Thomas Hardy
Imagine yourself being a lively, vibrant young person stuck with a bunch of hicks in an insular location where nothing ever happens. (Sound familiar to some of you?) What can you do to amuse yourself? What would you do to get out?
The Return of the Native is a traditional 19th century novel by one of the great English novelists, Thomas Hardy. You’ll find that it’s kind of slow-paced for our tastes. But stick with it. The characters are interesting, and the situations they find themselves in are compelling. Hardy liked to subject his characters to the vagaries of fate, and that is certainly in evidence in The Return of the Native.
Warning: this book starts off slow. Real slow. It's a loving description of Egdon Heath, the setting for this novel. (The chapter gives you some idea of what it feels like for Eustacia to have to live there.)
77 comments:
This is the first novel I'm reading and I found it to be really slow in the beginning because it seemed like author placed an emphasis on describing Egdon Heath in detail. It got boring really fast and I literally had to force myself to read it again. I'm beginning part 2 of the book and it's definetly getting alot better because I'm able to get a sense of the characters, including Eustacia and Wildeve. It can be established that there's defintely a relationship between Wildeve and Eustacia and the reader can somewhat classify her as the "other woman" after Wildeve returns to her after not getting married to Thomasin. Eustacia seems very mystifying and intriguing and I think that we will learn more about her as the novel progresses. It's evident that she dislikes Egdon Heath and is looking for something exciting to happen and all the talks about Clem coming to town have her wondering about who he is. Diggory Venn is another interesting character and I think that down the road he will ultimately play a pivotal role in the novel. The novel can only get better once the plot begins to fully unravel.
This is also my first book that I'm reading, and like mbajwa, it gave me a real hard time at the beginning and struggled through the descriptive part of the heath. When you're at the beach, the last thing you want to read about is the Egdon Heath in such depth, but as I got into it, the plot became much more intriguing and I actually found myself wanting to know more about Eustacia and her wild fantasies. I'm just in the middle of the third book and have established that Eustacia is definitely one of those characters that you love to hate but you find yourself rooting for her anyway. She actually reminds me of many teenagers who live in a fantasy land and seem to think they are invincible.
Also, I find the book choc-filled with allusions. Every descriptive paragraph I get into seems to have comparisons to the greek religion, other literary works of that time, etc. I believe this aspect would be a great aspect of the book if I knew of what the allusions were or what they meant. I think what makes some of these descriptions so cumbersome are the references that we don't tend to know on the top of our teenage heads.
Nonetheless, as you get further into the book, the plot thickens and becomes much more interesting. To fully enjoy this book, I believe you as the reader have to overlook the fact that you just read an entire page and don't understand anything you just read, and enjoy the literacy aspects along with the intriguing, complicating, and twisted lives these simple characters in this simple town live. We can dream with Eustacia's fantasies, be inspired by Clym's ideas, and admire Thomasin's innocence. Even though this book was written quite a while ago, we can find that we have many similarities to the characters making this book timeless.
This is the last book that I am reading and I also found it very difficult in the beginning. The way the author writes is extremely ornate and flowery. I do not really enjoy this type of literature because I generally do not know what is going on. I get the general plot and characters, I just find that it loses me when the author speaks about the surroundings or the past.
The drama of the area did capture my attention and I like the character Diggory Venn. He seems to be the only decent person in the story. He did not care if Thomasin married someone else as long as she was happy. Everyone else seems rather self absorbed and mainly concerned with their own well-being.
The plot seems like it is a good one however I think that the ornate speech kind of ruins it. I occasionally have problems with the non-dialogue portions of the book. Yes, it is in depth and descriptive however I do not think it aids the book. Some people may say that it is good literature since it is full of big words and flowery. However If I cannot understand it, is it really good literature?
After reading the first book in Return of the Native I have no idea how this book got its name. But I do have an idea of Egdon Heath. The English country side was seemed much more beautiful in my mind. But the book's description was quite different. It seems so lifless, colorless, and desperate. The characters that live there also seem desperate, especialy Eustacia (a fabulouse name by the way). I feel that the enviornment people live in can effect their character. Well I will have to read the rest and see if the the characters continue to life like the Heath or break out and be more.
I started reading this book while on vacation in
Aruba. (I had to literally force myself to read this difficult novel everyday) The description of the Heath very quickly reminded me of where I was staying(considering i was practicly in the desert), as if I were trapped inside the book.
I agree with Mbajwa, the novel is a slow drama filled book, but once I got to section two it all starts to unravel. The more I read, the more I realized that the author tends to start describing the scenery which connects to the emotions of the characters involved in the scene. The description of the Heath seams to play a very important role in the beginning of ever chapter because it foreshadows the upcoming events.
I'm only halfway through right now, but I agree with Klachut, that Eustacia is a character that you can't stand but you find yourself rooting for her anyway. At the end of book two I see that two love triangles are starting. First, Eustacia-Wildeve-Thomasin. Then the selfishness of Eustacia is revealed and both women give up Wildeve. The second love triangle that I believe is developing is among Thomasin-Clym-Eustacia. But as I read on hopefully more will be revealed.
I finally finished this book and I surprisingly liked it by the time I got half-way into it. Eustacia is a weird character that is kind of difficult to understand. She comes across as selfish in some ways because even though Clym is nearly blind, she manages to care primarily about her shattered dreams about moving to Paris. She feels like Clym is degrading himself by being a furze cutter and therefore she feels as though her status is also being degraded. She can't help but return to Wildeve, because she is drawn to him even though she tells him to leave on numerous occasions. By sending Mrs. Yeobright away from the house was led her to harbor guilt and eventually led to her downfall. I thought it was really inconsiderate of Wildeve to call Eustacia a "poor girl" because Clym was a furze cutter and because she could no longer go to Paris, especially right after Mrs. Yeobright died. It was definetly partly if not entirely Eustacia's fault for not even acknowleding Mrs. Yeobright by letting her in. It shows that she does have somewhat of a good heart by realizing that she needs to be with her husband instead of Wildeve after the death of Mrs. Yeobright and also realizing that she is to blame for her death. I wish she would have confessed to Clym what had occured that day instead of letting him hear it from the little boy. The ending was more dramatic than I expected. I didn't think that both Wildeve and Eustacia would die and that Clym would become a preacher.
