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Thomas Hardy
- Narrated by: Josephine Bailey
- Length: 14 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Biographies & Memoirs, Art & Literature
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Publisher's Summary
Ironically, though, Hardy remained safe in the arms of this same upper class during the publication of these books, acting at all times in complete convention with the rules of society. Was he using his books to express himself in a way he felt unable to in the company he kept, or did he know sensationalism would sell? Award-winning author Claire Tomalin expertly reconstructs the life that led Hardy to maintain conventionality while promoting revolution in his writing.
Hardy's work consistently challenged sexual and religious conventions in a way that few other authors of the time dared. Though his personal modesty and kindness allowed some to underestimate him, or even to pity him, they did not prevent him from taking on the central themes of human experience: time, memory, loss, love, fear, grief, anger, uncertainty, death. And it was exactly his quiet life, full of the small, personal dramas of family quarrels, rivalries, and, at times, despair, that infuses his works with the rich detail that sets them apart as masterpieces.
In this engrossing biography, Tomalin skillfully identifies the inner demons and the outer mores that drove Hardy and presents a rich and complex portrait of one of the greatest figures in English literature.
Critic Reviews
"A richly introspective biography sure to rekindle interest in Hardy's writing." (Kirkus Reviews)
"A feat of distillation and mature judgment, Tomalin's biography artfully presents Hardy in his intimate and social world, offering succinct and insightful readings of his work along the way." (Publishers Weekly)
"This is the triumph of the biographer's art, of which Tomalin is a master: to be absolutely true to the last scrap of fact-that is, never to embellish or contort those facts-yet to create something utterly new and undreamt of, something more than the mere sum of those facts." (Chicago Tribune)
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Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- peter
- 04-10-07
A Sensitive Portrait
Delightfully written, well researched, honest and insightful; a delight to any reader but particularly to one who comes from Dorset or knows that part of England well. Thus, I am biased! However, the author endears Hardy to the reader without adornment, gradually adding more and more events that attest to the character of the man. It ends with a sublime period of Hardy's life, with poetry as the recurrent backdrop, a most fitting finale. Realxing, eye opening and a marvellous book for a sunny, country weekend.
9 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Amazon Reviewer
- 07-07-07
Hardy Fan
I have been a fan of Thomas Hardy for many years. This book did a remarkable job of telling an intimate story of his private life and work. I have a new-found respect for the author. All Hardy fans would benefit from listening to this comprehensive biography. I might have enjoyed it more read by a different narrator. That's the reason for the 4 stars.
7 people found this helpful
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
- Sally Renata
- 09-12-16
Mixed Feelings
This book is worth eleven hours of attention if, like me, you are fascinated by Thomas Hardy's being a man ahead of his time with respect to his view of his female characters, his care for the land, and his understanding of the class system during the late 1800's. I wanted to know where his views came from.
This is a very complete history, to the extent that you no only go through his life, but the lives of family and friends. Great for the historian, but I felt in the end that some questions still linger.
Worse, I didn't feel the writers perspective was at all objective. She went about trying to prove her hypothesis and in the end, I wasn't convinced. However still, I felt it was interesting and well written.
The reader has a very pleasing voice and she manages French and German phrases with ease. However, when portraying women, she used affected speech that made you feel she was holding judgement of the individual. I understand the stiffness of Victorian language, but perhaps this woman wasn't haughty or aloof. I saw that the readers portrayal could misrepresent an important character.
4 people found this helpful