Chatting Thomas Hardy | Ranking, Where to Start, and more!

[@elizabethaliteraryprincess]

You've convinced me to pick up Two on a Tower when I get a chance. Star crossed lovers on an astronomy tower sounds like peak Victorian romance. As someone whose first Hardy novel was Tess, I absolutely would NOT recommend anyone start with it. I read it at 15 and while I loved it and thought it was beautiful, I didn't pick up another Hardy book for over a decade because it was so soul crushing. And then when I did pick up another one, it was Jude the Obscure...

[@marjorietalcott]

Jennifer! Having a Hardy love affair at the moment. This video is giving me so much giddiness. Just finished The Return of the Native and *deep sigh* so in love with Hardy at the moment. No words. But I wanted to say how excited I was that Two on a Tower was so high up. That was actually for some reason the first one I picked up. It’s a sleeper! No one really talks about it but absolutely loved it. I have since re-read it and it still moved me. Who knew Hardy could take his love of expression through earthly scenes and take it to the skies of astronomy?! Brilliant. However I’d like to encourage a re-read of The Woodlanders for you. I really think you might enjoy it. Thanks so much for the fun video! Happy reading to all!

[@patriciadeane7250]

I began with Return of the Native and was totally captivated by Thomas Hardy. To this day he still remains one of my most favourite authors. If you have the opportunity read a biography on Thomas Hardy……it will enhance your reading of his books! Thanks so much for the video…..

[@Shellyish]

As you were talking, I started gathering up all my Hardy books because I feel like I NEED to read him now. 😊

[@DebMcDonald]

The M of C was my first Hardy thanks to the group read this Victober. I’m currently listening to Two on a Tower on your recommendation from a previous videos. The libravox recording is read by Tadgh Hynes with a beautiful Irish accent. Yes, Swithin is dreamy.

[@katherinejung2039]

Hello, Jennifer! thank you for sharing your opinions😘 I always enjoy watching your videos because I love reading classic literatures. I was thinking to start reading Jude and obscure, but I I have to wait until I have better mood😄

[@DarkRuins]

ive only read tess of the durbervilles, but i was very impressed by hardys writing. i imagined his prose more like jane austenish, but was pleasantly surprised and pleased that it felt like mary shelley. his writing is beautiful and i cannot wait to pick up another of his works))

[@FerozsonsBookBuddy]

We also make review videos of Urdu books. Inshallah you will like our work too. Thank you very much and many prayers by: Nadeem Rehman Malik

[@Thecatladybooknook_PennyD]

MofC was my first Hardy and I LOVED IT!!! I can't wait to read everything else.

[@BillBooher-cu7kc]

Just got done with Distracted preacher. Have read almost of his novels. You are absolutely correct on how to start. I liked Woodlanders as well as Under the Greenwood. Thanks!!! 🥰👍

[@shannon4521]

I really love your series of ranking the books you’ve read of different Victorian authors, I wonder who you will do next? Only Thomas Hardy book I’ve read so far is Tess of the Durbervilles and it is a beautiful book, but yes it is very sad. I think the best way to read a sad book is to read it alongside a happy one.

[@FerozsonsBookBuddy]

We also make review videos of Urdu books. Inshallah you will like our work too. Thank you very much and many prayers by: Nadeem Rehman Malik

[@rujahpoetess9166]

I read both "Tess" and "Jude".... Both of them were really depressing and haunting me all the time... I sold "Jude" as soon as I finished it as it was tormenting me.. The top book I would say that plunged my heart.. my heart exploded with sadness when i finished it.. I wasn't sad with Tess but I was furious with all the characters in Tess except the character Tess... my head exploded at the end with anger when i finished this book..

[@RoadReads]

Wonderful video, Jennifer! I can’t wait for you to read Tess and see where you’d rank it! (I’ve only read one Hardy and that’s Tess. Which I have a hard time seeing being surpassed.)

[@PoiemaLee]

I just finished Hardy's _The Trumpet Major_, which was another love triangle. In this case, I most enjoyed the historical portrayal of rural England living under threat of an invasion by Napoleon. I do love, always, his nature descriptions--- especially in _The Woodlanders_. I also appreciate the musical elements present in many of his books, which give us a feel for the music beloved by common folk.

