Thomas Hardy

John Durbeyfield, padre de siete hijos, haragán y borrachín, se entera un buen día de que su apellido es en realidad una deformación de dUrberville, un noble linaje normando que se remonta a los tiempos de Guillermo el Conquistador. Con este inesperado h

Una novela sobre el amor, la razón y las clases sociales. Introducción y traducción de Damià Alou, profesor en la Universidad de Pomeu Fabra Unos ojos azules se desarrolla en torno a la consideració

En una feria de ganado, un hombre borracho vende en pública subasta por cinco guineas a su mujer y a su hija -un bebé de meses- a un marinero. Al día siguiente, resacoso y avergonzado, jura ante Dios que no volvera a beber. Dieciocho años mas tarde, es un prospero comerciante agricola y una figura respetada de la comunidad de Casterbridge y una mujer y una muchacha se presentan ante el como la esposa y la hija que vendio.

Thomas Hardy está considerado uno de los grandes novelistas de su tiempo, pero despues de que críticos y lectores de su epoca le dieran la espalda a su ficción narrativa por considerarla demasiado incisiva, se refugio en su vieja pasion: la poesia. Hardy combina un gusto por los paisajes del xix (con sus brumas y fantasmas) y los ambientes rurales con un estilo seco y templado que influira decisivamente en poetas tan modernos como Larkin, Auden o Hughes. Su poesia prolonga algunos de los temas mas queridos de su literatura como la ambicion o la catastrofe. Pero si por algo destaca es por la exploracion de la gama completa de los sentimientos amorosos (del extasis al abandono) con una complejidad y crudeza ineditas. El presente volumen ofrece al lector una antologia que cubre una extensa parte de su obra poetica en la excelente traduccion de Xandru Fernandez.

Lady Constantine se aburre en su finca del suroeste de Inglaterra por la ausencia de su marido, hasta que un día, en una torre de la heredad, conoce a Swithin St Cleeve, diez años más joven que ella, de posicion social inferior, muy atractivo y estudiante de astronomia. Esa torre se convertira en el centro de su romance secreto, pero enseguida el mundo exterior empezara a interponerse entre ellos. "Dos en una torre" es una arrebatadora novela de Thomas Hardy en la que las constantes de su obra (la estrechez moral de la sociedad, la desigualdad entre los sexos, la rebeldia femenina y su derecho a elegir) vuelven a estar presentes y la inmensidad del universo que Swithin recorre con su telescopio contrasta con la pequeñez y mezquindad de la vida en la tierra.

Tess of the d''Urberville''s tell the story of Poor farmer Durbeyfield who is told by the village parson that he has noble relatives : the D''Urbervilles. His wife decides to send their daughter Tess to them in order to make a claim on their family''s ancestral home in Wessex. Alec D''Urberville, the son of the squire, gives the girl a job but he also seduces her.

Independent and spirited Bathsheba Everdene has come to Weatherbury to take up her position as a farmer on the largest estate in the area. Her bold presence draws three very different suitors: the gentleman-farmer Boldwood, soldier-seducer Sergeant Troy and the devoted shepherd Gabriel Oak. Each, in contrasting ways, unsettles her decisions and complicates her life, and tragedy ensues, threatening the stability of the whole community. The first of his works set in Wessex, Hardy's novel of swift passion and slow courtship is imbued with his evocative descriptions of rural life and landscapes, and with unflinching honesty about sexual relationships.

Con Lejos del mundanal ruido (1874), reeditada ahora después de mucho tiempo en una nueva traducción, Thomas Hardy alcanzó su primer gran éxito, y también la que quizá sea la más amable de sus obras maestras. El autor nos hace un formidable retrato de una heroina victoriana que sabe que lo dificil para una mujer definir sus sentimientos en un lenguaje creado principalmente por el hombre para expresar los suyos. De caracter fuerte e independiente, esta heroina, joven propietaria de la mayor granja de su localidad, esta en situacion de elegir entre los tres pretendientes que la rondan. Al elegir descubrira en poco tiempo que ha renunciado la la sencillez de la vida de soltera para convertirse en la humilde mitad de un indiferente todo matrimonial.