It took a long time for Thomasin to finally figure out that Wildeve was seeing Eustacia, but I'm glad that she ended up with Diggory Venn because he was the only genuine and sincere person throughout the novel, like sammidee said.
Overall, I enjoyed reading the book, despite the slow beginning and the author's pedantic writing style. I was exposed to characters with personalities that I had never encountered before and it really made me question and analyze their motives and what they were each thinking.
I just finished the book also, and I actually found the ending sort of disappointing. I'm usually the type of person who loves the stories to end in a happy ending but for this type of story, I felt the ending didn't fit the story line. I was glad to finally see Diggory Venn happy and married to Thomasin, because he was the guy that kept saving all the characters throughout the book. Venn to me was like Superman. Whenever a character was in danger, it seemed that Venn always saved them, defeated the bad guy and restored peace. So, I was happy it ended well for him.
However, I can't really put my finger on it, but the ending, at least I felt, didn't do the story justice. I think, because the storyline and plot of this book was very much a drama and reminded me of a soap opera, I sort of had an idea the ending wasn't going to be happy because it never usually is in these types of stories. So, I guess I was a little thrown off how it ended. I don't know if anyone else agrees with me, but i just wasn't satisfied by the ending and wanted to see if anyone else agrees with me or has some other interpretation.
Finishing this book felt like a huge accomplishment! I really enjoyed the novel beginning at the 5th book considering the author took up a quicker writing pace. It surprised me that the author decided to change from a slow unraveling plot to a hastened race to the finish. But over all I think the many twists in the ending was definitely worth it.
The novel had many little key lessons in it that I found interesting. Such as Eustacias desires always were of something better quality. She always looked at Wildeve as if he was a prince and would bring great fortune to her. Then she found that he was seeing another girl and left that desire. On she went to the next best thing, Clym, a dazzling young gentleman with a good reputation. Once she married him she moved on to something more desirable, Wildeve. This motion the author brought reminded me of the old saying "the grass is always greener on the other side"! This is all Eustacia Vye saw. I agree with Mbajwa, Eustacia was a very selfish woman.
Also, I wonder if anyone else agrees with me that this novel thrived on coincidence and fate. Clym just happens to be asleep when his mother comes to visit, Eustacia just happens to run into Wildeve at a dance party with the gypsies, Venn just happens to be in the woods when Christen and Wildeve are playing some game of luck, and he just happens to win back the money!!
I finished the book and strongly disliked Eustacia. I have to disagree with katehiggs and say that I was never rooting for Eustacia. She came off as selfish and rather unaware of the surroundings. She was only interested in Wildever because she thought he was the only person that could get her off the heath. Then she discovered Clym and found out that he was actually from her dream city. She fell in love with him before she even met him. Then Clym started losing his sight she was only concerned about how this would hinder her ability to move to Paris, not about the well-being of her "love". In the end I believe she killed herself because she knew that life would always be a let down.
I still haven't finished this book, in fact i'm not very far into it, but...kateHiggs told me at captains practice for xc that if you reread the first two chapters after you had gotten to chapter 5 or so it made tons more sence and you seemed to pick up on more of the details. I tried it and it definately work. Just thought I'd enlighten those of you who, like me, are struggling through the begining.
This is the second book that I am reading for the summer . I got to say that this book is pretty slow, but it's not a terrible read. The book does a good job in portraying what life would be like during that time period in a place such a Egdon Heath. Also I believe the characters in the book are very realistic in the way the act and think. The characters are very diverse from each other which allows for conflicts and good drama in the story. All in all, the book is going by pretty slowly, but it's not a terrible read.
I'm only half way through the book, and I can't believe how long it took me to get there! The way the author drags out the descriptions kinda makes me feel like what he is describing is slow, unchanging and boring. Maybe he did it on purpose? I agree with you guys in that the references are WAY over my head. I guess his references to biblical stories and ancient Greeks would make sense in the day like our references to Family Guy and The Office do now. Too bad we weren't reading a story like that...
I'm also noticing a lot of similarities between Eustacia and Hedda (nice essay subject choice!). I have a feeling Eustacia will end up being a jerk like Hedda was and want someone dead. My guess is that Venn guy or Clym.
Victory is mine! I have finished "Return of the Native" (yep I finished all my summer reading your jelouse).
Well, the first thing I have to say is I agree with others about the writting style. The beginning was as slow as molassas, but it fit the story line. The first two books were all about intro and description of the desolate lonely heath, so the details draged on. But the middle books picked up the pass as plots and desires unfolded. And by the last two books there was hardly any detail and the novel quickly and tragicaly ended.
Though I struggled with this book I was satisfied with the end. This was because all the characters I liked were happy and the ones I didn't like were dead. Funny how things work out. Like Kayla Venn was my favorite character. He seamed to be the only one in the book with a level head and unselfish thoughts. He was rewarded in the end by finaly wedding Thomasin. I also liked Thomasin. Yeah she was kind of a wishy washy girl but her heart was true and she finally found happiness.
Eustacia and Wildeve were dreadful. I hated them. Eustacia seemed to care for nothing but exciting things and Wildeve just could not decide on one woman. Yeah I was not upset when they drowned.
This was my least favorite of the books we were to read. I thought a lot of the text was unneeded even if it was to give us a feel I think he went overboard, not just the description of the heath, but the devotion of a whole chapter to Eustacia on the hillside for a pause during her walk. I loved the allusions, but sometimes I felt like it was a little much, not because I didn’t know what he was referring to (I usually did) but he just had so many packed together it was often tedious to read. By the end I enjoyed it a bit more, but the story wasn’t really that interesting to me. I did like Captain Vye because at the beginning he wasn’t a well-used character but I felt that he would come in later even if for only a small part, and I liked the way he went from someone who didn’t care when she went on walks, telling her she should have married Wildeve, then being concerned with her disappearance, it was such a drastic change in perspective that he intrigued me. I though the book was a bit cliché with all the "Oh! Look! Venn has come to save the day… again.” It just seemed so unrealistic.
