Far from the Madding Crowd

by Thomas Hardy

Shannon Russell (Editor) and Rosemarie Morgan (Introduction)

'The first of Hardy's great novels, and the first to sound the tragic note for which his best fiction is remembered' Margaret Drabble

Thomas Hardy's novel of swift passion and slow courtship is imbued with evocative descriptions of rural life, and with unflinching honesty about sexual relationships. Its heroine, Bathsheba Everdene, takes up her position as a farmer on a large estate, where her confident presence draws three very different suitors: the gentleman-farmer Boldwood, the soldier-seducer Sergeant Troy and the devoted shepherd Gabriel Oak. Each, in contrasting ways, unsettles her decisions and complicates her life, and when tragedy ensues, the stability of the whole community is threatened.

Edited with an Introduction and notes by ROSEMARIE MORGAN with SHANNON RUSSELL

• ISBN10: 0141439653
• ISBN13: 9780141439655
• Publish Date: 27 February 2003 (first published 4 April 1874)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
• Imprint: Penguin Classics
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 480
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780141439655

Reviews

[brokentune]

Review first posted on BookLikes: http://brokentune.booklikes.com/post/888908/far-from-the-madding-crowd

"All the female guests were huddled aghast against the walls like sheep in a storm, and the men were bewildered as to what to do."

Thomas Hardy and I don't gel. Maybe it's the pastoral setting, maybe it's the rather monotonous way he tells a story, maybe it was the endless descriptions of sheep and the use of sheep-symbolism in this book, but Hardy just does not do anything for me.

I get the book. I get Hardy's writing. But, as with Tess, he just does not persuade me to care about any of the characters.

I will persevere with two or three more titles - two on the recommendation of BL friends and Return of the Native because the audio book is read by Alan Rickman.