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Summary: Literally Stings the Human Organs
Review: Tess of the Dubervilles is a truely tender and fascinating book that deeply feels the human heart. This is not a book for the average Daniel Steel- Stephen King reader. Tess is highly reccommended only for those who can respect and understand great literature that has lived through decades of readers and prints. One is left thinking, pondering what sort of a person Tess was. An adolescent who remained one in adult hood? Or a child who has had many experiences-good or bad- to consider her part of the elder human race.
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Summary: Tess Duberville - - - Jane Grey Dudley
Review: Thomas Hardy is a beautiful and horrible writter. Beautiful for how he uses words to for sentences to form paragraphs to form a book. Yet horrible on how he can do such a thing to his characters. Tess's death reminds me of Lady Jane Grey, age 15, the queen of england for 9 days. A beautiful and intelligent being, died innocently from a hanging. Jane Grey died "a true Christian woman." Tess "dies as a pure woman."
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Summary: An extremely interesting read.
Review: Ok, the first time I too this book out of the library, I got halfway through it before I hurled it at the wall. I couldn't stand the characters and I was so mad and frustrated with them I returned it without finishing it. A month later, it was drivng me crazy not knowing how the characters fared, and I took it out and finished it. But this time, I knew how to read it: I didn't try so hard to relate to the characters, I just read their story. And I found if a fascinating study of suffering and sorrow and love and all that good stuff. So just get throught the very frustrating middle and it's good, really. Strange, gothic ending, but good. And check out the A&E movie, because it's excellent - better thatn the book, and that's weird. Perfect casting and adaptation. Ok, that's all.
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Summary: Good Companion Piece
Review: I read this book soon after I had seen the A&E mini-series. Reading the book after watching the series gave me a better appreciation for the dialect(s) Hardy uses throughout the novel which could be a little difficult to decipher. Very good book overall.
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Summary: GIVE TESS A CHANCE
Review: I first read Tess in preparation for my IB high school exam (9 years ago). Thus, like many other of the reviewers on this page, I was "forced" to read. I must admit that at first the reading was quite tedious. It must have taken me two months to read through the novel. If I had written a review after this first encounter with Tess I might well have given the novel a two star (**) rating. I believe one of the explanations for this lack of enthusiasm is that I did not get along well with my English teacher and I felt that I could not allow myself to enjoy Tess, lest I let my teacher score an important victory.As the exam period itself approached I read Tess four more times with increasing enjoyment. The last few readings were truly enlightening. I knew exactly what I would encounter on the next page and yet I shuddered with anticipation, reacting to the words even before my eyes caught them. It seems clear to me now that the reason I enjoyed Tess so much was not only the familiarity bred by multiple readings but also the dissection of the novel in the classroom. I must confess that although we had problems getting along, my English teacher was excellent. The only advice I can give those of you who doubt Tess' greatness is to muster some courage and give the novel another chance. Tess is on my all time Top 10 list along with The Grapes of Wrath, which, incidentally, I was "forced " to read in my high school English class.
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Summary: A classic frustration...
Review: Not a frustration in the negative sense, but in fact, this was a book which I could hardly put down. The fact that I felt compelled to express my thoughts here perhaps point to it's even greater impact on me. A fabulous story, and of course, tragic in the end... And why do I feel frustrated? Perhaps merely for the fact of Tess ' rash action, almost one of self defence, which closes her tragic life. And the want or need for the story to extend beyond the final close to see her defence succeed and her life prevail. However, these are not the modern times, and the chasm seems wide. Tess is a beautiful person - innocent and with only the intention of good - and suffers as a result. While not a ground breaking novel, it's eloquence and true to life appeal allows it to become part of you. I can only highly recommed this book and will read it again and again...
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Summary: I may seem like a bubble butt for this, but...
Review: ...when you're forced to read something this boring, it doesn't tend to sit well. The simple plot followed by confusing images, muffled transition, and the fact my Senior English teacher thought this was a very good book, well... I wasn't too happy with it. What did appeal to me was the imagery and the character of Tess, who was presented very nicely. (Hence the extra stars <wink>) Sorry if offended anyone. BTC
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Summary: Hardy didn't like women
Review: Tess is typical of Hardy heroines, pathetic/victim. She is good and beautiful, but gets raped, rejected, pilloried, and ultimately hanged. With no control or strength of character, she is as helpless as a wet noodle. I think Hardy had some kind of perverse desire for women to be this way. Although the plot was contrived and incongruent, the book was well written and fun to read.
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Summary: Deliberately frustrating, occasionally profound, great read.
Review: About fifteen years ago, this book was almost universally considered Hardy's great masterpiece. However, times have changed and its relevance is not as immediate as that of Hardy's last novel, Jude the Obscure. Still, the message of this book is far from foreign. Hardy's gift for creating sympathetic characters seems infinite in magnitude. His prose is unique and at times more harrowing in tone than Conrad's. This book would be a great introduction to the work of one of the great masters of English Literature.
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Summary: tess of the d'urbevilles is a beautiful tale of tragedy
Review: Tess of the D'Urbevilles, by Thomas Hardy, is a wonderful novel, which tragically and poignantly follows the ill-fated life of its heroine, Tess Durbeyfield. Through his exquisite use of imagery, his reflection of Tess in nature, and the continuing thread of tragedy which he weaves throughout the novel, Hardy is able to present to us one of the most memorable figures in English literature. Despite her sincerity and integrity, Tess is forever destined for disappointment, and Hardy's immensely lucid and descriptive writing allows the reader to appreciate this. I would recommend this tremendous piece of fiction to any readers interested in reading the work of a brilliant Victorian author, or for those who appreciate the paradox of sadness and beauty represented in the figure of a strong protagonist.
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