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The Return of the Native
The Return of the Native | Thomas Hardy
An enduring tale of love, desire, and the universal longing both to leave one's home and to return to it, this novel is one of Hardy's greatest and most affecting works. Hardy's passionately drawn characters and his vivid rendering of their valiant but ultimately ineffective struggle in destiny's web result in a masterpiece of melancholy brilliance.
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Tara
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Pickpick

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.

BkClubCare Hardy is a trip. I loved Woodlanders and Madding Crowd. But DNF‘d Tess and am scared of Jude! 3mo
Tara @BkClubCare ooh haven‘t read woodlanders yet! 3mo
BkClubCare @Tara - everyone batshitcrazy pls pardon the expression. My blog has (imho) a hilarious review of Mad Crowd. Shall I share it 🤨🤣 3mo
11 likes3 comments
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Lindy
Return of the Native | Thomas Hardy
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Pickpick

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

Suet624 Well that‘s kind of, sort of, a recommendation. 2y
TrishB School lessons came running back at me then. 2y
Lindy @Suet624 Yes, a qualified recommendation. I especially enjoyed the humour in the dialogue among the common folk. And the ridiculous plot is entertaining, if not believable. 2y
Lindy @TrishB ha! I hope that‘s a good memory? This is only my second Hardy, the first being (edited) 2y
30 likes4 comments
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Lindy
Return of the Native | Thomas Hardy
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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.

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Lindy
Return of the Native | Thomas Hardy
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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.

TheBookHippie I‘ve not read this in so long. How are you liking it? 2y
Lindy @TheBookHippie I just finished it and am now going back over the passages I flagged. The plot is bananas but I rather liked it anyway. 4 out of 5 stars. 2y
TheBookHippie @Lindy I agree with that! 2y
37 likes2 stack adds3 comments
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ChaoticMissAdventures
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Mehso-so

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

Cosyreader This was my exact same experience! Now I need to find the film to fill in the blanks. 3y
16 likes1 comment
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ChaoticMissAdventures
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I started reading this and then heard that Alan Rickman (RIP) did the audio version so of course I am switching to that!

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Lcsmcat
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LeahBergen 😆😆 4y
24 likes1 comment
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kathrynhoss
Return of the Native | Thomas Hardy
Pickpick

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“

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Emilymdxn
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Pickpick

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

Freespirit ❤️Alan Rickman❤️ 6y
SW-T Love Hardy‘s books. 😊 6y
KathyWheeler Okay — I read The Return of the Native a long time ago, but I may listen to it for Alan Rickman‘s voice. ❤️ 6y
Redwritinghood Love Thomas Hardy! 6y
65 likes4 comments
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DGRachel
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Pickpick

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.

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DGRachel
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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.

Ericalambbrown I will miss Mr Rickman forever. 😢 I just love him. His voice . . . 🖤 6y
DGRachel @Ericalambbrown Me, too. I watch movies I don‘t like just because he is in them. 6y
CindyMyLifeIsLit When I read the news of his death I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. I love him in everything I‘ve ever seen him in. 💔 6y
mom2bugnbee @DGRachel @CindyMyLifeIsLit 🙋🏻‍♀️to both of your comments. 6y
92 likes1 stack add5 comments
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Lcsmcat
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“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

52 likes1 stack add
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PeregrineFalcon

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

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SaraBeagle
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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!

Bklover Heavy stuff for summer! Good for you! 👏👏👏 6y
33 likes1 stack add1 comment
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ElishaLovesBooks
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#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

Erinsuereads Ohhhhh that‘s a good prompt idea. I think I‘ll make that a bonus prompt!! When I read the description I could feel my brain drying out 6y
ElishaLovesBooks @ErinSueG Hahaha😂😂 That‘s exactly how I felt!! 6y
mabell #survival 😂😂 6y
See All 13 Comments
Soubhiville I totally bailed on this one. 6y
CSeydel Aw I really liked this one in school! 6y
ElishaLovesBooks @Soubhiville It‘s pretty awful! 6y
ElishaLovesBooks @CSeydel I‘m glad someone likes it!!❤️ 6y
Centique @CSeydel I liked it too! That slow walk of the mother home from her sons house has stayed with me 😯 6y
CSeydel @Centique yesss! 🙌🏻 6y
ElishaLovesBooks @Centique @CSeydel I was probably too young to appreciate it. But it‘s been ruined for me forever 🙈 6y
CSeydel I do agree it seems an odd choice for high school. 6y
night_shift Never heard of this one either but the author sounded familiar and OH, Far From the Maddening Crowd. That's actually one I've been wanting to read after seeing the '67 movie. I don't usually like these ye olde language romances, but I dunno. 6y
56 likes1 stack add13 comments
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tricours
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Mehso-so

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...

