The Return of the Native (Penguin Classics)

For all you classic lit readers out there. This is the best one so far (in my opinion)! It is readable, easy to understand and is an absolute page turner. Perfect for those who love drama, deceit, lies, secrets and murder(?)!

Hardy is very good at descriptions. The language he uses makes the people and scenery come alive. While this is true I personally feel that I would have preferred to read other books over this one. A good book but nothing special.

I wanted Alan Rickman's beautiful voice! Be careful ordering this. I ordered the Kindle book and upgraded to audio version since I don't want an Audible account. I wanted the Alan Rickman narration. What I got was an Kindle ebook and an audio version with a female narrator that would only play on my Android Kindle app at high speed. She was speaking about one and a half times normal speed. Could find no way to slow it down in the app.

Much verbiage but that is consistent with Hardy. Its his style - very very descriptive. It's a classic. I enjoyed the story very much but was glad when I finished it.

It is a novel that I should have read in high school but I didn't. Now that I have retired I had the time to spare.

There are some redeeming qualities to this novel, but I found many characters irritating and one-dimensional. Not to mention the dense quality of Hardy's prose. Still, he does do a nice job of making the heath another character with a distinct personality.

For the most part, I don't like Victorian novels. And specifically I didn't like this novel. Maybe I'm shallow and not worldly enough in my education to fully appreciate the intent of the author or the material presented, but I read for enjoyment. When I put the book down I would like to think it was really good and well written. As I stated earlier, this book is not of my liking. The material is not within my obviously limited sweet spot, and reading it was like fulfilling a self-imposed punishment. To be so heralded as a great work by many others, I can only assume that the fault lies in me and not the author nor the text. So I leave the rest up to you. Send me $4 and I'll mail the book to your attention and hope you get more from it than I did. Good luck!

One of Hardy's best novels. I also recommend the book on CD read by Alan Rickman (of course, I could listen to Alan read a grocery list). As with most novels of the period, the first fifty pages are slow (more about the moors than you ever wanted to know), but then it really takes off!

Another dark Hardy novel! The reader keeps hoping for a bright, happy ending. But, if the reader really reviews the plot, the ending as written is the only ending possible.

Once again, Hardy is the master of character development!

The authors attempt to picture the surroundings was both cumbersome and too flowery . Even with the flowery descriptive writing O did not develop a mind picture of what he intended to convey .I only read a few pages before deciding to trash it .Perhaps reading further would change my perception but I doubt it .

Book was published in 1898, which sort of says it all. Wordy. The author had a need to show off his education and used $4.00 words when $1.00 words would have worked as well. Saying that, I have to remember this was a very different time and his style fit in with other books written in the same time span.
The story itself was interesting and predictable to anyone who has read books from this time period.

Powerful book, with a well-shaped story. It reminded me a lot of Wuthering Heights, with the ominous landscape and the bitter and twisted country people.

The novel's power is undimmed by time. The scenes of strife between the couples are immortal today as always. I read the confrontations with husband and wife utterly gripped; this book is really shocking when you consider how they must have struck the Victorian readership!

It is a little slow to start. Another reviewer helpfully suggested to skip the first 40 pages of folklore and travelogue, and since I had previously failed twice before to get into this novel because of those 40 pages, skipping them helped me get into it.

But to be really honest, the first 150 pages are a little slow! It is when the relationships start to heat up that the emotional power begins. And the crushing force of propriety and gender identity which weighs down the main characters really starts to show. And by "gender" I do not mean that "men were men and women were women", but that men were English and women were property, and that is the great difference from similar stories today, thank goodness!

The novel is cathartic. It is a great book to read quickly and enjoy as a soap opera. It is majestic if you can move fast enough to catch the momentum, and justly described as a great novel. Although the story is powerful, I fear the pace may be too slow for many, but it is worth it to read, and that is why I recommend a fast read.

I also suggest reading a summary of the plot first online, because this is as other reviews point out not a love triangle but a love pentagon. In accord with the pentagon symbol, too, the novel is a kind of unstable vortex of elemental forces, drawing everyone back into propriety and wedded bliss at the end, whether they want or like it or not.

