A Pair of Blue Eyes (Wordsworth Classics) (Wordsworth Collection)

***Possible Spoilers*** I admit that this is a slightly lesser novel than many of Hardy's other masterpieces, but the overall quality of the prose is so high that I have to give it a 5-star rating.(Especially when you consider the junky popular fiction that surrounds us). Hardy is a developing novelist in "A Pair of Blue Eyes" and the Oxford edition has an interesting essay about the autobiographical elements of the text. The story of Elfride, Stephen and Henry is moving and at times quite mesmorizing. Although the story doesn't carry the same level of passionate angst between Eustacia and Wildeve in "The Return of the Native", this fine novel is obviously an exercise for Hardy to hone those writing skills that later left us some of the greatest novels in the English language. For me, the famous "cliffhanger" scene lived up to my expectations, although I was surprised that it does not occur near the novel's end. Then I learned that the novel first appeared in serialized form, so Hardy literally left English readers "hanging", not knowing what was going to happen to Henry who was hanging off a cliff while Elfride looks on. The final 10 or 15 pages made me hold my breath as I waited to see the conclusion of the novel, even though Hardy doesn't make great efforts to hide the outcome from the reader. A great book is one in which we feel compelled to finish as quickly as we can, even though we may already know the outcome of the story. For me, then, this is a great book! Recommended!

This is Hardy's third novel (1873), and is set in the southwest area of England (Cornwall), where he met his first wife. It is the story of young, impetuous Elfride, and her romance with two men: the young architect Stephen Smith and the urbane, educated lawyer, Henry Knight. As common with his other novels, it reflects elements of tragedy, irony, and class advancement. Elfride and Knight are low middle-class persons trying to advance in society and in love. Though not as intricate and challenging as his later novels, it is an entertaining and illuminating read nonetheless.

"These eyes were blue; blue as autumn distance-blue as the blue we see between the retreating mouldings of hills and woody slopes on a sunny September morning. A misty and shady blue, that had no beginning or surface, and was looked into rather than at." In this Victorian tale, two men fall in love with the beautiful and entrancing blue eyes of Elfride Swancourt, and this being a Hardy novel, their actions bring about tragic consequences. There are also moments of wry humor in the novel, but the stunning end of the story as both men scramble to reunite with Elfride, is Thomas Hardy at his melancholy best. This Oxford edition features an enlightening introduction by a noted Hardy scholar, as well as a exhaustive history of the text. And for this price, you can't go wrong! This is not one of Hardy's more celebrated novels, but once you start this one it's hard to put down! An early classic from one of the greatest minds in English literary history.

I've loved every Hardy book, poem, and short story that I've ever read. He reminds me of our own William Faulkner who surely must have read Hardy because he patterned his style in the same manner (Yoknapatawpha County versus Hardy's Wessex, etc.). The blue-eyed girl, Elfride, reminds me of the main character in a book I'm reading now: Clyde Griffiths in Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy, also a book describing the conflicts of class and love and, since it's set in the US, lust for money. A long suit of Hardy's is his wonderful quotes from the peasants ("I have no use for a flower that neglect won't kill," and "dead, but wouldn't drop down." The other thing I like is his many references which enrich the story and educate the reader. Therefore I look for editions that have explanatory notes. Then too I like to have a pile of reference books on hand to get his fuller meaning: the Bible, Shakespeare, books on English literature, etc. And last, like all Hardy novels, A Pair of Blue Eyes has plenty of sex (if you can read between the lines). Hardy recognized that strongest of all drives beside the basic ones of survival, and despite what he called the Grundyism of the period, he conveyed that truth in his books. Read this book and any other by Hardy. A lifetime of pleasure awaits you. But of course that's just my opinion.

I had forgotten Hardy's unique way of making my jaw drop in the last few pages of his novels. If it's been a while since you've treated yourself to his unrelenting destruction of any hope you may be harboring for his characters, indulge. The man never disappoints a cynic.