Yay the book's over! Soooo hard to finish, it got to be so I could barely read one chapter at a time without thinking of something WAY better to do, like cleaning the kitchen. This story was super depressing to me because the problems all stemmed from the characters being trapped. Eustacia might have turned out all right if she grew up or even moved to somewhere more populated and intellectually stimulating, and the same with Wildeve. Being trapped, stupid mistakes, misunderstandings and 'love' made money gambled with, Clym blind, and the innocent people dead (not Eustacia tho, I agree with Grace, I'm glad she's dead). And poor Clym thought everyone dying was HIS fault and had a sad little life preaching to other people! People not making smart choices is slow readin'. Sheesh why write a story with the moral 'don't make dumb mistakes, it ruins people's lifes', its so sad to read.
so this is the last book I'm reading. I kept putting it off after reading all the comments about how slow it is. I'm not very far like cheryl I found it really hard to concentrate and keep reading. I wanted to thank kate c for her advice because anything that makes this book easier to understand is good. Hopefully I'll be able to get through this book and not be distract by well anything.
I just finished the first book of The Return of the Native. I was not looking forward to reading this book because many people said how dull and boring it was. Therefore, I decided to devote lots of time to reading, paced myself, and it worked! It was a little hard to get into this book because there was so much description about the setting. However, I am a very visual person and so I stuck with the descriptions and tried to paint an accurate picture of Edgon Heath in my head. The extremely ornate and descriptive language for setting the scene did remind me of The Grapes of Wrath. However, once I was introduced to more characters it was a little easier to get into. Eustacia seems like an independent, opinionated woman but does not know exactly what she wants. Wildeve seems similar to Eustacia and is not very reliable. Already I am beginning to dislike these two characters and as the story progresses, I do not think my opinion of them will get any better. Thomasin's aunt and Diggory Venn, on the other hand, interest me and like mbajwa said, I believe Venn will play a very important role in determining the fate of the other characters and the outcome of the story. I am looking forward to when the plot starts to fully develop. I am also eager to learn more about Thomasin and her viewpoint on her failing marriage and the "mysterious" relationship between Venn and herself.
I've finished the first book within the novel, and I have mixed feelings about this story. One thing that I definitely dislike about the book so far is the pace. After reading the other comments I am looking forward to when it picks up. Another aspect of the novel that I dislike is the allusions and explanatory notes. I feel like a few fit well within the story, but there are way too many, which just slows down the book even more.
As for characters I like both Venn and Mrs. Yeobright, and I can't wait to see how they will influence the others so they can get what they want. Eustacia, on the other hand, I do not like quite as much. She is very manipultive and deceitful, but I don't think she is as bad as most people think. Once Clym returns I think I'll be able to decide if I like Eustacia.
While the novel is very slow and descriptive, I can't deny that Hardy is a great author. There were two specific passages that really stood out to me.
"Persons with any weight of character carry, like planets, their atmospheres along with them in their orbits, and the matron who entered now upon the scene could, and usually did, bring her own tone into a company."
and "She had mentally walked around love, told the towers thereof, considered its palaces and concluded that love was but a doleful joy". I love how Hardy compared a person's character to a planet and described love as something soild that could be studied and examined.
So I'm almost done the second book within the book. I'm really glad the book started to pick up and we get to see the characters talking to each other. It's a lot better than the chapters just about the landscape. I don't like all the allusions in the book because I don't get them so its such a hastle to flip to the back of the book to figure out what's being said. I know the book was written in the 1880's so it makes sense that I don't understand the allusions. It just makes this book that much harder to force myself to read.
Max-1
Oatmeal-0
Chapters one and two took me three weeks to read, because they were so dull! But finally, I got to the intrigue, the lies, and the despair. Poor Eustacia Vye! (Very cool name though)I do like her, even if she can be condescending. I'm only half done with this one, but already, I actually want to keep reading. I'm not quite sure what "furze" is. The writing? Too detailed, making me feel like there is some huge metaphor goig on here (huger than the reflection of human nature in Egdon Heath) but it might be slipping right by me. Or maybe there never was one, because his writing is so heavy that it takes a bit of concentration sometimes to catch it all. Not my favorite book so far, but Eustacia is definatly an intersting lady.
dictionary dot com says furze is an evergreen shrub. I also had to look up what a heath was. How an awesome candy got its name from a desolate wasteland I will never understand.
“The Return of the Native” was the first book I read this summer. After a large amount of procrastination, I decided to get the longest book out of the way first. As everyone has agreed, the beginning was amazingly slow and almost made me continue to put this assignment off. The long description of Edgon Heath was definitely not the most exciting first chapter I ever read. However, it did help me understand why Eustacia hated being stuck in the dreary place.
Once I got further into the story, the plot began to thicken and the drama of the Heath became rather interesting. To me, the best part of the story was the characters. I didn’t like Eustacia very much at all. Although at first I sympathized with her dislike of Edgon Heath, she turned out to be a very selfish character. She used the other characters to get what she wanted. For example, I think Eustacia only married Clym because in him she saw a way to escape and live out her fantasy life in Paris. However, what made me hate Eustacia the most was how she allowed Clym to believe that he was responsible for his mother’s death. If she had really cared for Clym, she would not have let him suffer like that.
Diggory Venn, on the other hand, was completely opposite of Eustacia. He loved Thomasin but didn’t mind seeing her with Wildeve as long as she was happy. This selflessness made Venn the character that I was rooting for throughout the story. In the end it seemed that Venn was rewarded for his goodness because he ended up getting what he wanted all along by marrying Thomasin. It was also kind of fitting that the deceitful, self-centered characters (Eustacia and Wildeve) were the ones that wound up dead. I can’t say I was overly sad about that. Overall, not a bad book once you get past the seemingly unnecessary descriptive parts. (They do end eventually Max.)
ok so Im pretty sure that I don't have to mention that the beginning of the novel is slow (I think that was covered at least once or twice...ok so maybe more). Anyway, "Return of the Native" was the very first book that I read this summer and contrary to my dissappointment with the beginning of the novel, it turned out to be pretty good. It was definitely not an easy read but it was very interesting. I think the best way to describe it would be to call it a formal "Soap Opera". The amount of who loves who and who's gonna marry her and him and whatever else there is, is absolutely ridiculous, and yet I found myself wrapped up in the drama.
