Jude the Obscure, Hardy's last novel, is certainly considered among the better of his 20-odd novels, both by modern critics and by Hardy himself. It's my personal favourite, though Tess of the D'Urbevilles comes not far behind. The social comment is worthy - that men cannot hope to acheive greatness by virtue of hard work alone - and revolutionary for its time. The characters are live and believable, and of course Hardy is able as always to make us truly sympathise with them: Jude's frustration is such that only the hardest-hearted reader could fail to feel anger at the way he is treated in the course of the novel.
In the context of Hardy's other works, Jude the Obscure is something of an oddball: the rural setting, though still there, is much less important and apparent than in any of his other books, and the descriptions of rural life and landscapes are fewer (though no less detailed and profound). Though suffering and hardship are apparent in many of his later novels, only in Tess of the D'Urbevilles is the misery nearly as complete as it is here (though in the Mayor of Casterbridge and The Woodlanders for example we see principle characters dead or in mourning, there are some happy survivors at least). Though Tess's suffering and hardship is more or less entirely on a personal level, Jude suffers from both personal problems and the predjudice of others.
If this novel has a flaw, then it is perhaps in that it is too miserable: though unquestionably powerful, the climax of Jude's misery is somewhat unbelieveable and exaggerated.
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Good review just need to add a few more details to it .......(__sam__)
daddyof3 02.08.2006 00:03
Good review although more expansion on the characters and the language style used would improve the rating. You might also want to bung in some info about the cover.... not forgetting the all important 'where can I get it cheap? @;-)
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