I look forward to reading Hardy's Tess now I have had a taste of his novels!

Thomas Hardy is one of my favorite authors of English literature, a love that developed from my first encounter with "Jude the Obscure" in high school back in Malaysia. I soon devoured most of his books and found Hardy's unflinching portrayal of human relationships with all of its flaws and triumphs to be credibly written and compelling. Another reason I love Hardy's works is because of the atmospheric setting where the landscape itself becomes almost a character in the various novels.

"The Return of the Native" was controversial for its time because it dealt with the theme of illicit relationships. One of the novel's central character, the darkly beautiful Eustacia Vye, is deeply flawed, always yearning for something more beyond the heath she so despises. This constant clamoring for a better, more adventurous life leads her to make disastrous choices that have tragic consequences for her and several other characters in the story. It can be a depressing read but it also has its redeeming features and I would definitely recommend it as one of Hardy's best works.

This 1978 Easton Press edition comes in a handsome dark green genuine leather binding, with a satin ribbon page marker, gilt edging, 22-karat gold details on the cover, spine, and back, and moire endpapers. It is also illustrated with wood engravings by Agnes Miller Parker. This is an heirloom quality edition that will enhance any collector's library.

There was a time, before iPods, Walkmans, TV, radio, record players, in which workers (usually women) that were assigned to long hours of menial labor would assign one amongst them to read a book to the rest. The Return of the Native, Thomas Hardy's sixth novel, would be a terrific choice for such a reading group. Few in the 21st century have the leisure, or the inclination, to delve into a tale in which many pages might be given to the description of a natural scene, or to the intricate development of the personalities of the main characters of this book. But if there were a modern reader that either had, or made, time to read this book at the deliberate and careful pace that is required to experience its depth and richness, that reader would be richly rewarded. As was I.

Thomas Hardy, better known for Tess of the D'Urbervilles, was one of the most influential of the English authors of the 1800's. Both D.H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf pay him homage and cite him as a source of their inspiration. His stories can be explored on two levels, both levels very accessible to the moderately experienced reader, neither level involving a journey into the deep complexities of books such as Pinchon's Gravity's Rainbow or James Joyce's Ulysses.

The first level of The Return of the Native: it's simply a wonderful tale. For the price of a tiny bit of patience, as Hardy's narrative begins to unfold the reader receives a rich story involving integrity, duplicity, humor, passion, selfishness and selflessness, nobility and narcissism, as well as the consequences of impetuous action and the rewards of patient persistence. As a well told story it stands on its own and stands proudly, with or without the embellishment of scholarly opinion or critical review.

The second level: Hardy infuses the story with his philosophy of the relationship between nature and mankind, his criticisms of the tragic consequences of societally ordained values (Victorian values colliding with human desires and capabilities), and beautiful symbolism. For those who feel that plots are not the core of a novel but merely scaffoldings upon which to hang literary/philosophical schools of thought and layers of symbolism, The Return of the Native serves well as a cerebral playground.

Taken at the first level, Return of the Native is an absorbing tale complete with unpredictable twists of plot, human souls whose fates are determined by letters that arrive moments too late, and bouts of comic relief.

At the second level, Return of the Native is rich in philosophy, anthropology, even theology.

Take both levels together, and you have what is deservedly called a classic. The word classic makes many cringe. No need for the reader to recoil from The Return of the Native: this story is fascinating and rewarding for any who are patient enough to let its rich flavors and constructions emerge at a pace reflective of an era gone by.

