14. Thomas Hardy (1886), The Mayor of Casterbridge

[strange_complex]

Read mainly while in Vienna.

This would be the third Hardy novel I've read in my life: the other two being Tess of the D'Urbervilles for A-level, and Jude the Obscure when I first moved to Oxford. The trajectory of the title character is much the same in all three cases: they make a foolish mistake in early life, appear to bounce back from it,

Comments

[smellingbottle]

There was also a somewhat transposed Western film version of it, with I think Peter Mullan in the lead, called The Claim.

(I adore Hardy, but confess to giggling at Old Father Time and his murderous/suicidal cupboard moment in Jude...)

[strange_complex]

Yeah, I see how it would work as a Western, with all the suppressed 'this town ain't big enough for the both of us' tensions between Henchard and Farfrae (who, incidentally, was played in my personal imaginary screen adaptation by David Tennant). I must keep an eye out for that.

[ingenious76]

May I recommend Far From the Madding Crowd? It was the first novel Hardy set in Wessex, and it's heroine is arguably more spirited and independent than Tess.

[strange_complex]

Yes, I will definitely get to that some time. In fact, I borrowed The Mayor of Casterbridge from my Mum, and at the time when I did so I actually held both it and Far From the Madding Crowd up in my hands and said to her, "Which one of these two books do you think is best?" She ummed and ahed a bit, and eventually chose Mayor, which is why I read it. But it could equally have gone either way.

[huskyteer]

Perhaps I should give Hardy another shot. But I loathed Mayor of Casterbridge when forced to read it for GCSE. The loathing was so universal, indeed, that I received some stick from my classmates for coming from the same county as Hardy.

[strange_complex]

It can go either way with books you read at school - and I think a lot depends on the teacher you have. I don't know enough about your literary preferences1 to know whether you'd like Hardy now. But if you want to give him a go, I'd recommend Jude the Obscure, as your experience of Oxford and its University will give you more to relate to in that than I think you would have found in The Mayor of Casterbridge.

1. Specifically, I know some of the things you like, e.g. James Bond, Molesworth, SF, spy thrillers, but am less sure about where your dislikes might fall.