Review: Jude The Obscure

Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

You can't get more tragic than Jude the Obscure, which, upon reading the introduction, is purposeful, as the title is meant to inspire you to think of Greek tragedies like Oedipis the King. Jude is an ordinary man who has great ambitions at a young age and aspires to be a scholar. But unlike Jay-Z, Jude doesn't have 99 problems. He only has one. And, if you know the song, I'm guessing you could figure out what it is. This one problem ruins his entire life and sets him off on an existence heavy with grief and a loss of happiness. One of the tragedies of this brilliant novel is that Jude was born either too early or too late, as his views throughout the novel are both extremely conservative, and yet, wildly Liberal for the time period.

I'm not surprised what a maligned book this was for its release, as it contains aspects that I'm certain were shocking and even blasphemous for the time period. I'm surprised there wasn't a public burning of the book. In the end, Jude the Obscure is a novel YEARS before its time, which is why it is such a classic. If you haven't already done so, read this book.

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