Posted by Claire on July 17, 1997 at 20:39:28:
In reply to Re: Thomas Hardy posted by Cassia on July 16, 1997 at 17:45:46
] ] Thanks for your help,
] ] maybe IŽll start with Tess. Most of the little bits I`ve managed to catch seem very poetic. Anyway, I`ll read them all someday. ;-)
] ] I saw Tess-the Roman Polanski film- and I liked it, so this book sounds like an interesting option.
]
] ________
] Either Return of the Native or Far from the Madding Crowd are great Hardy first exposure. I really like Madding better, until Bathseba goes daft over that idiotic sargeant. He's worse tahn Wickham could ever dream of being.
] Cassia
________
My message was truncated, somehow. I read Tess first, and it's an experience; I also saw the Polanski movie, then I went to Bere Regis (Kingsbere) in the book, and the church therre is filled with long ago mementos of the Turberville family; tombs, a window that show the various succession to the manor in stained glass, featuring the shields of arms of the various member of the Turberville family and their successors, the Draxes. Floor tiles with indents of John and his wife Ann T. who died around the mid 1600's. A couple of above the ground tombs. Anyway, I had a very peculiar feeling there, thinking about Tess. It was like she has been one of my family members, and I felt terribly sad. The church is ancient, with parts dating to the Norman Conquest, and several areas are still intact. I think the reason I felt that way is a tribute to his powerful, penetrating, vivid writing style.
Claire
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