I love to read. A lot.
So generally I do not have one favourite book, but rather lots of favourite books for different reasons.
Books that make me laugh to books that make me cry, books that send shivers down my spine to books that act as a comfort and give me strength.
The last one might sound a little strange, but depending on what events are going on in my world or the type of mood I’m in, I can always rely on a book to escape to – to take my mind away when the going gets tough or to inspire me.
One such book is Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy.
Admittedly, I’ve only read it a few times and never actually chose to read it at first. It was given as a set text as part of my English degree and I only first picked it up around a year ago.
To be honest, I thought it was complete rubbish at first but as you read on, you really get into Tess’s story.
Tess is from a poor family but is forced to claim kinship with the wealthy D’Urbervilles and seek a portion of their family fortune.
Unfortunately, it is upon meeting her ‘cousin’ that Tess’s downfall ensues.
Without spoiling the book, Tess is the epitome of a wronged woman – marginalized and made to be a scapegoat by the masculine world in which she lives.
Despite being written in the 19th century, the experiences of Tess and the themes in the novel are universal – something that people everywhere will have experienced at some point in their own lives.
Something that you can relate to.
Tess constantly seems to hit rock bottom, yet amazingly carries on. Why? Because it’s all she can do. She doesn’t give up, but gets on with life’s trials and toils.
In a weird way, this is a comfort because no matter how bad I think life might be, it’s nowhere near as terrible as the life of Tess.
So generally I do not have one favourite book, but rather lots of favourite books for different reasons.
Books that make me laugh to books that make me cry, books that send shivers down my spine to books that act as a comfort and give me strength.
The last one might sound a little strange, but depending on what events are going on in my world or the type of mood I’m in, I can always rely on a book to escape to – to take my mind away when the going gets tough or to inspire me.
One such book is Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy.
Admittedly, I’ve only read it a few times and never actually chose to read it at first. It was given as a set text as part of my English degree and I only first picked it up around a year ago.
To be honest, I thought it was complete rubbish at first but as you read on, you really get into Tess’s story.
Tess is from a poor family but is forced to claim kinship with the wealthy D’Urbervilles and seek a portion of their family fortune.
Unfortunately, it is upon meeting her ‘cousin’ that Tess’s downfall ensues.
Without spoiling the book, Tess is the epitome of a wronged woman – marginalized and made to be a scapegoat by the masculine world in which she lives.
Despite being written in the 19th century, the experiences of Tess and the themes in the novel are universal – something that people everywhere will have experienced at some point in their own lives.
Something that you can relate to.
Tess constantly seems to hit rock bottom, yet amazingly carries on. Why? Because it’s all she can do. She doesn’t give up, but gets on with life’s trials and toils.
In a weird way, this is a comfort because no matter how bad I think life might be, it’s nowhere near as terrible as the life of Tess.
2 comments:
no there is a person whose life is worse than tess... jude the obscure (another hardy book) - i've always felt thomas hardy had the ability to make me slice my own throat! (not that he's bad - just so depressing!)
Hardy is depressing but such an amazing writer. I've read Jude as well (cos of my course) but did not feel the strange affinity i did with Tess.
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