I can vouch only that this is a great work of literature, and that it is very painful, though not from any deficiency of writing. The pain stems from the headache in having to follow Jude blindly trudging from birth to death in ignorance. Although.. (wistfully) .. I suppose thats all of us.
Generally considered Thomas Hardy's masterpiece, Jude the Obscure has held an honored place for six decades among the greatest modern novels in the English language. Its brooding concern with the strange and capricious turns of fate in Jude Fawley's lifelong struggle against enormous odds in the search for happiness gives this tale of aspiration and defeat the quality of classic tragedy.