Reviews

Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

sidjtu's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

slimjimjames99's review

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

maferencak's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective slow-paced

3.75

skylabeouf's review

emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.25

evs_andrews123's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

2.25

brigidcath's review against another edition

challenging dark sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

yejide's review

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

I'm only giving it 2 stars because if the TRAUMA this book has now put me through. Yes, I know it's social commentary but i don't give a rat's ass because Hardy was foul for this one. Tess never gets a break. the 2 stars are for Tess and Sorrow alone.

Angel should have stayed in Brazil and never came back icl

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Murder, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

isaexcel's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

patiolinguist's review against another edition

5.0

A moving narrative punctuated with poetic descriptions of the life and landscape of rural 19th Century England, Tess of the D'Urbervilles is a reflection of everything that was wrong with the hypocritical views on morality of the Victorian age. This was such a powerful story, and at the time of its publication very revolutionary in the message it conveyed. The more I reflect on it, the deeper its meaning is to me. I'll be meditating on it for a while yet.

kdawn999's review against another edition

5.0

I had to put this book down several times to get my bearings on the world again. I had fair warning--I watched the 2009 miniseries first without knowing anything of the story. Boy, was that a freight train to the heart, but something made me want to see it on the page for myself. I had a feeling the show took certain paths of interpretation I wasn't sure I would take with the text. So here's what I find: the adaptation is a pretty faithful interpretation, and some great lines are preserved. It simplifies some ultimately insignificant details to heighten the injustice done to Tess.

What the show misses out on, primarily, are all Hardy's attentions to nature versus morality versus religion. My favorite part of the book is Hardy's strong style and poetic mysticism woven throughout. In some ways, 'Tess' lends itself to film adaptation for all Hardy's attention to detail. There's a scene where Hardy describes a piece of butcher's paper flitting on the ground with the perfect artistic touch of a director who knows how to communicate story through image.

Even if some of Hardy's then-heterodox themes don't quite translate into today, there's no doubt this classic is and will remain one of the greats.