The Mayor of Casterbridge

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Summary: One of the great ironic tragedies in the English Language
Review: One of my favorites works of English literature. The opening "wife selling" chapter is one of the best in all literate, setting the major tone and themes for the entire book. The ironic twits of fate provide a wild, entertaining ride that shows off Hardy's themes of the balance between fate and individual choice in a non-didactic way. The Mayor must be ranked as a tragic character in line with Shakespeare's best work. A work that makes profound psychological and philosophical statement while remaining engrossing on every level.

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Summary: Be Careful What You Wish For?
Review: Since I have decided to dedicate part of my time spent reading in 2003 to the classics, I started first with The Mayor of Casterbridge, not the most famous of Hardy's works but seemingly a good place to start. I will definitely read the other works by this author since I was so captivated by this book.

The novel begins with the sale of Michael Henchard's wife and child to the highest bidder at a local summer fair. Henchard is drunk and his wife, tired of his habits, decides to leave with the sailor who bids on her and her daughter. Henchard wakes up the next morning, somewhat remorseful for what he has done and vows not to drink for twenty-one years.

The very next chapter picks up the story nineteen years later, with the return of the wife and child into Henchard's life. Henchard is now quite wealthy and is such an important man in his community, he is now Mayor of Casterbridge. From here, a series of wrong decisions and misunderstandings lead to the devastating conclusion.

Hardy is well known for his tendency towards gloomy endings and this book certainly fits the mold. But he is also well known for his lyrical descriptions of the English countryside and describing a way of life which had disappeared even in his own time. There were beautiful passages about the hay carts being driven through town, loaded so high that people on the second floor of homes could reach out and touch the top of the hay. Small details abound, describing the sound of rain on trees and the smell of the local foods. But perhaps the most significant aspect of the novel for me was the feeling that Henchard had wished for everything that had happened to him, and all of his wishes came true, and thus ultimately his downfall. These wishes were almost all made in a rash moment, when perhaps a minute or more of reflection could have produced a clearer head. Yet Henchard lives by his instincts, since for almost twenty years they seemed to serve him well.

I would recommend this book to any serious literature lover and I believe it serves as a good introduction to his other works. His books serve as a bridge from Victorian literature to modern literature, with no happy endings guaranteed.

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Summary: A Long and Depressing Novel about Alcoholism
Review: As written by Rick Moody in his introduction to this grim book, "The Mayor of Casterbridge" is "a real find." Both dark and compelling, this work leaves you with a question- "Does sun ever shine on the pages of Hardy's novels?" My answer would be no. Nowhere in "Tess D'Urbervilles" or in "Far from the Madding Crowd" have I seen sunshine. Hardy's prose is extremely gloomy and dark, which, after a while, becomes tiresome. Although it is not his masterpiece, I rank "The Mayor of Casterbridge" above all his other novels, perhaps because of its EXTREMITIES, perhaps because of its inner forcefulness. This book is both sumptuous and startlingly brutal. It is guaranteed that you haven't read anything like this before. Greatly recommended.

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Summary: A Classic That Transcends Time
Review: The Mayor of Casterbridge is undoubtedly one of the finest novels of the Victorian Era - quite a tribute given that the period produced a countless number of classics. The conflict between Michael Henchard and Donald Farfrae reflects a clash between tradition and modernity. This dichotomy is perhaps best encapsulated in their contrasting styles of record keeping; Henchard relies entirely on intuition and memory while Farfrae maintains extraordinarily meticulous accounts of all his transactions. Furthermore the struggle between Farfrae and Henchard reflects a conflict of vastly different temperaments. Henchard proves to be of a passionate temperament while Farfrae is rational and levelheaded. For instance, despite his modest means and limited experience, Farfrae boldly ventures into agricultural trading and through a series of shrewd bets manages to unseat Henchard as Casterbridge's preeminent merchant. In order to regain his erstwhile position, Henchard engages in rash and seemingly desperate speculation - in contrast to the prudent risk taking of Farfrae - that ultimately culminates in his ruin.

