The Distracted Preacher and Other Tales

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) is one of England's greatest novelists and poets. His short stories, however, are not as well known. This volume from Penguin presents several of his little gems. Many of the stories first appeared in magazines or were collected in his "Life's Little Ironies" and "Wessex Tales" volumes. Each of these stories will hold your attention. They are well crafted as the master of irony focuses on his mythical Wessex and the fictional men and women who inhabit its borders. The stories are: 1. The Distracted Preacher-this story deals with a young Weslyan minister who becomes involved with Lizzie a smuggler. The story is filled with adventure as they seek to avoid revenue agents. Does the mismatched couple wed? Read this tale and learn. 2. A Mere Interlude-Baptista Trewen is a bored young teacher. She is about to be married to a richer, older man but before going home for the ceremony she is courted again by an old flame named Charles Stow. On impulse the two wed but he drowns! Baptista then weds old Mr. Heddegan not telling him that she is a widow. In a weird scene these two honeymoon in the same seaside hotel where Charles Stow's lifeless body is residing in the next room to the honeymoon suite! Baptista, therefore, sleeps between her dead and her breathing husband!. Baptista confesses the situation to her elderly mate Heddegan. He reveals that he has four children of his own! Baptista ends up as their stepmother and teacher! Irony upon irony in this ingenious little tale! 3. The Withered Arm-A milkmaid named Rhoda Brook is forsaken by her lover and the father of her child whose name is Mr. Lodge. Years later, Lodge brings home his beautiful young bride Gertrude. Intense jealousy leads Rhoda to have a dream of her rival. Gertrude's arm then becomes withered due to the curse placed on it by Rhoda. Gertrude believes the Wessex legend that if she touches the corpse of a recently hanged criminal her malady will be cured. She visits Casterbridge on the day of the execution of a young man. She discovers, to her horror,that both Lodge and his erstwhile lover Rhoda are there as well! The criminal was their love child! Gertrude dies of shock while her husband flees town. Rhoda remains a milkmaid. This is a grisly story! 4.A Tragedy of Two Ambitions tells the story of the Halborough brothers. They become ministers but seek to keep quiet the fact that their old father is a drunk. One night Dad drowns within their hearing but they refuse to help him. Their sister weds a rich landowner. The boys have their lives tortured by their cruel act toward their father. 5. The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion-This tragic love story between an English maiden and a German soldier during the Napoleonic wars is evocative of the beautiful countryside of Wessex. The story may even bring a tear to your eyes. Young love and longing for home led to tragic events. 6. Barbara of the House of Grebe-Barbara loves Edward a Byronic looking man. He leaves her f

Hardy's novels continue to be justly popular and his poetry (which he considered his most important work)has worn well with the critics, but the short stories deserve a much wider audience than they have received. This collection, which contains some of his best, provides a fine introduction to the dark vision of the late Victorian master. The title story is uncharacteristically happy, a pastoral piece in which Hardy tells a comic tale about a young woman's unexpected talent for criminal activity. The other stories are much more representative, being concerned with the perils of love, the cruelty of convention and the tragic vulnerability of human aspirations to the whims of fate. Many of the tales are also wrapped in the Gothic and even grotesque trappings that Hardy seemed to favour when the mood was upon him. This collection gives Bram Stoker and Stephen King a run for their money, featuring a corpse with a stake driven through its heart, a new bride spending her wedding night with her new husband by her side and the corpse of her first husband in the next room, parricide, suicide and kidnapping. The mood of the pieces varies from the sunny high jinks of "The Distracted Preacher" to the wrenching tragedy of "A Son's Veto" and the relentless horror of "The Withered Arm." Overall, this group of tales gives the newcomer to Hardy an excellent introduction to his talents as a storyteller, and fans of his novels will enjoy the opportunity to see the master at work on a smaller stage.

but these stories, culled from his archives, represent the absolute best of his short work.Hardy's tales here evoke early 19th century England; not just the Wessex Heath of Return of the Native (a novel whose opening four pages are among the best in all of literature) but the small towns where bootleggers operate and ghosts walk the back lanes.All these stories have an "oral" quality about them, as if they were told by a hoary English gent, his face wreathed in smoke from an old Meerschaum. None of these stories will knock you out, but there were some pleasant surprises, including "An Imaginative Woman" (the best Hardy short story I've read so far), and "A Tragedy of Two Ambitions," which raises intriguing questions on murder and responsibility. Hardy's favorite tale, "The Son's Veto" is also included, but I found this story, along with "Fiddler of the Reels" to be a dud. "Barbara of the House of Grebe" is unintentionally funny - an execrable Gothic exercise, where Hardy sounds more formulaic than ever. Thankfully, the too-oft anthologized (but lovely) "The Three Strangers" is not included.Hardy wrote a lot of garbage short stories in his career - so, kudos to the editor for weeding through them and presenting us with the best of his short works.Read his novels. They are much better.

If you are familiar with Hardy, you probably know him as a brilliant novelist and possibly, a poet (he excelled in both areas). However, he shone in the short story form as well, as this collection vividly demonstrates. This book includes some of Hardy's best known and most poignant stories, including the spectacular 'Grave by the Handpost' and the 'Fiddler of the Reels,' which echo with the tragic themes prevalent in his later novels. Hardy's prose style is incredibly moving and poetic in his short stories. He used words to serve a purpose, which is more than I can say for a number of Victorian writers. These stories are a wonderful introduction to Hardy if you have not had any exposure to his 'great' works. And don't give up with them! Although his style is moderately cumbersome, I'm sure you will find his socially-aware ideas surprisingly modern and unbelievably brutal in their rawness. Hardy is a classic writer who no one should miss reading. If you want a brilliant introduction to his work (but beware, reading these stories will drain you!) I highly recommend this collection. You will also enjoy it immensely if you've only experienced Hardy the novelist. A note to teachers: I am a high school student, and I know that my peers would have appreciated Hardy much more if he had been presented to them through these tremendous stories, rather than through his novels. I am a devout Hardy fanatic, but know people with short attention spans have difficulty appreciating his novels. Introducing Hardy to your students through his stories (I particularily recommend the Fiddler of the Reels) might allow you to cover more ground.