Name: Far From the Madding Crowd
Rating: 3.860169491525424 (118 reviews)
ISBN: 9781420928525

Thomas Hardy

Far From the Madding Crowd

Ritik Sahni

Christine

hardy: bathsheba is an independent strong woman who don't need no man

bathsheba: *marries the first good looking guy she sees*

The Penguin English Library Edition of Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy 'I cannot allow any man to - to criticise my private conduct!' she exclaimed. 'Nor will I for a minute' Hardy's powerful novel of swift sexual passion and slow-burning loyalty centres on Bathsheba Everdene, a proud working woman whose life is complicated by three different men - respectable farmer Boldwood, seductive Sergeant Troy and devoted Gabriel - making her the object of scandal and betrayal. Vividly portraying the superstitions and traditions of a small rural community, Far from the Madding Crowd shows the precarious position of a woman in a man's world. The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.

Haley Murray

Far from the Madding Crowd (Penguin Classics)

Celeste Richardson

Love is messy. And Thomas Hardy had an incredible grasp of that messiness. Far from the Madding Crowd is only the second book I’ve read by him, Tess of the D'Urbervilles being the first, and both were about love’s ability to wreck lives. Hardy’s writing didn’t grip me as hard in this novel as it did throughout Tess, but the writing was still lovely, and the story still compelling, with a (thankfully) happier ending than Tess provided.

Bathsheba Everdene is a beautiful, headstrong, independent woman who is loved by three different men: Gabriel Oak, a steady, trustworthy farmer and shepherd; William Boldwood, a reserved, dignified landowner of means; and Francis Troy, a dashing, impulsive military sergeant. Bathsheba wants nothing more than the freedom and independence afforded her by running her own life and finds marriage unappealing. But when she does fall haphazardly in love, all four of our central characters pay a price for it.

I’m not a fan of love triangles, and am even less of a fan of love squares or pyramids or whatever you would call the train wreck of relationships in this book. But Hardy has a way of keeping me interested. Did I roll my eyes on occasion? Most definitely. But did the story move me and evoke my sympathy? It did indeed. I will tell you that I rooted for Gabriel throughout the entire book. He was just a genuinely good man who cared more about the happiness and well-being of others than he did his own. Was he rewarded in the end? Who did Bathsheba end up with, if anyone?

Well, you’ll just have to read the book to find out, won’t you? ;-)

Far from the madding crowd

Allison Francis

I already want to read this book again!!! The beginning started slow, but the second half really picked up. All the characters were very interesting and I still don't know how I feel about Bathsheba. I understand her and loved how independent she was, though some of her actions I did not approve of. I honestly wasn't expecting the book to end the way it did. Five stars! I look forward to reading more of Hardy in the future

Marshie

Beautiful, entangling, and plot twists galore! 

Grace O'Callaghan

I have very conflicted feelings about this book. On the one hand the descriptions of nature and the writing is beautiful. But on the other it dragged the plot and made me a little bit bored.

I do appreciate that Hardy wrote a very complex female character at the heart of this novel. Basthsheba Everdeen is independent and the owner of a farm. I’m not sure I entirely like her from some of her decisions, but I do realise it was a different time back then. Women didn’t have as many options as they do now and I enjoyed the fact she did what she wanted when it wasn’t always the easiest thing to do. As much as she does what she wants, that leads to many mistakes. She is not a perfect and ‘strong’ woman but is incredibly flawed.

Gabriel, I quite enjoyed. He was a constant throughout the novel and really grounded the story and how wild Bathsheba’s life could sometimes be. I loved how he was Bashiba’s rock and told her what she needed to hear.

In terms of plot, I think it was pretty dragged out. The plot points themselves I really enjoyed but it was the lulls in between that didn’t grip me as much. I did enjoy the writing about nature but there were also such long monologues that could’ve been said in fewer words.

I absolutely adored the setting of this book. It’s quite a quiet novel plot wise and the setting of a farm reflects the quiet nature. Farm settings in general just really appeal to me, I just love the peace and animals.

Overall, a solid book with a complex main character at the centre of it all. I think perhaps listening to it as an audiobook on a deadline (it needed to be returned to the library) hindered my enjoyment a bit as I wasn’t able to always pick up what was going on. Maybe I’ll pick it up again in the future, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon. I think I’ll really enjoy the film as in theory I really enjoy the events, but it was just a bit dragged out on paper.

Content warnings in the spoiler tag below:
(view spoiler)[Death of people and animals (hide spoiler)]

Bathsheba Everdene arrives in the small village of Weatherbury and captures the heart of three very different men: Gabriel Oak, a quiet shepherd, the proud, obdurate Farmer Boldwood and dashing, unscrupulous Sergeant Troy. The battle for her affections will have dramatic, tragic and surprising consequences in this classic tale of love and misunderstanding.

Far from the Madding Crowd

sariya

Far from the Madding Crowd was the first of Hardy's novels to give the name of Wessex to the landscape of the south-west of England, and the first to gain him widespread popularity. The story of the wooing of Bathsheba Everdene by three suitors is here presented in a critical text with a new introduction, bibliography and chronology.

Far From the Madding Crowd

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