Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy

Upon taking this book from the bookshelf the other day, I wasn't quite sure why I was drawn into reading a book read many times in the past, and one which I kept for a rainy day. The rainy day had arrived, and little by little, I delved into the life of Tess, our heroine, and began to recall why this book stands out as such a worthy contender for books that portray life in old England. Thomas Hardy's use of description is amazing. Not only is the reader almost on intimate terms with characters, but the scenery that he describes passes the test of time, in language that really does it justice and does not seem to have dated, considering that it was written as ...  Read the complete review

This novel caused a heck of a fuss when Thomas Hardy first published it. Originally titled "A Pure Woman" it was considered outrageous for a woman such as Tess to be seen as pure in Hardy's eyes. I'm giving a fairly lengthy plot description here, so apologies if you get bored, and the ending is given away, so watch out! Tess Durbeyfield is the peasant daughter of haggler John. She is partaking in a local dance with other girls when three young brothers wander along- Angel, Felix and Cuthbert (poor bugger) Clare. Angel wants to join in the dance, but his older brothers are basically a bit snobby about dancing with country girls, so Angel dances ...  Read the complete review

This lovely weather we have been having means that I have read all my new reads while sat out in the sun ( well we can't waste it can we - never know how long it will be here for!!) and it left me looking through my old classics that I keep hidden away for such a rainy day ( or sunny day in this case). Out of my dusty tomes I chose to read a really old favourite of mine - Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy. When the book ( first called 'A Pure Woman') was published in 1891, it ruffled quite a few Victorian feathers!! Hardy fearlessly tackled issues such as murder, rape and violence which were, at the time unmentionable. What readers today ...  Read the complete review

Tess of the D'urbervilles is an extremely great novel, especially for the time it was written during the Victorian Period, but is still relevant to us today, with some of the key themes which are dealt with. First of all, the novel centres on a young girl called Tess Durbeyfield, who finds out she is of a greater lineage, the descendant in the line of the D'urbervilles. As she goes on a voyage to discover her lineage, she meets Alec D'urbervilles, who bought his title. An event between them in the chase kickstart the rollercoaster ride of tragedy and misfortune for Tess. Even as she attempts to escape him, she is constantly being reminded of him, ...  Read the complete review

I expect I'll surprise you all here by admitting to reading this! Sometimes though, the Mrs and I share or swap books for something different to read and that's why I came to read this book. I had a quick look on Amazon and they sell this for £1.99 if you buy the Wordsworth Classics version. Nice and cheap read then at least. Reading this book was quite hard work for me as I'm a bloke of few words in general and I'm not all that familiar with 1800s English. In fairness though, I've read Charles Dickens on a few occasions and not found his books nearly as difficult so I do think maybe Thomas Hardy has made use of quite a lot of pretentious words and phrases ...  Read the complete review