feelsattack's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- 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
3.5
I think for the first classic lit book that I willingly and voluntarily read, it wasn't bad at all. I really enjoyed it and although the English is old and a little tough to understand, it wasn't enough to make me drop it. I simply skimmed over the parts that were too difficult to understand, usually just being Hardy's ramblings that weren't too pertinent anyways.
Hardy somehow managed to make the characters seem real, I could almost imagine them as real people. There is something very human about Michael Henchard's constant mercurial-ity, Donald Farfrae's consistent kindness despite the mistake of others, and Elizabeth-Jane's suffering at the hands of others. I felt like this book was a pendulum, constantly going back and forth with Michael's actions, feelings, and behaviour. I felt sorry for Elizabeth-Jane throughout all of it, because she was being caused suffering through no fault of her own. Sometimes I wished Donald would have just gone away with the polite kindness and be petty for once!! I certainly would have!!
I built the basis of my opinion of Michael Henchard on the first thing he did--which was the selling of his wife and daughter. In the first half, he seemed to be a changed man, so I indeed liked his character, but I made sure to always remember the horrible thing he did of selling his wife and daughter. Starting in the second half, I was constantly going back and forth between liking and disliking Michael Henchard as he would do something bad, but then would do something good.
At some point I grew tired of it all and wished Michael, Donald, and Lucetta dead and Elizabeth-Jane to be the sole survivor. I'm pretty sure Hardy did this on purpose, LOL. Sometimes you just grow sick of people and their annoying antics.
Actually, for a while I was convinced this was a hidden MLM friends-to-lovers-to-enemies book because the things that were happening and being said between Donald Farfrae and Michael Henchard were just a bit TOO sus to be entirely straight. I thoroughly enjoyed laughing at these parts, LOL.
Hardy somehow managed to make the characters seem real, I could almost imagine them as real people. There is something very human about Michael Henchard's constant mercurial-ity, Donald Farfrae's consistent kindness despite the mistake of others, and Elizabeth-Jane's suffering at the hands of others. I felt like this book was a pendulum, constantly going back and forth with Michael's actions, feelings, and behaviour. I felt sorry for Elizabeth-Jane throughout all of it, because she was being caused suffering through no fault of her own. Sometimes I wished Donald would have just gone away with the polite kindness and be petty for once!! I certainly would have!!
I built the basis of my opinion of Michael Henchard on the first thing he did--which was the selling of his wife and daughter. In the first half, he seemed to be a changed man, so I indeed liked his character, but I made sure to always remember the horrible thing he did of selling his wife and daughter. Starting in the second half, I was constantly going back and forth between liking and disliking Michael Henchard as he would do something bad, but then would do something good.
At some point I grew tired of it all and wished Michael, Donald, and Lucetta dead and Elizabeth-Jane to be the sole survivor. I'm pretty sure Hardy did this on purpose, LOL. Sometimes you just grow sick of people and their annoying antics.
Actually, for a while I was convinced this was a hidden MLM friends-to-lovers-to-enemies book because the things that were happening and being said between Donald Farfrae and Michael Henchard were just a bit TOO sus to be entirely straight. I thoroughly enjoyed laughing at these parts, LOL.
dresden's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- 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
4.5
My favorite classic by far! Hardy's characterization is so wonderful and he really covers alcoholism well. This made me want to read more of him for sure.
susanna22's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Although episodic, so something happened in each chapter, the pacing felt very slow. It made it a book that I had to return to rather than reading regularly. Had the benefit of making the years that the main elements of the plot take place feel approximately long. In addition to Henchard, I'd say Elizabeth-Jane was the character I was most interested in.
vilandra's review against another edition
5.0
Hardy has such a way of melding the happy & the tragic. A terrific story of an imperfect man.
kerryanndunn's review against another edition
4.0
Oh Thomas Hardy, you illustrator of pain and suffering, you dogged chronicler of life's tragedies and sadness. Poor Susan. Poor Elizabeth-Jane. Poor Lucetta. Poor Farfrae. And poor, poor Henchard. It seems strange that I enjoyed this book as much as I did considering how it revels in pain. But I did. Thomas Hardy is an interesting writer and I enjoy his odd narrative stylings. I find all his characters very well drawn even the minor ones. The only squabble I have, and it's an unfair one, is that if you've read any Hardy at all you kind of know how it's going to end because they all end the same. This one especially was easy to plot out. But all in all, it was still a very enjoyable read!
the_procrastinating_ace's review against another edition
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
myratogonon's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Thomas Hardy spun a sad and prophetic story in his book, The Mayor of Casterbridge. With thick narratives, readers will learn stories of different examples of ambition plus the impatient and smart ways of reaching them. The tale spirals to an expected ending but the way it dives deep into the heart will never not be painful. Hardy cautioned his readers: do not go back to old evil ways, forward to goodness always.
pharmdad2007's review against another edition
5.0
The Mayor is another example of Hardy's masterful ability to capture human emotion and the full breadth of human experience.