Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

Summary:

When Bathsheba Everdene inherits her uncle’s farm she surprises the villagers of Weatherby by deciding to run it herself rather than hire a manager. 

The arrival of this independent and strong-willed young woman provokes conflicting emotions as Gabriel Oak, Mr Boldwood and the dashing Sergeant Troy compete for her affections. Forced to choose between rival suitors, Bathsheba makes a decision that is to have far-reaching and tragic consequences.

About the Author:

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) was an English poet and novelist. Many of his novels include tragic, struggling characters set in a farming community. Far From the Madding Crowd (1874) was his fourth novel, but his first to receive critical acclaim. 

Rating:

4 stars - ★★★★☆

Review:

Far From the Madding Crowd was much more of a challenge than what I was expecting. The language really took me a chapter or so to get used to. And each time I picked it up, I would have to refocus. However, I was very much intrigued by the story after the first couple of chapters that set the scene. 

The book is set in motion fairly quickly, from the time that Gabriel first sees Bathsheba. It was the kind of story where I knew what the ending would be, but I wanted to know what tragedies would have to come to pass before the characters got that ending. As is typical of Thomas Hardy, that’s a fair amount of tragedy. My first experience of Thomas Hardy was watching Tess of the D’Urbervilles, and this movie has definitely haunted me, so I was emotionally prepared for Far From the Madding Crowd. I will say however, having watched Tess of the D’Urbervilles, I was expecting more heart wrenching tragedy. The majority of the book was quite gentle and had a standard classic romance feel to it with moody descriptions of the landscape and seasons.

The pace of Far From the Madding Crowd is just right, despite being a longer book. The plot-driving moments are very well interspersed with more detailed and descriptive parts which contributed to a pleasing balance.

My favourite character was Gabriel Oak, although after having the opening scenes of the book dedicated completely to him, he didn’t feature so strongly in the middle of the book, which was a shame in my opinion. Gabriel Oak was responsible, respectful and hard-working. I particularly disliked Boldwood’s character in the end. He was far too forceful, possessive and didn’t seem to care about anyone else’s feelings except his own. I just didn’t understand why Boldwood would be so insistent of Bathsheba marrying him when she clearly didn’t want to. My least  favourite part was Boldwood’s marriage proposal to Bathsheba at the Christmas Eve party. It made me so uncomfortable. 

Bathsheba’s character arc was most interesting to me. Going from the strong-willed and independent young woman at the start, to being beaten down, and wondering if she will ever find herself again. Bearing in mind that she was written by a man in Victorian times, I do feel that Bathsheba is a very well-rounded character. She’s not just a love interest. Her role on the farm is important and she is well respected by her workers. She also has a full range of emotions. However I didn’t see her reaction to Boldwood as being true to her character. I think she should have been stronger in her response to him. However if she had, then the story would probably not have been the same.

I enjoyed reading the different chapters with various characters as the main focus, from Gabriel Oak to Bathsheba, Fanny Robin, Boldwood and Sergeant Troy.  I would have liked to have spent more time with some of these characters and seen more of their relationships in order to fully feel the effect of the tragic events. It would have helped to build the relationship with them, before the tragedies that come to pass. It was interesting to see the small mistakes, decisions, chance meetings that all contributed to the climax of the story.

I really enjoyed Thomas Hardy's writing of the Wessex accent. I could vividly hear the voices speaking as I was reading. And I’m not normally one for depicting accents on the page. But this was so well done, it felt completely natural.

I felt plunged into the Victorian countryside. The descriptions of the landscape and seasons were lovely, if a little dark and moody. It was also fun to see so many different types of characters, from wealthy farmers to poor labourers. One of my favourite scenes was in the malt-house. I enjoyed learning about the community of Weatherby from that part.

Far From the Madding Crowd is a romance novel, and this is the type of romance novel that I prefer. I think it’s the fact that it has more layers than just romance. There’s the exploration of country life, the detailed characters and the tragedy. 

I would read more by Thomas Hardy although I would go into it with more understanding of his writing style. I am looking forward to reading Tess of the D’Urbervilles. It has made me wonder, Hardy's stories seem to have the female protagonist choosing between multiple suitors – does Hardy view himself as the person having to choose, or as one of the suitors? 

Once I got into it, I enjoyed Far From the Madding Crowd. I am proud of myself for taking on the challenge of reading a classic novel again. I am still aware of how my reading level is not what it used to be but I feel a little closer to being able to read War and Peace eventually. 

I would definitely recommend Far From the Madding Crowd to anyone who likes a classic romantic story set in the English countryside, with plenty of interesting characters whose lives are changed by tragedy. 

Quotes:

Kiss my foot, sir; my face is for mouths of consequence.

But what between the poor men I won’t have and the rich men who won’t have me, I stand as a pelican in the wilderness.

We learn that it is not the rays which bodies absorb, but those which they reject, that give them the colours they are known by; and in the same way people are specialized by their dislikes and antagonisms, whilst their goodwill is looked upon as no attribute at all.