In this earthy tale grounded in the
emotions of simple folk, we are led through the life of an unpolished
man,
his seemingly misplaced convictions, and his stubborn pride in
typical Hardy style: strong, evocatively descriptive, devoid of the
trappings of frivolous romance, and roughly
chiseled, and movingly rustic at root. The town of Casterbridge comes
to life in the lives of its various inhabitants and the turbulent
depths and disastrous interplay of relationships revealed in the
course of the story find a foil in the honesty and
childlike simplicity (and equally childlike cruelty) of the people who give it
life. Slow paced and down to earth, the novel enmeshes the reader in
the ambiance of a Hardy classic, the
dramatics underplayed and a strong undercurrent of
emotions, at times
of painful but subdued tragedy, pulsating through the pages. At the
end of the book, the reader surfaces with a lingering sweet sorrow,
an understanding of life often denied the fast-moving city dweller,
and a deep sympathy for the misunderstood man walking alone into
obscurity, whose only fault was lack of artifice. An uncomplicated
and unbiased window into life, drawing deep from the undecorated
origins of human emotions, and an insight into the workings of the
heart. A beautiful novel that arguably only grows in relevance with
the passage of time.