The Return of the Native in Classics Without All the Class

Apr 11, 2019 Anindyta rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Hardy’s best novel, they said. I grabbed this (since it’s free and I’m broke) because I love Hardy’s works. I love Tess and Far From the Madding Crowd, and it made me well aware of Hardy’s signature ending. He ended it with tragic. But how tragic is this novel about some native who return back home from Paris ? Does he find his hometown quite dull ? Does he bore himself to dead ? Or got flu in the outbreak and that’s how it ends ? Well, it’s what I asked myself before read this one.

The book is Hardy’s best novel, they said. I grabbed this (since it’s free and I’m broke) because I love Hardy’s works. I love Tess and Far From the Madding Crowd, and it made me well aware of Hardy’s signature ending. He ended it with tragic. But how tragic is this novel about some native who return back home from Paris ? Does he find his hometown quite dull ? Does he bore himself to dead ? Or got flu in the outbreak and that’s how it ends ? Well, it’s what I asked myself before read this one.

The book is about Eustacia Vye who’s so mysterious people called her a witch. Eustacia Vye wanted to escape Edgon Heath so much, she had enough of it. The dream was temporary over when her past lover, Damon Wildeve, eloped with Thomasin Yeobright. But, one day, she heard that Thomasin’s cousin named Clym was going home and visit his mother. She got excited after that, because she learnt that this man came from Paris. Despite her still complicated relationship with Damon, and ongoing terror from Reddleman who wanted to see Thomasin happy, she fixed this idea of her getting married with Clym and going to Paris.

Well, you can guess from that synopsis, who’s the one that I love in this book ? Eustacia. She is quite a challenge. She’s like an antihero, not a good character, but somehow I found her lonely. She just wanted to escape the loneliness and boredom. She wanted company to love and beloved while she only had her grandfather and a child friend named Charley (who’s so devoted by her). I really think Eustacia had depression from the beginning until the end. What I love about her then ? I love how she seems like never gave up to escape from the place. Maybe her dreams were stupid, maybe she were too princess-y, and not like Batsheba Everdene she’s not that strong, but they had this same boldness in their blood.

About the men who’s in love with Eustacia, I liked and hated them both. Clym and Damon, they both matched with Eustacia in their own ways. But of course, they didn’t match with Eustacia also. This love triangle between them made this book like a corny romance, but It’s beautiful. Sometimes you ended up pitying Clym, sometimes you ended up pitying Damon, sometimes you fell in love with Reddleman. Hardy mentioned a lot historical character in the book as a metaphor, and I quite at loss at first. But I got used to ignore it because the story itself is exciting. The writing is so damn good and poetic, the description of the country is so beautiful and made me want to play Hay Day again (lol). ...more

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Nov 19, 2022 Beth (bibliobeth) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Re-reading The Return Of The Native brought so many fond memories back of A Level English Literature which is where I first came across this beautiful novel. Furthermore, I couldn’t believe how much I had actually forgotten, including a narrative which is filled with tragedy and melancholy - this is pretty characteristic of Hardy so I shouldn’t have been too surprised! ⁣
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This is the story of Eustacia Vye, a strong, independent and determined woman who believes in deep romantic connections and ad ...more

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Nov 01, 2015 Yun Yi rated it it was ok

Very unfortunately overall I found this story boring. I believe Hardy's portrayal of nature - Egdon heath particularly - is brilliant, but the story plot simply doesn't seem appealing to me. The local dialects at the beginning made it difficult for me to get into story, and the main characters romantic game playing doesn't make much sense to me. I don't see much depth from most of main characters, esp Eustacia, who is simply a beautiful but superficial woman, who doesn't know what she is doing a ...more

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