Product Description

A ne'er-do-well exploits his gentle daughter's beauty for social advancement in this masterpiece of tragic fiction. Hardy's 1891 novel defied convention to focus on the rural lower class for a frank treatment of sexuality and religion. Then and now, his sympathetic portrait of a victim of Victorian hypocrisy offers compelling reading.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #14630 in Books
• Published on: 2001-06-14
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780486415895
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Customer Reviews

Tess of the D'Urbervilles
This book has touched me in a very different way than many others have. It is a tragic story and envelopes the reader in a different kind of sadness - a sadness which one cannot pull out of quickly or just draw aside. Many thoughts contained in this book are worthy of reflection. Each lingers in your heart. The happy moments are all tinged with a bitter taste. Each character is flawed as a natural human being and each mistake they make reflects on their future and affects them drastically. Tess Durbeyfield is one of the most tragic characters I have ever read of. From the moment she leaves her home to the supposed D'Urberville relatives, she is pushed into catastrophes and heartaches that just lead to more doom. I recommend this book to any reader who is willing to undergo the myriad of emotions that accompanies Tess's journey through demise. It is not for the flippant, unconcerned, and unsympathetic reader. Everything that happens to Tess happens for a reason, and the reader must be able to realize how each affects her to appreciate this book. Read this book and expect to ponder on many philosophical wonderings. This book WILL affect you! It is worthy of any person seeking a deep and life-affecting novel.

Beautifully Written and Pessimistic
Bleak and depressing, as far as the plot is concerned it's sort of like Hardy was just experimenting with how many terrible things he could make happen to a trusting, wonderful person, until she's finally crushed under the weight of the world and her society. Really makes you feel like crap to read it, honestly, but I guess I'm into that sort of thing for some reason. The writing is beautiful and the structure is flawless. There are moments of pure poetry on a Shakespearean level, that make you want to weep for all humanity. The characters, especially Tess, are very believable, and the psychology effecting their decisions drives the story, for me. I'm impressed, I'm going to read more Hardy. I've looked around and it seems like most of his books are about some great set-up to a disaster, all the while people's hearts being ripped out of their chests and their hopes and dreams crushed one after another by a cruel world and cruel circumstances. He obviously had a pretty tragic and pessimistic view of our human situation, but a view that must have filled him with sympathy. He really goes into his characters' heads and makes you feel their pain through it all, going through the stages of their grief, with really amazing descriptions that feel dead on. Or, at least that's what he did in this book.

Also, it's pretty amazing that he blatantly pointed out the sexual double standards of his time and their utter hipocrysy. It's so crazy that people were outraged after the publication of this book by his subtitle, "A Pure Woman," simply because Tess was raped. When you keep in mind how firmly these ideas of purity and female sexuality were implanted in people's minds, it makes the plot more believable, especially how Angel Clare could seem like a pretty decent chap, but end up behaving so poorly.

A Classic Theme In Life
I rapidly read this book in high school for a test the next day. I knew that I wanted to read it again because it was so good and I was missing the subleties. I loved it. The theme is that our lives are goverened by what we think of ourselves. Poor Tess was so wrong, but for the times understandable. Hardy writes without including the graphic details, but the story remains. A story that is suspended in time.