Jude the Obscure in The Readers Review: Literature from 1714 to 1910

Sep 03, 2012 Kim rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: re-read, audiobook

This is one of the three novels by Thomas Hardy which I read when I was at school and university. While it's not the one that made me decide I didn't like Hardy - that honour goes to Tess of the D'Urbervilles - I was not motivated to read it again. However, thirty five years later I've developed a new appreciation for Hardy, thanks to a wonderful audiobook of The Return of the Native narrated by Alan Rickman. I'm now slowly working my way through his novels, including the ones I've read before.
This is one of the three novels by Thomas Hardy which I read when I was at school and university. While it's not the one that made me decide I didn't like Hardy - that honour goes to Tess of the D'Urbervilles - I was not motivated to read it again. However, thirty five years later I've developed a new appreciation for Hardy, thanks to a wonderful audiobook of The Return of the Native narrated by Alan Rickman. I'm now slowly working my way through his novels, including the ones I've read before. I listened to an audiobook edition narrated by Stephen Thorne. The narration was excellent. Unlike most male narrators I've listened to, Thorne does a very good job with young female voices.

The Jude of the title is Jude Fawley, a sensitive orphan with a passion for learning who grows up to become a stonemason. Jude dreams of becoming a scholar at Christminster - Hardy's version of Oxford. The narrative centres on his relationship with two women: the earthy and resilient Arabella Don and the intellectual and ethereal Sue Bridehead, whom Jude sees as his soulmate. The novel is also an impassioned critique of Victorian attitudes towards religion, marriage and sexual morality. The views which Hardy has Jude and Sue express concerning these particular issues put the author well ahead of his time - something which Hardy overtly refers to in the text on more than one occasion.

Jude is like the biblical Job, a parallel which Hardy makes explicit by having Jude recite from the Book of Job towards the end of the novel. Put briefly, nothing goes right for Jude and when things go wrong, they go badly wrong. My heart ached for him, although to some extent the tragedy is so relentless that my response to how Jude was affected was numbed. I had a sneaking admiration for the unappealing Arabella, who at least knew what she wanted and went after it with gusto. Sue, on the other hand, enraged me for most of the novel with her inconsistency and her inability to engage on an emotional level. But she is a brilliant, complex character and it's difficult not to feel her pain.

Let's face it, this is not a book to read if you're feeling down. On the other hand, contemplating the misery of Jude Fawley's life might make you feel that your lot in life is not so bad after all. I've given this 4-1/2 rather than five stars because at times I felt that the message of the novel overwhelmed the characters. However, it's still an amazing read.

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Nov 25, 2020 Ami rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, aggravating, fiction, amazing-incredible, victorian-lit, 1001-books

~2.5-3 stars

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Apr 20, 2011 Jan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, 1001-books

I am glad I didn't read this book when I was young, because I'm sure that like Tess of the D'Urbervilles I would have found it too dark. However almost forty years have intervened since I read Tess. And a lot of living. And a lot of people. And perhaps the ability to stand and observe a picture, without being swallowed up by it. In Jude the Obscure we see a young man, and his cousin, his female counterpart, on their journeys through life. Often buffeted and frustrated by what life throws at them ...more

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Dec 01, 2012 Denise rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, kindle-owned, classic

This was my first Hardy novel and it won't be my last, with any luck. I don't know if all of his books are like this, as I've been told this was particularly gloomy, but I did like it. There wasn't really a plot, per se, but it was interesting more in the way a soap opera gets you involved in the character's lives. The women in the story are appalling, the men are pathetic, and the situations are tragic- but it all made for good reading. ...more

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Mar 23, 2011 Lily rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Have "enjoyed" the online discussion. A tragic story, of course. But Hardy brings so much to his novels, that they are always worth the investment. ...more

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Jan 18, 2014 Susan from MD rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Yikes, it is bleak. Jude is an orphan who grows up to lead an obscure life. He has dreams that are thwarted, loves that are lost and beliefs that shift over time. The writing is lovely, but the story felt a little long/repetitious to me in some places. The characters are an interesting mix of qualities and the examination of their thoughts as well as actions is part of what Hardy does so well.

