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What Members Thought
Remarkable for the hand of doom which hangs over the entire novel. One of the most shocking events in literature happens about a hundred pages before the end and once read it is never forgotten. I found my re-read meaningful.
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.
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This unrelentingly bleak and beautiful novel, Hardy's last, explores the inevitability and injustice of Victorian-era ideas on social class, education, morality, religion, and marriage through the life of ill-fated, working-class Jude Fawley. (Note: That's not a spoiler. That's just Hardy. Everyone seems to be ill-fated.) Also a successful poet, Hardy writes with richness and elegance. He is particularly adept at setting his scenes, and an oppressive atmosphere hangs over the plot throughout.
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Jan 17, 2011
Nina
marked it as to-read
Sep 20, 2012
Meagan
marked it as owned-but-not-yet-read
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review of another edition
Shelves:
classics,
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Aug 18, 2013
Safa
marked it as to-read
Sep 10, 2013
Franziska Koeppen
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Oct 12, 2013
Jennifer
marked it as to-read
Oct 25, 2015
Clayton Brannon
marked it as to-read
Aug 21, 2018
Jacqueline
marked it as to-read
Sep 30, 2018
Jennifer Rodriguez
marked it as to-read
