AUGUST "Far From the Madding Crowd" by Thomas Hardy

JOAN:
Joan enjoyed reading the book, and thought it successfully described for her what life was like in 1874. It was worthwhile reading it.

CONNIE:
Connie explained that 'madding' from the title meant 'frenzied', and possibly this was because the story took place in a small village away from crowds.
She enjoyed every single page especially the descriptions of the countryside, and the words and accents of the people.
Another comment was that the author was very knowledgeable about many things, eg the Bible, Turner's paintings, and history (Napoleon).
She has been reading Hardy since she was 15 years old.

ED:
Ed also enjoyed the book but found she had to slow down her reading due to the amount of descriptive language used. She thought the plot was predictable.

TAM:
Tam was another to enjoy the book, not having read Hardy since her HSC days. She thought the author showed incredible knowledge of human nature and the natural landscape.

ROSEMARY O:
Rosemary didn't read it as it was 'too heavy'.
Instead she read her Secret Santa gift from last Christmas, 'The Grub-and-Stakers House a Haunt' by Charlotte MacLeod. An old lady is confronted by a ghost from the 1800's who want her to help him find his bones and gold.

 JO: 
Jo found it too slow and too much description and very hard to get into. There were too many adjectives and adverbs, she wanted more action.

JUDY J:
Judy was another to enjoy the book, although she had to resort to some skimming techniques to finish it.
She commented on how quickly and deeply the 3 men fell in love with Bathsheba!
Although Frank Troy had few redeeming features, in the end he mourned the death of his true love, Fannie.

ANNE:
Anne explained that it was first published as a serial and so it needed 'cliff hangers'.
She tried to look at the characters and to see how their behaviour was in keeping with the times they lived in.

CLAURENE:
The 12 pages she read took her 3 days! She couldn't continue. She found the sentences very long, she doesn't like complicated grammar and tortured descriptions.

BEV:
Bev had a plan to read a chapter a day, but this was such a long process she only managed 12 chapters. But she did read the final one.
She thought the story was too long and drawn out.

CHERYL:
Cheryl thought that Hardy needed an editor. So much of what he writes is good, but he waffles in his descriptions you lose the beauty of his writing.
She thought it was nice to see a man's perspective of love.

PAT:
Some of the descriptions annoyed her so much it was difficult to pick up the story. Consequently she became bored with it.

DIANNE:
Dianne was another to not finish the book, but this was because she did not allow enough time to read it all.  But she will complete reading the book.
She also commented that not much has changed...the men are still in the Oast House and the best looking woman gets all the men!

PAULINE:
The title Far From the Madding Crowd comes from Thomas Gray's famous 18th-century poem "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard".
She also commented that she found that the names that Hardy had chosen for the men, were very interesting.
Oak...solid and dependable
Boldwood...not very emotional
Troy.... Trojan horse, he was hiding what he really was

BETH:
She enjoyed the words and the descriptions of wandering through the countryside. She liked the author's use of words but found some of the characters annoying.

SHEILA:
Sheila found it ponderous and so gave up reading it.

PAMELA:
Pamela thought that Hardy was a better poet than novelist. But she still loved his use of words and thought it was very clever the way he writes the dialects and describes village life.
She thought some of the plot was unbelievable and this was a fault with the book.

JULIA:
The version that Julia borrowed had many references, notes and maps. It also included an author's preface and information about the places in the story. This added to her reading of the book. She enjoyed it but thought it was one of the few examples where the film version is better.


MAREE:
Maree really liked some parts but not others. This was also true of his descriptive passages, some were wonderful where others she found too long. She thought the story was good, but used selective skimming to get through the book.
She was not disappointed she had read it as it was not the type of book she normally read.

KRIS:
Kris liked it and especially loved the language used to describe the Wessex landscape. Wessex was a fictitious place but the name came from a medieval Anglo Saxon kingdom.
She thought Hardy loved the area and the times and could see things beginning to change.
Bathsheba- Troy hated her for her beauty enticing him. She was so young, she couldn't see the steadiness in Oak, till later.

ROSEMARY:
She found the book ponderous, but may go back to it after hearing that so many others had liked it.

LESLIE:
Leslie finished it by skipping over some parts (descriptions). She thought the imagery of the names was clever and that village life was reflective of the proprieties of the times.
She described the book as 'dense'.
Some things about life haven't changed...men and affairs for example
Bathsheba was very young and naive (only 24) and had 3 suitors from different backgrounds.
The message may be....don't marry for love or lust. Marry for security and steadiness.


 Join us next month when we will be sharing our thoughts on books from the genre 'Fantasy'.