As much as I enjoyed the book, I found it to be incredibley loose and ambiguous (which don't get me wrong is not a bad thing). It just made me skeptical about alot of the characters and their sincerity.
This is the second novel I am reading and I'm finding it difficult to get through. I can't say that I understand that whole part about the heath, and the plot is a bit slow for my tastes. However, it does continue to get better as I keep reading...
Right now I am at the part where Eustacia and Yeobright decided to get married in two weeks. This love pentagon (I guess we could call it that because it certainly is bigger than a triangle) seems to have a big disaster coming at the end. I almost feel pity for the cousins as it seems they are simply in the middle of a disastrous love story between Eustacia and Wildeve. Also, whatever happended to Diggory Venn? He seems to have disappeared over the last few chapters. I'm anxious to see him show back up and see what kind of spin he will throw into the novel as it begins to reach a climax. I have to say that I am not a huge fan of Eustacia. People who are this self-centered and have this much of a "poor me" attitude can never be good news, and I am almost scared to see what will happen with her.
This book gave me a bit of trouble because I had a hard time into it. The characters like others have said seem very influenced by their environment. The description of Egdon Heath I found a bit too in depth but I can see where it was needed to create this atmosphere. So after I got over the fact of all of the description I was able to comprehend and actually enjoy the depth of these characters and plot, which at first seemed frivolous.
Am I the only one who thought that this book could have easily been a script for a soap opera?
So I'm a little more than halfway through with this book. I was happy to see that the story line finally did pick up, although I did not expect it to start out as slow as it did, even after reading all the warnings. I do like how it has progressed, though, thus far, and I don't think it is a half bad read. I agree with what Karen said about how in depth the characters turn out to be. Personally, I think it is just hard somtimes to fully grasp what is going on with all the ornate language, big words, and unfamiliar allusions throughout the novel. All in all I am excited to see where all these situations lead.
However, all Desperate Housewives comparisons aside, I found that if you change the names of all the people and adjust the setting and maybe and few of the minor plot details this is a surprisingly familiar story
I just finished the fifth section of this book so I have only one more to go! I am very excited and am going to devote the rest of the night to (hopefully) finishing this book. This book has been dreadfully boring mostly due to the long descriptions, that as Karen said, seemed to be frivolous. However, some sections that included conversations and more interaction between characters kept me interested. I especially liked the gambling amongst Clem/Wildeve/Christian and Diggory Venn. Also, I was shocked by Mrs. Yeobright's death. I could not believe that because Eustacia left her outside in the heat, she ended up dying. I did not expect Thomas Hardy to kill her off. I at first thought he took the easy way out by killing her because of the quarrel between Eustacia and Wildeve, and Mrs. Yeobright, but now I see that this will cause the relationship between Wildeve and Eustacia to get a lot more complicated and complex. Also, Diggory Venn has become an unpredictable, mysterious character and will apparently do anything to "protect" Thomasin, including bringing out a gun. I am curious about the fate of each character and how their problems will be resolved.
P.S.-I liked Cheryl's comment on the Heath candy bar.
One of the things that I was confused about was; when Wildeve jumped in the river after Eustacia, did he mean to commit suicide also or was he just trying to save her?
I also could not understand why Clym Yeobright made some of the decisions that he did. Seriously, who would give up a successful job in Paris to be a "poor man's schoolmaster" near the Heath? Also, how could he want Eustacia back after she let his mother die and then allowed him to believe it was all his fault?
Kayla, I say Wildeve was trying to save her. Through out the whole book I believe Wildeve was in love with Eustacia. Eustacia sort of liked Wildeve too untill paris man showed up. Because of her shallow nature she bagged Wildeve in hopes of living a fabulose life in Paris. Funny how things work out. Clym ends up a poor heath cropper and Wildeve ends up with tons of inhereted money and plans to go off abroad. Some good old iorny. So then Eustacia wants Wildeve back but knows she can't have him.
Eustacia and Wildeve's deaths were accidents not suiccide. Eustacia fell in to the waters during the stormy night ( maybe the lady's voodoo? The one who made the Eustacia doll and poked pins into it?) And Wildeve happen to see her body in the water and yelled "Oh my darling!" So I am pretty sure Wildeve still had feelings for her.
Geez, i'm only like fifteen pages into this book and i'm dying. it's sooooooooooooooooooooooo boring. I also don't understand anything. if anyone has any tips on how to make reading this less painful, please, i fully welcome your advice.
I'm going to hold my hand up over everyone else's comments here while I type this, but I'm two "books" away from the end, and I'm really enjoying this. I like Hardy's style, ultra-descriptive as it may be, and the plot seems to be at the perfect pace--not too fast, but not so slow that it's boring either. I had always pinned this as being the book on the list that I was going to least enjoy, and have been pleasantly surprised throughout. That's about it for now.
Gerry i had the same exact problem as you. It's hard to read a book when its just describing places. I found it easier to break the book up into sections. If you just concentrate on finishing a chapter or one of the "books" it makes it go by faster than just thinking about the entire book. The book picks up once you actually start to meet the characters.
I somewhat agree with Kayla G's comment about Clym and his decision to be a schoolmaster as well as his decision to forgive Eustacia by attempting to save her. I think that maybe Clym came back to Egdon Heath and really realized how the heath and Paris were two different worlds. The heath is quiet and the community is very close-knit, while Paris is full of business opportunities and is more advanced. Perhaps Clym began to see that his current profession and Paris didn't fit him, and he felt more at home in the heath. I can understand Kayla's pt of view, that the money is better in Paris and that there is no guarantee that Clym will be successful as a schoolmaster. However, perhaps Clym is happier by pursuing his goal of being a schoolmaster, which ultimately counts more than money. Nonetheless, this situation is a close parallel to many of the decisions adults make today.
