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The Return of the Native

Thomas Hardy

Start date: October 1, 2015

Finish date: October 31, 2015

Discussion leader: Pink

Why we're reading this: October 2015 Old School Group Read
[close] October 2015 Old School Group Read

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What Members Thought

Nov 03, 2022 Erin rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, 19th-century, uk-and-ireland, audiobook, catching-up-on-classics-group, language-english

The descriptions, the heath itself, were the best parts of the book for me, and that I listened to the book read by Alan Rickman, make it a pleasure to listen to some passages time and again. The story, however, relies far to much on coincidence for its developments. And for all the nuanced descriptions, the characters themselves were too much a single note, type, or attitude, which was especially frustrating in characters one feels would have surely changed in some way over the course of events ...more

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Oct 31, 2015 Brenda G rated it really liked it

I picked this book because it was part of a challenge. And a challenge it was. The first three chapters detail the scenery in the English countryside in the 1800's. At the end of Chapter 3 and we still hadn't been introduced to a character yet, I was reminded of how dependent we have become on receiving our information in short, concise bites. Once I got used to the style, I became more and more involved in Hardy's word choice. I found myself rereading several sections in order to understand the ...more

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Sep 18, 2014 Kallie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

We read this in high school. It went right over my head for the most part, but even so I loved the evocation of place and character. A later reading gave me greater appreciation for Hardy's style, how he describes Eustacia with such appreciation yet does not gloss her faults, namely her pride and impatience. He clearly sees her as awakened, at a stage bound to leave one unsatisfied yet unable to move further; stuck. This novel fits right into the romantic tragedy category, but not in any flowery ...more

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