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The Return of the Native

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The Return of the Native

By: Thomas Hardy
Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
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In the barren moor of Egdon Heath, a wild tract of country in the southwest of England, one native yearns to escape to city life while another has just returned from that life, unimpressed.

Clym Yeobright, a former diamond merchant in Paris, returns home to become a schoolmaster in Egdon, where he falls passionately in love with the sensuous, free-spirited Eustacia Vye. Infatuated with his seeming glamour, she marries him in hopes of greater adventure—but when her hopes are disappointed, she rekindles an affair with Clym's reckless cousin, Damon.

Injured by forces beyond their control, Hardy's characters struggle vainly in the net of destiny.In the end, only the face of the lonely heath remains untouched by fate. This masterpiece of tragic passion perfectly epitomizes the author's melancholy genius.

(P)1995 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Classics Genre Fiction Literary Fiction
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Critic reviews

“This is the quality Hardy shares with the great writers…This setting behind the small action the terrific action of unfathomed nature.”

(D. H. Lawrence)

“Into the landscape he begins to weave human figures. They are very much alive; have faults and passions, virtues and vices, good luck and tragic mishaps…Hardy arrives at last at the end of his novel…having produced a most charming, original sketch of the lives of quiet people in one nook of England.”

(New York Times)

“The Return of the Native is the most artistically perfect of [Hardy’] novels to date...his style has gained in power and clarity.”

(Graphic (London), 1878)

“The Return of the Native is one of the most remarkable books of the last twenty years.”

(Vanity Fair, 1878)
All stars
Most relevant
This was disappointing. What a selection of aimless and flat characters, and such a hopelessly tiresome plot! Even Hardy?s magical descriptions of the scenery and his insights into the human condition (examples of which lightly pepper the text) can?t rescue this work. May?s voice and narration were simply disastrous?the final nail in a wretched coffin.

Disappointment and disaster...

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Thomas Hardy's voice is unmistakeable and welcome from the first description of Egdon Heath, through the introduction of characters and the plotting - pitting man and mankind against the elements of dark and light against the backdrop of the Earth. It's many years since I read any Hardy and, having loved all of the standards and completed his various volumes of poems, the chance to listen to Return of the Native in its unabridged form was a welcome pleasure.
There is a steady drip-drip of Hardy related material and interest. A recent biography with a reappraisal of the females in his life - and Gemma Arterton about to become Tess Of The D'Urbervilles capturing the hearts of a new generation in the Autumn TV schedules as Polanski's Nastassja Kinski did for me in my late teenage years.. What is the constant, however, is the evocation of Wessex fixed in the heart and in time. A relaxing and wonderful place to visit and a welcome alternative when ploughing between the North East and North West of England in the car.

An old friend....welcome back

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