The Return of the Native (Modern Library Classics) (original 1878; edition 2001)

I have spent the last thirty five years convinced that I do not like Thomas Hardy. I know how it happened. Reading [b:Tess of the D'Urbervilles|32261|Tess of the D'Urbervilles |Thomas Hardy|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1311647517s/32261.jpg|3331021] when I was in high school and again at university made a lasting - and a negative - impression on me. Admittedly, I went on to read [b:Jude the Obscure|50798|Jude the Obscure (Thrift Edition)|Thomas Hardy|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1287476966s/50798.jpg|2011241] and [b:Far from the Madding Crowd|31463|Far from the Madding Crowd |Thomas Hardy|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1311647536s/31463.jpg|914540], also while I was at university, and quite liked both novels. Notwithstanding this, my dislike of Tess overshadowed whatever appreciation for Hardy's work I might otherwise have developed. The result is that I have not read another of Hardy's novels since leaving university.

Until now. Through one of my Goodreads friends (Thanks Robin!) I discovered that Alan Rickman had narrated The Return of the Native and I decided that if listening to an audiobook narrated by Rickman could not make me like Hardy, then nothing could. After all, I would pay good money to hear Alan Rickman read the telephone directory or the bus timetable, so why not listen to him read Hardy?

What an excellent decision that was, for this was a sublime experience.

First, there's the novel itself. This is Greek or Shakespearean tragedy in the form of a novel. The setting, Egdon Heath, is a character in itself, brought alive by its flora, its fauna, the time of day, the season, the weather conditions and - most of all - those who live there. Then there are the main characters whose lives and dramas are played out on and around the heath: all of them amazingly alive with their passions and their flaws. And there are the secondary characters: those who live in the cottages on the heath who act as both comic relief and Greek chorus. There's the tragedy itself, which is brought about not by evil, but - as tragedy so often is - by misunderstandings and bad timing. The tragedy is lightened somewhat by the conclusion of the novel, which is a happy ending for at least some of the characters. This was not the ending that Hardy initially intended and was apparently a result of the demands of serial publication and the expectations of readers. I think the novel suffers somewhat as a result, but only a little.

Secondly, there's the language of the novel. Hardy eventually gave up writing novels to write poetry and it's clear that the poet was always there in the novelist. The language is rich, complex, with breathtakingly beautiful imagery. Many scenes are so vividly described that I could see them as oil paintings, knowing exactly how the light and shadow would fall on them.

Thirdly, there's Alan Rickman's narration. It is, quite simply, a joy to listen to. Rickman narrates; he does not deliver a bravura acting performance, so his reading is restrained. However, he nevertheless creates distinctive and appropriate voices for the characters, including wonderful West Country accents for the supporting characters. His voice is mesmerising: low, rich and warm. I could listen to it forever.

All in all, as an experiment to see if I could really enjoy a novel by Thomas Hardy, listening to this audiobook has been spectacularly successful. If I had read a text version, I probably would have given it a four star rating, maybe even 3 1/2 stars because of the less than totally satisfactory ending. Listening to Alan Rickman read the book to me has elevated the experience from great to amazing. My only problem is that I may have difficulty finding another audiobook that I will enjoy as much.

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$2. Salvos. Mine has different cover but same ISBN

This book was very difficult to get into. I almost stopped reading, but then all of a sudden the language was clear. Story of misplaced love and misunderstanding. Never being satisfied always looking for something better. Death and tragedy in the end.

With Afterword by Albert J. Guerard, this is a "pocket" book for camping.

Eustacia Vye wanted to marry and leave Egdon Heath. Clyn Yeobright returned to teach the country folk who lived on his beloved heath. They struggle to fulfill their consuming and conflicted passions.

Damn this man can write tragedy! In this novel Hardy createsa love triangle (quadrangle?) that is both beautiful and disastrous. Using his incrediblegift for lyrical prose he takes us into the wild land of Egdon Health.

Diggory Venn, a local reddleman, is in love with ThomasinYeobright. She in turn is in love with Wildeve, a restless self-centered man.He is torn between his feelings for her and his love for Eustacia Vye. Add Thomasin’scousin Clym Yeobright, the man who catches Eustacia’s eye, to the mix and you’vegot quite the quandary.

Each of the characters is wonderfully developed. We feelEustacia’s restlessness and Thomasin’s earnest devotion. We long for Venn tofind love and Clym to find happiness. We watch their lives unfold with a mix ofapprehension and excitement, wondering all the while if the characters arefalling in love purely for the escape they offer each other or if theirfeelings are true. Do they want something because someone else wants it orbecause it’s truly their heart’s desire?

“The sentiment which lurks more or less in all animatenature – that of not desiring the undesired of other – was lively as a passionin the supsersublte epicurean heart of Eustacia.”

I loved how the health is one of the main characters in thebook and all of the characters are shaped by their reaction to it. Eustaciadesperately wants to leave it and will do anything to get away. Clym returnsfrom Parisaching for the wild health he loved so much in his childhood. Thomasin feelsthat she is a country girl and is comfortable living in the health. Only Hardycould make the background setting of a drama such a definitive character in theaction. He even describes the effect the health has on the women who live there…

“An environment which would have made a contented woman apoet, a suffering woman a devotee, a pious woman a psalmist, even a giddy womanthoughtful, made a rebellious woman saturnine.”

SPOILERS

All of the characters desperately want what they can’t have.Another person, money, success, peace, travel, etc. Even Clym’s mother Mrs.Yeobright longs for different partners for her son and niece. She wants theirhappiness, but when they’ve chosen their lot in life she has such a hard timeaccepting it that she perpetuates unhappiness in their lives. Each character isdestroyed by their own longing except for Venn. Early in the book he comes toterms with the fact that he’ll never have the woman he truly wants. He acceptsthat and decides that he’ll do everything he can to make her happy from adistance. Then, in the end he’s the only one who ends up getting what he wanted.It’s a beautiful picture of selfless love.

SPOILERS OVER

BOTTOM LINE: This book is so beautiful and poignant I justcan’t get over it. It’s definitely a new favorite of mine. I’d recommend it ifyou enjoy Victorian literature, tragic love stories or just gorgeous prose.

“Love was to her theone cordial which could drive away the eating loneliness of her days.”

“Humanity appears upon the scene, hand-in-hand withtrouble.”

“What a strange sort of love to be entirely free from that quality of selfishness which is frequently the chief constituent of the passion and sometimes its only one.” ( )