Readers of Thomas Hardy's novels call him the literary prophet of gloom and doom, and there is some justification for that tag. But while that may be so, it is an oversimplification that obscures, rather than clarifies, man's relation to nature. In the first chapter of THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE, Hardy suggests a primal relation that harkens back to antiquity: "It was at present a place perfectly accordant with man's nature--neither ghastly, hateful, nor ugly; neither commonplace, unmeaning, nor tame; but like man, slighted and enduring." The key word here is "enduring." Throughout this novel, as well as the others in the Wessex saga, Hardy depicts a nature that at one time, very long ago, was in harmony with man. In man's ability to regenerate himself, each succeeding generation retained that harmony. But as man began to wean himself from the fructifying earth with machines and technology, he began to impose an artificial set of rules, laws, and institutions that not only separated man from his harmony with nature but conspired to separate man from himself, with each man warring against the other. Nature, in THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE is symbolized by Egdon Heath, and is populated by two kinds of people: those who remain, or try to remain, in harmony with nature, and those who do not. The former includes the "native" of the title, Clym Yeobright, his cousin Thomasin, and Diggory Venn, the reddleman who loves Thomasin. The latter is collectively symbolized by Eustachia Vye, an unhappy girl who hates what she sees as the dullness of life that Egdon Heath provides.

Egdon Heath is a colossal, forbidden stretch of land that requires its inhabitants to both understand and respect its power to kill or to maim. Only the wise and the strong may survive. Those who are neither will fall victim to its unremitting ferocity, as Mrs. Yeobright does to a serpent, or Eustachia and Wildeve do to drowning. The Heath is brutal, but not explicitly so. It is rather a testing ground that reflects the inner capacity of human beings to grasp that they are being tested in a way that has a definite passing or failing grade. Life then on the Heath is a forced pass-fail exam that is rigged from the start. In her unhappy marriage to Clym, Eustachia becomes a victim not only because of the fierceness of life on the Heath, but mostly because of her personality, which sets up a conflict with that heath. Her desire to rise above her station cut her off from both the Heath and its residents. Clym suffers tragedy too, but in his case, it is not so much the mindless nature of Egdon Heath that renders his life miserable, but the unfortunate tendency of Hardy himself to make a bad situation worse with his insistent insertion of coincidence as the driving force in much of the heath's tragic power. When Hardy delays the delivery of a letter that might have avoided tragedy, he refrains from doing so. When he does this, he cheapens the power of the Heath to act on its own, by substituting his own authorial intent. Still, what emerges from a reading of THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE is a peek into the complexity of an unfriendly universe that dares its inhabitants to offer respect or pay some pretty severe consequences.

I laughed out loud as i read the first sentence: I had forgotten until i read it that it is quoted by Monty Python in their hilarious "Novel-Writing" sketch. But that might well be the only time i laughed during the book; this is not a humorous book but rather, like "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" ~ though less explicitly developed ~ the story of people tossed about by fate, chance, the gods, events, and the results are not pretty. Hardy writes beautifully, to be sure; not a phrase is misplaced in driving towards the effect of horror as good people are driven to extremity by events out of their control. It is hard to say that there is a hero in the book, unless perhaps the heath in Wessex on which all the action takes place. Certainly none of the main characters are completely admirable ~ though none is despicable either ~ in their actions and interactions. I have had a history of struggling with Hardy: Though i have read him before it has always felt like a chore (James is another whose novels give me that feeling); here i had no such difficulty, rather i raced (insofar as is possible) through it, hurrying toward the end, caring about each of the characters, and curious about the plot. Now my feeling is one of envy for a master of the language, one who is quoted in the OED as the authority for certain words' usage; envy, and admiration for the wonderful way he was able to put words together to make a place he obviously loved come so alive for another. I'd love to go to "Egdon Heath" sometime, to see it as it "embrowned itself moment by moment...." It might even raise a smile and shiver of horror both in me.

I recently finished "Return of the Native," and am deeply saddened that the novel is no longer part of my life. Like all Hardy's characters and settings, Egdon Heath and its quirky inhabitants became so familiar to me I felt as though I, too, had been to Bloom's-End or Mistover and had admired the bewitching Eustacia Vye and devious Damon Wildeve.
Hardy's books are frequently those of people tossed about by the cruel whims of fate, and though the reader can clearly see a "way out," the characters almost never can. Such is the case with wild Eustacia, deceptive but smitten Wildeve, calm and sweet Clym, and innocent Thomasin. As the reader plods across Egdon Heath and enters their lives, it is both frustrating and exciting to witness their missteps and the consequences they all pay, and to realize that there must indeed be casualties by the novel's end. But what a wonderful trip it is, regardless of its sometimes depressing nature.
Hardy was a master; I regret that I have only two more of his novels to read before there are no more!

