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Jude the Obscure (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

~ Thomas Hardy (Author), Patricia Ingham (Editor)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

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  Kindle Edition, May 28, 1998 $5.65 -- --
  Paperback, May 27, 1998 $6.95 $6.49 $0.01
  Paperback, April 10, 2003 -- $1.77 $0.99

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Editorial Reviews

Review


"Excellent text, appropriate aids (intro, notes), and an incredible price. This is an impressive bargain."--Robert Beckett, Southwest Missouri State University
"Ingham's introduction, editing, and explanatory notes are unusually balanced, sound, and helpful in understanding this pivotal Victorian novel."--Frances Mayhew Rippy, Ball State University
--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.


Product Description

Hardy's last and most controversial novel, Jude the Obscure caused much outrage when it was published in 1895. Jude Fawley, poor and working-class, longs to study at the University of Christminster, but his ambitions to go to university are thwarted by class prejudice and his entrapment in a loveless marriage. He falls in love with his unconventional cousin, Sue Bridehead, and their refusal to marry when free to do so confirms their rejection of and by the world around them. The shocking fate that overtakes them is an indictment of a rigid and uncaring society. This is the first truly critical edition, taking account of the changes that Hardy made over twenty-five years. Hardy's last, and most controversial novel, this revised edition has the first truly critical text, a new chronology and bibliography, and substantially revised notes.
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 464 pages
  • Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; Revised edition (April 10, 2003)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0192802615
  • ISBN-13: 978-0192802613
  • Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #657,097 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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    #81 in  Books > Literature & Fiction > Authors, A-Z > ( H ) > Hardy, Thomas
    #83 in  Books > Literature & Fiction > British > Classics > Hardy, Thomas

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Customer Reviews

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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the great ones., August 5, 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: Jude the Obscure (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)
As are Hardy's other books, Jude the Obscure is not an "easy read." Appreciating Hardy's work requires a little work and the ability to pay attention and to think a little along the way. But the effort pays off. Jude the Obscure is a great book about the human condition, at least as it exists for many people. Like other Hardy characters, Jude Fawley makes a mistake early in his life and continues to pay the price until the day he dies. He commits an act of folly that seals his doom, and nothing he can do can make it right. This would be merely sad or melodramatic were if not for the fact that Jude is a truly good man with truly good intentions. It is this that makes his story truly tragic. Not only is he trapped by the consequences of his early act of foolishness, but he is also trapped and eventually dragged down by the conventions of a society that is more concerned with status and class than with character and ability and more devoted to mindless tradition than to a considered morality. Most of what can be said of Jude also be said of his love, Sue Bridehead, although I found her to be a less believable and sympathetic character. I was surprised by the frankness with which Hardy deals with sexuality in 1895, and I can understand now the furor this book apparently caused in Britain and America upon publication. Hardy is a writer of great power and insight. He also knows how to build a great story. And he is a novelist of ideas. He has his faults, of course. At his worst, he is wordy, obscure, and pedantic. But at his best, he is one of the most emotionally moving of writers. At times his books flash briliantly with passion. At times, he is heartbreaking. Jude the Obscure is a novel that no lover of fine writing and a great story can afford to miss. The novel has haunted me for weeks since I read it, and it probably will for a long time.
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4.0 out of 5 stars Hardy's Last Novel, September 19, 2009
Ah, the novel that made Thomas Hardy stop writing. When this novel was first published, it was so controversial it is said that the Bishop of Wakefield publicly burned it. I can definitely see why. This novel questions not only marriage and the laws of the time, but also religion, the class system, and society in general. Add suicide to that and you have yourself quite a book for 1895. Although shocking at times and still relevant today, it doesn't quite have the impact now that it did then. It would be too hard to give a brief summary without giving away some major plot points, so I won't even try. I will say that I'm not always fond of the classics that I've read, but I think this one is a really good book. The old writing style gets a little annoying at times, but the storyline makes up for it. This is a not a book for the faint of heart. It's sad, depressing, and tragic. If you're looking for something light and happy, don't choose this one.
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4.0 out of 5 stars Women: the scourge of life, November 18, 2002
By Gideon (Utah) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Jude the Obscure (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)
As with many of Thomas Hardy's books, Jude the Obscure is a book that satirizes society's views-this one of relationships and commitment. At the beginning of the novel, Jude is a young boy in Marygreen (a part of Wessex) gains an interest for the city of Christminster. At this young age he committed himself to becoming educated enough to one day attend one of the many colleges at Christminster and become a decorated scholar or minister of the church. One day while returning to Marygreen from a job as a stone mason, he meets Arabella. Her entire view of marriage is a social engagement by which a woman attaches herself to a man and allows him to care for her and carry her expenses. She attracts Jude's attention by throwing a piece of raw pig meat at him, and coerces him into marriage by making him believe that she was pregnant. This arrangement, Jude believed, would only postpone his ability to attend a mighty school in Christminster. After their divorce, and a lengthy intermission, Arabella again gets Jude to marry her by keeping him drunk for several days. As made manifest by her use of a false hairpiece and the way she artificially produces a dimple in her cheek, Arabella is a character that portrays the façade of marriage. Her view of relationships was entirely superficial, something for society to see. There was no substance to her or to any relationship she was engaged in.
After their divorce, Jude finally moves up to Christminster where he is rejected by all the colleges. He realized that what he had hoped for as a boy was just a fantasy. Here he meets Sue, a cousin of his, and falls in love. Sue, who really loved Jude, only wanted the security from a relationship without ever having to give a commitment (why she always avoided marriage with Jude). This later led to Jude's downfall. Sue was extremely manipulative and controlled Jude and his emotions as though she were merely pulling and releasing strings. She was often childish and impulsive by drastically doing things and making rash decisions. She knew how Jude felt about her, but seemed to find more enjoyment by avoiding that which she felt was the natural course of nature. Ultimately, she only brought suffering upon herself, and unimaginable anguish upon Jude.
Jude was a boy who wanted nothing more than to "be somebody." He had great goals that were thrashed before his eyes by selfish women who knew his weaknesses. Had Jude been a confirmed bachelor, he would have had little problem in achieving his goals, and Hardy would have been without a book that illustrated the follies of marriage in his day. For example, it is pretty sad by knowing that two people were married by their indifference and mal disposition toward each other. Whenever he recovered from a folly with either of the aforementioned women, he would return to his roots at Marygreen-more going back to the basics-reset his goals (which ultimately led to Christminster) and set out to only be shoved off course by a pretty dame. Hardy's book, being well written and easy to follow and read, if nothing else illustrates what I definitely do not want in a relationship. It is a story like you find in the Bible, one that shows the potholes in life so that you may avoid them.
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4.0 out of 5 stars Jude is obscure
Jude the Obcure is really a book about life. It involves Jude's search for happiness. Of course, he never quite achieves happiness because something is always in the... Read more
Published on November 20, 2002

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