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Copy/paste the text below into your blog. <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31463.Far_from_the_Madding_Crowd?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Far from the Madding Crowd (Penguin Classics)" border="0" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1168276701m/31463.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31463.Far_from_the_Madding_Crowd?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">Far from the Madding Crowd</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15905.Thomas_Hardy">Thomas Hardy</a><br/><br/> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/9635034?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a> rating: 4 of 5 stars<br/>I recently got on a kick to read the old classics, although it was a review of <a href="/search/search?q= Tess of the D'Urbervilles&t=title"> Tess of the D'Urbervilles</a> I read on <a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com">Amazon</a> that led me to <a href="/search/search?q=Far from the Madding Crowd&t=title">Far from the Madding Crowd</a>. The poster suggested that readers start with "Crowd" before any other Hardy books, which I took to heart since I'm completely unfamiliar with his work. <br/> <br/>Although it took a while to get going, "Crowd" was one of the most pleasant surprises I have discovered yet this year. The book is what I would describe as "eloquent wit" - not overbearing, but light enough that I found myself laughing out loud at times. Any book pre-1900 that does this for me gets an automatic two thumbs up. <br/> <br/>In the edition I read, the author of the Afterword discussed Hardy's 2-3-4-3-2 writing style, which basically sums up how Hardy has a method to make every plot line come full circle. Although it could be hailed as predictable or unoriginal, reading this book made me realize how absolutely brilliant of a method this is - and one I could totally see myself ripping off down the road. The story is simple but the characters are both charming and realistic, and Hardy has a knack for knowing just the right amount of foreshadowing to use. <br/> <br/>What I loved the most about this book, though, had to be Hardy's thoughtful and profound descriptions of the English countryside - a part of the world I have never visited. But in one scene, Hardy as the omniscient narrator manages to make the unpolished eating habits of a farmer appear natural, simple, and reflective of the life he leads, turning a messy meal into a meaningful passage. Hardy truly cares for and respects his characters as if they were real people, which is a quality I wish more authors would strive to achieve. <br/><br/><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/645439?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>