Tess of the D’Urbervilles in 100 books to read before you die

Jul 05, 2013 Lisa rated it it was amazing

Shelves: classics, favorites, victorian, guardian-1000, bbc-100

This is one of those classics where I assumed I knew the story before reading it. It has seeped into pop culture as an inter- class love- story, yet that is definitely an incorrect portrayal of this book.

Hardy takes an emotive look at beauty, women's rights, gender inequality and religion through the life of Tess Durbeyfield.

At age 18 Tess learns that her family is distantly related to the rich D'Urbervilles and is sent my her mother to work on their farm. Entitled and depraved Alec D'Urberville ...more

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Feb 15, 2019 Priya rated it it was ok

Sad, tragic, depressing, tragic novel.

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Apr 13, 2016 Elisabeth Stones rated it liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Oh my goodness, it is finally DONE, this interminable book, whose plot could easily fit into a volume half its size. This book which, like a bad rom-com, derives its bulk mostly from the titular character being actively passive, or not speaking directly to anyone about anything.

The most interesting thing in this book -- and I did truly enjoy these bits -- was the perspective on how the industrial revolution was impacting the Victorian countryside. Far, far more interesting than the flashes of Vi Oh my goodness, it is finally DONE, this interminable book, whose plot could easily fit into a volume half its size. This book which, like a bad rom-com, derives its bulk mostly from the titular character being actively passive, or not speaking directly to anyone about anything.

The most interesting thing in this book -- and I did truly enjoy these bits -- was the perspective on how the industrial revolution was impacting the Victorian countryside. Far, far more interesting than the flashes of Victorian morality in conflict with enlightenment thinking were the accounts of farm machinery (the butter churn at the dairy, the mechanical thresher) and how these labour-saving devices were met with mixed feelings by the workers, and led to increased expectations from the employers. Also of interest was the commentary on the system of hired workers and their housing arrangements. It's this information that I will take away from the novel and appreciate.

As for Tess, whom I initially liked (as we are meant to), I lost patience with her very quickly, as she spends huge amounts of the novel deflecting any kind of direct communication. And Angel Clare's "opened" mind is not as divorced from the morality of his youth as he might think, while he sees his own pre-marital consensual, multi-day sexual experience as forgivable, and Tess's one-time nonconsensual encounter as beyond the pale. Oddly Angel's more closed-minded parents that are the first to show real pity on Tess when they learn she was raped. Not, of course, that anyone speaks of it in those terms. The closest intimation that Tess may not have been responsible for Alec's actions (!?) is when Angel admits that she was "more sinned against than sinning," which is still not enough to keep him from recoiling from her.

I fully understand that Angel's hypocrisy and Tess's reticence are both part of the point of the novel and its illustration of Victorian sensibilities wreaking havoc on well-intentioned folks, but reading it for hour after hour, the book carrying on well after it had made its point, is a slog I'd not recommend to others. ...more

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