
Jude the Obscure
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Narrated by:
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Neville Jason
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By:
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Thomas Hardy
Sexually innocent Jude Fawley is trapped into marriage by seductive Arabella Donn, but their union is an unhappy one and Arabella leaves him. Jude's welcome freedom allows him to pursue his obsession with his pretty cousin Sue Bridehead, a brilliant, charismatic free-thinker who would be his ideal soul mate if not for her aversion to physical love. When Jude and Sue decide to lead their lives outside marriage they bring down on themselves all the force of a repressive society. This fearless and outspoken story caused a furor on its publication, and was Hardy's last novel.
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Incredibly tragic but fascinating
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One of the best books ever written!
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Sad indictment against marriage
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Would you try another book from Thomas Hardy and/or Neville Jason?
i previously read The Woodlanders and enjoyed it. This book however was devoid of any main characters who were likable or one could say sane. I keep waiting for anyone to "break through" and show a redeeming quality or to display sound judgment. Didn't happen.Would you ever listen to anything by Thomas Hardy again?
I'm moving on.What does Neville Jason bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Good job!Could you see Jude the Obscure being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?
Please no.What was the point in writing this book?
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Tragic and beautiful
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The women in his life are used and confused in turn, not so much by Jude as by the terrible straitjacket women were forced into. The love of his life, Sue, is particularly confused: she combines an open, somewhat flirtatious manner with a pathological aversion to sex that left me wondering if she'd been abused as a child. (Or better to say, since she's not real: wondering if Hardy intentionally set her character up to convey that.) She does finally overcome her aversion, to the extent of having children with Jude, but it's a fragile adjustment. And even the best-adjusted person would have trouble keeping their sanity when confronted by the major tragedy in this book of tragedies: an event that strikes suddenly and brutally in a few swift paragraphs and leaves the characters - and the reader - reeling.
Neville Jason has not been one of my favorite narrators in the past, but I'm warming up to him. Part of the pleasure of his performance here is the skill he shows in voicing the many characters, with their many accents and moods. There is humor here at times, and Jason brings it out in the voices of Arabella and other "country folk," who have no intellectual ambitions and are more willing to go with the flow. His characterization of Sue, to me, was somewhat less successful than his Jude; but his Jude is so brilliantly done, so exceptional in the way it conveys Jude's gentleness, rage, and despair, that I'm willing to give him five stars for the whole thing. I'll definitely make an effort, in the future, to listen to more of his readings.
Listen to it, by all means, but don't listen to it if you're depressed or even just having a bad day. It will exercise your compassion to the breaking point.
Left reeling
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Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
I would the themes of being trapped outside of a dream are still relevant today.What did you like best about this story?
He teaches about life lessons and the characters are memorable and relateable.What does Neville Jason bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Speed.If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
And you thought your life was miserable...Any additional comments?
Great reader (and I am picky). Enjoyable story.Another good, tragic Hardy Novel
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It was read in British English which made it a bit difficult in the beginning, if you’d rather have an American accent find another version. Also, it was slow. I listened to it at a 1.6x times faster…
Tragic, a little boring at times, and yet: a Tom Hardy classic.
If you’re looking for a Bildungsroman tragic book…..
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Hardy at his best--and at his worst
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Classic story. Great narration.
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