The Return of the Native

by Thomas Hardy
List(s):"Racine Library List"
"Carp 500"
Category: "Fiction - General"
Pages:371
Year of Publication:1878
Date Read:02/25/1993
Notes:This fine novel sets in opposition two of Hardy’s most unforgettable creations: his heroine, the sensuous, free-spirited Eustacia Vye, and the solemn, majestic stretch of upland in Dorsetshire he called Egdon Heath. The famous opening reveals the haunting power of that dark, forbidding moor where proud Eustacia fervently awaits a clandestine meeting with her lover Damon Wildeve.

COMMENTS — There is an excellent made-for-TV movie of this book starring Catherine Zeta-Jones as Eustacia. Incidentally, The Return of the Native is one of two Carp 500 books that mention sheep dyed red. The other is Voltaire’s Candide.
My Rating: 8

Reviews for The Return of the Native

Review - Return of the Native, The

I thought it was going to be depressing, and I think it was supposed to be. But the two characters I liked best came out OK. The major character was the heath itself. Hardy spent about half the book describing its wild loneliness and did so in such a way that it came alive, and I could picture it perfectly.

Reviewed by Roger on 2003-07-21 08:02:27

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