Lejos del mundanal ruido (1874)

Thomas Hardy is a writer who paints. He paints pictures of the environment his characters inhabit, he paints pictures of the society they are a part of, and he paints pictures of the people, and makes them stand before you full-blown and detailed. That is probably one of the reasons I love reading Hardy so much. Each of the major characters in Far From the Madding Crowd walks off the page and becomes quite real.

Bathsheba Everdene is a complicated woman in a world where women were so often portrayed as one-dimensional. She carries with her some of the baggage of Victorian society and Hardy has not freed her from that, but that is what makes her realistic and substantial. Troy, who might have been a cliche, deviates from that in his reaction to the death of Fanny Robin and becomes a study in the worthlessness of an idle man. Boldwood represents unhealthy obsession in its worst form and his pursuit of Bathsheba is totally destructive its nature. It is only Gabriel Oak who represents man in harmony with nature, self and the world of other people. Oak is that indeed, an oak among trees of much lesser strength.

Far From the Madding Crowd seems to have been written before Hardy's cynicism has taken full root. He still believes there are paths that lead to happiness and success. In contrast with Jude this is a very upbeat tale. But even here, nothing in life comes easily. Every one of these characters experiences great difficulties both financially and emotionally and all are humbled by the events of their lives.

I thoroughly enjoyed this read and was left with a sense of satisfaction at the end. Having previously read it as an adolescent, I feel I brought a different understanding to the story this time around. ( )

Re-reading this book after several decades and I really, really enjoyed it. Wonderful descriptive passages, great characters with depth and subtleties and a great commentary on love and pride and vanity and need vs. want. Gabriel Oak is such a wonderful character. Bathsheba is infuriating but oh-so-real and you root for her despite herself. Boldwood, Troy, Fanny are all compelling as are the cast of characters from the farm. I'm giving it a 4-1/2 because I'm very stingy with 5s. ( )

Quite often I find classics can be tedious to read - the long winded and passive nature of the prose can make these works quite a slog. Not with FFTMC.

Thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, full of vivid characters and an evocatively described picturesque setting, contrasting with the often gritty plot.

Bathsheba is a character who you're not sure if you support her or want her to suffer(!), but she actually feels like a modern character - an independent, spirited woman, flirting with different men (leading them on just a bit!). She wants the attention from the guys - even if she doesn't actually want to be with them. Ultimately this leads to issues for her later on in the book.

Overall, a great book, well worth a read.

( )

I initially had trouble getting into the rhythm of reading "Far From the Madding Crowd." When I got the "hang of Hardy," I really enjoyed reading the book.
Miss Bathseba Everdene "scarcely knew the divinity’s name, Diana was the goddess whom Bathsheba instinctively adored. That she had never, by look, word, or sign, encouraged a man to approach her – that she had felt herself sufficient to herself, and had in the independence of her girlish heart fancied there was a certain degradation in renouncing the simplicity of a maiden existence to become the humbler half of an indifferent matrimonial whole – were facts now bitterly remembered."
After three men wanted to marry her, and one did, we were given the stories intertwined with that statement. They are stories that only Thomas Hardy can tell.
If you need a heroine, I give you Bathseba. "Deeds of endurance which seem ordinary in philosophy are rare in conduct, and Bathsheba was astonishing all around her now, for her philosophy was her conduct, and she seldom thought practicable what she did not practise. She was of the stuff of which great men’s mothers are made. She was indispensable to high generation, hated at tea parties, feared in shops, and loved at crises." ( )

SPOILER ALERT...

OK, as we suspect at the outset, the good guy gets the girl in the end.
We could have cut to the chase and had these two married within hours of meeting each other as seems to be the custom in his stories... but then we'd be deprived of a great read..
Hardy as always, tells a good story, full of interesting characters in a wonderful rural setting.
And such a way with words..
That's three in a row after Tess and the Mayor and now onto the next.. ( )