What struck me on reading this book was his modern understanding of the motivations that determine the relations between men and women. Of course, the setting is crucial in any Hardy novel. Mankind's trivial concerns in this unchanging and unforgiving landscape. What is interesting is the dialogue between Wildeve (great name for a lover of nightlife) and Eustacia. The weakness and inconstancy in his character rather than evil and the troubled beauty and vanity of Eustacia's combined for predictable longing, rejection, and ultimately tragedy. He's the only game in town for this bored beauty, and when Clym pops up with his Parisian past, Wildeve was history for the moment. When Eustacia no longer showed interest, he was dying for her. Loved the reddleman who was always Johhny on the spot. The whole gambling sequence and the interplay with Wildeve and the hapless fool that lost Mom's money and then Reddleman's great comeback was wonderful. Hardy claimed that Clym was the center of the novel, but obviously the dullest thing in it. Only the Reddleman shines and in the end comes clean.

The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy. Recommended.

In Egdon Heath, Thomas Hardy creates an otherworld consisting of the elements earth, wind, fire, and water, populated by a witch condemned by a pious woman's spell, a Christian ruled by pagan beliefs, an assortment of other odd characters, and the native of the title whose return precipitates a series of tragic events.

The Return of the Native is centered around Eustacia Vye, a beautiful outsider wrenched from the society she craves by orphanhood and exiled to live on Egdon Heath with her maternal grandfather. Spoiled, vain, fickle, and selfish, Eustacia is not a sympathetic heroine. Although she claims to belong to Damon Wildeve ("body and soul" in one uncensored version), she really belongs to whomever can grant her what she desires and, in her mind, deserves. While Wildeve is a step above the local rabble, Eustacia can never fully commit herself to him. Each time she considers it, she is held back by the thought that even he lacks something and that surely she can do better. "He's not great enough for me to give myself to-he does not suffice for my desire! . . . If he had been a Saul or a Bonaparte-ah! But to break my marriage vow for him-it is too poor a luxury!"

In another place, like the Paris Eustacia longs for, she would have become a mistress or a courtesan-the consort of a powerful man or men. On Egdon Heath, however, there are neither powerful men nor courtesans. There is only Damon, an equally fickle young man who hotly desires that which he cannot have-sometimes Eustacia, sometimes the naïve Thomasin Yeobright. To complicate matters, Thomasin's cousin Clym returns from Paris, where he has a financially rewarding and spiritually stifling career. In Eustacia's eyes (blinded to what she doesn't want to see, just as Clym's sight becomes literally blurred to that which he does want to see), Clym appears to be the ideal replacement for Wildeve.

In his introduction to the "standard edition," John Paterson, talks about the censorship of The Return of the Native and its anti-Christianity elements. The novel, at least in this form, appears to be more anti-Christian than anti-Christianity. Eustacia, with her beauty; aloof and lonely snobbishness; hold over men such as Wildeve and Clym and boys such as "the little slave" Johnny Nunsuch and the adolescent Charley; and habit of haunting Rainbarrow at all hours of the night, can easily appear to fit the role of the Egdon Heath witch. Yet it is the churchgoing Susan Nunsuch who falls prey to superstition, believing that Eustacia has afflicted her son with illness. She stabs Eustacia with a needle during one of the young lady's rare church appearances. Ironically, in the end Susan is the witch, fashioning a likeness of Eustacia and practicing a homegrown form of obeah upon it.

Susan's male counterpart, the ironically named Christian, is no better. Simple-minded, naïve, and condemned to perpetual bachelorhood, Christian is pious not for love of God but for fear of life. He is ruled by superstition, and it requires little effort for Wildeve to convince him he is lucky and that he should gamble (as it turns out, with money that isn't his, adding theft to his sins).

