Far from the Madding Crowd (Norton Critical Editions)
It also incorporates revisions that Hardy made in his "study copy" of the novel and in his marked printer's copy and page proofs for the Harper and Brothers "sixpenny edition" of 1901, whenever these revisions could be confidently judged to represent Hardy's final deliberate intent.
The resulting text includes revisions by Hardy which have never appeared before in a modern edition.
The novel is fully annotated and is accompanied by Hardy's map of Wessex and a simplified map of the landscape of Far from the Madding Crowd.
"Textual Notes" include a list of emendations, examples of variant readings from the manuscript to the Wessex edition, and a discussion of the choice of copy text.
The textual history of the novel is traced in extracts from studies by Richard Little Purdy and Simon Gatrell.
"Backgrounds" includes substantial extracts from Hardy's correspondence with Leslie Stephen and is followed by a selection of contemporary reviews.
Twentieth-century "Criticism" is represented by Howard Babb, Roy Morrell, Alan Friedman, J. Hillis Miller, Michael Millgate, Penelope Vigar, Peter J. Casagrande, Ian Gregor, and Albert C. Schweik.
The resulting text includes revisions by Hardy which have never appeared before in a modern edition.
The novel is fully annotated and is accompanied by Hardy's map of Wessex and a simplified map of the landscape of Far from the Madding Crowd.
"Textual Notes" include a list of emendations, examples of variant readings from the manuscript to the Wessex edition, and a discussion of the choice of copy text.
The textual history of the novel is traced in extracts from studies by Richard Little Purdy and Simon Gatrell.
"Backgrounds" includes substantial extracts from Hardy's correspondence with Leslie Stephen and is followed by a selection of contemporary reviews.
Twentieth-century "Criticism" is represented by Howard Babb, Roy Morrell, Alan Friedman, J. Hillis Miller, Michael Millgate, Penelope Vigar, Peter J. Casagrande, Ian Gregor, and Albert C. Schweik.
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Community Reviews
Far from the Madding Crowd reminded me of House Hunters on HGTV.
We're going to present you with three options (houses on HGTV and men in the book). They are all going to have flaws and you may not love any of them 100%, but at the end of the day, you need to choose. Ladies, here are your options:
1. A shepherd who is loyal, patient, and good-hearted. He may not have the best sense of humor or a sparkling personality, but he does have something more important than those things: ONE OF THE BEST NAMES EVER. Gabriel Oak. Try not to swoon just hearing it.
2. A soldier - no, a Sergeant - who is young and handsome. He handles a sword like a champ. Unfortunately, he is arrogant, loves his drinking and his gambling, and carries a flame for a former lover.
3. A farmer who is older, wealthy, and handsome. He may be a stick in the mud personality wise and may also be a little bit of a controlling psychopath, but he owns a lot of good land (which happens to be adjacent to yours!) and has $$$.
These are the three contenders vying for Bathsheba's affection/hand in marriage, and you can pretty much tell from the first page who she will end up with. And you are definitely lead to root for this character to win her in the end, but that's ok because compared to the other two, he looks like a damn prince.
I don't often read classics, so I appreciated that this one was easy to read and actually had some humor throughout (mostly between the farmhands). I liked that the characters were memorable, and I liked the slightly ridiculous, almost soap-opera events.
And I could have given this more stars except for one thing: I ABSOLUTELY COULD NOT GET BEHIND BATHSHEBA.
Do not tell me how independent a woman is, have her refuse marriage (clucking and treating it like a joke all along), and then have her marry suddenly for the most ridiculous reason. Do not tell me how independent a woman is and then have her become an unreasonable wet blanket. The only thing I liked about her was that she wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty (on the farm). Unfortunately, her wishy-washy nature regarding men/romance just about drove me off the deep end.
3 Stars
We're going to present you with three options (houses on HGTV and men in the book). They are all going to have flaws and you may not love any of them 100%, but at the end of the day, you need to choose. Ladies, here are your options:
1. A shepherd who is loyal, patient, and good-hearted. He may not have the best sense of humor or a sparkling personality, but he does have something more important than those things: ONE OF THE BEST NAMES EVER. Gabriel Oak. Try not to swoon just hearing it.
2. A soldier - no, a Sergeant - who is young and handsome. He handles a sword like a champ. Unfortunately, he is arrogant, loves his drinking and his gambling, and carries a flame for a former lover.
3. A farmer who is older, wealthy, and handsome. He may be a stick in the mud personality wise and may also be a little bit of a controlling psychopath, but he owns a lot of good land (which happens to be adjacent to yours!) and has $$$.
These are the three contenders vying for Bathsheba's affection/hand in marriage, and you can pretty much tell from the first page who she will end up with. And you are definitely lead to root for this character to win her in the end, but that's ok because compared to the other two, he looks like a damn prince.
I don't often read classics, so I appreciated that this one was easy to read and actually had some humor throughout (mostly between the farmhands). I liked that the characters were memorable, and I liked the slightly ridiculous, almost soap-opera events.
And I could have given this more stars except for one thing: I ABSOLUTELY COULD NOT GET BEHIND BATHSHEBA.
Do not tell me how independent a woman is, have her refuse marriage (clucking and treating it like a joke all along), and then have her marry suddenly for the most ridiculous reason. Do not tell me how independent a woman is and then have her become an unreasonable wet blanket. The only thing I liked about her was that she wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty (on the farm). Unfortunately, her wishy-washy nature regarding men/romance just about drove me off the deep end.
3 Stars
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