Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy.
Wow. Wow! I finished Far From The Madding Crowd last night and I now fully understand why this is considered one of the best literature pieces in history. I am not going to “review” it but will try to write down some stand out points imho below:
1.Hardy had an amazing sense of humour. There were so many times I literally laughed out loud reading this book. I didn’t expect this at all. The dialogues in this book were the highlight for me. They were out of the world good and so entertaining! I thought Hardy’s books were quite focus on suffering. So this was such a pleasant surprise.
2.His character developments were extraordinary. There were so many characters in this story but each had their own and distinct personality that you learnt to like, love and hate each one of them.
3.There was one part about Fanny (no spoiler) that was very hard for me to read. This has given me a sneak peek on Hardy’s other books, how gut wrenching they could get. So Hardy can make you laugh but also have you crying like there is no tomorrow.
4.Bathsheba is a very annoying character. I admire her for her strength, independence and strong will but she surely made some very bad choices and sometimes the way she acted was terrible. But like Jane Austen said in Pride and Prejudice, “we are all fools in love” so I guess Hardy gave us Bathsheba because she represented a lot of us in certain ways.
5.Bathsheba didn’t deserve Gabriel!
6.For classics the main concern is the language, how easy it is to read. For Hardy, I started quite smoothly but mid way through I did struggle a little bit with the way he structured his sentences. I did spend a little bit more time trying to understand them.
7.Bathsheba did NOT deserve Gabriel!!!(did I say it again?)
There are so much more I want to say (but not enough space). Definitely one of my highlights this year. I love it wholeheartedly! One down, more to do Mr. Hardy!
Sissi Reads 