Like Egdon Heath itself ("oozing lumps of fleshy fungi . . . like the rotten liver and lungs of some colossal animal"), the remainder of its inhabitants-the ones from whom Eustacia wishes to escape-are unflinchingly, unchangingly pagan, with Christian's own reprobate father, Granfer Cantle, setting the example. They avoid inconveniences like church; they gleefully celebrate Guy Fawkes Day with fire and dance; they gossip without undue concern for good or bad. These are the folks from whom Mrs. Yeobright and the stoic pagan Diggory Venn (the reddleman) wish to save Thomasin's reputation-as though it matters to them.

These are also the people among whom Eustacia is a queen. When she says, "How I have tried and tried to be a splendid woman and how destiny has been against me!" the reader is hard pressed to find Eustacia's efforts to better herself, other than trying to determine which man will best launch her into society. With his Paris connections, Clym is the obvious choice, yet it is Wildeve who turns out to have better prospects-and the will to take advantage of them.

Queen among the heathens of the heath, Eustacia is blissfully unaware of the probability that, in the Parisian society she aspires to, she would be one among many and might find herself unable to compete with the elite courtesans, mistresses, and wives of Paris. "I was capable of much," she claims. Hardy, however, never makes clear what this "much" might be exactly, as Eustacia's intelligence, learning, and wit are incompletely and imperfectly portrayed, and one does not make a splash in society based on looks and pride alone. Eustacia hasn't "tried and tried"; and her youthful, ambitious impatience has led her to miss the clues that Clym is not going to "try and try," either. Perhaps she, like Sue in Jude the Obscure, represents the dilemma of the intelligent woman in the 1800s, who can shape her own destiny only through attachment to the right man in a socially acceptable way. When that fails (Eustacia), or if an alternative means is attempted (Sue), tragedy is inevitable.

While not Hardy's best, The Return of the Native is a must read for his readers, incorporating a grim yet objective setting, memorable characters, and a tragic plot driven by human failings more so than the destiny at which Eustacia rails. Ignore the awkward, unconvincing happy ending, as Hardy's censors forced him to tack it on.

Diane L. Schirf, 31 October 2004.

Based on the standard edition, Harper & Row, 1966.

Although the 19th Century prose requires a bit more effort from the reader than most 20th Century novels, the brilliant characterizations of people like Clym Yeobright and Eustacia Vye plus the lovingly detailed descriptions of the unique (and fictional) location, Egdon Heath, make this work a pleasure to read for anyone who is willing to work at it a bit. Hardy describes his characters so solidly that, although they cause one another's misfortunes for the most part, we can understand and, to at least some degree, sympathize with all of them. Their flaws and mistakes seem real and understandable - not forced by the needs of the plot.
This is not a "message novel." As far as I can tell, Hardy has nothing to say about social or moral problems of 1830s England in this book. But the place he takes you is unforgettable and the people you meet there make it worth the trip.

First, I must confess to being an avid Alan Rickman admirer. The man could read the local phone book and I'd gladly pay to hear it. Thusly, when I found he had done an unabridged set of audio tapes of one of my favorite books -- "The Return of the Native" -- I was thrilled.
"The Return of the Native" is a compelling and beautifully written story. I especially like the way Hardy makes Egdon Heath itself as much a character in the story as the human denizens of the area, breathing life into it through his wonderful word pictures and his special talent for creating moods. Hardy's vivid descriptions and excellent character development make this an enchanting adventure.
Add to this the velvet-smooth voice of Rickman, and you have a treat for the imagination and the ears.
Rickman gives each of the characters his (or her) own separate voice, and manages to do so without forgetting how each should sound. How he kept it straight, I'll never know (I, myself, record books on tape for an educational company and know how complicated that can be!)...what with the many inhabitants of Egdon Heath he had to work with...but, he did. Rickman also actually sang the songs from the book (and not badly, either), adding another dimension.
"The Return of the Native" (unabridged) is a must for anyone who loves good literature on tape, and for anyone who is a fan of Alan Rickman. This is a stunning production and well worth the investment!

