Who Would Like This Book:
If you enjoy classics that tackle big questions about society, class, marriage, and education, "Jude the Obscure" delivers a powerful punch. Hardy's writing is lush and evocative, his characters are strikingly modern in their struggles, and the novel is famous for its bold critique of social conventions in Victorian England. Readers who appreciate thought-provoking, emotionally intense stories - where the obstacles faced by the main characters spark conversations about ambition, gender roles, and the costs of defying tradition - will find plenty to sink their teeth into here. This is a classic for deep thinkers and those curious about the roots of modern social debates.
Who May Not Like This Book:
Those who prefer uplifting stories or fast-paced plots often struggle with Hardy's unrelenting bleakness and the novel's slow, heavy sense of inevitability. Many readers find the characters frustratingly passive or inconsistent, and some consider the endless tragedies over-the-top and melodramatic. If you shy away from books that dwell extensively on misery, feature indecisive or impractical protagonists, or come with a hefty dose of old-fashioned prose and social critique, this might not be the book for you. Modern readers may also find its pacing and style a bit dated.
About:
'Jude the Obscure' by Thomas Hardy is a novel that follows the life of Jude Fawley, a lower-class man with dreams of becoming a scholar. The story explores themes of class, scholarship, religion, marriage, and the societal changes of the time period. The plot involves Jude's relationships with his earthy wife, Arabella, and his intellectual cousin, Sue, as they navigate through personal and social challenges. Hardy's writing style is described as melancholic, brutally honest, and unflinchingly realistic, portraying the struggles and tragedies faced by the characters.
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Notes:
Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
The novel includes content warnings for discussions of suicide, mental distress, social ostracization, and tragic deaths.
Has Romance?
The novel features a prominent romantic element, particularly in the complicated love story between Jude and Sue.
From The Publisher:
"Jude Fawley, an intelligent and sensitive young Wessex schoolboy, dreams of studying at the famous university in Christminster, Hardy's fictional representation of Oxford. He embarks on years of private study, but his plans are thrown into disarray when he is deceived into marriage and then deserted by the duplicitous Arabella Donn. Jude, still hoping to earn a place at the university, travels to Christminster to work as a stonemason. Here, he falls for his freethinking cousin Sue, but with the pair living together out of wedlock, the pressures of poverty and social disapproval soon threaten to ruin their lives.
Full of passion, anger, fatalism and tragedy, Jude the Obscure attacks the inequalities and hypocrisies inherent within Victorian society's attitudes towards marriage, social mobility, education and the role of women. The novel, which caused an immediate uproar on its publication, is now widely considered to be one of the great works of the nineteenth century, and the apotheosis of Hardy's fiction."
Ratings (31)
Incredible (5) | |
Loved It (12) | |
Liked It (7) | |
It Was OK (4) | |
Did Not Like (2) | |
Hated It (1) |
Reader Stats (68):
Read It (30) | |
Want To Read (28) | |
Did Not Finish (2) | |
Not Interested (8) |
2 comment(s)
3.5 half stars. This is probably not a book anyone says they enjoy reading, good literature but oh so depressing. I listen to this before going to sleep, and that was probably two mistakes I did. I feel like I need to sit down one morning and read it with a cup of tea to fully enjoy the story, well maybe not enjoy but you get my point!
Yes! I am disappointed in this book. Reason? I don’t know. I just couldn’t digest it. So many “to do” or “not to do” situations giving me headaches. How can a human being be so vulnerable??
Reader tracks Jude Fawley from his childhood where he nurtures a dream to be a scholar but with limited access/ encouragement to fulfill it. When he gets older he apprentices as a stonemason for money but still wishes to go to the college and studies at night. But seduced by the local pig farmer’s daughter, Arabella, Jude sets aside his scholarly dream and gets married. In few months the marriage fails and Arabella goes off to Australia with her family leaving Jude to pursue his own path.
Jude, once again dreams to go to college and travels to Christminster, works as a stonemason. But his poverty makes him inferior among the academics and is turned down from several institutes. Though bitter with these experiences, he meets his cousin, Sue Bridehead and is attracted to her immediately. Sue, on other hand is disowned from her father because she shared rooms with a man, is also struggling to make a good earning in Christminster. Jude succeeds in finding a teaching job for her with his old teacher, Mr. Phillotson. But when Sue is expelled from her lodgings for spending the night with Jude, she marries Mr. Phillotson, who is twice her age.
Sue never loved Mr. Phillotson and her mind wanders back to Jude, ultimately gaining a divorce from her husband. On the other hand Jude also divorces Arabella. Both Jude and Sue live together happily for many years. But their obstacles increases when they have children and no one is ready to accept them because they never got married! Then a tragedy strikes to their kids which makes Sue to doubt on her decision about divorcing Mr. Phillotson and she leaves Jude and returns to her former husband.
Now, the climax was tragic, I know the last chapters might have made the people fall down from their chair in 1890’s, while they left a bad taste in my mouth. This is a tale of a poor man whose dreams were crushed by the society and his own wrong decisions. The dilemma in getting married was funny thing, every time Sue and Jude decided to marry, some or the other thought/talk around them made to put it on hold!
It was an ok read. I didn’t like the “Obscureness” of the story and I didn’t like the people around Jude a bit! And climax was horribly sad!
If you are a great fan of literature and can understand the mindset/ society pictured in this book, then good. Otherwise you will end up like me!
What can you read after
Jude the Obscure?
About the Author:
Thomas Hardy was born on June 2, 1840. In his writing, he immortalized the site of his birth-Egdon Heath, in Dorset, near Dorchester, England. Delicate as a child, he was taught at home by his mother before he attended grammar school….
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