pickI have to say that I really enjoyed Hardy‘s short story compilation. Different themes throughout and even an unexpected witch story that I would most definitely reread. Highly recommend, perfect for a road trip or a train ride on the pacific coast.
so-soA long time ago in a blue bedroom far away I pledged to read every novel Hardy wrote. (12 down, 2 to go). A great novelist he is for sure, but probably not a great short story writer. Something about the short form reveals his crutches & obsessions. These stories seem like workshop exercises. What‘s baffling is that he wrote Madding Crowd & Return of the Native before this. He had to know these stories weren‘t good. I guess a writer‘s got to eat.
Next stop was Thomas Hardy‘s birthplace. It‘s a thatched cottage that three generations of his family lived in at once back in the 19th century.
Is it necessary to add that the echoes of many characteristic tales, dating from that picturesque time, still linger about here, in more or less fragmentary form to be caught by the attentive ear? Some of them I have repeated; most of them I have forgotten; one I have never repeated, and assuredly can never forget.
Wessex Tales | 
