Oxford Progressive English Readers: Grade 5: 5000 Headwords: The Mayor of Casterbridge Paperback – 7 Jan. 1993

On the quiet, I'm a bit of a fan of novels of the late 19th and early 20th century. Thomas Hardy I would imagine needs little introduction to most and I expect that many of those reading this will have come across his work at school. I even liked him then!Briefly, this is a story of a west country man's fortunes throughout his adult life and we experience his ups and downs. By no means is he a perfect character. But despite having many faults we are still drawn to him, I think because when it really matters, he does the right thing.Of course a lot has been written about this novel, from the splotchy pens of generations of school children to the typewriters and latterly the computers of professional reviewers and I doubt I could aspire to adding much new. However, I think it's worth noting that Hardy's language in relating this tale is fascinating. Looking at it in the second decade of the 21st century, I find the words and phraseology fascinating. There are words that over time have changed in meaning, some have disappeared from use and phrases that you can discern from their surroundings that you therefore understand and only serve to delight. For this reason, this book is a historical record of a past time, not only in the way that they live, but of the ever changing English language. But even further than that, we learn how the poor were treated with a rudimentary facsimile of a welfare system and also the state of development of the criminal court system in that period.But above all, I'm sure that Hardy wanted to produce a book that provides entertainment, interest and provokes thought. Through the ages, it has done that and still does.

I remember reading Jude the Obscure and Tess of the D'Urbervilles and thought they were so depressing. It put me off reading anything else of Hardy's for a long time. But a revived interest in English Literature led me to this book and I very pleased to say I enjoyed it. It's a good story, briskly told and although I was holding my breath for a doom and gloom ending, I was pleasantly surprised. I found Michael Henchard a difficult character to warm to but he was always interesting. Hardy draws all his characters well, even small parts such as Abel Whittle. I wanted to know what happened to them all.I grew up on a farm so I found the descriptions of landscape and a small town where a hay merchant is a very important person very interesting.So if you are interested in either Hardy and don't want to be depressed or just want to read a "literary" book then I would recommend this one!

Quite an amazing beginning, I was captivated - and thoroughly enjoyed the book. This is the second book I've read by Thomas Hardy and enjoyed the characters in the saga. As the story unfolds it twists and turns, leading one to think one thing only to discover another. Elizabeth the daughter has a lovely sweet character, and wouldn't want to hurt anyone. Michael, the dominant male character, one is lead to believe that he has quite a mean streak but I felt underneath all the show that he was a sad man, really wanting to have someone dear. He regrets a decision he made at the beginning of the book and has to learn to live with that. As one follows through his life, his rise to fame and affluence is quite something, but he looses it all. Elizabeth isn't who he thought she was, and is so disappointed. Donald, is also an intriguing character, full of charm, not wanting to upset anyone, but he is astute and very good at business..... So without ruining the plot, I would recommend the book, get wrapped up in the characters and you'll find that at the end you feel as though you've been part of the sequences which have unfolded before your eyes, leaving you quite breathless.

I loved this book, I am a complete convert to Thomas Hardy and am saddened to think I have left it this long before delving in! He has a wonderful way of painting a picture with his words! You all of a sudden can see exactly what he is saying even though the language is so unlike the way we would talk today, I love it!Henchard arrives in town with his wife and baby daughter with very little money and no job, After a very stupid drunken act he throws his and his families lives into a downward spiral that he never escapes. He moves to Casterbridge and over the years things seem to be on the up for him, but as I said he can never make right the mistake he made and he is to live a nightmare for what he did. A great story, very well thought out and written, a brilliant book.

There is a chunk of the book missing so I had to try and work out what had happened. Hardy's writing is brilliant as expected but the plot is rather odd and it is hard in 2016 to work out what all the fuss is about which causes a scandal. I personally would not bother to read this ever again. It is OK but nothing to get excited about. It is about a man who sells his wife and child and then regrets it. He becomes Mayor of Casterbridge and is doing well until he persuades another man to stop and work for him.

