Irritating in places

Would you try another book written by Thomas Hardy or narrated by Stephen Thorne?

I would try any book written by Thomas Hardy.

What did you like best about this story?

A great classic.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

As for the narrator, Stephen Thorne, his voice is very agreeable. Unfortunately, Thorne thinks it necessary to render the women's lines in a painfully querulous falsetto. The result strips the dialogue of credibility and drama. As someone put it on Twitter, it sounds as if the characters are being mocked, and/or infantilized. Pity. I recently listened to a great performance by Annette Bening, who never altered her voice when playing male characters, leaving the writing shine through.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

I was pulled out of the story during most dialogues. Listening was particularly irritating when the narrator was supposed to convey a woman's strong emotion. But a few male characterizations suffered as well. Each time a character other than the protagonist speaks, Thorne has to send it up.

Any additional comments?

It seems to me that the narrator should resist the temptation to make a theatrical performance of a reading.

11 people found this helpful

Powerful themes amongst pathos and regret

Jude the Obscure is a roller coaster of intensity but doesn’t flow as well as Hardy’s other novels, and there are moments when contrived events seem to propel the plot.

Hardy describes a conflicted society in a story of individual pathos and regret; challenging the church, moral issues of relationships, sex and academic opportunity of the time.

One has great sympathy for the lead protagonists, Jude and Sue; innocents battered, and victims of a repressive and perverse society. I unsuccessfully willed Jude on, frustrated by his naïveté; Sue is complex, presents unexpected revelations but is finally worn down.

There is a quaintness ... when Sue and Jude have their first discussion after many months of friendship...Sue says that “she has remained as she began”...(that she is still a virgin) ... how euphemistic is that ! ? ... and partly exemplifies the hypocrisy of the time ....attitudes toward sexuality, marriage and oppression of women.

I’m no longer surprised by anti-semitic references in Victorian novels... are these justified as accurate reflections of the day, or Hardy’s gratuitous and thoughtless inclusions .... !

There is high feeling and emotion; the novel builds and matures and the final chapters stupendous. Not the strongest of Hardy’s, but one needs to discover this and experience his work through; certainly the social comment is key.

4 people found this helpful

Hardy at his best and darkest

Thomas hardy reminds us how far he was ahead of his time with this stunning, sad, story on the perils of love and marriage.

3 people found this helpful

Wonderful Novel / Mixed Performance

Performer's interpretation of the female voices is distracting and irritating, which is rather unfortunate as it detracts from the narrative.

2 people found this helpful

Difficult at best.

Well read but goodness me what a tragic story. Almost gave up on it. Try Mayor of Casterbridge or far from the Madding Crowd first.

1 person found this helpful

So frustrating!!

I love Thomas Hardy but had never read Jude The Obscure. Oh my!!
It’s typical Hardy. Delicious writing. But spoilt for me because I just couldn’t care for any of the characters. ( maybe that’s the point).
I knew from the outset that trouble was afoot and it just didn’t let up! Lost track of how many times I muttered “ oh for crying out loud, just marry him for Gods sake!”
Have to say that Sue is THE most frustrating woman ever. I often felt like throwing my phone out the window in despair!
I’m pretty sure I could not have finished it- the story really does drag on with little progress made - were it not for the EXCELLENT narration. It really added atmosphere and the necessary feeling of impending sadness and doom. His accents were brilliant and I was able to distinguish who was talking. A first class performance.
If you love Hardy give it a go- but not if you’re in need of cheering up. Oh and accompany each sitting with chocolate and a bottle of wine! Youill need it!!

1 person found this helpful

Superb, probably Hardys best.

This, I understand was the last novel from Thomas Hardy, the story cannot be faulted , Hardy was the master observer of human relationship with a wide understanding and tremendous skill in weaving the reasoning into his story: Stephen Thorne does an excellent job in his narration.

1 person found this helpful

Worth the time

I love Thomas Hardy’s book, so relevant even now. So worth listening too, I listen on long car journeys !

1 person found this helpful

Disquieting, hopeless and a rather dreary story.

I'm not easily shocked by a novel but Jude is quite possibly the most disquieting and distressing book I have ever read.
This is far darker and hopeless than any of the nihilistic works of the disturbed Russian authors.

On top of the dreadful incident that occurs towards the end of the novel, we also have a bunch of the most pathetic and detestable characters put together in a work of fiction.

Unfortunately this isn't helped by a rather mundane and laborious work by Hardy.
With so much of the novel not actually moving circumstances forward and the antics of the characters going back and forth between lovers and destinations, is quite a regressive and tedious read.
The behaviour and objectives of both the protagonist and moreso the character Sue, are not only extremely frustrating for the reader but also stretch the credibility of sanity.

The only logical conclusion is that these two beings were spiralling into madness, long before the dark event that appears to amplify it.

Unlike his other works, much of the detailed prose in Jude is not made up of the beautiful descriptions of the countryside or the heart, but rather the dreary machinations of the minds and bizarre justifications of the decisions of unlikeable and uninteresting characters.

Certainly not the best of Hardy's novels and it's rather sad that he ended his career in fiction with this, the last of his novels, before moving entirely to poetry.

An OK narration by Thorne, although he does tend to dramatically intensify the worst traits of the personalities involved, which can lead the reader to believe that certain characters are worse than they actually are.
I think a female narration might be more sympathetic to Hardy's real intentions with Jude. but overall, i always prefer a more neutral narration of novels rather than dramatised behaviour and tone, because the reader should be left to themselves to draw final conclusions.

Beautiful

I love Thomas Hardy, this book took me a while to get into but I really enjoyed it.