I do agree strongly with Kayla G's point about how Clym could possibly want Eustacia back after she kind of caused Mrs. Yeobright's death. Maybe he really cared deeply for her, but she never seemed to really apologize for what she did. I don't understand how she didn't let her mother-in-law visit her own son. Maybe Eustacia was scared about letting her in with Wildeve present in the house or maybe she just had no desire of repairing her relationship with Mrs. Yeobright. Nonetheless, she should have put her own feelings aside and let Mrs. Yeobright talk to her son because Eustacia was the root cause of the rift between Clym and Mrs. Yeobright.
Finished the book, and it was great (although Clym's eventual fate sort of blindsided me, I didn't quite see that one coming). As far as why Eustacia didn't let Mrs. Yeobright into the house, it seemed to me that she was either afraid Mrs. Yeobright would catch her with Another Man in the house, or that she was too proud to let anyone see Clym in his furze-cutter's guise.
In case anyone was curious like me: Furze on Wikipedia
So I finally finished this book after working on it for almost a month. I'm sorry but was anybody else excited when Eustacia and Wildeve died? These two characters had done so much behind the backs of Tomasin and Clym that it just didn't seem fair that everything keep working out for them. I don't feel this way about people in real lfe, but when it happens to literary characters, I'm ok with that. I was sorry that Clym had to feel so bad about it, I just kept wishing that there was some way he could find out the truth and not be in so much misery. It may have caused him to be angry about the plots of Wildeve and Eustacia, but at least the guilt would subside. I feel like at the end of this book, things really worked out best for Tomasin and Clym, both in their own respective ways. I'm also sorry but for the rest of the summer my blogs will more scarce than I would like them to be. For some reason my computer is only letting me post one comment for each account I set up!
I have joined The Return of the Native discussion! Going all the way back to the beginning I totally agree with Kayla about Eustacia being the character you love to hate, but find yourself rooting for at times also.
And like everyone, I found the detail was very hard to get through, and often made me sleepy but I managed to finish anyway. However although some may not have like this story, I surprisingly found myself liking the story. I find love stories so interesting and all the romantic twists and ups and downs were enticing and kept me wanting to read more and more. Some of my favorite parts were when Wildeve is describing Clym as the richer man and Eustacia asks something like "what are you saying you would trade your fortune for me?" and he said yes!! awww so sweet! I also loved the part where Diggory waits for the rising moon to find a girl’s glove and kisses it and puts it in his pocket near his heart. I think I am a hopeless romantic, but I can't help it. I also liked how Thomasin was secretly jealous of herself (the owner of the glove that is)! I think that is when she realized what a sweetheart Venn always was. <3
In response to others responses….
Gerry- you will make it through! I have faith in you! My only advice is to NOT lie down while reading-you will fall asleep. So make sure you aren’t reading when you’re at all tired. And don’t get too hung up on the details of the setting and such. Focus on character’s actions and you will be fine. :)
Kayla- I believe Wildeve jumped in to save Eustacia-his one true love. But I’m not so sure Eustacia accidently fell in….
And as far as Clym goes I can understand where he wanted to give up the Paris, rich life. Some people just do not want a job to become rich, like me. I think Clym wanted to come home because he felt he belonged at the heath and didn’t have to act a certain way for business. Also, I think he wanted to find true love and he knew he found happiness with family. And Paris wasn’t the place he was finding lasting love.
Perhaps “love is blind” is the answer to how Clym could want Eustacia back. Maybe? Idk...consider it as an influencing factor.
Oh and one last thing- I believe Eustacia didn’t let Mrs. Yeobright in because she was actually afraid and intimidated by her. I don’t think Wildeve or her pride really had to do with it. Maybe it’s because I don’t hate Euatacia, but I think she honestly wanted to let Mrs. Yeobright talk to her son. Hence the reason she went outside-to give the 2 time to talk on their own without her interruption –especially because logically Clym and his mom needed to work their problems out before Clym’s wife and mom could begin to work their problems out. Unfortunately, very unfortunately, Eustacia made an eventually fatal mistake in thinking Clym was awake to answer the door when he was not.
I have just recently finished reading "The Return of the Native" as the last of the three novels. The chapter called Sights And Sounds Draw The Wanderers Together on page 378 actually reminded me of John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath". More specifically, when Rosasharn has her stillborn baby at the story’s end, the setting involves torrents of rain that Rosasharn’s father and other men must build a dam for to prevent flooding in the family’s temporary living space. Then, in “The Return of the Native”, the above-mentioned chapter has a similar setting of downpour and not one, but two deaths occur being Eustacia’s and Wildeve’s due to drowning in the weir. It’s interesting that in “The Grapes of Wrath” a dam was constructed to save lives, Joad family members and the others living with them, while the dam in “The Return of the Native” stole lives. It also seems that both Steinbeck and Hardy used heavy rainfall as a symbol associated with death because of its emphasis in setting when Eustacia, Wildeve, and Rosasharn’s baby all passed away or was already deceased. Perhaps rain is a motif that authors use to further intensify the reader’s emotions about the death of any important main character. In other words, we can already relate to the gloomy feeling that we may sometimes have when it has been raining out for a few days so it works perfectly in bringing the reader closer into the world of the story. Overall, there were many details in “The Return of the Native” that promoted thought and made for an enjoyable book to read.
I finally finished this novel and found the ending to be strangely predictable. It is apparent that Thomas Hardy believes in fate and destiny. Clym was portrayed to be an innocent man throughout the book and in the end was able to overcome his losses and live a fulfilling life as a preacher. Eustacia and Wildeve were both unreliable people who seemed not to know exactly what they wanted out of life. They both wanted to reach their own ideal lives but did not know how to reach that goal. Therefore, it seems inevitable that both characters drowned at the end. I did not particularly care for either character and disagree with Kayla's opinion of Eustacia. I had no sympathy for Eustacia and disliked her personality and ego.
On the other hand, I loved the like able character of Diggory Venn. He was a modest, kind man and a admirer of Thomasin and I hoped, from the start, that things would turn out well for him. Like Sabina said, I was ever so touched at how he picked up Thomasin's glove after the moonlit dance and held it to his heart. I must agree, and say I fall for simple romantic touches like that. And so at the end, even though it was a bit expected, I was satisfied when Venn and Thomasin were married. The end.
