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mondovertigo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, and Abandonment
Moderate: Animal death, Mental illness, and Murder
Minor: Child death
5aru's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Even if I don't appreciate how often he takes recourse to 'womanliness' to explain Bathsheba's nature, the way Hardy develops her character is still interesting and nuanced; even as she is continually perceived through male lenses (through Troy's, through Boldwood's, especially through Oak's, and of course Hardy's own) her character stays strong, managing to stand on its own before the reader's eye. Because Bathsheba is fickle, yes, and temperamental, and vain - easily swayed by pretty words -, but she is also a very young woman burdened with the hostile perceptions of men and occupying a position that is out of her depth, but that she must keep to survive. And Hardy never allows the reader to forget that: he shows her flaws and expands on her mistakes and their consequences, but still extends due respect and compassion to her not just as a human being, but as a woman, even with all the patriarchal stereotypes which that position implies. Hell, he even lets her talk back and defend herself before men's accusations, in the novel itself, and that much is already a wonder.
Graphic: Toxic relationship
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Misogyny
edwardian_girl_next_door's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I loved Bathsheba as a main character. Her independence and intemperate nature in the beginning of the story wasn't like the "strong, independent, not-like-other-girls" trope, which tends to be tacky and overboard. (Sometimes the author seems like they're trying reallllly hard for an inclusivity point, if you know what I mean.) Some people don't like the way her character changes over the course of the novel, but I think it is perfectly reasonable.
The one part of this novel that kept it from being five stars was Troy. Oh, Troy. A rakish, cajoling, manipulative man, the epitome of the folk song "The Rambling Soldier".
If anyone's interested in watching the 2015 movie adaptation, I'd recommend it! It's a pretty faithful adaptation -- it necessarily cuts out a lot of the side character happenings for the sake of time, and I don't quite like the way they represented Boldwood, but I'll forgive it all for the talented Carey Mulligan :)
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Stalking, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
Minor: Child death
iwishihadmoretimetoread's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
aloy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment
priya_can_read's review against another edition
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism
I mean, it's a Thomas Hardy novel. It is sad and weepy, but the language is such a treat, and it's a fascinating look into the time period, and the tensions between the trend of rapid industrial development in Britain and its agrarian heritage.jedore's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Bathsheba loved Troy in the way that only self-reliant women love when they abandon their self-reliance. When a strong woman recklessly throws away her strength, she is worse than a weak woman who has never had any strength to throw away.
This is one of the rare occasions when seeing the movie prompted me to read the book. I loved the movie! It pretty much nailed the lives of my adult life…my ex-husband, my ex-lover, and the ultimate love of my life. So I ran and bought the book, but held off reading it until the memory of the book faded.
I so wanted to love this book as much as I loved the movie…but, I didn’t.
The theme and character development were excellent, but they weren’t enough to make up for the shortcomings for me.
First, this is a hardcore classic. The language and many references, including lots of biblical ones, were very dated making footnotes a regular occurrence and a lot of nuances missed (unless you wanted to conduct research (which I did not).
Second, oftentimes descriptions of the environs would drag on for multiple paragraphs. Zzzzzz…
And, finally, the most important part of the whole story felt like an afterthought. I don’t want to spoil it, but let’s just say that Mr. Hardy should have spent way less time describing the countryside and way more time on the last chapter!
If not for my love of the movie, I don’t think I would have finished this book. I read mostly at night and it acted like a Benadryl stretching my total read time to over a month.
I’m really glad the filmmakers brought this story to the current generation because the theme and message really are fantastic.
Graphic: Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Classism
Moderate: Child death, Death, and Stalking