Helpful Score: 1
For being written in 1886, this book felt surprisingly modern and engrossing. The twists and turns of Henchard's life were enthralling and though many of his actions proved him reprehensible, he was still somehow likable... Farfrae also was an interesting character, though Elizabeth-Jane truly stole the show. All in all, I was surprised at just how much I enjoyed reading this and I will certainly keep an eye out for his other works.
Michael Henchard is an out-of-work hay-trusser who gets drunk at a local fair and impulsively sells his wife Susan and baby daughter. Eighteen years later Susan and her daughter seek him out, only to discover that he has become the most prominent man in Casterbridge. Henchard attempts to make amends for his youthful misdeeds but his unchanged impulsiveness clouds his relationships in love as well as his fortunes in business. Although Henchard is fated to be a modern-day tragic hero, unable to survive in the new commercial world, his story is also a journey towards love. This edition is the only critically established text of the novel, based on a comprehensive study of the manuscript and Hardy's extensive revisions.
Literary classic - Same author who wrote "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" and "Jude the Obscure", this novel is another masterpiece from him concerning just how far, burning blind ambition can drive a man into power and also be destroyed by that same ambition.
In a drunken episode, Michael Henchard sells both his wife and his baby for 5 guineas. He spends the rest of his life attempting to make up for this mistake, and the story follows his journey from there.
