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It is a season of firsts, and this is my first Hardy. I wonder that I left him neglected so long. As has been observed by more astute readers than I, Hardy incorporates the natural world into his writing.
The gray half-tones of daybreak are not the gray half-tones of the day's close, though the degree of their shade may be the same. In the twilight of the morning, light seems active, darkness passive; in the twilight of evening it is the darkness which is active and crescent, and the light which...more

An empathetic portrayal of a woman who, per social mores at the time, could do no right. The story is plenty dramatic, but the little details/moments affected me the most: the christening of Sorrow, the description of milking all day in the rain, the insatiable steam thresher, the black flag.

It took me about a year to get through this book, and the final impetus to finish it was that it become a group read for Victorians. I understand that Hardy is viewed as a magnificent author with wondrous depictions of rural settings, but the characters in this book drove me bonkers. Tess... grow up. Angel... get over yourself. Alec... go take a cold shower. I know books are about so much more than the characters, but when there isn't a character to even remotely identify with, a book can be slo
...more


Jan 20, 2011
Meghan
marked it as to-read



Oct 28, 2011
Debbie Hoffman
marked it as to-read

Aug 20, 2012
Isabell
marked it as to-read-pd
Shelves:
audiobook,
classics,
unabridged,
english-lit,
19th-century,
set-england,
librivox,
public-domain,
big-books,
oldies

Aug 26, 2012
chunwui
marked it as to-read

Dec 04, 2012
d
marked it as to-read

Mar 21, 2013
Tara Renee
marked it as to-read


Mar 13, 2014
Kristina Simon
marked it as to-read

Jun 18, 2014
Halla
marked it as to-read