Hello: I'd like to ask the group which Thomas Hardy book they would recommend. I'v read Dickens, Austen, Hemmingway, Tolstoy, D H lawerance, Jack London, Bonte, etc but somehow missed Mr. Hardy. I could go to the web and check him out, but that's too impersonal and also I don't want to read 'spoilers'. Thanks very much for any advise!
Jim C.

I loved Far from the Madding Crowd

Tess D'Urberville

I love Hardy. For me, its always Tess...

I love Jude the Obscure and Far from the madding crowd.

Yeah Jude the Obscure was great.

Definatly Far from the madding crowd or Tess. I also enjoyed Underneath the Greenwood Tree

I loved Far from the Madding Crowd and The Mayor of Casterbridge.

oh yes the Mayor of Casterbridge is fantastic also :)

Hi and thanks for all the suggestions. I guess it's a pick between Tess, Jude and Far and Mayor. It'll be fun to read each one in turn. I'm coming off from Dickens, so that will be interesting too! How is Dickens different then Hardy? I assume more 'psychological'. Thanks again.

Dickens are more of the city whereas Hardy is country (Dorset)

I've heard a lot of Dickens fans call Hardy 'melodramatic'. Having not read any Dickens' novels *cue gasps of horror - this is something I plan to correct soon!* I am not qualified to compare, but given the subject of Dickens' novels, I'm sure he can get a little melodramatic in places too. I'd imagine that mutual themes such as the injustness of the British class system, poverty and morality, etc. crop up often.

Hmmm, I'm a big fan of Dickens and I'd say his novels are very melodramtic. I use that word not in a disparaging way. He's romantic and sentimental especially with his female characters. It can wear thin at times.

Hogen10 wrote: "Hmmm, I'm a big fan of Dickens and I'd say his novels are very melodramtic. I use that word not in a disparaging way. He's romantic and sentimental especially with his female characters. It can we..."

If this is the case, Dickens and I should get along just fine as this is what I love about Hardy!

Hardy doesn't do miracle solutions to overwhelming problems and happy endings for his protagonists like Dickens. He's much darker. "Far From the Madding Crowd" is his "lightest" novel.

Definitely recommend Tess, Mayor of Castorbridge and Jude. I'm currently reading Far from the Madding Crowd and enjoying it as well.

I also concur that Dickens is highly melodramatic. Wonderfully so, but certainly no less melodramatic than Hardy.

Thanks to Judith for the "happy Hardy". Just now I don't want a too dark book, so I'll try "Madding Crowd".

I did enjoy Madding Crowd, but it didn't feel completely like a traditional Hardy. I've always thought that as it was his first book, he compromised his style for what he thought his audience wanted.

I loved The Mayor of Casterbridge, great story.

Amanda wrote: "I've heard a lot of Dickens fans call Hardy 'melodramatic'. Having not read any Dickens' novels *cue gasps of horror - this is something I plan to correct soon!* I am not qualified to compare, but..."
Dickens wrote best about his own urban British middle class with few successful characters of the working class (Bill Sykes, a violent criminal, may have been a notable exception, likewise Sam Weller, a valet which may have been the worker that Dickens understood best as he employed valets & could observe them closely. A pity that no valet left us a pictue of Dickens.). Hardy created some memorable working class characters & scenarios, esp Jude the Obscure, but was always trying to fit into the middle class both in his writing & in his personal life, like Jude...