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meganlaurenp_'s review against another edition
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
oliverbennett's review against another edition
4.0
As somone who started their Thomas Hardy experience with "Jude the Obscure", this book came as a shock to me. All the way through the book we are presented with situations that seem impossible to recover from - yet again and again Tess breaks our expectations and soldiers on. Until the end...
Hardy has left me feeling broken again, as only he can - if you thought that his poems and other books were attacks on love, religion, and mortality - well, you haven't read this. A bleak and desolate book, that at times drones on with a somewhat predictable and repetitive nature; patience is rewarded at the end, when your expectations are subverted (even if you expect Hardy's typically depressing ends, this is a whole new level).
Personally, the tone of this books wasn't as good as "Jude the Obscure", as that book starts fairly simple, and rises throughout, whereas this one peaks and troughs repeatedly, leaving you slightly exhausted - the tone seems to be frenzied one moment, calm the next, which does take away from its readability and emergion.
Overall though, still a classic Hardy, and not one that you will forget in a long time.
Hardy has left me feeling broken again, as only he can - if you thought that his poems and other books were attacks on love, religion, and mortality - well, you haven't read this. A bleak and desolate book, that at times drones on with a somewhat predictable and repetitive nature; patience is rewarded at the end, when your expectations are subverted (even if you expect Hardy's typically depressing ends, this is a whole new level).
Personally, the tone of this books wasn't as good as "Jude the Obscure", as that book starts fairly simple, and rises throughout, whereas this one peaks and troughs repeatedly, leaving you slightly exhausted - the tone seems to be frenzied one moment, calm the next, which does take away from its readability and emergion.
Overall though, still a classic Hardy, and not one that you will forget in a long time.
emersonmoore03's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
shinyostrich's review against another edition
2.0
Just when you think it couldn't get any more depressing, it does.
daniealexa_c_s's review against another edition
5.0
Aquí se representa la hipocresía de la sociedad, encargándose de condenar a quien nada de culpa tiene, obligándola a una vida llena de sufrimientos y reproches, y que la desesperación lleva a perder sus valores Morales más intrínsecos.
Su historia se puede aplicar con ciertos cambios a la actualidad y aún así será relevante para hacer crítica.
Además la manera de escribir de Thomas Hardy es simplemente preciosa. Sus descripciones de la naturaleza me transportaban, sus reflexiones me parecían acertadas y me dejan con la imperante necesidad de leer toda su obra.
Su historia se puede aplicar con ciertos cambios a la actualidad y aún así será relevante para hacer crítica.
Además la manera de escribir de Thomas Hardy es simplemente preciosa. Sus descripciones de la naturaleza me transportaban, sus reflexiones me parecían acertadas y me dejan con la imperante necesidad de leer toda su obra.
janey's review against another edition
5.0
I've been reading all this 19th century literature and really digging the stories and the characters but with this return to Thomas Hardy I feel like I'm finally reading beautiful words. With that said, there are a lot of guys in this book whom I would like to give a good hard punch in the dick.
melsbookshelves03's review against another edition
5.0
I mean it's a classic for a reason right? I knew the story and how it ended going into this novel but had never actually read it before. Because classics can intimidate me, I decided to listen to the audiobook and wow the writing was so easy to fall into. I was worried the language would be hard to decipher like some other classics but Hardy's writing was very easy and I truly appreciated it. I have wanted to read this novel for years and I am really glad I did. This is easily in my top five classics of all time and I love the themes and Tess. This must have been so decisive in its time because of the content but I think it is something that can unfortunately still be relatable today (maybe not to the extreme but still relatable). It is hard to talk about the ending of this novel without spoilers so I will just say that I think the decisions Tess makes reflect the will and strength of her character and her acceptance of her fate was admirable. If you have shied away from this book because it is a classic, I think you should give it a shot.
emzapk's review against another edition
4.0
Umm???????? This was so sad and miserable and depressing but also so beautiful. Absolutely gobsmacked by the ending omg. Thomas Hardy you wretched, wretched genius.
"In considering what Tess was not, he overlooked what she was, and forgot that the defective can be more than the entire."
"In considering what Tess was not, he overlooked what she was, and forgot that the defective can be more than the entire."
penguin_emperor_of_the_north's review against another edition
3.0
That was a good book and the story was definitely worth telling but the writing style was so dang slow paced that it was boring to read. You know that old style of writing where they talk in a circle for paragraphs at a time? That.
And the middle third was the most difficult in that regard. Partly because the plot felt directionless and was really meandering. Which might've been met to parallel how Tess was feeling, come to think of it.
But it was a story worth telling. I think it'd be pretty obvious what a piece of shit Alec whatever-his-last-name is and Angel is a jerk-off too for his double standard with Tess but the person who I really despised in here was Tess's dad. Mostly because I went in expecting to despise the first two but her dad surprised me.
See he gets drunk a few hours before he's supposed to go on a trip to sell some beehives. Since he's passed out, his 15-16 year old daughter takes on the task and since she's inexperienced driving the horse the horse is inadvertently killed which puts the family in the financial straits that leads to Tess's parents sending her to Alec's clutches.
And he didn't play a huge role in the plot after that but dang, that pissed me off. You're a dad, supporting your family comes a long way before reminiscing on family honor and a hell of a long way before drinking.
And the middle third was the most difficult in that regard. Partly because the plot felt directionless and was really meandering. Which might've been met to parallel how Tess was feeling, come to think of it.
But it was a story worth telling. I think it'd be pretty obvious what a piece of shit Alec whatever-his-last-name is and Angel is a jerk-off too for his double standard with Tess but the person who I really despised in here was Tess's dad. Mostly because I went in expecting to despise the first two but her dad surprised me.
See he gets drunk a few hours before he's supposed to go on a trip to sell some beehives. Since he's passed out, his 15-16 year old daughter takes on the task and since she's inexperienced driving the horse the horse is inadvertently killed which puts the family in the financial straits that leads to Tess's parents sending her to Alec's clutches.
And he didn't play a huge role in the plot after that but dang, that pissed me off. You're a dad, supporting your family comes a long way before reminiscing on family honor and a hell of a long way before drinking.