Far from the Madding Crowd

by Thomas Hardy

[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.