Tess of the d'Urbervilles (Wordsworth Classics)

Such an interesting read I was surprised how much I liked this book

Good book for school 6th form

Since it is book, I used it for reading! (for heaven's sake!). It is a brilliant book: there is much description and yet despite this, the story moves along swiftly. The reader becomes totally bound up with Tess's tribulations and the ending (in particular) is extremely moving. I would recommend it to anyone, although they should be able to cope with the prose-style of the late Victorian era which is more discursive that modern writing.

When Tess’s family fall on hard times, Tess is forced to go and see family she has never heard of before – the well off D’Ubervilles. On arriving she is met with Alec D’Uberville, the man who will be her downfall. After losing her child to illness, Tess receives employment as a milkmaid, and falls in love with Angel Clare, but will Tess be able to tell him about the dark past that she has so long kept secret? And if the truth is revealed, will Angel Clare still feel the same way? I absolutely loved this book. I’m actually sad that I haven’t read it before. I read if for classes, but so many of my classmates had read it before, and I envied being able to read it without studying it. It’s such a beautiful book with such an immense plot. I kept having to put it down and come back to it, purely so I could give myself time to process what I’d read. Hardy has that ability to describe something in detail, pages covering the same thing, but it’s never repetitious and it’s never boring. Tess of the D’Ubervilles is famous for being scandalous and shocking when it was first published, and I can see why. Though not really shocking to us now, I can imagine the horror at a story of women with a child out of marriage, and the idea of concealing that child from her suitor. Hardy certainly has a lot to say about social conventions and the way women were treated at that time. I think Tess is a really fascinating character, she’s strong willed, stubborn and utterly loyal. She makes lots of mistakes throughout the story – and more often than not she pays the price for them. Her story is an immensely sad one. She is a survivor, continuing on even when her life seems the most hopeless. No matter what I write about Tess of the D’Ubervilles, this review will be woefully understating how wonderful this novel is (but that’s not going to stop me trying!) The language in the novel is beautiful and poetic, and I loved the descriptions of nature. Tess is closely linked to nature throughout the plot – something I found particularly interesting. She is seen as almost part of nature herself, a pure, earthy country girl. It’s a very bleak and depressing story, but it is definitely worth reading. This was my first outing in the novels of Thomas Hardy – although I am told The Mayor of Casterbridge is by far his best novel, I really enjoyed Tess of the D’Ubervilles and all its wonderful comments on society.

I will not elaborate on the content of this magnificent Thomas Hardy work, as other reviewers have dealt with this subject in great depth in other reviews, but will concentrate on the presentation of the book itself. The cover is, in my personal opinion, beautifully presented, as is also the case with 'Far From the Madding Crowd' also a Wordsworth Classics edition, which was purchased at the same time. Both are compact editions and were reasonably priced. These two books represent my personal favourites of Thomas Hardy's works and I have read them many times over the years. They were purchased as gifts for my father-in-law, who at ninety years of age is discovering Thomas Hardy for the first time and enjoying the experience.

It is will known that Thomas Hardy is a staple of Victorian literature, and this novel is testament as why that is: his supreme mastery of pictorial detail, superb fluency in both prosaic and emotional narratives and the unrivalled, wholesome beauty which quintessentially defines this novel set it in a category of its own. What most caught me when reading this was the fluidity with which Tess's character alters. The seemingly natural progression from the arch angel of innocence to murderer tragically and, most disturbingly, seemingly justifiably catches the reader. It in turn brought into question the readers morals, and thus, below the immediate surface, is a highly challenging novel. I would highly recommend reading this novel!

After reading 'Tess', I devoured every Thomas Hardy novel I could get my hands on as I was so impressed. I had just found out my daughter was pregnant and had split from her boyfriend when I received this book as a gift. I loved the story and am so glad life has been made easier for single mums these days. Poor Tess had a really tough time and even after she moved away, the spiteful gossip followed her. I was moved to tears reading this and not just because of our own family situation - though I may have given my daughter and her beautiful little boy an extra hug because of it.

love the story, good quality book

Como todas las ediiones de Wordsworth, muy recomendable. Es de buen tamaño para guardarla con facilidad, y tiene numerosas anotaciones para ayudar a la comprensión del texto. Estudio Filología Inglesa (Grado en Estudios Ingleses) y es una buena edición para tener en clase. Además de ser obviamente barato, lo cual se agradece al tener que comprar numerosos libros para la universidad,

Have not read it yet, but the book came in good condition. No damage.

Je vous laisse découvrir ce livre incroyable

Per uno studente liceale linguistico che nei momenti di pausa vuole confrontarsi con la letteratura non italiana, la lettura di questo libro si conferma un ottimo esercizio anche per mantenere in allenamento la propria conoscenza interculturale. Spedizione non velocissima (essendo libri di importazione) però non eccessivamente lunga (5giorni circa).

Buena calidad del papel, por el precio que lo compramos está muy bien. Lo compramos en inglés para practicar el idioma, ya que es otro de los clásicos de la literatura anglosajona