I've read 4 of the 6 "books" in this novel, so I guess I'm getting there. I think the issue of why Eustacia didn't open the door to Mrs. Yeobright is important. Mike and Mandeep touched on it. Personally, I think it was more of the idea that Eustacia did not want to be seen in the house with another man. She knew that their relationship was already damaged with Clym's mother, and she didn't want to get hurt by what Mrs. Yeobright could have thought of another man in the house. Instead, her decision not to open up the door has proved to be fatal.
I am also a fan of Diggory Venn. In the beginning, it seemed to me he was sort of more of an oddball character, but as the book progresses he is in some of the more important scenes. He is always looking out for others, especially Thomasin, and is always trying to do good and make things right.
Alright so I finally finished this book. I have to say that this book was a bit painful to get through but in the last hundred pages I became much more intrigued by the story. And for once in my life I think I am going to have to agree with Todd that this story does sound like a soap opera. Just kidding Todd. But anyways I actually really enjoyed the plot by the end. Overall I think that Clym became my favorite character. Clym tended to keep his thoughts to himself and there were parts in the story that I just wanted to scream at Thomasin myself about how Clym really felt. Clym became the underlying hopeful of the story, the one that I really wanted to succeed on his quest for love but you knew he would never grasp it in time.
Eustacia was by far my least favorite character in this novel. I just hated the way she operated. Since she was trapped in a place she hated (Egdon Heath), she looked for something interesting and found it in the form of Wildeve, especially when another woman wanted him. But then Clym Yeobright shows up and suddenly she doesn't love Wildeve any more and she desperately loves Clym, a man she's never even seen. But then later in the book she finds out that Wildeve is rich and starts to love him again instead of Clym. I don't even think she's capable of feeling love, I think she just feels interested.
Is anyone else having a bit of trouble writing the essay? I choose topic A, compare Eustacia and Hedda. I wonder if I had read Hedda first it would have been easier.
I'm not sure if this will help anyone with their essay, but I found a band called Hedda Gabler and also Eustacia Vye.
http://www.myspace.com/heddagabler
http://www.myspace.com/eustaciavye
It took me forever to finish this book. Like Todd, I found it to be just like a soap opera. And because soap operas don't have lightsabers, I do not enjoy them.
In all seriousness, I could see why someone would like this book, but it just didn't work for me. Like Gabler, it did show the vuneralbility of the human pysche. However, it was way more complicated considering you had about fifty different infatuations, a stubborn mother, and multiple deaths at different parts in the book. Like Brett and Max, I did like Venn. He seems to have everyone's best interests at heart and he is self-sacrificing. And he may have been a bit of an oddball, but hey wasn't everyone talking weird in the book?
Thanks to Christine and Sabina, your advice really helped and i finally finished this cursedly boring book. I have to agree with Karen and Todd. This book does sound like a soap opera and should be adapted to a modern version, they could call it "All my Native" or something along those lines. The plot overall was really enticing. The characters were very interesting and really helped move the plot along. The only major problem I had was the writing style Hardy used. He used too many big words and his language was too flowery. Granted this was written way back in the late 1800s, but still, it was a little much.
yay Gerry finished! I'm glad I could be of help and glad you at least liked some of the story. I totally agree with what you said about making a modern version-that would be so shweet! And we could even make it like a TV series and simply call it The Return (haha get it?) I also agree with what Gerry said about the writing style. And one last thing to Greg, don't you think you're kind of like Diggory?? :)
I aboslutely can't stand this book. I'll have every know that after finishing the book I had to continue to read up online about the characters and what even happened. It was one of those books for me that I read a page go to turn it and realize I couldn't remember what the page was about and had to read it again. Eustacia is so self absorbed too. Like Hedda she's an "ugly" character. And in response to Bethany, yes the essay is giving me major problems and I will probably be pushing until the minute thursday night.
This was the second book that I read. I didn't fully read everyone's comments, but I actually didn't find this book to be that much of a drag...I kinda like it, haha. I thought the detail was great and I could easily remember what I read the day before or what the characters were doing at the time of my reading. But, like all of the books we read, I find that everywhere there is more drama than nessecary. And, of course, I find Eustacia to be behind most of it. The ginormous fight that occured between Eustacia, Clym, and Mrs. Yeobright could have been completely avoided. But, then again, I suppose that is the beauty of this novel. Although Eustacia was incredibly similar to Hedda in their ways of stubborness and manipulating, I found Mrs. Yeobright to be up there in the ranks too. Given she was not as "bad" as either of those two characters, but she herself seem to have a great amount of influence over the community and tried to get her way as much as possible. The relationship that Eustacia shares with both Clym and Wildeve is quite similar to the relationship Hedda shares with Tesman and Ejlert. Both the plays and the book have such similar qualities when pertaining to the influence of society and communities, that I feel like I missed something completely in Enchanted Night! But overall, I enjoyed this book and I'm looking forward to English this year. =)
I agree with Jess that the conflict with Clym/Eustacia and Mrs. Yeobright could have been avoided. If Clym had gone to talk to his mother earlier instead of putting it off or if Eustacia had just opened the door, disaster could have been averted. Then Mrs. Yeobright would not have died, Eustacia wouldn’t have hid the truth and Clym and Eustacia probably would have stayed together. However, as much as I like happy endings, that would have made for a pretty boring story. :)
So maybe reading return of the native right after Enchanted Night wasn't the smartest idea, because it just made the book seem even slower than it already is. I think I would have actually really enjoyed the book if it had been written in slighly clearer language. The plot, which reminded me a little of a soap opera, was pretty intriguing. One thing I did like though was that most characters personalities ran parallel to different aspects of the heath. Like, their outlook on life affected how the heath was represented when the author spoke about that character. Constantly-bored Eustacia had a heath that was gray and stormy, but Clym, who enjoyed being a furze-cutter, saw all sorts of colors. And Venn, who I think of as steady and pretty protective like the heath as a home, and was even colored red (which could be considered an earthy color).
