Thomas Hardy
Born 2 June 1840 · Died 11 January 1928
From Dorchester, England, United Kingdom · Nationality: United Kingdom · Writes fiction
Thomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet of the naturalist movement, although in several poems he displays elements of the previous romantic and enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.
While he regarded himself primarily as a poet who composed novels mainly for financial gain, during his lifetime he was much better known for his novels, such as Tess of the d'Urbervilles and Far from the Madding Crowd, which earned him a reputation as a great novelist. The bulk of his fictional works, initially published as serials in magazines, were set in the semi-fictional land of Wessex (based on the Dorchester region where he grew up) and explored tragic characters struggling against their passions and social circumstances.
Quotes
“The sovereign brilliancy of Sirius pierced the eye with a steely glitter, the star called Capella was yellow, Aldebaran and Betelgueux shone with a fiery red. To persons standing alone on a hill during a clear midnight such as this, the roll of the world eastward is almost a palpable movement.”
Far from the Madding Crowd, Chapter 2 “To dwellers in a wood almost every species of tree has its voice as well as its feature. At the passing of the breeze the fir-trees sob and moan no less distinctly than they rock; the holly whistles as it battles with itself; the ash hisses amid its quiverings; the beech rustles while its flat boughs rise and fall.”
Under the Greenwood Tree, Chapter 1 “Like the British Constitution, she owes her success in practice to her inconsistencies in principle.”
The Hand of Ethelberta, Chapter 9 “A novel is an impression, not an argument.”
Tess of the d'Urbervilles “Overhead the hollow stretch of whitish cloud shutting out the sky was as a tent which had the whole heath for its floor.”
The Return of the Native, Chapter 1
Quotes from Wikiquote (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Books by Thomas Hardy in order
Books by Thomas Hardy in the order they were published, from Desperate Remedies (1871) to Woman Much Missed (2015).
- 1Desperate Remedies
Desperate Remedies1871 - 2Under the Greenwood Tree
Under the Greenwood Tree1872 - 3A Pair of Blue Eyes
A Pair of Blue Eyes1873 - 4Far from the Madding Crowd
Far from the Madding Crowd1874 - 5The Hand of Ethelberta
The Hand of Ethelberta1876 - 6The Return of the Native
The Return of the Native1878 - 7The Trumpet-major, John Loveday, a Soldier in the War with B
The Trumpet-major, John Loveday, a Soldier in the War with Buonaparte, and Robert His Brother, First Mate in the Merchant Service1880 - 8Two on a Tower
Two on a Tower1882 - 9The Mayor of Casterbridge
The Mayor of Casterbridge1886 - 10The Woodlanders
The Woodlanders1887 - 11Wessex Tales
Wessex Tales1888 - 12Poems of the Past and the Present
Poems of the Past and the Present1889 - 13A Group of Noble Dames
A Group of Noble Dames1891 - 14Tess of the d'Urbervilles
Tess of the d'Urbervilles1891 - 15Life's Little Ironies
Life's Little Ironies1894 - 16Jude the Obscure
Jude the Obscure1895 - 17The Well-beloved
The Well-beloved1897 - 18The Three Strangers
The Three Strangers1900 - 19The Dynasts
The Dynasts1904 - 20Collected Short Stories
Collected Short Stories1913 - 21Life and Art
Life and Art1921 - 22The Oxford Bookworms Library: Stage 5
The Oxford Bookworms Library: Stage 52000 - 23Oxford Bookworms Library
Oxford Bookworms Library2004 - 24Woman Much Missed
Woman Much Missed2015