*****
A Pair of Blue Eyes by Thomas HardyMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
My first Hardy novel. . . my first venture into Wessex. I don't think it will be my last.
I've just this minute finished reading it, so excuse my rambling, fragmented "review".
-Beautifully written, and quite a fast, easy read for a 19th century novel, though there were a couple of slower points. However, in each instance the narrative quickly regained pace.
-Relatively brief yet very evocative descriptions of nature.
-VERY well-drawn characters, that truly come to life in the reader's imagination.
-Surely few authors can rival Hardy in instilling a sense of impending doom in the pages of their books!
I was torn as to whether to give this 3 or 4 stars. 4 stars for the writing and characters; 3 stars for the story. One aspect of the story in particular could hardly avoid being extremely frustrating for the modern reader, and everything inevitably ends in tragedy.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading this. I second the petition for Andrew Davies and the BBC to make this into a TV miniseries!!
View all my reviews
3 comments:
Interesting. Maybe I should look at reading some of his books.
~ Autumn.
Just wanted to say that I love your blog! :)
If you wanted something more lighthearted, but yet Hardy, I'd recommend "Under the Greenwood Tree".
I liked the first part of "A Pair of Blue Eyes" best, and I liked (I seem to have forgotten the names, though I re-read the book last year, I believe?) Stephen best (it was Stephen, wasn't it? at any rate, the young man in the first part of the story), and I never got the wonderfulness of what's-his-name, to be honest... (Sorry for the confused comment, but since you've just read the book, you may manage to decypher my meaning nonetheless. :) )
LRK
Post a Comment