-PS- It'd be so much fun to like hijack the creative writing class and make our own updated version of "the return"!
I finally finished this book! I actually found it to be quite interesting, once the plot started rolling along. I did not expect both Eustacia and Wildeve to die; I thought it would only be one or the other. I liked the fact that, even though there are many sad things that go on in this story, it ends on a happy note, with the wedding celebration. Clym finds his calling, and Venn and Thomasin come together, something I wanted to see happen but again, did not expect.
Whoever started with the comparison to a soap opera (Todd??) had a pretty good thought. With everybody secretly in love with everybody else, it did certainly have that sort of feeling.
This was the last book I read, in late August, and fell between Hedda Gabler and Enchanted Night. The warning on the preview for the book is right, it does start very slow. I did a little skipping of the describtion of the heath, but not too much, I think. All told, it probably took me three days to get past page 30, and another three to finish the book. I think it has its ups and downs. I thing I didn't like was the timing. I am in the happen of reading the paragraph at the back of books, (or the front cover of hardcopies) in order to get a sense of what the book will be about and whether or not I might like it. That being said, I was somewhat disappointed at the paragraph at the back of "The Return of the Native." One would think from it that in the middle of the book, something happens to Clym and Eustacia, but she doesn't die untill the very end. The book leads up to the death, then abrubtly stops with a happy ending, whereas I thought the book would be more based around how Clym came down from the tragic break. Still, after the first 30 pages, the action picked up a bit, and held my attention quite nicely. All in all, it was a good read.
Surprisingly, I enjoyed the first chapter even though it was only an explanation of the heath. I thought it was a simplistic but an effectic method of setting the tone of the story. The description was incredibly in depth, which made it clear the setting of the heath was going to be important for the story. I felt it was interesting the the description was so thorough without revealing anything about the story.
For me, the story slowed once the dialogue began because the dialect was difficult to follow. Also the dialogue's topic was unclear at times, which made it unclear what was important for the story.
This is the last book I'm reading and I have to admit I'm not entirely finished with it. The warning posted here is well warrented, the first two chapters did make me wonder where the nearest cliff was....
But after getting through the first hundred and fifty pages I have to admit that Hardy knows how to create interesting characters and play them off of eachother, his dialogue is masterful in a soap-opera sort of way. Naturally I'm inclined to talk about Eustacia, she is intelligent but programmed with a romantic version of life. She can reflect and manipulate but has to create chaos. I don't like her as a whole.
I feel the opposite of alex. I thought the begining was slow, way to much description for me to follow. However the dialog kept me enticed (sp?) and i though the end went relatively fast.
When I was reading i found that my oppinions of the characters changed a lot. For example there were times when i hated Eustacia, and times when i thought she was a neat character and i really liked her. The only person that my oppinion didn't change about throughout the book was Diggory.
I liked the characters in this book because they weren't stereotypical characters, none of them fit into a generic mold. They were all unique.
I also don't understand the title???
Kate, I also had trouble understanding where the title actually fit in. The words don't seem to make complete sense. "The Return of the Native" could refer possibly to Clym's journey back from Paris to his native homeland: Egdon Heath. Clym learns to love his homeland and ends up altering his outlook on life by deciding to become a schoolmaster, which proved to be important in the novel. However, I believe that there might be a better interpretation out there that makes more sense.
Now that it's over, I have to admit there were definately parts of the story that I enjoyed. It's more just the fact that I had to break out the dictionary every line or two that made the story difficult. I totally agree with Lindsay in saying that everyone got their "just desserts." I completely disliked Eustacia and Wildeve, mainly because they came off as cheaters who used their spouses for their own goals, and both drowned in the end. Good-natured Clym got to spend his life spreading his morals to others. Venn, the hero who had protected Thomasin (even if sometimes he got a little odd) and saved Clym, got to marry his true love, the ever-innocent Thomasin. Since I'm so used to novels like this ending in tragedy and despair, I was surprised and happy that it stopped on a good note.
-And Kate c, I thought maybe that Clym was the Native of the heath and that he was returning to his home. Hope that helps.
So i decided to add one more blog before school started and Liz I love your idea about hijacking the creative writing class and making our version of The Return! That would be sum good times! Oh and commenting on Jess’s thoughts, I totally agree that the whole fight with Mrs. Yeobright and Eustacia and not opening the door and such nonsense definitely could have been avoided. The key problem was misCOMMUNICATION! This is the problem in sooo many relationships, and relationships of all kinds. If Eustacia had even just simply voiced the truth to Clym right away about what happened (even if she had still made the mistake of not opening the door) the issues would have been so much simpler, lives could have been saved, and more happiness spread all around. My goal is to help real relationships avoid such disastrous outcomes. Communication is the future’s greatest solution. :-)
After finishing the book, I realized something that bothered me. Some stuff to way to long to describe. I believe this was the main downfall to the book, and sort of set the mood for the rest of the book, or at least until you finished it. But once you get past the slow descriptions and confusing conversations, it was a very good book. I guess it would be better if it were more modern and a little faster paced, but that's just my opinion.
I agree with Jacob, the long winded descriptions did set the mood for the story in an interesting way. Eustacia does not like the heath. She finds it boring. She feels lonely and wants excitement. The descriptions give the feelings that Eustacia feels. Didn't the description leave many feeling the same feelings as Eustacia while reading it? Either way I am going to stand by my original statement of enjoying the descriptions.
I agree with Alex and Jacob in the sense that the excruciatingly in-depth descriptions of the heath did set the mood. However, I think the mood could have been set without so many longwinded sentences and confusing analogies. Also, the out of this world dialogue made it more complicated. If you like that kind of book, power to you, but I prefer more concise books. I.E. Gabler
Well, I don't think I need to say anything about the beginning chapters of this book; everyone kind of summed it up already. But I have to say, I have probably never read a single book beforehand that focused on the setting as much as -if not, even more than- the characters. The whole heath/environment might as well be a character on it's own; it is an unforgivable plain, a complex, solid form that breathes, lives, and kills. It's like an omnipotent force!
