Far from the Madding Crowd (Penguin Classics) [Paperback]

Thomas Hardy (Author), Shannon Russell (Editor), Rosemarie Morgan (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Penguin Classics | Publication Date: April 29, 2003

Edited with an Introduction and Notes by Rosemarie Morgan with Shannon Russell.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Novel by Thomas Hardy, published serially and anonymously in 1874 in The Cornhill Magazine and published in book form under Hardy's name the same year. It was his first popular success. The plot centers on Bathsheba Everdene, a farm owner, and her three suitors, Gabriel Oak (a generous shepherd), Sergeant Troy (a young, handsome, and inconsiderate soldier), and William Boldwood (the owner of the neighboring farm). The contrasting relationships between Bathsheba and her suitors are a study of the many faces of love, including honest, heartfelt love and unscrupulous and manipulative adoration. -- The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Thomas Hardy was born in 1840 and wrote both poetry and novels, including The Mayor of Casterbridge, Tess of the D'Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure. He died in 1928. Rosemarie Morgan teaches in the English department at Yale University. Shannon Russell holds a post doctoral Fellowship specializing in nineteenth- and twentieth-century literature at Oxford.

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (April 29, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0141439653
• ISBN-13: 978-0141439655
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.9 x 7.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #107,562 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #7 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Literature & Fiction > Authors, A-Z > ( H ) > Hardy, Thomas
  • #14 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > British > 19th Century
  • #51 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Literature & Fiction > World Literature > British > General

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Forget the infamous "love triangle"..., March 3, 2004

By 

book yeti "book yeti" (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Far from the Madding Crowd (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

In Far from the Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy introduces us to the precarious "love square". At the core of all the turmoil is beautiful farm girl, Bathsheba Everdene - spirited, vain, intelligent and adept at toying with the hearts of men. Inevitably beguiled by her charms a humble and kind farmer, Gabriel Oak, fervently attempts to win Bathsheba's affections. Enter the competition: (suitor#2) Farmer Boldwood - a wealthy and temperate middle-aged man respected in the community, eventually plunges into maniacal obsession at the mere possibility of making the beloved Miss Everdene his wife; and (suitor#3) Sergeant Francis Troy - a dashing young philandering soldier, with his share of inner demons, ruthlessness and vanity, vies for Bathsheba's hand in marriage. Bathsheba's ultimate decision, and the cataclysm it evokes, lies at the epicenter of Hardy's unforgettable ambivalent story.

Far from the Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy's fourth novel, saw publication in 1874 and earned him widespread popularity as a writer. A delicately woven tale of unrequited love and regret, set in the mid-19th century, Far From the Madding Crowd is a masterpiece of pure story-telling. Hardy's classic style is a pleasure to read as he masterfully brings his characters and their dealings to life. I would not hesitate to say it definitely captured my heart as another favourite.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Forces of Nature, July 9, 2006

By 

KH1 (Middle America) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Far from the Madding Crowd (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD, the first of Thomas Hardy's 'Wessex' novels, tells the story of a small troupe of farmers and their workers in a sheep-farming community in the fictitious county of 'Wessex'.

Gabriel Oak has been a shepherd since his teenage years, as his father was before him, but he's moved up and purchased, on credit, his own farm. The work is hard, but he is confident that he will succeed, and takes pride in being his own man. Then one day, a new woman arrives in town. Bathsheeba Everdene is beautiful, headstrong, intelligent, but incurably vain; Farmer Oak falls in love with her immediately. A few months later, he proposes, and is utterly rejected. Bathsheeba moves on to care for her dying uncle, and take over his farm. Gabriel continues farming - until tragedy strikes.

He and Bathsheeba will cross paths again, this time not as lovers, but as mistress and servant. Bathsheeba's beauty, vanity and impetuousness leave a trail of carnage in her wake, and Gabriel can only watch on as lives are destroyed, farms are ruined, and his own heart is crushed repeatedly.

Hardy is famous for his fatalism, and this is displayed no more than in the character of Bathsheba Everdene. She is not an evil person, as the above summary would suggest - but her stunning beauty and fierce intelligence combine with her vanity and impulsivity to create something like a force of nature, and though she means only good she seems to be able to do nothing but wrong by those who care for her. She has no more control over her nature than she does over the weather. One of the most interesting aspects of this character is that her vices - vanity, impulsivity, which Hardy attributes to her being young and beautiful - lead to the downfall of others, but she is continuously saved from downfall by her own intelligence and inner personal strength.

REal tragedy finally does strike Bathsheba, but rather than let it destroy her as retribution for her wicked ways, she grows from it. We may not be able to escape the hardship of life, Hardy seems to be saying, but we can grow and prosper by learning from it.

This was a fantastically entertaining book. The only warning that I could give with it is that it is slow-moving. The action comes in fits and spurts, and Hardy has a penchant for elaborate descriptions of the countryside, for farmhouses, churches and festivals. They are beautifully written, but take time to digest fully. Highly recommended.

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The perfect book, pretty well, December 26, 2005

By 

Jonathan M. Mason "jm_1951" (Punta Gorda, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Far from the Madding Crowd (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

I'm not sure that this book qualifies as one of the greatest of all time, but it is certainly one of my all-time favorites. My first aquaintance with the story was seeing the 1967 movies, with Julie Christie, Terence Stamp, Peter Finch, and Alan Bates as the four main characters. (If you haven't seen it, this movie is very much worth the trouble.) Of course seeing the movie first has somewhat influenced the mental images of the characters in my head, despite the blonde, blue-eyed Christie playing the dark-haired, dark-eyed Bathsheba Everdene.

Yes, the story is about a beautiful women and the three men who court her, marry her, die for her, and swing for her (almost). There are lots of interesting sociological and historical topics here, and a great deal of the drama and pathos of the plot stems from the completely defenceless position of a women who, whatever wealth she may possess, essentially loses all control over her life when she marries someone whom, in contemporary terms, we might call a serial abuser.

But for me the real attraction of the book is the wonderful portrayal of nineteenth century rural life and the beautifully handled dialogue which is full of humor, pathos, and ultimately tragedy.

So, although in some respects the plot is not all the dissimilar from your typical Mills & Boon type scenario, there is much, much more in this book, and by the time you finish reading it, you have experienced a totally absorbing emotional rollercoaster ride and it is hard to say goodbye to these characters who truly come to life in the imagination.

Very, very highly recommended.