The Return of the Native

[Kelly_Hunsaker_reads]

Review Read for Victober 2017.

I am truly obsessed with Hardy. This is my third Hardy book (all read this month, thanks to the joyful experience I had reading Far From the Madding Crowd). This is my least favorite of the three but was still a stunning experience. Hardy writes clever, unique and intriguing passages that make me listen closer. I find myself holding my breath anticipating the next tragic event, or the next moment of love and joy. He takes me on a tour of my emotions and makes me think about what it means to be human. He gives me a sense that people have always been the same -- we want love, we are cruel, we are insecure, we think.

Not only is Hardy in touch with what makes us human, but he is fully aware of the surroundings in which we live. His ability to describe the world in which his characters live is breathtaking. The pictures in my mind are more vivid than with any other author that I have read.

[Diane]

Rating: 4 stars


As all Hardy's novel, this one is brilliantly written and depressing as heck. I have read so many of his books now that I think I would probably be upset with a happy ending. Take heart, this ending is milder in comparison to some of his other books. At least, I thought so.

This book is hard to describe without being confusing, given the interrelationships between characters and love entanglements. Overall, another solid example of Hardy's great writing.

[Pip]

I haven't read a Hardy for years and this one was true to form. His theme of how social mores blight lives and lead to unhappiness is prominent in this book. Another theme is how fate plays a role. In this book miscommunication is the frustrating catalyst to tragedy. Mrs Yeobright is the parent consumed with social standing (characters like her appear often in Hardy). She thinks her neice's choice of spouse is infra dig and that her own son would counter her wishes and marry someone who could possibly be a witch breaks her heart. The hero returns from a promising, but dubious, career as a diamond trader to aspire to a more noble role. This is not appreciated by his mother. Then there is the decent, quiet outsider who picks up the pieces. And an hilarious simple man consumed by imagined fears. Altogether vintage Hardy: melodramatic, evocative and tragic.

[Gail]

"Reading Hardy is like swimming in cream". This is not my line but I relish the quote as it does illuminate the luxurious unfolding of Hardy's prose and suggests the way the details in his characterizations builds a whole that coats one's tongue.
Return of the Native is a moral tale that pits the tendencies of nature and human nature against society's pressures to conform. Egdon Heath is a fictional place in the south of England and the rules of conduct for the people of that region are quite simplified compared to London or Paris. Nevertheless there remains the desire to keep money and class with money and class, and to keep women dependent and obedient. Mrs. Yeobright is the archetypal mother who, although only wishing the best for her son, is nevertheless harsh in her criticism of his desire to come back to his native soil to educate the lower classes. She also can see too clearly that his chosen love, the self centered and thoroughly independent Eustacia, will not bring him happiness. Clym, the son, is intelligent and caring but has a stubborn streak that causes a strict adherence to his own vision that ultimately blinds him to his wife's needs and his mother's wishes. This blindness is the root cause of the tragedy, but miscommunication, bad timing and the vagaries of fate play their part. The secondary characters are rich and alive, especially Diggory Venn, who plays a selfless lover and mischievous righter of wrongs. Wildeve, although playing the part of the villain, is not much more villainous than others in his attempting to do the right thing for his love, rather than doing the right thing for his wife.
Hardy's wonderful way of describing the heath, the heavens and the rural life of the people kept me reading as much as the drama did. A true delight.