Also, there's no one word that can describe the place, really. I like Liz's comment about the character's different views on the heath representing their situations in life. Eustacia Vye, feeling hopelessly trapped among the land, saw the heath as a vast, desolate prison, while Diggory Venn found this place as his perfect home.
As far as characters go, I didn't particularly like anyone. Well, except Diggory, of course, but you've got to love the quiet, selfless secret-admirer -in comparison to the self-centered, exploiting Eustacia and Wildeve.
As far as plot goes, I was happy about the suprisingly not-tragic ending. Eustacia and Damon perish after descending into the stormy heath*, the poor and mistreated Clym is saved from the same fate by Diggory, and he (Venn) and Thomasin get happily married. Though, it's funny to think that this novel ended not with the demise of Eustacia, but with the later, elated joining of two lesser characters. Or at least, It amused me; I just guessed this would be another tragic-hero-main-character-dies-and-that's-the-end-of-that story, or something.
*which is ironic in a way because the two were trying to leave the heath. For Eustacia, this place really was her ever-lasting prison.
The pacing of the story, I believe, was meant to represent the overbearing influence of the heath on all of its occupants. Indeed, I found the setting inside my own mind, constructing itself, out of pages and pages of lucid adjective.
Ultimately however, I found the multi-layered plot to be but a string short of a bird's nest; not for one minute did the book let you forget it is a drama, with copious amounts of complex relationship wankery. While respecting the intricacies of the system, I can't say I was enamored with it; it was very much an example of how fickle and shallow people can be at times.
I agree with alex and jacob in that the descriptions were a little excessive. Short and sweet is totally okay with me because that was just miserable :) This book was definitely the hardest to get through and I continuously had to force myself to read it and just get through it, but trust me, it was difficult. I wasn't a fan of Eustacia at all during this book because I thought she was completely selfish and manipulative. She used Wildever only because she believed he could "save" her from her apparently horrible life in the heath. And poor Clym, never catching a break until the end. I didn't feel bad at all about Eustacia at all, she got what was coming to her in my opinion.
Reading this book in the beginning was a semi-painful process, but after a while it was not so bad. It was ironic how Venn showed up during all the right opportunities. I felt bad for Clym because it sort of seemed that after he returned home from Paris and married Eustacia, everything just went downhill for him. His mother died, he became blind, his wife left him, he discovered that Eustacia was cheating on him, and then at the end of the book that his wife and her "lover" died. It also seemed that Eustacia was using people for her own gain. She left Wildeve when she found about how rich Clym was; but then she left Clym for Wildeve when Clym decided to stay at the heath (and not return to Paris) and also because she discovered that Wildeve inherited a lot of money. I agree with some of the others when they compared this book to a (Spanish)soap opera, there was just so much drama.
So, I have to say honestly that this book did take me a long time to read...and yes, in fact, most of it was just getting over the lulling beginning, but I think once the real plot began to unravel, the book became more interesting. After analyzing the behavior of Eustacia, I come to realize that much of her reasons for manipulation, and deceit were caused by the fact that she was just unhappy. I believe that if Clym had just taken her to Paris...someplace other than the "boring" old heath that Eustacia saw when she woke up everyday, her personality would have been completely different. I think that she may have genuinely loved Wildeve the whole time...especially after finding out that he suddenly inherited a large sum of money...but more than that, he may have seemed like the only man who truly understood her feelings of being captive in a encompassing place. Besides, the only reason Wildeve married Thomasin in the first place was because he was afraid he wouldn't have any girls because Eustacia just left for Clym.
I, and it seems a few other people, liked the beginning chapters and the description of the heath. It was clear by the end of the chapters that the heath could easily be perceived as a monotonous place (as Eustacia felt), but it is also understandable the draw it caused for Clym—in his mind, the description of the heath was much brighter and focused on its actual life by mentioning the presence of various animals and insects. Eustacia’s heath was dark and stagnant, and she lived far away on Mistover Knapp with a stagnant pond and a fairly absent grandfather.
I felt Clym’s character was earnestly trying to “do well” in life by trying to become a schoolmaster and help society as opposed to achieving monetary success in the diamond business, which he considered catering to the vain rich. He wanted to follow his own plans for his life as opposed to Mrs. Yeobright’s (though I think he really did want to please her). Even at the end, he came a preacher to spread wisdom and hope to others.
Like almost everyone else, I took a liking to Diggory Venn almost immediately. He was a selfless character whose devotion to Thomasin was almost like a guardian angel, looking out for her well-being because of his internal love for her and willingness to see her happy.
I completely agree with Sabina about the communication issues Clym and Eustacia had. Even before their marriage, Clym had hopes Eustacia would be a matron and help him with his private school. Eustacia had the full intention of marrying Clym and leaving Egdon Heath forever to reside in Paris. Both thought the other would be agreeable with the choices they made for their lives without really understanding each other in the first place. If they had honestly communicated the hopes and goals to each other, I wonder if Eustacia’s marriage would have occurred—would she settle for Clym but not marry him as she had for Wildeve previously, only because he was the most suitable at the time? When Eustacia said she would rather have Clym for himself than his Parisian ties, I wanted to believe she was speaking from the heart; whether or not this was truly how she felt at the time, after their marriage and Clym’s blindness, it became clear that this was not how she felt, and Wildeve and his inheritance had a greater appeal than a furze-cutter that shamed her.
So, even reading your comments about the book has been painful. I gave it a good shot and got through the first 3 chapters. But, then when I noticed I couldn't pay attention to it for literally more than a paragraph at a time I decided to skip ahead. So, then I had no idea what was going on and to tell you the truth I'm pretty sure there wasn't much going on. It was absolutely dreadful and I couldn't stand it. Good for you all the people that got through it. Congratulations!
This book was my last book and when i first started reading the book i felt like i picked an appropriate order and gotten the other two out the the way. (because i heard that it was a tough one to begin, and the rumors did not fail me!) But i agree with alot of the comments above that the story did pick up as the story went on. I honestly rather happy endings with knights in armor but i must say that Eustacia and Wildeve definitely had to go.
Hahaha, oh Justine, I totally agree! Well said, well said. Clym was my favorite so I was satisfied with the ending. Peace outtt Eustacia and Wildeve.
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