but because there wasn't a suspense filled novel. There was never a part when I needed to know what was going to happen next. Also, the book is depressing as hell and I'd probably contemplate suicide if I read it too quickly. The main, obvious theme in the book is the institution of marriage in Vi...more
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Read in May, 2007
This is Hardy and it is bleak. There's almost a sick pleasure one can derive from watching so attractive a character as the large-hearted, brilliant and dedicated Jude struck over and over by the sledgehammers, or perhaps whips, of life, society, women, and senseless tragedy - but, as with most S&M, the pleasure fades as the audience realizes the point is not the attractiveness of the character in the lead role, but the amount of pain the secondary characters can inflict on him or her.
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Read in January, 2001
recommended to Jessica by:
the guy at the crisis hotlinerecommends it for: YOU, if you've finished all the chicken soup for the soul books already
If I remember correctly, this book is a real laff riot, with a touchingly sweet and uplifting message. I think I read somewhere that Hardy was feted in the streets of his hometown Christminster and given the Feelgood Author of 1895 Award for this baby, and rightly so! What a heartwarming gift for someone who's feeling down, such as a student who's just lost his financial aid, or someone you know who's trying to make an unconventional relationship work despite social strictures. Okay, full disclo...more
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42 comments
i've avoided thomas hardy for most of my life: first from ignorance, then on the advice of a few friends whose taste i trust. then i read an inspirational article in the tls this summer, on the relationship -- both personal and working -- between hardy and henry ibsen, which directed me towards jude the obscure. the description i found there led me to hope that the novel's themes (anticlericism, the emerging modern person, etc) would be right up my alley. so i took the dive.[return][return]i wis...more
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Read in April, 2008
recommended to Mary by:
Tricia Taylor
I enjoyed this book for the characters of Jude and Sue; all the other characters, except perhaps Arabella, seem to be shadows when compared to Jude's and Sue's intensity and brilliance. Frankly, I didn't understand any of the references to the classics on which Jude set so much of his hopes. In that way, the book made me feel rather stupid. The other part that was difficult is what happened to their children. I don't think I've ever read something so heartbreaking. Thankfully, Hardy handles it w...more
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Read in July, 2008
Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure (1895) has the careful pace, structure, and proportions of classical tragedy, while its themes -- marriage, social propriety, religion, education -- are essentially Victorian. But its treatment of sexuality, tame and oblique by modern standards, so severely shocked Hardy's contemporary audience that the resulting uproar drove the author from writing another novel. Far from being salacious, though, Jude painfully lingers on the difficult and even dead...more
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Read in January, 1995
recommended to Joe by:
John Rehling (friend)recommends it for: anyone
One of the best novels I've ever read. Absolutely pulls no punches--one of the most despairing endings in literary history. But so powerful and so honest about life.
Jude Fawley is born poor and raised to be a stonemason, like his father, despite his strong interest and talent in academic subjects. He becomes a skilled craftsman and one day travels to the great university town nearby and, for the first time, sees the university and realizes what he's missing--what should've been his destin...more
Jude Fawley is born poor and raised to be a stonemason, like his father, despite his strong interest and talent in academic subjects. He becomes a skilled craftsman and one day travels to the great university town nearby and, for the first time, sees the university and realizes what he's missing--what should've been his destin...more
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Read in March, 2008
I bought this book so long ago. During my sophomore year in high school, I was in Kaufman and Hart's "The Man Who Came to Dinner," a play littered with literary allusions. I don't know why, but I decided that I was going to make my way through them.
