Thomas Hardy | 
p. 78: '[Hardy] could no longer believe, but he cherished the memory of belief, and especially the centrality and beauty of Christian ritual in country life, and what it had meant to earlier generations and still meant to some.'
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p. 78: '[Hardy] could no longer believe, but he cherished the memory of belief, and especially the centrality and beauty of Christian ritual in country life, and what it had meant to earlier generations and still meant to some.'
p. 63: '[Hardy] went several times to hear Dickens read... and to hear John Stuart Mill speak on the hustings, and to the House of Commons to listen to Lord Palmerston. When Palmerston died, he got tickets for the funeral in Westminster Abbey, very conscious of the fact that the great man had stood in the House with Pitt, Fox, Sheridan and Burke. It was the personal link always that stirred Hardy's interest in history.'
p. xxii-xxiii: 'Hardy was a writer who made many of his best efforts out of incidents and stories he had collected and put aside, sights stored up, feelings he had kept to himself, anger he had not shown to the world. [As a poet] he is like an archeologist uncovering objects that have not been seen for many decades, bringing them into the light, examining them, some small pieces, some curious bones and broken bits, and some shining treasures.' ⬇️
so-soI learned facts. Hint: he is the original example of “ write what you know”. BUT I was astonished by the authors‘ plaint about how pessimistic he was & that she couldn‘t understand it. Failing to understand your subject disqualifies you as a biographer and reduces you to a reporter. Which is probably why this book was like the driest English toast. There has just got to be a better telling. I‘ll search and let you know. #classics # Hardylover
More from the Library sale! Harvard Classics and Literary Biographies,yes please!
I gave my coffee a matching mustache, obviously. Happy Wednesday! 🐪