[@Youknowwhoyounopoo]

Tess is my absolute favorite novel ever ever ever. Buuut, Two on a Tower hit me the hardest. I'm mad at a description he did close to the end lol. And I also wished it did not end so abruptly. Overall, it's top tier.

[@kathleencraine7335]

I started Hardy with The Mayor of Casterbridge, so I agree that it's a great place to start. I just finished my 3rd re-read and love it even more each time. Last Victober I read Desperate Remedies, and it was only so-so. It does get a bit better (and more sensational) toward the end. Some 40 yrs ago I read Mayor, Tess, Jude, Return, Far from the Madding, A Pair of Blue Eyes and Under the Greenwood Tree. I re-read this last one over the summer and it is very pastoral. Not depressing, but not much plot either. But wonderful portrait of rural life. Currently re-reading A Pair of Blue Eyes and plan to read (or re-read) them all.

[@js.3490]

I am the only one that thinks Boldwood was pure comedy gold. That old codger had me laughing throughout the book....Bloody Boldwood as I call him. Yeah, Hardy is one of my favorites. You are like me in that we love Hardy's language so you would probably love some of his poetry. Worth checking out. I fully agree with you about Return Of The Native. His description of Egdon Heath at the beginning made my jaw hit the ground. One of the single greatest reading experiences of my life. Utterly astonishing. Tess is worth your time but it is very emotional. I am not a white knight kind of guy but reading Tess many years ago made me want to jump into the book and starting whooping some of those people. As you love certain men in Hardy's fiction, so I love Tess.

[@ChristyLuisDostoevskyinSpace]

Yayyy so glad you loved The Mayor of Casterbridge 😍 Hearing you describe it as heartwarming though 🤣🤣🤣 That killed me

[@ChristyLuisDostoevskyinSpace]

Sometime I am GOING to try Two on a Tower!!

[@Roderic07]

funny enough,...desperate remedies was the very first book i read by him...because i have this thing to read all the sensation novels of the 19th C haha...but i liked it very much

[@DebMcDonald]

I read The M of C for Victober, then Two on a Tower, then Desperate Remedies. I love sensation novels and thought Desperate Remedies was really good! It’s at the bottom of everyone’s list, but I thought the ending was great.

[@maslina4567]

Really enjoyed this video and your analyses on some of my most beloved Hardy books. Beautifully thoughtful. Jude the Obscure, though heart crushing, is one of my favourites as I felt it intensely. It's almost unbearable but gorgeous. Tess is excellent but not in my top 3, though I want to re-read it soon. Thomas Hardy is almost his own genre in my view...extraordinary. I am besotted with him and his characters, including several crushes! Thank you for highlighting him.

[@Praire22]

I was so thrilled when you mentioned Two On A Tower and liked it! Nobody mentions it in their reviews. I absolutely loved it. I DNF’d Tess . It was just overwhelmingly depressing…page after page. Just not for me. My favorite is Return Of The Native, as well.😊

[@sharonluvisi6069]

The only problem I have in watching Booktubers, and your videos especially, Jennifer, is that I always want to drop whatever I'm reading and pick up a recommended book. I'm currently reading Siddhartha, Frankenstein, and Rebecca, but I now want to put them aside and read The Mayor of Casterbridge and Far From the Madding Crowd...but then there's also North and South and the newly-released Demon Copperhead and Unnatural Creatures! May my book choice dilemma be the worst of my problems.

[@tiffworthy1610]

I love Tess of the D'urbervilles! It is sad but so good! Jude was good but somehow too depressing.

[@FerozsonsBookBuddy]

We also make review videos of Urdu books. Inshallah you will like our work too. Thank you very much and many prayers by: Nadeem Rehman Malik

[@theresas709]

I feel the same about The Mayor of Casterbridge. I gave it 4 stars only because I thought the ending was so rushed or kind of crammed together, if that makes sense. I later read about why that might have been and it makes sense. I guess after it was serialized he was asked to rewrite it and he was in the middle of working on the Woodlanders and so he was rushed to try to put it back together. I might not have used the right words but you probably get my drift. I am looking forward to reading Return of the Native and The Woodlanders.

[@SheanaJo]

Im glad you likeed The Mayor of Casterbridge. Tess is a sadder story throughout, Jude has a single more tragic event but overall less sad, in my opinion. The characters in Jude i felt were too whiney for me although I do understand their challenges. Hardy is my favorite.