I'm fully convinced that "Return of the Native" is technically Hardy's best work. The other novel of his that I love is "Jude the Obscure." His beautiful heroine, Eustacia, is an enthralling character, free-spirited, seductive, and sensuous, with several men in love (or lust) with her--like Wildeve. Wildeve pretends to marry a girl named Thomasin, but it didn't happen. And he takes off on a tryst with Eustacia. However, even though they're fond of each other, neither of them are willing to get really serious about each other. She eventually disses Wildeve and as revenge he threatens to marry Thomasin after all, which is what Eustacia wants anyway, since she's become interested in a new guy in town, Clym. How does that end up? I guess you'll have to read the book :)
David Rehak
author of "Love and Madness"

This is one of the great ones. Give yourself time and space to enjoy sentences of poetic beauty, read by one of the greatest voices of our time. Other reviewers have covered the plot, which is engaging enough, but my chief enjoyment was in the style of writing. Hardy's words paint landscapes of the soul as well as the countryside, and intertwine them within unforgetable characters of depth and spirit. The book is long, yet there is great economy of style. Hardy arranges his phrases with the care of a classical composer, and evokes richer feelings with more grace and fewer words than most of our glib and pithy authors today. I find myself wanting to buy a thesaurus for most modern authors to help them expand their vocabularies, and wishing that Alan Rickman would record another Thomas Hardy novel!

First, let me confess that I bought this because I am a fan of Alan Rickman's wonderfully rich, mellifluous baritone and the idea of spending hours listening to him read one of the classics of English literature is was absolute heaven to me. And, I can honestly say, I was not disappointed; the recording is absolutely brilliant.

Using ever nuance and range of his distinctive Rickmans each character that poulates Egdon Heath his or her own distinctive voice and cosistantly applies it throughout from the beginning to the end of the story. When he reads the description of the wild and desolate heath, Rickman's voice turns Hardy' prose into sublime poetry.

"The Return of the native" is the first novel that I have read of Thomas Hardy's. The novel begins with a detailed yet beautiful description of the Egdon Heath, which to a Hardy beginner would appear too descriptive to go on reading. However, once the characters are introduced and the plot of the story begins, it is an unstoppable read. I have read a Hardy's poem titled "The convergence of the Twain" that reveals Hardy's faith in "Immanent Will" that drives the events of this universe. This novel reinforces that faith of his. Though a reader can clearly see a solution to the problem that the characters are in, the characters themselves are helpless pawns in the hands of the Immanent will that drives the show. A not so unusual story, more or less predictable in the plot, gains its advantage from the beauty of Hardy's language. I have not come across a better author who can so exactly transform what he visualizes/sees into words. The book is definitely a treasure to be kept and re-read.

I'm fully convinced that "Return of the Native" is technically Hardy's best work. The other novel of his that I love is "Jude the Obscure." His beautiful heroine, Eustacia, is an enthralling character, free-spirited, seductive, and sensuous, with several men in love (or lust) with her--like Wildeve. Wildeve pretends to marry a girl named Thomasin, but it didn't happen. And he takes off on a tryst with Eustacia. However, even though they're fond of each other, neither of them are willing to get really serious about each other. She eventually disses Wildeve and as revenge he threatens to marry Thomasin after all, which is what Eustacia wants anyway, since she's become interested in a new guy in town, Clym. How does that end up? I guess you'll have to read the book :)
David Rehak
author of "Love and Madness"

This is one of the great ones. Give yourself time and space to enjoy sentences of poetic beauty, read by one of the greatest voices of our time. Other reviewers have covered the plot, which is engaging enough, but my chief enjoyment was in the style of writing. Hardy's words paint landscapes of the soul as well as the countryside, and intertwine them within unforgetable characters of depth and spirit. The book is long, yet there is great economy of style. Hardy arranges his phrases with the care of a classical composer, and evokes richer feelings with more grace and fewer words than most of our glib and pithy authors today. I find myself wanting to buy a thesaurus for most modern authors to help them expand their vocabularies, and wishing that Alan Rickman would record another Thomas Hardy novel!

First, let me confess that I bought this because I am a fan of Alan Rickman's wonderfully rich, mellifluous baritone and the idea of spending hours listening to him read one of the classics of English literature is was absolute heaven to me. And, I can honestly say, I was not disappointed; the recording is absolutely brilliant.

