Tess of the d'Urbervilles

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Critics

• Tess of the D'Urbervilles

  In the years after the 1891 publication of Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy acknowledged that he had written the book 'with too much feeling to recall it with pleasure'. If writing the book was an affecting experience, reading it proves equall ... (read full critics)

  guardian.co.uk published on Fri, 24 Sep 2010

• The CLASSIC review

  Comments ( 0) Add to My Stories There is something disturbing about the experience of watching the lavish new BBC1 dramatisation of Thomas Hardy's Tess Of The D'Urbervilles. However hazy one's notion of the plot, it is hard to shake off a sense of pi ... (read full critics)

  dailymail published on Tue, 21 Sep 2010

15 Reviews

• 1 person find this helpful

  

  This is Hardy at his best. One of the most exciting of his novels.

  One thing Hardy wants to put over - and he does so very strongly - is that one's life can be so altered by what appear to be the 'accidents' of life. For example: The letter pushed under the door by Tess but not found by Clare ... (continue)

  This is Hardy at his best. One of the most exciting of his novels.

  One thing Hardy wants to put over - and he does so very strongly - is that one's life can be so altered by what appear to be the 'accidents' of life. For example: The letter pushed under the door by Tess but not found by Clare because it goes under the mat. How that changes everything.

  A great book. I greatly enjoyed it. It has many lessons.

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  GraJon said on Jul 25, 2008 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

• 1 person find this helpful

  

  What a book! It's full of fools and the characters are mad:
  Tess's mother is a superficial woman; Tess is a stupid, innocent killer; Angel Clare (WTF! Is it a name? Tsk.) is a crazy psychopath; Alec D'Urbevill is a sick pervert; and so on...

  Foolish - all of 'em.

  ~

  Few ... (continue)

  What a book! It's full of fools and the characters are mad:
  Tess's mother is a superficial woman; Tess is a stupid, innocent killer; Angel Clare (WTF! Is it a name? Tsk.) is a crazy psychopath; Alec D'Urbevill is a sick pervert; and so on...

  Foolish - all of 'em.

  ~

  Few Sentences about Angel Clare:

  "What kind of husband would ask Izz to go in Brazil with him so soon after parting from his wife?" [pg 86]

  That's a good question, dear Tess.
  
  "Who is he?" asked D'Urbeville. "Where is he? Why isn't he here to look after you? What sort of husband can he be leaving you to work like this?" [pg 91]

  Ah-ha!
  Alec: 1
  Tess: 0
  
  "I'm Tess's husband. I want to see her at once. You were going to write and tell me where she is. Is she well?"
  "I don't know, sir, but you ought to."

  XDXD Genious.

  ~

  Vote: 7+

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  Blackrystal said on May 13, 2008 | Add your feedback

• 1 person find this helpful

  I feel pity about the life of Tess, because her life is totally ruined by a bad man from an ancient noble family.

  It is the encourage from her mother to tell her to visit the D'urberville family, especially one of the member called Alec. And her beauty and innocent, which has seduced Alec, rui ... (continue)

  I feel pity about the life of Tess, because her life is totally ruined by a bad man from an ancient noble family.

  It is the encourage from her mother to tell her to visit the D'urberville family, especially one of the member called Alec. And her beauty and innocent, which has seduced Alec, ruined her life that should be very happy and peaceful.

  If she hasn't visit the D'urberville, she wouldn't have met Alec, and would live with Angel happily ever after.

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  Kittyy Yuen-3A.38 said on May 10, 2008 | Add your feedback

• 

  Haunting

  I knew from the start of the contents this book contained, as an English student it's hard for my teachers to not comment as we're currently studying Victorian Literature. Nevertheless, despite knowing how it might end, I was still addicted and wanted to know what happened next. Of course, some may ... (continue)

  I knew from the start of the contents this book contained, as an English student it's hard for my teachers to not comment as we're currently studying Victorian Literature. Nevertheless, despite knowing how it might end, I was still addicted and wanted to know what happened next. Of course, some may be put off by the fact that this is Victorian Literature, therefore, there won't be any explicit descriptions of anything that was deemed controversial at the time, yet, in contrast to many authors of that era, Hardy hints at these facts clearly which leaves me, as a reader, satisfied and aware that that was the topic discussed. Despite there being some chapters which, in my opinion, could have easily been absent, such as a whole chapter on cows, the story flows along nicely. Even though some may sympathize with Tess, you're left feeling as if she were an annoying child, but this may only be because of my own point of view, as I preferred Alec rather than Angel. The latter seemed such a fake character, realizing too late in the novel what the right thing to do was.
  A book that can leave you frustrated with characters at times, but the final scene is absolutely haunting and leaves you with a strange feeling in your mind.

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  F Sally said on Feb 15, 2012 about the Mass Market Paperback edition | Add your feedback

• 

  Brilliant writing

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  Simon Hargreaves said on Sep 9, 2011 | Add your feedback

• 

  I decided it was time to read this book as last week my flatmate described it as the "most depressing book I've ever read". Now having finished it I can't say the same (Well of Loneliness still wins that award for me) but I did enjoy. The only problem I had with it was Tess herself. She seemed not t ... (continue)

  I decided it was time to read this book as last week my flatmate described it as the "most depressing book I've ever read". Now having finished it I can't say the same (Well of Loneliness still wins that award for me) but I did enjoy. The only problem I had with it was Tess herself. She seemed not to have enough clear definition or motivation. It was difficult to know what her feelings and ideas were. I thought this was particularly struck home when Angel Clare showed up 150 pages in, and suddenly Hardy was explaining his background, education, thoughts ideas and principles. Unfortunately with Tess herself there was none of that. I think this made it harder for me to feel her plight. And I did find the "moral" stance to be rather strange. Still there were some things that were done very well. I got a real sense of place from the book, I felt that the minor characters were more developed and could imagine them carrying on their lives outside of the main plot. I also really liked the family curse and the suicidal milkmaids. Overall I did like it, but not as much as I had hoped to.

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  Robot-mel said on Jan 15, 2011 | Add your feedback

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Book Details

• Rating:
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• English Books
• Paperback 144 Pages
• ISBN-10: 0194230945
• ISBN-13: 9780194230940
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Pub date: Oct 18, 2000
• Dimensions: 1290 mm x 839 mm x 65 mm Just how big is that?
• Also available as: Mass Market Paperback, Hardcover, Audio CD, Audio Cassette, Library Binding, School & Library Binding, Unbound, Others and eBook
• In other languages: other languages Livres Français, Deutsche Bücher, Libros en Español, Libri Italiani

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• The Novel 100 (106)

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