[@hannahwebster5606]

Hardy is my favourite author ever. I wrote my dissertation on him. I just have The Laodicean left and then I have read all his novels.

[@jenniferbrooks]

The Laodicean sounds so good! I think you've left a good one for the last.

[@SpringboardThought]

I’ll have to see if I have Far From the Madding Crowd. I haven’t read any of him yet. I know I do have Tess around.

[@cwilson284]

I have read them all, and I agree that FFMC is a great place to start, as is the shorter Under the Greenwood Tree, which in 200 pages contains virtually all of the themes that Hardy cared about--the waning of old traditions, a love triangle, class distinctions, etc. And I hope you give The Woodlanders a second chance--it has a more smoldering frustrated sexuality and reminds me a lot of D. H. Lawrence. I don't think anyone should start with Tess or Jude who hasn't read all of Hardy in order to see his growth as an artist over the more than 20 years that he wrote novels. And then a serious Hardyite should dip into the poems, almost all of which are short and pithy--The Oxen is the perfect Christmas poem, and I Look into My Glass deals with Hardy's fascination with facing death while life still courses through his veins. I haven't read Two on a Tower in years, so I should give it another chance. In two weeks I'm attending the International Hardy conference in Dorchester, so I'll be steeped in Hardy for a week, with daily field trips/walks into Hardy country. I'm looking forward to it.

[@shirzadalipour199]

I read all of his 14 novels . 3 of them twice, Tess, Jude, and The Return of the Native

[@janetcampbell4124]

The Mayor of Casterbridge and Far from the Madding Crowd are my favourites, and either would be a good place to start. I didn't really enjoy Tess or The Return of the Native (sorry). I have The Hand of Ethelberta on my tbr. I never hear this mentioned in Hardy discussions xx

[@CourtneyReads]

Tess is the only Hardy I've read and I don't think I will read more of his books. It was depressing and I don't know if I want that again.

[@josmith5992]

I’m with you on Jude the Obscure Jennifer especially after reading Tess and hearing that Jude was sadder! It seems as though Far from the Madding Crowd is his only joyful book- would that be a fair assessment?

[@jenniferbrooks]

It feels like so far in my reading, that's true!

[@grandmaliciastorytime]

Under the Greenwood Tree is a "joyful" Hardy book!

[@CC143CC]

I like your voice.

[@mrsmarfaasmr3259]

I’ve only read Tess and I’m reading Two on a tower at the moment. Tess is very sad and depressing. I literally hate Angel much more than Alec. Can’t stand hypocrites lol

[@BaileeWalsh]

I somewhat recently watched/rewatched the adaptations of Far From The Madding Crowd and each made me think about the characters differently, particularly Boldwood and Sergeant Troy, both of whom I like but don't like _for_ Bathsheba. I've only read Far From The Madding Crowd and Tess of the D'Urbervilles. FFTMC I think I kind of forced myself to read. It just wasn't the right time. For some reason I was tired *every* time I picked it up but keep trudging through it. I did NOT understand what people meant when they talked about his nature writing, though I did ultimately like the book and story. The reading experience just wasn't great. Tess on the other hand was a good experience and I was on board the Hardy train with his description and characterization! FFTMC I read in 2016 I think and Tess I read just last year- it's now one of my all-time favorite books (but I also like sad books).

[@pamelatarajcak5634]

Watch the 2002ish miniseries of Mayor of Casterbridge...your crush on Donald will worsen considerably!

[@goodstrongwords]

Tess is very sad, but it doesn’t feel unnecessarily so to me and there are enough happy things that it balances out well. However, it is definitely a tragedy so…

[@FerozsonsBookBuddy]

We also make review videos of Urdu books. Inshallah you will like our work too. Thank you very much and many prayers by: Nadeem Rehman Malik

[@suecarol1563]

I think starting with Tess is a very BAD idea. It is very depressing and difficult to read. When school has this as students first experience with Hardy and Victorian novels turns a lot of them off. It has some thinking - why would I want to read such depressing stories?

[@KindaSassy1]

I guess it was a hint to my raging feministic leanings, but Tess made me angry when I read it in secondary school. I hated Angel so much. Such a jerk! Maybe I should re-read it now and see what I think as an old woman.... although I really am a raging feminist now!