Using ever nuance and range of his distinctive Rickmans each character that poulates Egdon Heath his or her own distinctive voice and cosistantly applies it throughout from the beginning to the end of the story. When he reads the description of the wild and desolate heath, Rickman's voice turns Hardy' prose into sublime poetry.

"The Return of the native" is the first novel that I have read of Thomas Hardy's. The novel begins with a detailed yet beautiful description of the Egdon Heath, which to a Hardy beginner would appear too descriptive to go on reading. However, once the characters are introduced and the plot of the story begins, it is an unstoppable read. I have read a Hardy's poem titled "The convergence of the Twain" that reveals Hardy's faith in "Immanent Will" that drives the events of this universe. This novel reinforces that faith of his. Though a reader can clearly see a solution to the problem that the characters are in, the characters themselves are helpless pawns in the hands of the Immanent will that drives the show. A not so unusual story, more or less predictable in the plot, gains its advantage from the beauty of Hardy's language. I have not come across a better author who can so exactly transform what he visualizes/sees into words. The book is definitely a treasure to be kept and re-read.

This is perhaps the most atmospheric novel in the English language, but it is about so much more than dark nights and windswept meadows. Any one who does not see the heath as a symbol for those unchanging features of human life and society should spend a little less time watching "Friends" and the WCW and become acquainted with that wonderful old artistic medium THE BOOK....or may be all of you restless 15 year olds should just pay a little more attention in English class . Return of the Native is a book about pain, disappointment, loss, and relations between the classes.....about societal conventions and the frustrated longings they produce. The story would work just as well in a modern and/or American setting. Diggory could be a taxi driver, Eustacia a prostitute, and Clem an attorney....it would be splendid.

For Christmas, I ordered an mp3 player (Library of Classics) that was pre-loaded with 100 works of classic literature in an audio format. Each work is in the public domain and is read by amateurs, so the quality of the presentation is hit or miss.

The Return of the Native is a novel written by Thomas Hardy that has as its locale 19th century rural England. The story line of the novel revolves around the romantic attachments of several inhabitants of Egdon Heath, essentially a love pentagon (as opposed to the classic love triangle). There is Diggory Venn, the reddelman, who loves Thomasin. Wildeve, who marries Thomasin, but loves Eustacia, who marries Clym Yeobright, Thomasin’s cousin. You get the picture.

The story is a little slow to get started, as Hardy never uses a dozen words when a hundred can be strung together. His prose is overly descriptive and verbose. Finally, we are introduced to all of the major characters and a period of enjoyment commences as the makings of a fine tale emerge. Alas, the story grinds to a halt as long periods of inaction and repetitious behavior develop. I’m sure the style is not unusual for the period, though I’ve read a lot of Dickens and found his writing to be far livelier.

In listening to the audiobook, I would have sworn that the book had to contain 800 pages, but the the store profile reports only half that. Perhaps it only seemed like 800 pages, given the long periods of sleep inducing inaction and florid prose. In any event, it was not terrible, just not exactly to my liking.

I must confess to having put down more Hardy books after the first 50 pages than anyone can count. Heaven knows I've tried, especially after watching the several film renditions of Hardy novels featuring the very wonderful Alan Bates, who I love. The dialect, the man-nature thing, the colorful characters, the poor woman who can't cope, all of it gets on my nerves after a very short while. In case you're wondering, I do love other 19th century British writers (especially Anthony Trollope), but Hardy is hardy. The plot of TROTN tells the story of Eustacia Vye, but all I could think of is a Monty Python version with John Cleese in a corset playing Eustacia's sister Fallopia and Michael Palin painted red from head to toe as the Reddleman.
Having said that, it took several months of listening to other Rickman fans to get me interested in these tapes. I succumbed after pondering Debbye's glowing description.
When you listen to Mr. Rickman you will find a master reader at his best. Every character has a consistent personality and voice, the women are good by his changing tempo and intonation, the descriptions are paced wonderfully in accordance to the mood of the chapter. As a volunteer reader for a non-profit organization that tapes textbooks, I especially enjoy a good reader. Mr. Rickman speaks, and all is perfect. Fifteen hours forty-five minutes of his reading is just the thing to nearly make me change my mind about Hardy. It certainly kept me listening to every word.
Rickmaniacs and non-rickmaniacs alike will love the sensuous reading of the dance on the heath (tape #8). Any rickmaniac will tell you that in his best moments Mr. Rickman sings, but in these tapes he actually does sing in character. He does especially well with a French song.
This is an exceptionally fine reading by a wonderful actor.

