Rating: 
Summary: a classic
Review: Hardy's exploration into the character of Henchard makes this novel an all time classic. Those that have rated it low have simply not given themselves the time to read it properly. Henchard's complexity, his heroic flaws, remind me of Shakespere's King Lear. Hardy paints an equally vivid picture of the characters around him, especially Elizabeth, an understated character who grows with the book. It is a must for anyone who has read and enjoyed Hardy.
Rating: 
Summary: A Plot Spiral
Review: The Mayor of Casterbridge has so many plot twists and turns that it would not be an exaggeration to label this book as a "plot spiral." With practically every new section, Hardy invents a new way to reveal some surprising (and sometimes not so surprising) twist to the plot line. Hardy creates a complex story about love, lust, relationships, economical hardship, family, shifts in power, and more in a beautiful and picturesque way. He concentrates so much on detail that it seems as if you are watching the events first hand. His style presents information as if you were reading it in the form of a play. He nearly always sets up the scene before beginning the action, which makes it so much easier to delve deeply into the action of the characters. Hardy also creates enormously dynamic characters that are subject to so many changes throughout the novel that they become like real people. The author's grip on human emotions makes his characters believable and easily loved and then hated. The fluctuating emotions of the main character, Michael Henchard, as he falls subject to disappointment in every avenue of his life is a true example of Hardy's gift for characterization. The contrast of the out-dated and underdeveloped town of Casterbridge vs. the complexity of the relationships that develop within it is brilliant and makes the reactions of the common townspeople to these relationships even more significant to the development of the setting and also the relationships themselves. Though not portrayed obviously in the book, the town of Casterbridge itself plays a very large role in the story. As Hardy thrusts outsiders from other cultures into this archaic town, things suddenly become very complicated and even more so when the newcomers begin to meet and mix together. The Scotchman, Farfrae, and Lucetta, the Jersey girl, as well as some others, react in such a way to the old ways of this society as to disrupt the harmony of this simple community, making this novel an avenue for Hardy to demonstrate his gift for rich dialogue and language, as created in direct relation to the character's point of origin. Hardy has created a book about rises and downfalls of a small group of people and presents a very fitting theme about the events of ones life and how they affect everyone around them in death. I must say that I enjoyed this novel for its substance and complexity, as well as the timelessness of the general plot outline.
Rating:
Summary: Casting a long shadow
Review: I was nearly put off reading this by friends who termed it "depressing". This trivialises it, for it is, to my mind, truly tragic. In a shockingly irresponsible drunken act, protagonist Michael Henchard sells his wife at a local fair. The consequences, stretching over a couple of decades, sweep away both him and other characters. The plot teems with journeys, coincidences, long-lost people showing up, and a strong vein of morality. In typical Hardyesque style, Henchard moves from the height of civic success to bankruptcy and alienation. A quasi-Greek-tragedy air of fate prevails, but Hardy manages to keep suspense alive. Protagonist and antagonist (Farfrae) are pitted against each other on civic and domestic fronts. There is not one Mayor of Casterbridge, but two, and success, failure and rivalry play a large part. There is also competition among the males as lovers, husbands and fathers. This novel gives an insight into civic life, the worthy burgesses of Casterbridge networking in their council-rooms and taverns. But the animal instincts of the wife-sale, the gutter-press viciousness of the locals' "skimmity-ride", and the proximity of the countryside, where so many Victorian characters wander to survive and to lay bare their feelings, reveal the fragility of civilisation and our urban constructs. Great stuff.
Rating:
Summary: The link between Dickens and James
Review: When one finisheds "Casterbridge," one is immediately struck by its place in the development of the novel. Hardy came after Dickens and before James, and his style intrigues as you connect parts of it to the former, parts to the latter. His plotting is sort of Dickens "lite." There are mysterious benefactors, sudden tragic deaths, reversals of fortune, paternity mysteries, ect. His prose is cleaner and easier to read than both Dickens and James; "Casterbridge" scans better than "Bleak House" or "The Wings of the Dove." The story begins when a pastoral laborer, in a drunken rage, sells his wife and child one evening. When he wakes the next morning, abhorred at what he has done, he swears off liquor and decides to make something of his life. The novel truly begins eighteen years later, when his wife and daughter come back to present themselves to him. In the course of the rest of the novel, we witness the fall of the now Mayor of Casterbridge, brought about by his own character flaws and the interventions of fate. Henchard, the main character, is a facinating combination of hot-spirited volition and turn-on-a-dime repentance. He is quick to do things which damn him but just as quick to admit his guilt. He is a wonderful character and a precursor to the later "psychological" novels of James and Forster. The satellite characters remind one of Dickens, but they are not nearly as startling and interesting, but of course, a character such as Henchard never existed in all of Dickens. The novel proceeds to its forgone conclusion inexorably, albiet with a few melodromatic touches, yet it sustains its tone and readibility due mostly to Henchard, and the dramatic situations Hardy puts him through. Well worth a look.
