Far From the Madding Crowd

i was excited to see that there's another hardy book that takes place in casterbridge but this was terribly disappointing in comparison... oof

Nipping at her heels
a fool, nutjob, and scumbag
quite the quadrangle.

I can't believe I just fell upon my new favorite book ever.

Far from the madding crowd is the typical case of the book that first catches the romantic soul with a gripping, efficient back cover. There it says that you're going to read the story of Bathsheba Everdene, unique by her name if not anything else, still. Bathsheba is a young and independant woman courted by not less than three passionate men in Wessex, a wonderful fictional setting inspired by the british landscape. As a period drama lover, you may wish that all the elements here will straddle each other in the most perfect way along the story. If so, you're absolutely right.

For a two-centuries old novel, the characters are put in ink with an insanely modern attention, the most obvious example being Bathsheba. In an era where women are generally diminished in a world ruled by men, she appears like an astounding exception. Bathsheba first appears as a strong, careless, free girl who needs no man in her life. But she is also a real considerate soul who will always want to do what's right, even when it occurs it isn't, and even more when the unusual consequences of her decisions can lead her to a seemingly fatal trail. And all along the story, the twisted link between her mind and her heart really makes the wonderful, complex heroin she is.

Thomas Hardy adds to his palette numbers of strikingly realistic characters, from the background ones at the farm to the three male protagonists.

Funnily enough the outline of Bathsheba (i love typing that name) and the three guys reminded me of a french reality show about farmers receiving letters from love interests. I'M NOT EVEN KIDDING IT'S KIND OF THE SAME EXACT THING BUT NOWADAYS (just in a bit less dramatic plot - and still, i'm not always sure of that)

ANYWAY. Let's talk a bit about Gabriel Oak.
Gabriel is the signification of the honest, hard-working, humble, perfect man in the eyes of almost everyone. I fell for him since the beggining of the book, not a hard thing to do let's face it. I also spent the rest of the book trying to determine if I would rather marry him or protect him. I came to the conclusion that “both” is a lovely word I should consider using more. ;)

I won't talk much about Boldwood and Troy because I'm scared to spoil much, but if there is a thing you should remember about this review, it's this : the characters developments in this book are so well leaded that you'll probably get attached to them without noticing it. I felt the writing style notably fluid for an old classic and that was enjoyable, but I loved this book so much that I'm not sure to be very objective.

To conclude, Far From the Madding Crowd is a piece of art you should definetly read before you die, even if romances and period dramas aren't your cup of tea. Its utter modernity, the beauty of the descriptions and the complexity of the characters may surprise you more than you think. :)