Eight years later, I have completed the first of the books, and it was great. Last fall, I read "Far from the Madding Crowd," but this was much better. Mostly over 400 pages of Victorian prose is not easy to get through, ...more
Eight years later, I have completed the first of the books, and it was great. Last fall, I read "Far from the Madding Crowd," but this was much better. Mostly over 400 pages of Victorian prose is not easy to get through, ...more
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Read in January, 1990
recommends it for:
anyone
It's a classic. The edition I own is actually a British paperback that I bought in 1976, when I was 20. I started it at that time but didn't finish it; picked it up again 10 or 15 years later and read it through. I found the story gripping but was irritated by the arbitrary-seeming strokes of misfortune that afflict the main character. I've since read several of Hardy's earlier novels ("Far From the Madding Crowd", "The Mayor of Casterbridge", "A Pair Of Blue Eyes&qu...more
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Read in January, 2000
recommends it for:
men
Jude is every man. He is obscure, in that his choices make no sense, and yet complete sense. He manages to impregnate a local woman he has no aspirations to marry, and yet does. He abandons hope for a rewarding and successful career. Then he carries on with his cousin, mainly because she is a way out of his dull life. All along, we are reminded of what could have been, if only this man could settle for one woman. He meets the best end for a character I've ever read, and one that is more th...more
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This one killed my Hardy reading streak. Jude is the male version of Tess of the D'Urbervilles: witless, gullible, and uber-dramatic. He wallows in self pity while stumbling through his highly improbable, moronic existence, which reads like a twisted version of "A Series of Unfortunate Events." Suicide? It's a given. Adultery? You bet. Incest, polygamy and infectious disease? Yes indeedy. I was so hardened by the grisly events of previous chapters that I found myself rejoicing a...more
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Read in January, 2008
This book is really a soul-searching one. He looks very deeply into human motivation and human behavior. Young man has dreams, works hard, has good luck, has bad luck, has severe disappointments, tries to make things work, tries to make relationships work, has strong sense of responsibility for others.
In spite of the main character's strong will to live and to achieve his dreams, I found the book depressing. Don't know whether this very black view of life was maybe typical of the period. Writt...more
In spite of the main character's strong will to live and to achieve his dreams, I found the book depressing. Don't know whether this very black view of life was maybe typical of the period. Writt...more
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Read in May, 2002
I don't quite know why I like this book so much, which is why it gets three stars even though, in my heart, it feels like four. I just love it: I love its histrionics, I love its abundant anvil-like metaphors, I love its earnest desire to promote class consciousness, and dudes, I especially love the scene with the note and the children and the coathooks. You know what I mean. That scene is awful and hilarious. This is not to say that I value Hardy for camp, so-bad-it's-good reasons: I really...more
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this book annoys me to an incredible degree, forced to study Hardy at college, i developed a loathing for his novels that has never faded. perhaps the most trying element is 'young father Time' and idea that 'dun because we are too menny' - what on earth was Hardy thinking? a child can spell 'because' but not 'done' or 'many'?
his poetry is all right, mind.
the best thing I ever learnt about TH was that when he was born, the midwife thought he was dead and chucked him into the bin. From...more
his poetry is all right, mind.
the best thing I ever learnt about TH was that when he was born, the midwife thought he was dead and chucked him into the bin. From...more
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Read in April, 2007
Just about killed me. An incredible, crushing novel. Hardy writes what I feel. If I didn't know any better about Hardy, I'd think this novel was the 19th-century "Requiem for a Dream," the equivalent of an anti-emotional, anti-adultery PSA. That's how harsh it is. I know a lot of people were made to read it in high school, but then again, I had the weird childhood. The epitome of a tragic figure, Jude Fawley is shut down at every turn... or built up slightly, only to lose everything. T...more
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This is the kind of book that spans the critical reader's spectrum: from a total and complete loathing of the novel to recognizing it as a masterful writing work of a literary genius.
Yes, it's terribly depressing, and it doesn't pull any punches with reality itself. It's not a Victorian gala affair, nor is it a Dickensian ending.
Hardy possesses a great voice for narration, and an even better voice for description and characterization:A powerful novel that still resonates 12 years later...more
Yes, it's terribly depressing, and it doesn't pull any punches with reality itself. It's not a Victorian gala affair, nor is it a Dickensian ending.
Hardy possesses a great voice for narration, and an even better voice for description and characterization:A powerful novel that still resonates 12 years later...more
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Read in January, 2007
I'm trying to get around to reading some classics (or those 'considered' to be) and, on rummaging around the charidee stores, found this one.
Wasn't sure what to expect as I had 'Mayor of Casterbridge' ruined for me at school but I enjoyed this one. Although Jude seems a bit to engrossed in himself it has some interesting takes on societies pressures and I must say I was genuinely taken aback at the death of the children. Really wasn't expecting that. Curse you Disney and your happy endings...more
Wasn't sure what to expect as I had 'Mayor of Casterbridge' ruined for me at school but I enjoyed this one. Although Jude seems a bit to engrossed in himself it has some interesting takes on societies pressures and I must say I was genuinely taken aback at the death of the children. Really wasn't expecting that. Curse you Disney and your happy endings...more
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 3.87 (2916 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 4.28 (74 ratings) number of reviews: 333popular shelves
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"I like reading and all that, but a crave to get back tot he life of my infancy and all its freedom. (Sue Bridehead)"
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