Rating: 
Summary: A mash of cobbled coincidences
Review: This book is similar to a Dickens novel in that it seeks not to reach perfection, but to please its audience at the time. Like Dickens, it is very dry and filled with hard to believe coincidences that make the story hard to swallow. Still, Hardy paints a very lively, realistic and flowing impression of the English countryside in the early days, before the industrial revolution. I would recommend this only if you are obsessed with Hardy, if you have run out of books to read (try Fifth Business by Robertson Davies) or if you are forced to read this as a part of some course.
Rating: 
Summary: All cynicism, no realism, no insight
Review: Modern novels can be so pretentious, with their needless philosophizing and conscious experimentation with the language. So isn't nice to read a classic novel with straight-forward writing that aims for no insight into society or people? Actually no, it's kind of depressing. The Mayor of Casterbridge relies on coincidence, melodrama, and, as the afterword in my edition puts it, "the constant exploitation of chance happenings to determine situation and hence the fate of his characters." I chose this Hardy novel because it was supposed to be character-centered. The story starts with Michael Henchard selling his wife and child at a fair. I thought this book would examine his redemption, it would be a Lord Jim type tale of profound psychological insight. A strange event like that is a good way to get a book started, but the crazy, unlikely events just keep a-coming. You feel nothing for the characters, ever. You learn nothing in the end, except life is cruel and if something can go wrong, it will. Read something else.
Rating: 
Summary: A Story of Light Fluff and Little Substance
Review: Hardy is a wonderful poet. He has written very profound and soul-searching poetry that is both concise and thought-provoking. Unfortunately, this does not carry into this novel, which was heavy-handed and longwinded. Much of the descriptions were unnecessary and only distracted from the storyline -- which, sadly, is only a messy collection of coincidences and soap-opera drama. Another flaw of the novel is its tendancy to spell out every detail; this doesn't allow for any thought as every nuance is described to death -- the reader cannot make his or her own connections, the book does it for you.
Rating:
Summary: Wow. Not bad for senior reading.
Review: I had to read this book for my honors English class. The book will seem like worthless description if you don't look up biographical notes on Thomas Hardy. It has a great plot line but it is unfortunately chracterized by the bleak and gray atmosphere of Thomas Hardy. A great read.
Rating:
Summary: Truly Talented Writing
Review: I greatly enjoyed The Mayor of Casterbridge, not only for its clear and concise explanations, dialogue and emotional energy, but also for its themes. The loss of a wife, mother, daughter, love, husband, father and mentor are all carried off extremely well. I chose to read this book for a project I'm doing in my English class and although it was not my first choice, I do recommend it to anyone who loves English literature. I'm a big fan of Dickens and Hardy and truly loved this magnificent piece of work.
Rating:
Summary: A literary miracle...and a very modern novel...
Review: I'm re-reading this book that thrilled me years ago and thrills me today. Now, however, I realize just how "modern" it is, even more so than the works of Dickens, whom I also revere, but whose writing had a quaint quality that actually makes him the lesser artist, in my opinion. Hardy's writing is spare but nothing is left out. You feel it, you taste it, you live it. It has the firm, sure quality of a minimalist work of art, and yet the twists and turns of its plot are dizzying. I detect its influence on novelist Toni Morrison, I might add. I'd be willing to bet she's a Hardy scholar. I read many passages, many scenes, that reminded me of her "folksy" conceits. And I was amazed at Hardy's contemporary understanding of addiction, in this case alcoholism. In fact, Henchard is a "dry drunk." He abstains from liquor for 21 years, but his character defects and lack of spiritual awareness catapault him right back into his disease when he begins drinking again. In fact, his life spirals out of control faster and faster with his first return to drink, showing that alcoholism, like all addictions, is a progressive disease. A reviewer here said the book was depressing, and that Hardy is dark. However, the "light" in Hardy comes with his wisdom, not unlike Faulkner's, of human nature. There are so many themes of the enduring truths that one is uplifted just by the reading. Sometimes I mourn for the writers I will never meet, the ones who have passed on. Their teaching is so important to my own spiritual and artistic growth, that I have experienced a great love from them and for them. Hardy is one of those for me. Wherever he dwells now, I send him my appreciation.
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