Thomas Hardy as usual presents the reader with a terrific mix of deliciously flawed and complicated characters. While his prose can be on the weighty side, this is a cracking plot with more twists than a dance floor in Chubby Checker night. This was a free edition, so I shouldn't moan too much, but Chapter 20 notably ends mid-sentence and then Chapter 21 commences, requiring the reader to seek a chapter synopsis before continuing. This is a real shame and the reader loses some crucial plot development within the absent text, not to mention it is the first time two important characters meet, so we miss all the fun of their first interaction. I hope this can be ratified and a full version is available on Kindle because those four stars above this writing seen like they need a fifth so as to not leave them wanting.

This book was very enjoyable. It is written in old English and found at first very difficult to read, but found it so interesting. I learnt about the book from Jeopardy. The question about a man who auctioned off his wife. And of course the answer was The Mayor Of Casterbridge. I went searching for the book and found it so interesting to the point where I didn't want to put it down.

Good paper quality of book

Dos romances de Thomas Hardy que eu havia lido, lembro muito bem da pobreza e do caráter trágico de suas personagens, mas não lembrava de tantas reviravoltas como tem em The Mayor of Casterbridge. O ponto de partida já é intrigante: um jovem sem qualquer dinheiro vende a mulher e a filha bebê, e, anos mais tarde, quando se tornou bem sucedido e prefeito, elas reaparecem. Isso não é nenhum spoiler, pois é a sinopse básica e cobre os dois primeiros capítulos do livro. As 300 páginas seguintes são uma montanha russa de emoções e surpresas.Há duas questões bastante claras na narrativa: o peso da liberdade, e o duplo. Michael Henchard pode escolher o que quiser, mas deverá lidar com as consequências desse direito de escolher (inclusive a errar), e é isso que assombra o seu presente e, eventualmente, o destruirá. Terry Eagleton compara o livro a uma tragédia grega, e aponta que “o prefeito se torna vítima de suas próprias ações”. A narrativa organiza em torno da duplicidade: são duas partes (praticamente com o mesmo número de páginas) dois personagens parecidos: Henchard e Farfrae (que é um empregado seu no começo, mas entram em choque), as outras figuras centrais também terão duplos, mas é muito spoiler dizer o que é.Mas o tema que ronda o tempo todo o romance tem a ver com a mercantilização da vida: tudo está a um passo de se tornar uma mercadoria – tanto que a mulher e a filha do protagonista são vendidas nas primeiras páginas. É o dinheiro – ganhar e perder – que organiza a dinâmica entre as personagens, e determina suas ações. É um mundo no qual o preço da colheita determinará o destino de diversas pessoas, não apenas do proprietário. Hardy constrói um universo duro, muitas vezes cruel, mas nada diferente da realidade.

I have always loved this book, but to read it now is an even greater pleasure than in years past...Hardy's characters brim with real life....his town life is colourful bustle, and his coincidences a great lesson....a lovely book

I loved the first chapter of this book, which sees a husband, in a rummy haze, sell his wife at a village fair to a sailor. Immediately, this chapter raises the concern with which Hardy was undoubtedly occupied throughout his writing: women's lot in the world. Many of Hardy's female characters' lives are shaped by their relationships with men: from the eponymous Tess of the D'Urbervilles to Sue Bridehead (a telling name) in Jude the Obscure, it is clear that Hardy was sympathetic towards women's socially-dictated limitations. I am only a few chapters into the book so far, but I have found it quite engaging -- more so than Hardy's extremely rural The Woodlanders, anyway (which I recently attempted to re-read). I am very interested to see where this novel goes.As for the novel's physical copy: it's gorgeous. The colours are bold, the cover is canvas, rather than leather, and the pages are thick. There is a long introduction which provides interesting context and analysis of Hardy's writing, and also a helpful appendix. I was surprised to see that the novel has the odd drawing, which was a welcome surprise.