Hardy: Tess of the d'Urbervilles

from helen295

It seems that people either love or hate Tess of the D'Urbervilles. Among those who hate it the main reasons for disliking it appear to be that the book was too dark and depressing, or that Tess was too passive and weak. Although I can understand these complaints, I personally fall into the group...

from atimco

Tess of the d'Urbervilles has a reputation as a fantastically depressing and tragic book, and it's not undeserved. Thomas Hardy uses this story as a platform to express his deep skepticism and agnostic leanings; no wonder the outlook is bleak. The story centers on Tess Durbeyfield, a simple count...

from anna_in_pdx

Dear Tom, Why do I keep reading your books? No one, and I mean no one, treats his characters (or her characters) as badly as you do. Well, maybe with the exception of Upton Sinclair, who must have been greatly influenced by you. I read Jude the Obscure several years ago and closed the book with a...

from jayne_charles

This was the first Hardy I attempted as an adult, having hated every minute of studying Far from the Madding Crowd at school. I was surprised at how readable this is, despite the long passages describing country life which pop up in most of his novels. The first section was a little slow, but it ...

from Johnny1978

It's almost impossible to rate a novel without taking into account its place in the canon. 'Tess' is an iconic novel about hypocrisy, seduction, betrayal. suffering and the compromises we make for love. It's indisputably a powerful and beautifully structured story - Hardy's descriptive prose is l...