The Return of the Native
Thomas Hardy
Book Description
The Wordsworth Classics covers a huge list of beloved works of literature in English and translations. This growing series is rigorously updated, with scholarly introductions and notes added to new titles.
The central figure of this novel is the returning "native", Clym Yeobright, and his love for the beautiful but capricious Eustacia Vye. As character after character is driven to self-destruction, the presence of Egdon Heath becomes all-embracing, while Clym becomes a preacher.
From AudioFile
Clym Yeobright, native of Egdon Heath, returns from the bright society of Paris and, as any reader of Hardy knows, all is not smooth. He is quickly taken by and marries the one woman he should not--Eustacia Vye. The suffering that follows is mitigated somewhat by the ending, but more by the mastery of Alan Rickman's reading. At the start, Rickman senses the voice for each character in Hardy's fictional world, and he maintains each character's personality throughout. He even manages to project Hardy's subtle shadings of tone with the rhythm and tempo of his narration, throwing in a song here and there because, in spite of his gloom, there is a festive strain to Hardy, as well. If you have a hard time reading this classic English writer, this is how to do it. P.E.F.
The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature
Novel by Thomas Hardy, published in 1878. The novel is set on Egdon Heath, a barren moor in the fictional Wessex in southwestern England. The native of the title is Clym Yeobright, who has returned to the area to become a schoolmaster after a successful but, in his opinion, shallow career as a jeweler in Paris. He and his cousin Thomasin exemplify the traditional way of life, while Thomasin's husband, Damon Wildeve, and Clym's wife, Eustacia Vye, long for the excitement of city life. Disappointed that Clym is content to remain on the heath, Eustacia, willful and passionate, rekindles her affair with the reckless Damon. After a series of coincidences Eustacia comes to believe that she is responsible for the death of Clym's mother. Convinced that fate has doomed her to cause others pain, Eustacia flees and is drowned (by accident or intent). Damon drowns trying to save her. In a later edition, to please his readers, Hardy made additions to his novel. Thomasin marries Diggory Venn, a humble, long-time suitor, and Clym becomes an itinerant preacher.
About Author
Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), the author of Under the Greenwood Tree, Far from the Madding Crowd, The Woodlanders, and many other novels, was also an accomplished poet. Many of his works, including his poetry, are available from Penguin Classics.
Tony Slade was for many years Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Adelaide, Australia.Penny Boumelha is Jury Chair of English Language and Literature at the University of Adelaide.
Book Dimension :
length: (cm)19.8 width:(cm)12.6
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