This book, with its rich descriptions of the heath and its characters, is a masterpiece of writing skill. However it does tend to drag on, which creates a drab, rather melancholy, tone. Hardy seems to explore the twists and turns of human passion, and creates a quite childish picture of love with the character of Eustacia, who 'decides' to love Clym, but keeps her true attachment to Wildeve. Hardy could have resolved this well-written story rather nicely, but instead he paints a rather bleak picture of love and its effects on people. He must have been going though a rather trying period of his life while writing this book.

I enjoyed listening to this book very much, the lyrical descriptions of Hardy and the many faceted voice of Alan Rickman are a joy.
The only tiny little comment I have was the terribly annoying american voice doing the introduction and the finish on the first and last Cd. This greatly annoyed me having listened to such a fine english voice. How could they do this, it seems incomprehensible to me.
Other than that, the many (13) cd's are of good quality and the book is a marvellous window into older times. I can only hope you enjoy it as much as i have.

Warning: This audio book is highly addictive!!!
Maybe you have to like Thomas Hardy before making your mind up to settling down to listen your way through all the 12 tapes. But you will learn to yearn for just another chapter of this, after the first tape. Another word to the yet undecided: the Return is not half as dismal as Jude the Obscure or Tess of the Durberville.
On top of the drama between six persons and the heath, which figures as another dramatis personae, there comes Mr. Rickman's superb reading. He gives every person not only his or her own characteristic voice. But his descriptions of the landscape make you see the scenery (apart from the introduction, the description of Mrs. Yeobright's garden on the day of her fatal excursion is compelling. He makes you feel the sweltering heat of that day). Just two highlights certainly are the dicing-game on the midnight heath (tape 6) as well as Clyms and Eustacias final dispute (tape 10). But the whole recording in itself is a highlight.
Just one technical afterthought: It would be sensible to edit it on CD. Tapes do not keep so well in the long run and I tremble that one day the tapes may give up.

Hardy's talent soars in this novel, as he creates an atmosphere of love, death and life on Egdon Heath. Hardy's characters come to life on the pages, and they carry incredible amounts of emotion, passion and romance in their words. My favorite character, Eustacia Vye is an romantic, evil, and twisted woman who is out to get only what she thinks she deserves. She'll ruin everything in her path to get the man and the wealth that she wants. My least favorite character, Thomasin Yeobright, is a meek and "perfect" character who is so naive that she finds herself in irreversible situations. Other characters that intermingle in the story include Diggory Venn, Clym Yeobright, and my favorite male character, Damon Wileve. All five aforementioned people change and mold eachother into adults as they love, help, hurt and harm eachother. A trail of destined events leads to the explosive ending, and allows the novel to come to an incredible close, where no character is left untouched. Return of the Native is now one of my favorite books! If you like romance, drama, and fantasy, then this book could be perfect for you. It starts off a little slow, but before too long, Hardy will have you enveloped in the lives of his characters, and you won't be able to put it down!

I read Thomas Hardy, because he is a wonderful writer. However, his characters, while completely accurate to the nuanced coquettish interaction of the period, do not allign with the logic of a more modern sensibility. As a result, the book seems slow and dated - unless you're into high school love triangles.

I can't give it less than 4 stars because in reality, the book is excellently crafted with elegant language, fully developed characters, beautiful interweaving tales, and all the bells and whistles that make this a literary great. It's just that the story does not jibe with today's sensibilities. I mean, really, why can't you just tell the guy you like him and marry him, instead of letting your mother get involved, making him think you're going to marry someone else, so that he goes and gets hitched to your best friend.