While some AP students have chastised Henchard for his inability to overcome his animalistic nature, the more astute reader realizes that his inveterate character serves to illustrate a basic theme of most Hardy novels - the philosophy of determinism. The rise and fall of Henchard illustrates the unpleasant reality that one's life is subject to forces beyond one's control - in Henchard's case a deeply flawed character - and these forces often overwhelm the power of one's determination and ambition. This doctrine is certainly anathema to 21st century Americans who firmly believe in the concept of free will and a future holding great promise. While constantly lamenting one's ill fate is self-defeating, it would be naive to entirely disregard the power of destiny to shape one's life for worse as powerfully shown in the tragic tale of the Mayor of Casterbridge.

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Summary: A Truly Compelling Masterpiece
Review: Having never read Hardy before, I picked this book at random off a list provided by my Western Civilization teacher. I can't help but attribute my choice to destiny; this is quite possibly the best book I've ever read, written by the single greatest English author in history. While some other reviewers have classified his descriptive passages as somewhat dull, I thought they were rather intoxicating; I don't know how one could not enjoy the superbly vivid style Hardy employs. It's impossible to really describe his writing to one who hasn't read it.

The plot in Mayor of Casterbridge is compelling throughout. I read somewhere that the book was originally published a few chapters at a time in a literary magazine, and this is quite evident, as every many sections seem individually complete with rising action, climax, resolution, etc. Hardy still manages to integrate these individual sections without flaw and create a wonderful composition of the life of Henchard. As everyone else has testified, the conclusion of the book is moving beyond description- without a doubt the most affective book I've ever read. Be forewarned: this is a book that will surely leave the reader in a depressed and brooding state. Going by Kafka's standard, that a book should be "like a suicide... an axe for the frozen sea within us", The Mayor of Casterbridge is surely one of just a handful of the great books in English literature.

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Summary: Loved this book!
Review: I read this novel in English class, like most people probably did. It was one of the best assigned to us.

Hardy is a gifted author. He writes in a clear style with vivid descriptions that really bring the setting alive, without making the reader (at least this reader) feel inundated with borning, unnecessary detail.

The thing that I look for most in a novel, however, is quality characterizeations, and this book had them in spades. Dialogue was used effectively to flesh out characters. These are not stock characters, either. These people have flaws and shades of grey. They seem as though they could be real. I found that I could relate to the characters, and I did empathize with them, even when I didn't agree with their choices. Everyone had clear motivations. The characterization of Henchard shows that Hardy clearly understood the notion of the tragic flaw and the tragic hero/anti hero.

Students who have to read this book as part of their English class may find it a bit on the long side. I would urge you to stick with it; once you get through the initial chapters the book will pick up (a commonality that all British classics seem to share). The book is easy to follow and understand. It is a key novel that marks the shift from Romantic Age to the Victorian Age, so it's an important read for anyone who has a serious interest in English Literature.

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Summary: If you are considering this book...
Review: IF YOU ARE CONSIDERING BUYING THIS BOOK, SAVE YOURSELF SOME TIME AND WALK INTO ONCOMING TRAFFIC NOW! I was forced to read this book for my english class. It was terrible! Sure the plot line, and even some of the characterization was fine, but MY GOD THE DESCRIPTION goes on and on and on and on. Theres almost 4 pages dedicated to describing a building! If I was given the choice between reading this book, or hitting myself in the head with it for the rest of my life, I would go with the hitting on the head one...becuase i'm sure its even less brain-numbing than Hardy's writing.

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Summary: Simultaneously somber and bright
Review: "The Mayor of Casterbridge" feels like something Charles Dickens would have written if he had been a more efficient storyteller, more economical in his prose, and had a better understanding of how humor is supposed to be applied to tragedy, if at all -- with subtlety and congruity. This is not intended to be a slight against Dickens, but rather a testament to the quality of Thomas Hardy's writing.

