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Since reading it I have paid 59 Cents for the full version and I am reading it at the moment.
I have read a few Thomas Hardy books like Far From The Madding Crowd and Jude The Obscure. Which I found very sad. Didn't Shakespeare say that all life is tragedy?
I visited Shaftesbury on my last Dorset visit and this was one of the towns in Jude The Obscure.
Tess is considered to be Hardy's Magnum opus or even his greatest work. Anyone read it?
In the first chapter Tess's father sends a young lad in the pub for a drink and order a carriage to take him home.
Next door is the church where Tess had her new born son Sorrow buried.
My friend and I walked inside the pub for a refreshing pint to quench our thirst. We sat down in a room near the bar and I heard the landlord loud whisper to a barmaid:
"Have you seen the state of those two who have just come in?"
We may have looked a bit dishevelled after walking many miles and sleeping in tents. But we were on one of our rock festivals and literary roughing it trips. We meant no harm.
A rather elegantly dressed old lady and a man came in and walked to the bar. They must have been local gentry and the barman's voice suddenly turned posh and he said:
"Good afternoon. Would you both like a gloss of woine".
I would have loved a chip butty and a bottle of Newky Brown. The menu was out of my price range and quite exotic and up market. I would have liked the Ploughman's Lunch but I don't think the ploughman would have been very happy.😊
We finished our pints of bitter and walked down the road. I told my friend what the man had said about us both. He said: "Why didn't you tell me? " I replied. "I didn't tell you because I knew you would have said something."
I love visiting Dorset. It's like being in a modern day Hardy novel.
Time for a Kansas track. One of my favourite Prog bands who I was lucky enough to see live in 2014:
I must have read half of what Thomas Hardy ever published - including poetry as well as novels. So yes, I have read "Tess of the D'Urbevilles" along with "Far From the Madding Crowd" and "Jude the Obscure". "Jude" was always my favourite and now that I am getting old, I should read it again and see it afresh.
ReplyDeleteLANDLORD Have you seen the state of those two who have just come in?
BARMAID I have indeed Roger. That Irish sounding one has got me juices flowing. Wouldn't mind giving him a proper Dorsetshire welcome down in the cellar.
LANDLORD I bet he can't roger like a Roger.
Jude is my favourite Hardy novel YP. Tess is definitely a classic. It's great the think of a female messiah. The Stone Henge scene is amazing. Julie Christie was amazing in the film: Far From The Madding Crowd. Talk about an English Rose. Apparently she owns a smallholding in Wales and a house in London. What a great way to live. City and countryside.
ReplyDeleteI hope we are all still laughing after England play Switzerland
William Tell! Albert Einstein! Roger Federer! Ursula Andress! Toblerone! We gave your boys a helluva beating!
DeleteIf only England started with the best team instead of finishing with it It will be Stockport (Mainoo, Foden and Palmer) County versus Salford Van Hire in the semi finals.
DeleteThank heavens the Yorkshire lads are still there at the back - Walker and Stones. Shame the Rolls Royce central defender Maguire isn't there too. Maguire is a good old Yorkshire family name.
DeleteStones made a great assist for the Swiss goal.
DeleteWe rolled the Swiss... it was a Swiss roll. Remember the old saying: "People who work in polythene polytunnels shouldn't knock Stones"
DeleteHe is a good player and a good Swiss assist. I wish I could get Stones bitter. It's difficult to purchase English bitter in Ireland.
DeleteMy favourite Hardy is The Mayor of Casterbridge. The story is just amazingly crafted. I read it a few years ago for Frances who comments on blogs who asked me to read it for her because it was her bookclub book and she didn't have time to read it. I read it for her and gave her a review. I was blown away by the intricacies of the tale and read it a second time soon after. I also love Jude the Obscure but it is a hard story to take sometimes. Tess of the D'Urbevilles is my least favourite read of Hardy although I love the film. I studied Far From the Madding Crowd at school and enjoyed the first film with Julie Christie, Terence Stamp and Alan Bates. The landlord when he spoke may have meant no harm and if you had explained you would have ended up chatting. I worked in lots of pubs and never judged people by how they looked or dressed. I can't imagine doing that.
ReplyDeleteChats are great Rachel. The pub man who didn't like our appearances and probably our Lancashire accents was only a manager when I looked online. Jude is brilliant and so sad. I adore Julie Christie. Billy Liar especially. You know your stuff Rachel. Thanks!
ReplyDeletePubs have a class system too it appears. You could have pretended you'd come in from a day of pheasant shooting. Or not. Most uncomfortable
ReplyDeleteYes sadly so Linda. Ireland doesn't have a class system thankfully. Its not nice to feel uncomfortable.
ReplyDelete