Book #29 The Mayor Of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy

The Mayor Of Casterbridge 

Length of Time In Possession : Roughly 3 years

The Mayor Of Casterbridge, if you include one unpublished, destroyed work, was Thomas Hardy's seventh novel and the third of his novels that I have read after Tess Of The D'Urbervilles and Far From The Madding Crowd, both of which I read in 2010, before I started up this blog.

It is the story of one Michael Henchard, the eponymous Mayor in question. At the opening of the novel he is a drunk, wandering from town to town in search of work. Accompanied by his wife and their baby daughter he gets drunk at a fair in Casterbridge, and in a moment of passion offers his wife and child up to the highest bidder. At first the gathered assembly take it as a shocking joke, but then a stranger, a sailor called Newson, steps forward and offers him 5 guineas, which he accepts. On waking and discovering his wife and child gone, Henchard vows to give up alcohol and become a good man.

Over the next two decades he prospers financially, and becomes a pillar of the community, the Mayor, respected though not particularly popular. By contrast his wife, Susan, who had a good life with Newson has now fallen on hard times, as her common law husband has been lost at sea. Along with her daughter she tracks down Henchard who is still legally her husband to make him provide for her.

The ensuing complications that arise from their reunion, mark a downturn in Henchard's fortunes culminating in a spectacular fall from grace.

Unlike many of his contemporaries who also made a lot of social comments, Dickens, say, or Eliot, Hardy has a tendency towards the bleak and the unhappy ending.  Henchard as a study is something of a Shakespearian tragedy of a man, full of pride and conceit, inevitably brought low by his own character flaws and mistakes.

As a novel, it is enjoyable but nowhere near as well written as "Tess" or as involving as 'Far From The Madding Crowd'; both of which are completely beautiful novels, so on a certain level I was somewhat disappointed, and I would definitely recommend either of those novels before recommending this.

I did Thomas Hardy's poetry at A Level and ended up loathing and despising him, avoiding him assiduously for more than a decade. With Tess, which I read for a university type Masterclass he won me over and I was glad to finally appreciate him as a writer.

Whilst the Mayor of Casterbridge is excellent as a character driven study, its prose is not the calibre that I know Hardy is capable of.

With that said I give this book 7/10

Destination : Ebook storage 

Book #26 Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte

Agnes Grey

Length of Time In Possession : Roughly 3 years

I want to start by saying that 'The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall' is one of my favourite books of all time, easily top 3. I wrote my dissertation on it in university. However, when it came to the Bronte sisters I had only read the 'Big Three' (Eyre, Heights, Tenant) leaving three of Charlotte's novels remaining and one of Anne's.

As Anne is my favourite Bronte and I have issues with Charlotte, I went with her first. Agnes Grey is the story of a poor vicar's daughter who decides to try her hand at being a governess. The petted youngest daughter, her family don't think she'll be able to cut it, a story none too dissimilar from Anne's own life. It is clear that Anne drew on her life experience to write this novel.

The eponymous hero teaches first Tom and Mary-Ann and then Rosalie and Matilda; all are uppity spoiled brats who scorn her with indulgent parents who foist the blame for their children's behaviour on to Agnes. It is known that Anne did not have great experiences of her own with teaching, both as a governess and when she was at school.

Agnes Grey unfortunately was quite dull, though it hurts me to say it. The prose was rather essayist than novelist, and there is little character development or growth. The romance too has little depth and she and her suitor hardly have much time to connect.

It is her other novel Tenant, which truly lifts the lid on her life as a governess, as it is said that given she had a sheltered life at Haworth much of the debauchery shown in Tenant came from her witnessing less than salubrious lifestyles during her time in service.

By contrast Agnes Grey is rather ordinary and rather staid and I was most disappointed

Verdict   : 5/10

Destination : ebook storage