**POTENTIAL SPOILERS**

Jude the orphan is as sad as any Dickens orphan ever written. Poor little guy real Yikes, it is bleak. Jude is an orphan who grows up to lead an obscure life. He has dreams that are thwarted, loves that are lost and beliefs that shift over time. The writing is lovely, but the story felt a little long/repetitious to me in some places. The characters are an interesting mix of qualities and the examination of their thoughts as well as actions is part of what Hardy does so well.

**POTENTIAL SPOILERS**

Jude the orphan is as sad as any Dickens orphan ever written. Poor little guy really isn't loved or wanted and doesn't fit in with the "average folk" in the village, though his aunt raises and cares for him and a few others in town take a sporadic interest in him. He has the goal of a classical education at the equivalent of Oxford - and he teaches himself Latin and Greek! His intelligence sets him apart from others and eventually draws him to his cousin Sue, who also has an interest in classical literature, myths and principles. The feeling of being different plays out in many ways for both of these characters, as they often dispense with social mores of the time. Their love of intellectual debate on religion and principles to live by is lovely to read. It is very apparent that these two belong together and don't relate well to others.

Jude and Sue are engaged by each other physically and intellectually and, to some extent (particularly for Jude) emotionally. Sue is an odd duck. She is very independent and looks askance at religion, marriage and most of other accepted conventions. But, she is so extreme, inconsistent and difficult to follow that I had a hard time really liking her. For all her intellectual adherence to her principles and beliefs, she seemed to lack the emotional component - unlike Jude, who sought acceptance and love, in addition to intellectual growth. She is so focused on maintaining her independence and promoting her own beliefs that she can be off-putting to others. This obsessive quality borders on (or crosses into) mental illness. However, later in life she becomes fanatically religious - driven by guilt of her perceived sins - and her mental illness becomes more profound (understandably given some tragic turns).

In many ways, the views of marriage espoused by Jude and Sue would be in the mainstream today, but at the time (1890s) it was scandalous. Sue completely rejected religion and the construct of marriage; Jude was less strident on both but was certainly out-of-step with the prevailing views of proper behavior. Certainly women are better regarded now and the notion of obedience to one's husband has, for many people, given way to a balance of power. Yet, the views of marriage guide the story to lurch from one reality to another and then to another. Jude and Sue marry others for honor and desperation, respectively, then divorce and live together, then remarry their original spouses again for honor and desperation. The gossip about their unusual living arrangements affected their ability to work and live where they want. Their respective spouses (Arabella and Richard) play interesting roles - often manipulating the situation to their own advantage.

The lack of opportunity for poor and middle-class students was highlighted, as both Jude and Sue could have been in the academic circles. Instead, they were common laborers - obscure in the eyes of society. Those with whom they worked and lived among thought them strange; those they would have liked to interact with barely acknowledged their existance. They hoped for more for their children, but a horrible turn of events ended those dreams and plunged Jude and Sue into a new level of obscurity - poverty for him and subjugation for her.

This story also highlights the consequences of early actions. Jude marries Arabella because he thinks she is pregnant - she isn't. Sue marries Richard largely because Jude is already married when they meet and she is afraid that she has nowhere to go. Those early actions have far-reaching consequences that change the course of their lives, individually and as a couple.

I've left out details of the horrible tragedy, as it really is something to experience. I give it a 4/5 because of the aforementioned repetition and because I wish Sue had been less extreme, so that I could have enjoyed her character more. ...more

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Jul 30, 2011 aotel rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I cried and I still cry for Jude because I can't help it but I see myself in him the more I live. Jude is so unrelenting in suffering that it is inevitable that Father Time would arrive and take every little thing away. Susan what a stupid, superstitious, selfish fool but I loved you too and was excited to see you just like Jude was. I got palpitations every time you entered but you betrayed Jude and me with your ideas of self-punishment. Susan if you and I had stayed longer together maybe, just ...more

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