Rating: 
Summary: Disappointment but not disgust
Review: Overwritten. If a comma comes after an introductory phrase, please place it there. A run on sentence is usually extremely difficult to follow and understand when it's past two paragraphs long. Some of the language was indeed beautiful -- others portions of the book dragged...the best way to put it is "it was like watching 1/4 of Days of Our Lives...and not really getting it." AP students have to suffer so dearly for their intelligence....
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Summary: You won't believe the ending!
Review: Once you get past the first chapter, you won't be able to put it down. A total romance novel with the classic theme of what you dream is not always reality.
Rating:
Summary: The best book in high school
Review: I had to read this book for AP English and it was so boring at first. But I enjoyed it when I read further. This book shows how it can change society.
Rating:
Summary: Disturbing portrayal of human nature.
Review: This novel is a true work of art. Hardy not only constructed an ingenius and unique storyline, but in it he's made the reader feel the surroundings and become one with the characters. Each of the characters (Eustacia, Cly, Wildeve, Mrs.Yeobright, Venn) have both have a humane and selfless side, as well as a wicked and selfish side. He's made the characters respond to their situations realistically, and in doing so has produced one of the most accurate portrayals of human nature and response. Overall, reading it was good experience.
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Summary: One Word: beauty
Review: An epic story depicting nature and emotions, negative and positive, head on with talent and heart. A novel from the king of pessimistic authors, Thomas Hardy.
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Summary: Rickman makes this novel go down easy
Review: I can't believe I listened to an entire Thomas Hardy novel - but I did and I loved it. I know I never would have made it through the book itself if it hadn't been for Rickman's wonderful reading. I was hooked after the first tape. I wonder why I haven't seen any other novels on tape read by Alan Rickman. I do think he should do more of this - I'd listen to more books on tape. Maybe even another Thomas Hardy novel!
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Summary: A master reader at his best: Alan Rickman reads
Review: I must confess to having put down more Hardy books after the first 50 pages than anyone can count. Heaven knows I've tried, especially after watching the several film renditions of Hardy novels featuring the very wonderful Alan Bates, who I love. The dialect, the man-nature thing, the colorful characters, the poor woman who can't cope, all of it gets on my nerves after a very short while. In case you're wondering, I do love other 19th century British writers (especially Anthony Trollope), but Hardy is hardy. The plot of TROTN tells the story of Eustacia Vye, but all I could think of is a Monty Python version with John Cleese in a corset playing Eustacia's sister Fallopia and Michael Palin painted red from head to toe as the Reddleman. Having said that, it took several months of listening to other Rickman fans to get me interested in these tapes. I succumbed after pondering Debbye's glowing description. When you listen to Mr. Rickman you will find a master reader at his best. Every character has a consistent personality and voice, the women are good by his changing tempo and intonation, the descriptions are paced wonderfully in accordance to the mood of the chapter. As a volunteer reader for a non-profit organization that tapes textbooks, I especially enjoy a good reader. Mr. Rickman speaks, and all is perfect. Fifteen hours forty-five minutes of his reading is just the thing to nearly make me change my mind about Hardy. It certainly kept me listening to every word. Rickmaniacs and non-rickmaniacs alike will love the sensuous reading of the dance on the heath (tape #8). Any rickmaniac will tell you that in his best moments Mr. Rickman sings, but in these tapes he actually does sing in character. He does especially well with a French song. This is an exceptionally fine reading by a wonderful actor.
Rating:
Summary: Fate Sucks
Review: Thomas Hardy has written a beautiful and tragic novel in RETURN. Fantastic story and ending once you get past the lengthy description of Egdon Heath. Breathtakingly powerful novel. A must read.
Rating: 
Summary: A Beautiful, Compelling and Descriptive work
Review: "The Return of the native" is the first novel that I have read of Thomas Hardy's. The novel begins with a detailed yet beautiful description of the Egdon Heath, which to a Hardy beginner would appear too descriptive to go on reading. However, once the characters are introduced and the plot of the story begins, it is an unstoppable read. I have read a Hardy's poem titled "The convergence of the Twain" that reveals Hardy's faith in "Immanent Will" that drives the events of this universe. This novel reinforces that faith of his. Though a reader can clearly see a solution to the problem that the characters are in, the characters themselves are helpless pawns in the hands of the Immanent will that drives the show. A not so unusual story, more or less predictable in the plot, gains its advantage from the beauty of Hardy's language. I have not come across a better author who can so exactly transform what he visualizes/sees into words. The book is definitely a treasure to be kept and re-read.
Rating:
Summary: Quiet, genius at work.
Review: I laughed out loud as i read the first sentence: I had forgotten until i read it that it is quoted by Monty Python in their hilarious "Novel-Writing" sketch. But that might well be the only time i laughed during the book; this is not a humorous book but rather, like "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" ~ though less explicitly developed ~ the story of people tossed about by fate, chance, the gods, events, and the results are not pretty. Hardy writes beautifully, to be sure; not a phrase is misplaced in driving towards the effect of horror as good people are driven to extremity by events out of their control. It is hard to say that there is a hero in the book, unless perhaps the heath in Wessex on which all the action takes place. Certainly none of the main characters are completely admirable ~ though none is despicable either ~ in their actions and interactions. I have had a history of struggling with Hardy: Though i have read him before it has always felt like a chore (James is another whose novels give me that feeling); here i had no such difficulty, rather i raced (insofar as is possible) through it, hurrying toward the end, caring about each of the characters, and curious about the plot. Now my feeling is one of envy for a master of the language, one who is quoted in the OED as the authority for certain words' usage; envy, and admiration for the wonderful way he was able to put words together to make a place he obviously loved come so alive for another. I'd love to go to "Egdon Heath" sometime, to see it as it "embrowned itself moment by moment...." It might even raise a smile and shiver of horror both in me.
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