Love is a possible strength in an actual weakness.
This is the tale of Bathsheba Everdene, a proud, independent and disarmingly beautiful w
Love is a possible strength in an actual weakness.
This is the tale of Bathsheba Everdene, a proud, independent and disarmingly beautiful woman who inherited her uncle's vast farm. Fearlessly, she enters men's world of farming and becomes mistress of the farm. She attracts different suitors between this transformation: Gabriel Oak, a hardworking and faithful shepherd, William Boldwood, a middle-aged bachelor with dignity and Sergeant Frank Troy, a flirtatious soldier.
For me, the story was an experience. Tomas Hardy's excellent writing transports you to Victorian England's beautiful farmlands filled with interesting and unique characters. I was reading as well as listening to an exceptional Librivox recording of the story at same time. This beautiful combination truly formed a trance like experience, creating a tangible connection between the characters and the reader. I listened to last 5 hours of 14 hour-long audiobook without a single break. I felt their pride, temptation, hopelessness, pain, insanity and love.
The story's strength lies in its characters and beautiful narration. As most of the readers, my favorite character was Gabriel Oak because of his calm and consistent nature throughout the story. (view spoiler)[Farmer Boldwood was the tragic one, a man of prosperity and dignity undone by his acts. Sergeant troy, while not evil, was the character that could invoke anger in the reader. (hide spoiler)]
But Bathsheba was something else entirely. I am still not sure what to think of that character! I despised her vanity, applauded her courage and independent nature, saddened by her pain. But most of the time I was confused by her action and thoughts.
Thomas Hardy is a wonderful writer. His subtle humor, physiological understanding of his characters and ability to transform the shade of story from pleasant to tragedy and vice versa is astonishing. Some of my favorite chapters were (view spoiler)[Fanny Robin's final journey to work house, Gabriel Oak and Bathsheba trying to save the farm from rain and reactions of Bathsheba and Troy in presence of Fanny's corpse (that chapter kind of resonated Shakespearean writing for me) (hide spoiler)]
When I finished the story, I stepped out, half expecting to find myself in lush mountains enveloped by calm breeze. Well, capital city's harsh traffic did a great job breaking that trance, of course.
"You were all but mine, and now you are not nearly mine. Everything is changed, and that by you alone, remember. You were nothing to me once, and I was contented; you are now nothing to me again, and how different the second nothing is from the first!"
The antichrist is among us! The four horsemen of apocalypse ride together once again. The end is inevitable and nigh!
Wait, let me add some conBehold
The antichrist is among us! The four horsemen of apocalypse ride together once again. The end is inevitable and nigh!
Wait, let me add some context.
The antichrist is indeed among us! But just like the way we sometimes misplace our keys, the demon Crowley who was supposed to deliver him to his human parents did the same.... Yup, he kind of mis delivered antichrist AKA the living Armageddon to wrong people and no one knows where he is!
By the way, the four horsemen of apocalypse now ride bikes, wear leather jackets and accept couriers.
The end is indeed near and TOO DAMN FUNNY!
One of the most important figures of the story is Agnes Nutter, a badass witch from 17th century who accurately predicts everything that is going to happen from her time till the very end of the world. Her prophecies include, but not limited to birth of antichrist, his location, the climate, discovery of transistors, advice on buying betamax (don't) and the very fact that i am writing this review.
The story is rich with excellent characters and profound philosophy which is sugarcoated with satirical writing. Highly recommended!...more