Boldwood takes the valentine far more seriously than Bathsheba intended it, and falls desperately in love with her. Boldwood is drawn to Bathsheba after she sends him a valentine on a lark. Meanwhile, Bathsheba has another suitor, a handsome and wealthy but rather uncharismatic farmer named Boldwood.

Despite some initial discomfort between them, Gabriel ends up hiring on as Bathsheba’s shepherd, and does an excellent job. The two meet again in Weatherbury, where Bathsheba has inherited an estate from an uncle, and Gabriel is looking for work. Soon after, she leaves town, and Gabriel suffers a reversal of fortune: all his sheep die and his plans for a more comfortable future go up in smoke. She’s also proud and seems to see herself as above Gabriel, though she’s also very poor. She doesn’t have feelings for him and has a desire to remain independent. They form something of a friendship, but when Gabriel proposes, Bathsheba turns him down. He meets Bathsheba when she comes to the area to live with her aunt. At the beginning of the novel, Oak is a shepherd who lives very simply and saves for a better future. Our main characters are Gabriel Oak and Bathsheba Everdene. I remembered that back when I bitched to anyone who would listen about Jude the Obscure, a friend insisted that I should read Far From the Madding Crowd. I mean, clearly I’m the problem for not better appreciating this very boring, very depressing classic work of literature.)Īnyway, where were we? Recently I got it in my head that I should give Hardy another try. (Strangely, looking at my log, I still gave it a C, which either means I was a REALLY easy grader five years ago, or more likely I feel like an asshole giving bad grades to classic works. (“Done because we are too menny.” Shudder.) How does a book simultaneously manage to be both incredibly dull and astoundingly grim? I don’t know. If ever a book perfectly combined soul-crushing boredom with spirit-withering depression, it’s Jude.

I ended up reading Jude the Obscure.īig mistake. I don’t remember the process of elimination that led me to my fateful choice I only remember thinking that I knew enough about Tess of D’Ubervilles to be fairly sure that it would piss me off. “Self,” I said to myself, “you’ve been trying all sorts of classic authors, you’ve tackled a few Russians. Once upon a time (more specifically, late 2010), my quest for self-improvement led me to Thomas Hardy. Jennie B+ Reviews 19th century England / classic fiction / love triangles / Rural 13 Comments

OctoREVIEW: Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

Away from the madding crowd book