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A review by chris_dech
Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
4.0
This was an amazing gift from my girlfriend, and I am very thankful for her gifting Tess of the D’Urbervilles to me.
Achingly tragic, Hardy crafts a beautiful and dramatic story of a young woman whose sheer grit and determination outshine many a literary character. Tess’s depth, tragedy, and personality is nothing short of admirable and perfect.
Tess is surrounded by a cast of characters that, though not all being very interesting, highlight Tess’s strengths and weaknesses very well. Angel and Alec are perhaps the next two best written in the novel, though I imagine that this was intentional, or at least natural given their importance to the story. Tess’s parents and Angel’s parents are good foils to each other, I’ve noticed, and are in themselves interesting characters perhaps worth exploring more.
The story itself is tragic and heartbreaking, though it does suffer from what I feel to be a few pacing issues, particularly in the middle and right before the end. Overall, however, Hardy pens a beautiful story of a victim not only of those around her, but of the very society in which she lives.
Hardy’s prose is stylish and witty, and always leaves just enough for the reader to understand. His descriptions are detailed and fascinating, and I admire his ability to reveal without telling.
Well worth the read for its heroine and her tragic story, though perhaps a little slow and stilted at times.
8-8.5/10
Achingly tragic, Hardy crafts a beautiful and dramatic story of a young woman whose sheer grit and determination outshine many a literary character. Tess’s depth, tragedy, and personality is nothing short of admirable and perfect.
Tess is surrounded by a cast of characters that, though not all being very interesting, highlight Tess’s strengths and weaknesses very well. Angel and Alec are perhaps the next two best written in the novel, though I imagine that this was intentional, or at least natural given their importance to the story. Tess’s parents and Angel’s parents are good foils to each other, I’ve noticed, and are in themselves interesting characters perhaps worth exploring more.
The story itself is tragic and heartbreaking, though it does suffer from what I feel to be a few pacing issues, particularly in the middle and right before the end. Overall, however, Hardy pens a beautiful story of a victim not only of those around her, but of the very society in which she lives.
Hardy’s prose is stylish and witty, and always leaves just enough for the reader to understand. His descriptions are detailed and fascinating, and I admire his ability to reveal without telling.
Well worth the read for its heroine and her tragic story, though perhaps a little slow and stilted at times.
8-8.5/10