2013 Quarter 2 - Thomas Hardy

If anyone feels like delving into Hardy, he's been nominated as our 2nd quarter (Apr-Jun) author. Toss in your 2¢ here! :)

Cool! I read Tess of the D'Urbervilles back in college but haven't tackled any other Hardy yet. I've got too much on my TBR list currently so I don't think I'll get to Hardy this year, but I'll be interested to lurk here and see what everyone else is reading.

I'm not sure if I'll get to him or not, but Tess is on my shelves, so it's a possibility.

I like Hardy so will probably go through a few of his novels. Stay tuned for updates :)

Excellent, I have a few Hardy's on my shelf and have read several. I'm reading a chunkster at the moment and have IQ84 as my next book so it may take me a lttle while. I definitely want to read Jude the Obscure

I've been wanting to read Jude the Obscure since I read Tess of the D'Urbervilles, but just haven't gotten to it yet ... so many books, so little time!

So I recalled that I had a slim volume of selected poetry by Hardy and I thought since that's short, there's a good chance I'll be able to squeeze it in some time this quarter. When I fished it out from my bookshelves last night, I also found that somewhere along the way I had picked up a used copy of Jude the Obscure and had completely forgotten about it. So perhaps I'll try to get that one in some time in the next few months also.

I totally failed in my March reading (it seems to be a trend with me to come to a near-halt for a a couple weeks around now, goodness knows why!), hardly anything, so I'm hoping to get back into things more this month & next, catch back up, so hopefully I will get to him, and even Roth, who I never made it to last time! heh

I started Tess of the D'Urbervilles yesterday. With all the foreshadowing of impending doom I feel I need a sinister music soundtrack for accompaniment.

> 9 Can't wait to hear your thoughts! I read this some time ago in college and enjoyed it well enough at the time.

I am 1/4 of the way into Tess of D'Urbervilles and can see it will be a novel worthy of it's classic status. I am finding Tess' parents INFURIATING!!!! I could go on a long rant as to their shortcomings, alcoholism, and immaturity and their impact on poor Tess, but I will restrain myself. I take it as evidence of a great story/writing when the author has me yelling at the characters.

I take it as evidence of a great story/writing when the author has me yelling at the characters.

Yes! Sometimes it's so much easier to read a book where you like the characters, but it's also a sign of great skills for an author to create a character you find frustrating/despicable/etc.

A while back I did read that slim volume of poetry I mentioned earlier in this thread, but I never seemed to find the time to come back here and talk about it. The collection I have - The Selected Poems of Thomas Hardy - contains 70 of Hardy's poems stretching over a period of nearly 20 years. I'm sorry to report that I found most of them rather trite and unremarkable. However, there were a few that were notable (more on this in my review of the book, if you are interested). Of particular interest here is one titled "Tess's Lament" that seems to be based on the characters/events of his novel Tess of the D'Urbervilles. I thought I'd share this one for those of you who read that book during this quarter (or even in the past!).

I

I would that folk forgot me quite,
Forgot me quite!
I would that I could shrink from sight,
And no more see the sun.
Would it were time to say farewell,
To claim my nook, to need my knell,
Time for them all to stand and tell
Of my day's work as done.

II

Ah! dairy where I lived so long,
I lived so long;
Where I would rise up stanch and strong,
And lie down hopefully.
'Twas there within the chimney-seat
He watched me to the clock's slow beat -
Loved me, and learnt to call me sweet,
And whispered words to me.

III

And now he's gone; and now he's gone; . . .
And now he's gone!
The flowers we potted p'rhaps are thrown
To rot upon the farm.
And where we had our supper-fire
May now grow nettle, dock, and briar,
And all the place be mould and mire
So cozy once and warm.

IV

And it was I who did it all,
Who did it all;
'Twas I who made the blow to fall
On him who thought no guile.
Well, it is finished--past, and he
Has left me to my misery,
And I must take my Cross on me
For wronging him awhile.

V

How gay we looked that day we wed,
That day we wed!
"May joy be with ye!" all o'm said
A standing by the durn.
I wonder what they say o's now,
And if they know my lot; and how
She feels who milks my favourite cow,
And takes my place at churn!

VI

It wears me out to think of it,
To think of it;
I cannot bear my fate as writ,
I'd have my life unbe;
Would turn my memory to a blot,
Make every relic of me rot,
My doings be as they were not,
And what they've brought to me!

I had no idea Hardy was also a poet. Thanks for posting Tess's Lament.

You're welcome. :) Apparently he wrote something like 900 poems in his lifetime. The story is that he focused more on his poetry after Jude the Obscure fared poorly in critical reviews.

The poems he wrote after the death of Emma, his first wife, are well worth reading. Despite their poor relations in her later years her death in 1912 triggered an outpouring of glorious poems. Many of them hark back to their courtship in Cornwall, and there is a yearning, nostalgic quality to many of them. Some of the best poems he wrote can be found in Poems of 1912-13

> 16 I believe some of them were included in the collection I had. There certainly were many that dealt with death as a theme.