Thursday, 15 December 2011

Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy

Right back into it! After falling off the book reading waggon i am back at it, and boy did i choose a book that would push my determination to the edges of its limits.

No-one warned me that Thomas Hardy was such a depressing writer, Now i no that not everyone gets to have a happily ever after but come on, what is it with all these writers making the reader depressed. But on another note this is the first one that i have read that have really pulled at my heart strings, the way that he writes the book may not be exciting, but then again it is not meant to be. It is a look into a life of one man that goes through allot a strife and hard ship.

Reading this book i became attached to Jude, (the main character) and his trails and hardships, because to me he was just a nice guy that life decided to dump on. At times i wanted to close the book and stop reading because it seemed that nothing would go right for Jude. Don't get me wrong he had some things go right with him. He finally got the girl he had loved for as long as he had known her.

Now just a warning this will be a bit a spoiler alert for those of you that might just want to read this book, and yes i do recommend it, so if you don't want to know skip ahead. This story dose not end well as i have already said but there where three places in the book that really made me want to put it down and not read on those points were....

1) When Jude had to kill the pig with Arabella his first wife, it may not seem like much or even a plot spoiler but it was one of the first times that it became clear to me that it was all going down hill for Jude and may not look up for some time.

2) When Jude's son hung him self and his other two young children, now i won't reveal anymore then that, but at this point i had to put the book down and i did not continue reading it for awhile after that.

and 3rd was when Sue (his cousin and 2nd wife) left him to go back to her 1st husband that she divorced to be with Jude. This was after the children had died in such a horrific way, and in a way i understand why she did it. She felt that god was punishing her because of her wrong doing of leaving her first husband to be with Jude. But still poor Jude was left alone in misery and loneliness yet again also having to deal with his children's deaths alone. Now i can't say that i can relate but i had grown to like Jude and felt extremely sorry for him.

After all that i did finish the book and i am glad that i did it is a sad tale but one that is written very well.  It is a tale about Jude Fawley a working-class young man who dreams of becoming a scholar. Its themes centre around class, education, religion, and marriage. An excellently sad tale about life, love and dreams that are never achieved. A must read for all who love to read.