About this title: In THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE, the story turns on that staple of Victorian literature, a love triangle. Clym Yeobright, the "native" of the title, returns to the countryside where he was born--much as Hardy himself, after a stint in London, returned to his native Dorsetshire to write. Clym falls in love with his cousin, the beautiful but cold ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Washington Square Press
Date Published: 1969
Description: Good. No Jacket. Good. No DJ Issued Good. No dust jacket as issued. Ex-library. Cover has extremely light edge wear in a couple of places. Sticker on cover and spine. Pocket inside front cover. Pages a bit age toned. No other faults. 466 p. "The text of this edition is reprinted from the definitive Wessex edition of 1912, carefully edited by Hardy. read more
"Ah, Hardy's vampish Eustacia Vye, bewitches, confounds, and ulitmately destroys nearly everyone around her. It's the dark Hardy romance, doomed upon the "Wessex" moors. Not as 'gothic' as Bronte's Wuthering Heights and a less romantic vision. Hardy's novel illustrates his dilemma over wanting to believe that the traditions, God, and values of Victorian England are 'true,' but never quite accepting it. Life, for Hardy and his characters -- particularly his female heroines, is guilt-riddled, full of regret, dark passion, and ultimately, loss."
"I sortof read this book my senior year of high school in Mr. Runtz's class. It was our reading over spring break. The first chapters dragged on and on and on and on with descriptions of mountain side that contributed nothing to anything. Later that semester, it was Mr. Runtz's birthday, and Ed Mood, the faculty member who was the technical theater director (I built sets for plays in high school) took some theater kids to Runtz's room the night before his birthday. We draped black theater curtains across lighting fixtures, over podiums, etc. The excitement I associate with Hardy, with Runtz, and with the idea of a funeral as put forth by those black curtains certainly are very much associated in my mind. This was one of only two books that I eventually went to the store and bought the Cliff's notes for (the other being Chaucer when I had to read it in the original middle English, but with that, I used the notes side by side with the text, because I wasn't sure my translations were correct)."
"My husband and I argue over this plot device often: when one (or more) character(s) have to die in order for the main character to be happy. It's a toughie. Sometimes it doesn't bother me, as in this book. Hardy draws the less sympathetic characters so fully that their motivations are almost always clear and believable. While Eustacia and Wildeve are certainly not worth rooting for, there are times when I almost found myself wishing they could find their own happiness. The author's note at the end of the second to last chapter also gave me a lot to think about--about whether I am one of those readers who likes a neat ending with the heroine ending happily in love despite all likelihood to the contrary, or whether I like things to end with a sadder, more artistic but realistic bent (as Hardy says). I am not sure; however, in this case, I think I do like the way Hardy chose to end the story, as the serialization of it demanded. This story kept me guessing, something most of those 19th century love stories don't really do (but the joy is in the journey with those and I love them anyway!) Hardy is becoming one of my newly discovered more favorite authors. After my brush with the Mayor of Casterbridge two years ago, and that great BBC adaptation of Under the Greenwood Tree, I'm looking forward to a few more Hardy tomes on my goodreads "read" list in the future!"
"This was indeed an interesting tale with well crafted prose. " Misfortune had struck them gracefully, cutting off their erratic histories with a catastrophic dash, instead of, as with many, attenuating each life to an uninteresting meagreness, through long years of wrinkles, neglect and decay." ( Oh! The language!)
A favorite passage which sheds light on the impact of love on a human heart:
" Every pulse of loverlike feeling which had not been stilled during Eustacia's lifetime had gone into the grave with her. His passion for her occurred too far in his manhood to leave fuel enough on hand for another fire of that sort, as may happen with boyish loves. Even supposing him capable of loving again, that love would be a plant of slow and laboured growth, and in the end only small and sickly, like an autumn hatched bird.""
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