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ReadZenRites
Return of the Native | Thomas Hardy
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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

Linsy I love that! Still connecting through books. 💗 7y
52 likes1 comment
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andrew61
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#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.

merelybookish Cool cover! 7y
quietlycuriouskate As someone who grew up in the "Wessex wilds" this has just made me snort my tea! ? 7y
batsy Can't wait to read more Hardy! Madding Crowd was my first and it was lovely. 7y
28 likes4 comments
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CareBear
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Free ARC‘s, local authors, gorgeous new editions of favorites, gifts (not pictured), lots of bookmarks, and more to add my TBR! #indiebookstoreday

Lcsmcat The Hardy is beautiful! 7y
CareBear @Lcsmcat isn‘t it? She had a whole bunch of this collection, I wanted them all! 7y
Caroline2 The brutal telling is a great little book! 👍🏻 7y
rather_be_reading wow 😍 7y
136 likes4 comments
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karenna
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#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???‍♀️

Jess7 Cute 7y
7 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Fortifiedbybooks
Return of the Native | Thomas Hardy
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Isn't this #BlindDateWithABook so beautifully wrapped?! @Soubhiville even included a little butterfly magnetic bookmark 😆 Austin #Litsy meet up.

Soubhiville I hope you'll enjoy it! 7y
21 likes1 stack add1 comment
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chavalah
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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

7 likes1 stack add
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catebutler
Return of the Native | Thomas Hardy
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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

24 likes1 stack add
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GoneFishing
Return of the Native | Thomas Hardy

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

CindyMyLifeIsLit I ask my husband that same question all the time! 😜 7y
43 likes1 stack add2 comments
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BookishTrish
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Which Signet Classic #wouldyourather read? #springcleaning

Suelizbeth Having read both, I would more readily reread The Return of the Native. As far as author's go, I prefer Hardy to Hawthorne. 8y
cariashley Hardy, for sure. 8y
LeahBergen Yep, I prefer Hardy to Hawthorne, as well. 8y
50 likes1 stack add3 comments
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jenniferw88
Mehso-so

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

30 likes1 stack add
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Lcsmcat
Return of the Native | Thomas Hardy

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.

Lcsmcat Thomas Hardy is funnier than people give him credit for. 8y
1 like1 stack add1 comment
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MKbookworm
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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

TrishB I'm with you! Haven't found a Hardy novel I like! 8y
Moray_Reads I've only read Far From the Madding Crowd (loved it) and only because it's supposed to be the cheeriest of his novels 8y
MKbookworm @TrishB Glad I am not the only one! 8y
See All 6 Comments
MKbookworm @Moray_Reads That is one I haven't read. Maybe someday I will give Hardy another chance 8y
Moray_Reads @MKbookworm the BBC did an excellent dramatisation a while back and the film with Carey Mulligan is quite good if you want to test the waters first! 8y
DeborahSmall Lol this is one of my favourite Hardy novels. I love him!! 😍 8y
15 likes3 stack adds6 comments
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JustTrish
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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 .🍷

LibrarianRyan Miss Ryan, thinks this fits. I would so while away time listening to Alan Rickman. 🤓. P.s. Blame my dad for the guys name. It's his fault. And it happens all the time. 8y
JustTrish @LibrarianRyan Ack!sorry! Actually after I posted that it occurred to me that it might be wrong. These days I try not ti make assumptions! 8y
LibrarianRyan @JustTrish that's alright it happens all the time. I have to have Miss in front of everything or else people assume I'm using my guys card. 8y
31 likes3 comments
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alisahar
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Need more bookshelves! #shelfie

Susannah I have that same edition of the first three Anne Shirley books! 👒❤️📚 8y
MrBook That's my constant problem, lol. 8y
alisahar @Susannah the problem is that I have to collect all the books I loved as a kid in addition to all the new books I want to read too! 8y
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alisahar @MrBook my other problem is no place to put the bookshelves 8y
MrBook That's another of my problems 😂😂👍🏻. 8y
Susannah @alisahar, oh yes, I know that problem well. 😩 8y
10 likes6 comments
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Soubhiville
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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 😃📚

Riveted_Reader_Melissa I haven't read that one in years! It brings back some great college memories though! 8y
31 likes1 comment
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hwheaties
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Pickpick

Love this book. Love this quote.

CateKeesling That is an amazing quote!! 9y
hwheaties @CateKeesling thanks! I always return to it. So good. 9y
14 likes5 stack adds2 comments