The first chapter alone is a dramatic masterpiece and perfectly sets the rhythm for the rest of the novel. A young man named Michael Henchard and his wife Susan and baby daughter Elizabeth-Jane enter a village where Henchard hopes to find work as a hay-trusser. They go to a country fair where Henchard immediately gets drunk and sells his wife and baby to a sailor. Regretting his actions the next day, Henchard looks for them in vain, swears off liquor for twenty-one years, then takes up residence in a town called Casterbridge.

Nineteen years later, Susan, now widowed, and Elizabeth-Jane track Henchard to Casterbridge. It turns out that in the intervening years, Henchard has become a successful granary owner and is now the town's mayor. He welcomes his former wife and daughter, proving himself to be genial but often petty and easily vexed. For one thing, he is in a bitter rivalry with a former employee, a young Scotchman named Donald Farfrae, not only in business but also for the affections of a vixenish woman named Lucetta who has recently moved to town.

Hardy wastes no pages unfolding the plot, which is filled with Dickensian intrigue. It chronicles Henchard's relationship with Susan and Elizabeth-Jane after their return, his jealousy over Farfrae and Lucetta (who happens to be Henchard's old flame and inadvertently incites a public scandal because of this), his fear of the discovery of his deceit, and, finally, his feelings of isolation from Elizabeth-Jane and the town he loves. By the end, you realize that Henchard is not a bad man; he's a lonely man who's made the mistake of letting his love for Elizabeth-Jane distort his judgment.

Especially impressive is Hardy's prose, which is strong and descriptive without being florid. He has a sharp ear for native dialects, and the dialogue of Casterbridge's inhabitants comes off as genuinely homey chatter rather than just dispensations of information set up to advance the plot. Moreover, like any good fictional place, Casterbridge takes on a vibrant life of its own, offering a realistic bucolic backdrop for this stormy human drama.

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Summary: Characters of Life
Review: What a story! What a tragedy! The Mayor of Casterbridge faces secrets told and untold, misunderstandings, betrayals, loves won and lost... a bona fide soap opera set in a faraway time! Yes, some of the coincidences are a little too convenient, but they kept me reading into the wee hours of the morning! And in the end I cried. This book's characters help us to consider the effects on others of the way we live our own lives. We are truly sorry for the way the Mayor lived his.

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Summary: Discovery of the Beauty of English Literature
Review: At first I was forced to read "The Mayor of Casterbridge" in school more than 12 years ago. Reading it slowly made an impact on my life. This book always served a special purpose in my life. It introduced me to the wide world of Literature. It sort of enlighten my interest and liking for English literature. Now re-reading it not only brought back fond memories of my yester school days but also renewed my liking to one of the greatest writer of all time Thomas Hardy.

Through this novel I came to the understanding of Irony and oxymoron. Hardy totally wrote with a sense of awareness of human characteristic and he had a amazing style of mixed humour with tragedy.

His protagonist,Michael Henchard's life was under the microscope of Hardy.

I love the way the story began I quote:"ONE evening of late summer, before the nineteenth century had reached one-third of its span, a young man and woman, the latter carrying a child, were approaching the large village of Weydon-Priors, in Upper Wessex, on foot. " I love the Englishness and the sense of intriguing events that would follow...

In brief, Michael Henchard was a drunk who sold his wife and daughter at the fair. Later he realised his mistakes he work real hard and eventually became the mayor of Casterbridge. His life took another twist 20 years later when his wife and daughter came back to his life plus a few more other characters adding on the complexity of his life.Soonafter events unfolded and many things became to go against his way and then came his downfall. Indeed Michael Henchard's rise and fall were filled with compelling details and his encounters with numerous intestering people.

What I love most about this novel was the way Hardy depicted Henchard's behaviours and thoughts and totally enhanced his weak character and irresponsibleness with dashes of ironies. His sardonic literary style were brilliant and at the same time he also vividly described the scenery and situations. Another greatest of Hardy was his ability to create innovative characters still account for in modern contemporary days and he was a pioneer in analysising human's weakness and blended it into his creation. It's a vintage classic,psychoanalytic and intriguingly written ,a must read for all books lover.