New Posts For Thread: Thomas Hardy appreciationhttps://community.betfair.com/chit_chat/go/thread/view/94038/30445681/thomas-hardy-appreciationJust reading Tess.The overall effect of reading a Hardy novel, I think, is to make the reader, at least temporarily, a better person. No axe to grind - any writer after Shakespeare is an apprentice - But I almost envy anyone about to read Hardy forTwo thirds of the way through The Return Of The Native. It's wonderful, after you get past the first scene. Don't be deterred by the magazine commission format; you wouldn't overlook Keats poetry because it is shaped in fourteen-lines or a Rembrandthttps://community.betfair.com/chit_chat/go/thread/view/94038/30445681/thomas-hardy-appreciation?post_id=543988889#543988889Two thirds of the way through The Return Of The Native. It's wonderful, after you get past the first scene. Don't be deterred by the magazine commission format; you wouldn't overlook Keats poetry because it is shaped in fourteen-lines or a RembrandtWed, 18 Mar 2015 13:36:37 -0500Very fair points, unitedb. Perhaps I should try The Return of the Native, as that's the one Hardy's starting in the Python tribute, although wikipedia states that the novel was originally written in monthly instalments for a "sensationalist" magazinehttps://community.betfair.com/chit_chat/go/thread/view/94038/30445681/thomas-hardy-appreciation?post_id=543707859#543707859Very fair points, unitedb. Perhaps I should try The Return of the Native, as that's the one Hardy's starting in the Python tribute, although wikipedia states that the novel was originally written in monthly instalments for a "sensationalist" magazineWed, 25 Feb 2015 17:06:13 -0600Dempsey - Agreed! The Darkling Thrushhttps://community.betfair.com/chit_chat/go/thread/view/94038/30445681/thomas-hardy-appreciation?post_id=543706899#543706899Dempsey - Agreed! The Darkling ThrushWed, 25 Feb 2015 16:12:58 -0600Had to read The Mayor of Casterbridge at school and found it an interminable stream of implausible coincidences. Might work as a long-running weekly soap opera, but shallow and unsatisfying as a novel.I think Python got him right by portraying a hackhttps://community.betfair.com/chit_chat/go/thread/view/94038/30445681/thomas-hardy-appreciation?post_id=543706519#543706519Had to read The Mayor of Casterbridge at school and found it an interminable stream of implausible coincidences. Might work as a long-running weekly soap opera, but shallow and unsatisfying as a novel.I think Python got him right by portraying a hackWed, 25 Feb 2015 15:55:27 -0600He also wrote some great poetry.https://community.betfair.com/chit_chat/go/thread/view/94038/30445681/thomas-hardy-appreciation?post_id=543705301#543705301He also wrote some great poetry.Wed, 25 Feb 2015 15:10:48 -0600Too much liquor is bad, and leads us to that horned man in the smoky houseIs one of the few lines I remember from Far from the etc etc, in what seems like half a lifetime ago now.https://community.betfair.com/chit_chat/go/thread/view/94038/30445681/thomas-hardy-appreciation?post_id=543700733#543700733Too much liquor is bad, and leads us to that horned man in the smoky houseIs one of the few lines I remember from Far from the etc etc, in what seems like half a lifetime ago now.Wed, 25 Feb 2015 10:46:32 -0600He was good as Alfie Solomons in Peaky Blinders.https://community.betfair.com/chit_chat/go/thread/view/94038/30445681/thomas-hardy-appreciation?post_id=543700609#543700609He was good as Alfie Solomons in Peaky Blinders.Wed, 25 Feb 2015 10:34:42 -0600Had to read The Mayor of Casterbridge at school and found it an interminable stream of implausible coincidences. Might work as a long-running weekly soap opera, but shallow and unsatisfying as a novel.I think Python got him right by portraying a hackhttps://community.betfair.com/chit_chat/go/thread/view/94038/30445681/thomas-hardy-appreciation?post_id=543700285#543700285Had to read The Mayor of Casterbridge at school and found it an interminable stream of implausible coincidences. Might work as a long-running weekly soap opera, but shallow and unsatisfying as a novel.I think Python got him right by portraying a hackWed, 25 Feb 2015 09:53:57 -0600Yes, he builds an effect that gradually ovetakes the reader. Thomas Hardy has lasted a bit better than Monty Python imo.https://community.betfair.com/chit_chat/go/thread/view/94038/30445681/thomas-hardy-appreciation?post_id=543698433#543698433Yes, he builds an effect that gradually ovetakes the reader. Thomas Hardy has lasted a bit better than Monty Python imo.Wed, 25 Feb 2015 04:05:36 -0600Always found him uplifting in a strange sort of way ,yes a master writer and worthy of the praise ...https://community.betfair.com/chit_chat/go/thread/view/94038/30445681/thomas-hardy-appreciation?post_id=543695031#543695031Always found him uplifting in a strange sort of way ,yes a master writer and worthy of the praise ...Tue, 24 Feb 2015 16:50:24 -0600