Well, thank goodness that's over with.
I'll preface the rest with "Spoilers" so if you a) haven't read it yet and b) stupidly put it on your very own "must read list" and c) want to be surprised, you can.
I knew, when I put this list together, that there were bound to be some books I didn't like, some stories that I didn't respond to. I had a premonition that this might be one of them. But every "best of" or "classic" list I looked included it. (When the subtitle is "A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented" and is listed as a "classic tragedy" I really should have known better).
There is one, beautiful little respite about one third of the way through the book during which time Tess & Angel (yup, the "good" guy's name is Angel) are courting. It's wonderfully written and perfectly captures that first stage of a relationship, when you suddenly find that your world isn't centered quite where you thought it was.
And then (on their wedding night) he finds out that she was raped. (maybe? It's really the most vaguely written assault I've ever encountered. Wikipedia assures me that it is a rape, so I'll go with it). And a week or so later, he leaves. He finally admits that she was "more sinned against than sinned" but that "the woman I have been loving is not you." (pg. 238 of the bantam classic in case you think I might be making it up.)
Did I mention this is all after he admitted to being "involved" with another woman before Tess? But that's different. Why? No clue.
It isn't even that all the characters in the story are really unpleasant. Although they are. Tess' father is a slob who expects other people to take care of him, her mother lives in her own world of ignorant bliss, Alec is, you know, a rapist, and Angel is a pompous ass (sorry mom) who can't handle it when his perfect bride turns out to be human. And Tess.... she's weak, flighty, and blinded completely by her obsession over Angel.
But it isn't just the aggravation of the characters. At the end of the day, it's the condescension of the narrator that sent me over the edge. The narrator's prevailing attitude appears to be "it happens" and when Tess' infant son dies she should be able to just "get over it." The outcome of Tess' life and every problem that comes about as a result of this incident appears, at least to the narrator, to be squarely Tess' fault.
About half way through reading this, I had a conversation with my mother-in-law about it. After venting most of what I wrote above, she commented that she thought that the narrator's voice wasn't necessarily the author's voice. She suggested that Hardy didn't necessarily agree with his narrator, but was using that voice to point out the tragedy that is a result of that way of thinking. Maybe. That would be the only possible redemption. And I understand that this was first published in 1891 at a time when rape was considered the woman's crime and this book was scandalous for even addressing the issue. Maybe this is a story that I, as a woman living over a century after it takes place, simply cannot appreciate.
All that being said, if anyone out there pines for the "simpler time" when we were "close to the earth" and "knew right from wrong," please do me a favor and force yourself to read this. Unless you were quite rich, white, and male, those "good old days" were brutal and heartless. I'll take the right to shape my own future, thank you quite kindly.
Pages: 418
Pages I enjoyed: less than 50
Thumbs up/Thumbs down: Down. Very down.
Next up: ''My Brother Sam is Dead" by James And Chris Collier
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