Welcome to Litsy!

It‘s Hardy so this is still bleak and dramatic, though not as enraging as Tess nor as depressing as Jude. There are no clear villains here, just unfortunate circumstance. (Tbh I didn‘t care for Clym or Wildeve.) Also leave it to Hardy to have a minor character develop a catastrophic gambling problem in one evening only to be cured by it the next day. Wish Eustacia and Thomasin had ditched their subpar men and run away to Paris together instead.

The 19th century English heath setting is immersive, the characters are over-the-top, and the plot is bananas. I was entertained… and I rolled my eyes. If you‘re in the mood for star-crossed love, going blind from reading too much, losing everything through gambling, and dying of a snake bite… then this is the misery read for you. #Audiobook read by Nadia May

His familiars were creeping & winged things & they seemed to enroll him in their band. Bees hummed around his ears with an intimate air & tugged at the heath & furze-flowers at his side in such numbers as to weigh them down to the sod.

Tribes of emerald-green grasshoppers leaped over his feet, falling awkwardly on their backs, heads, or hips, like unskilful acrobats, as chance might rule; or engaged themselves in noisy flirtations under the fern-fronds with silent ones of homely hue. Huge flies, ignorant of larders and wire-netting, and quite in a savage state, buzzed about him without knowing that he was a man.

I wish I had this book in school. I don't think I fully understand the concepts. I need to call up the SparkNotes and Wiki and read that.
I listened to the audio because Alan Rickman reads it.
It was difficult to concentrate on the story the language is recent but still I didn't grasp everything. There is a lot of drama and I now want to watch the movie

I started reading this and then heard that Alan Rickman (RIP) did the audio version so of course I am switching to that!

#funeral #quotsyoct20 @TK-421

My favorite character was Eustacia because she spent most of the novel doing nothing except fantasize vividly, and as a teenager I was like “same“

Astonishingly good! Gorgeous, painful windswept moors, kinda Wuthering Heights vibes, it picked me up and carried me away and made me remember how much I love Hardy. I loved how the Celtic past hung over the place so heavily, I loved how quietly mystical the world was. Hardy‘s weather is one of my favourite literary characters for sure.

And Alan Rickman‘s voice 💖💖💖 it was quite emotional listening to him

I finished this audiobook at work today. I know I would have appreciated it more if I had read it in my early 20s when I studied Hardy‘s contemporaries. This is a slow, quiet, slice-of-life novel that has some very sad and poignant moments and isn‘t really my “thing” now that I‘m in my 40s. Alan Rickman‘s narration is gorgeous, of course, and I would recommend this for his vocal performance alone.

I started this at work today. I‘m really not sure why, other than it‘s narrated by Alan Rickman and I needed something to remind me why I don‘t cancel my Audible membership, as it certainly isn‘t their stellar customer service that keeps me spending my money there. 🙄

I wish the audio quality on this recording was better, because Rickman‘s voice is just gorgeous.

“The flames from funeral piles long ago kindled there had shone down upon the lowlands as these were shining now. Festival fires to Thor and Woden had followed on the same ground and duly had their day. Indeed, it is pretty well known that such blazes as this the heathmen were now enjoying are rather the lineal descendants from jumbled Druidical rites and Saxon ceremonies than the invention of popular feeling about Gunpowder Plot.” #litsyclassics

So fortunate, to have gone to an amazing high-school, that offered a Great Books course, where we were able to explore art like this. Being taught by a erudite professor like Dr. Nici made it a master class.
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Side note: this book taught me I was no Eustacia. I am a traditionalist, not an adventurer. Though you have to love her spirit. #egdonheathforever #greatbooks #lovebooks #adifferenttomhardy #foresthills

Finishing up my summer of Hardy. This one was a little slow to get into, but the plot is picking up, as is the drama!

#requiredreadingredo

I had to read this book in high school. One of my least favorites ever. He drones on and on about the heath. . . One of the only times in my life I watched the movie instead of reading the book. I‘m not proud of it but it was #survival

I forgot this book the second I finished it, and I'm not sure what to think about these characters or all the moral lessons to be learned. It *could* have been a good story, but I think the melodramatic writing ruined it...

MAY 3 PROMPT: Naked Books

This edition of #OldCoolBooks is a 1928 copy of Thomas Hardy‘s Return of the Native. It‘s spine is barely hanging together by a few stitches in the back, and as you can see from the wear, it‘s been removed and re-shelved a number of times. I love the fancy title page, but the story is not quite to my tastes (and from the few pencil notes I can still make out, it wasn‘t my great-aunt‘s favorite either)!❤️ #nakedbooks

#MayLovesClassics #LitsyClassics #heroine
I love the Hardy heroines and my teenage dreams probably had me rescuing damsels from villains in the wessex wilds- who shall i plump for today - it has to be the dark haired heroine Eustacia Vye.

Free ARC‘s, local authors, gorgeous new editions of favorites, gifts (not pictured), lots of bookmarks, and more to add my TBR! #indiebookstoreday

#RiotGrams--day 17--an unreturned book. I loved my high school copy of "The Return of the Native" so much that I kept the lost copy that I later found. (Yes, I did have to pay a replacement fee.) My copy is pictured with my dog Hardy. I wonder how he got that name???‍♀️

Isn't this #BlindDateWithABook so beautifully wrapped?! @Soubhiville even included a little butterfly magnetic bookmark 😆 Austin #Litsy meet up.

I'm reading THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE for a buddy read on BookTube! I'm also about halfway through FRIENDS FOR LIFE for my Meg Wolitzer backlist reading project. Looking forward to her new book out next year! #stackedup

Down to the last two hours of reading for the #24in48readathon. As I'm winding down, I can't believe how quickly today's reading has gone by. I've been dipping in & out of this Hardy novel for the past month via the app Serial Reader. Each day you receive a new section to read, w/ a wide selection of classics, it's been a great way to get to those lingering on my TBR. I'm also enjoying a cup of tea & 🍁 cookies this evening.

#24in48 @24in48

Why is it that a woman can see from a distance what a man cannot see close?

Which Signet Classic #wouldyourather read? #springcleaning

Another @SerialReader book. 4⭐ but not one I'd rush back to read again.

But the worst of it is that though Paul was excellent as a man in the Bible he would hardly have done in real life.

I had to read this in Brit Lit junior year of HS and I can not even tell you how many times I was so incrediably annoyed and over the book I slammed it down with hatred. When the agony of reading was finally done, I #threwitacrosstheroom. I just do not like Hardy's novels.
The red indicates how I so wanted to stab the novel with my note taking pen while reading it 😕 #photoadaynov16

I'm pretty sure this is not what @LibrarianRyan meant when he chose #bestnarrator for today's #octphotochallenge but the only way I could get through this beast is listening to Alan Rickman read it. I'm only on ch. 7 and I still don't know what's going on, but those long rambling passages that bored me to tears - are now a little like savoring a fine wine .🍷

Need more bookshelves! #shelfie

I just received this from a stranger through a Facebook book exchange. It's the first one I've gotten, and I'm excited to read some favorite books of people who are friends if my friends 😃📚

Love this book. Love this quote.