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Jude the Obscure (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

by HARDY (Author) "The schoolmaster was leaving the village, and everybody seemed sorry ..." (more)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
RRP: £5.99
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Product details

  • Paperback: 528 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin; New Ed edition (3 Sep 2009)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0140435387
  • ISBN-13: 978-0140435382
  • Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.8 x 2.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 27,245 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Dale Kramer, University of Oregon.

"Cedric Watts's edition of Jude the Obscure is one of an extremely interesting set of literary works from Broadview Press." --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.


English Literature in Transition

"Broadview Press and editor Cedric Watts have done a splendid job." --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
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Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
The schoolmaster was leaving the village, and everybody seemed sorry. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews

27 Reviews
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2 star:
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Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (27 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars The Modern Hardy, 7 Mar 2007
By Eugene Onegin (Lincoln England) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Jude the Obscure (Penguin Popular Classics) (Paperback)
If like me, your were put off Hardy by studying him at school or if you have in your mind's eye a writer obsessed with Wessex and a kind of moralising pastoralism, then try reading Jude. Here is a novel written with real emotional conviction and shot through with an anger which only comes from real experience. It is really a book about rebelling against conventions particularly about sexual morality and the aspirations of the artisan. Jude Fawley is an abandoned child who from his earliest years dreams of a richer fuller life both culturally and physically which he believes will be opened to him through higher education, symbolised by the distant spires of Christminster (Oxford). The passion with which Jude adores everything the venerable university stands for is only matched by his awareness of the futility of his dreams but that does not stop his hunger for books and learning which occupy his every free moment as he practices the trade of a stonemason. However, his sensual appetites override his academic ambitions and he finds himself imprisoned in a marriage devoid of the passion that brought it about. Meeting Sue Bridehead who he perceives as his soul mate underlines his captive state and they both come to question the very purpose of marriage resolving to live together without the need for a piece of paper. Yet the consequences of offending Victorian social codes are severe: from social exclusion to the loss of employment and indirectly the death of their children. Sue's response involves a return to the mindset she eschewed in her youth, Jude remains defiant bemoaning the fact that he was `fifty years ahead of his time' and coming to hold his beloved Oxford and its metaphysics in contempt. Rarely has the anguish of broken dreams had more resonance than here. Indeed Hardy prefigures the modernist obsession with self and the clash between impulse and duty. The tone throughout is bleak and often bitter, but the emotional dilemmas are so vivid and authentic that the scenes have genuine pathos and the characters the depth to engender sympathy. The book has a touch of the classical tragedy about it, and even Hardy's rather pedestrian language scarcely limits the power of his heartfelt plea for the tolerance of difference. If you haven't read Hardy begin here, if you think you don't like his work, Jude is the book to change your mind.
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Jude the Obscure, 12 Feb 2006
By J. Reader "JDR" (Beaworthy, North Devon United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Jude the Obscure (Penguin Popular Classics) (Paperback)
Like many, I read Hardy novels at school rather than through choice. I was put off by his ability to take what seemed like pages to describe a tree!! This book was a gift and I am so grateful for it.
Jude's story is beautiful, heart-breaking, plausible and sincere. His desire to live a content life, demanding very little from society, is thwarted by poverty - and women! I shared his hope, his frustration, his sense of loss and his love for Christminster. I feel richer for having spent my time with Jude and plan to return to Hardy as a grown-up to see what it can offer me today. Do yourself a favour, read this book.
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Put this in Your Cart NOW!!!!!!!!!!, 31 Oct 2002
By A Customer
This is truly a rich and beautiful novel. The characters are among the most richly drawn in literature. This is one of those rare instances in literature where the reader encounters a story born out of the characters and not simply characters created to carry a predestined plotline through to completion. Jude and Sue, with their tormented love and tempestuous struggle against life, are like each of us - with lives that don't always wrap up "just so."
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 		 Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Hardy's Best and My Favourite
This is an excellent novel by one of the great nineteenth century novelists and definitely one of my favourites. Read more
Published 5 months ago by I. M. Knight

2.0 out of 5 stars Well written but appallingly conceived
Thomas Hardy cinematic writing is extraordinarily visual and pulls new readers into his redrawn world of Wessex. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Martin Turner

5.0 out of 5 stars A (surprisingly) great novel!
I loved this book! When I decided to read it I had so many preconceptions about what it would be like (sadly, I used to equate Hardy with `boring'). I was so wrong. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Suz

4.0 out of 5 stars Not for the faint hearted!
This is a dreary and depressing novel.......and as such is one of Hardy's finest! Widely renowned, this was Hardy's last novel in his long and rich days of writing. Read more
Published on 22 Oct 2004 by g_campbell1

2.0 out of 5 stars not great
the superficiality of this scheme (generally meaning that those who review it, will tend to be those that like the thing) renders it impossible to judge whether this "classic" is... Read more
Published on 22 Jul 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars Hammered by life
Jude, a tallented Stonemason, is followed by Hardy on his downward spiral through life. Probably Hardy's bleakest novel, but also his most powerful. Read more
Published on 1 Feb 2002 by Richard Shakespeare (rshakesp@...

5.0 out of 5 stars Hardy at his best!
This is my favourite book. It is an amazing and very well written story about the life of Jude. It is a depressing story and I cried at the end but yet it is the best book I have... Read more
Published on 2 Jan 2001

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful story
This book will absorb you into its pages. I found I could relate to Jude's childhood and that part of the book was pleasant and comforting to read. Read more
Published on 3 Aug 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars A Masterpiece of Social commentary and human emotion
Truly a wonderful story with so many levels that it is impossible not to be totally consumed by the characters and the bleak world in which they live. Read more
Published on 30 April 2000 by Mr. C. Smithson

2.0 out of 5 stars A Beginners Guide for a great Hardy
I suppose it's always going to be pretty nigh impossible to translate one of Hardy's greatest, and darkest, novels to the audio cassette. Read more
Published on 2 Jan 2000

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