⌘K
Author
Thomas Hardy
Language
English
Genre
history
by Thomas Hardy
recording of Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy. Read by Adrian Praetzellis. One of the greatest English tragic novels, TESS OF THE D’URBERVILLES (1891) is the story of a “pure woman” who is victimized both by conventional morality and its antithesis.
Born near Dorchester, Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) set most of his stories in the region between Berkshire and Dorset in the fictional county of Wessex. He was a controversial writer whose work often showed the result of flouting the rigid Victorian moral code -- his novel JUDE THE OBSCURE was (allegedly) burned by the Bishop of Wakefield for its shocking content. Hardy was an unflinching observer and in TESS has left us some unforgettable vignettes of rural life in late 19th-century England: the slow death of a flock of wounded pheasants, the monotony of field labour under an iron gray sky, and the itinerant farm worker’s seasonal round.
(Summary by Adrian Praetzellis) For further information, including links to M4B audio book, online text, reader information, RSS feeds, CD cover or other formats (if available), please go to the catalog page for this recording.
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Finished it in four sittings. Usually takes me weeks to get through an audiobook. Says a lot about how gripping Tess of the d'Urbervilles is.
I almost skipped this one because the title didn't grab me. Really glad I didn't. The content inside is miles ahead of what the description suggests.
The way Thomas Hardy uses stories and examples to illustrate points is really effective. Doesn't feel like a lecture at all — more like a conversation.
I've been in a reading slump for months and this finally broke it. Something about Tess of the d'Urbervilles just clicked and now I'm back to listening every day. Grateful for it.