Publicada en 1891, Tess, la de los d'Urberville retrata la vida rural del sur de Inglaterra a través de la figura de la protagonista, descendiente de una familia aristocrática empobrecida. Forzada por un aristocrata y condenada por una sociedad de moral estricta, Tess se rebela contra el destino que se le impone guiada por su innata independencia, su incapacidad de comprender el doble rasero con el que se juzga la conducta de los sexos y, sobre todo, por su invencible deseo de alcanzar la felicidad. Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) fue uno de los principales escritores de la Inglaterra victoriana. Sus novelas, entre las que destacan, aparte de Tess, Jude el oscuro, Dos en una torre -ambas publicadas en Alianza Editorial- y El regreso del nativo, estan llenas de fuerza y pasion, y suelen contraponer el medio rural con el urbano y fabril, y al individuo con la sociedad que lo rodea.

Los músicos de la parroquia de Mellstock, orgullosos de su arte, ven peligrar su continuidad cuando el nuevo párroco compra un órgano para la iglesia que supone reemplazarlos. Las razones del párroco para esta novedad no son solamente musicales: la oportunidad de tener cerca a la que sera la joven organista, Fancy Day, ha pesado en su decision. Pero a la señorita Day la rondan otros dos pretendientes, el hacendado Shiner y el joven Dick Dewy, hijo del buhonero. Bajo la verde fronda (1872), segunda novela de Thomas Hardy, cuenta con un narrador simpatico y cordial que parece que comparte escena con los personajes.

Hardy escribe una sensual novela con una seductora heroína y un crimen sin resolverCytherea Graye es una joven criada que descubre que su enamorado, Edward, está prometido con otra, por lo que decide aceptar la peticion de matrimonio del oscuro y seductor Aeneas Manston. Para su horror, Cytherea descubrira que su marido habia asesinado a su primera esposa. Despues de no pocas peripecias, equivocos y buenas dosis de peligro, y con la ayuda de su extravagante patrona, la señorita Aldclyffe, Cytherea queda libre para casarse con su verdadero amor. Un delicioso retrato de la campiña inglesa, escrito a la manera de Wilkie Collins, con las sutiles pinceladas sexuales que caracterizan la prosa de Hardy.Misterio y suspense, ilegitimidad, bigamia, asesinatos: la primera novela de Hardy es cautivadoraTHE GUARDIANUna novela deliciosa en la tradicion de Wilkie CollinsTHE VICTORIAN WEBUna joya llena de intriga del maestro Thomas HardyTHE TIMES

Este volumen reúne los cuatro libros de cuentos que Thomas Hardy publicó en vida –Cuentos de Wessex, Un grupo de nobles damas, Pequeñas ironías de la vida y Un hombre cambiado y otros relatos– más al

The novel follows the activities of a group of west gallery musicians, the Mellstock parish choir, one of whom, Dick Dewy, becomes romantically entangled with a comely new village schoolmistress, Fancy Day.The novel opens with the fiddlers and singers of the choir including Dick, his father Reuben Dewy, and grandfather William Dewy making the rounds in Mellstock village on Christmas Eve. When the little band plays at the schoolhouse, young Dick falls for Fancy at first sight. Dick, smitten, seeks to insinuate himself into her life and affections, but Fancys beauty has gained her other suitors including Shiner, a rich farmer, and Mr Maybold, the new vicar at the parish church.

A Changed Man and Other Tales is a collection of twelve tales written by Thomas Hardy. The collection was originally published in book form in 1913,[1] although all of the tales had been previously published in newspapers or magazines from 1881 to 1900.[2] There are eleven short stories and a novella The Romantic Adventures of a Milkmaid. At the end of the book there is a map of the imaginary Wessex of Hardys novels and poems.[3] Six of the stories were published before 1891 and therefore lacked international copyright protection when the collection began to be sold in October 1913 (font: Wikipedia)

A Novel By the author of " Far from the Madding Crowd,""A Pair of Blue Eyes," etc."A valuable accession tothe ranks of modern novel writing authors. . . Not only quick observations and sparkling humor, and true moral instinct, but a delicate and subtle analysis of varieties of character and moods of feeling, a poets sympathy with human passion, and an artists eye for every aspect of nature." London Spectator"A remarkable story. . . . The plot is worked out with abundant skill, but the essence of the book is precisely what it ought to be, namely, the evolution of character. . . His deserts are of no ordinary kind." London Saturday Review."The characters of the story are often exceedingly good. The construction of tile story is very curious. "-London Athenaeum.

Like " Tess of the DUrbervilles," the story of "Jude the Obscure" is a manifestation of the authors later mannera manner which is a natural and almost inevitable development in a writer who possesses Mr. Hardys extraordinary capacity for observation, profound knowledge of human nature, and philosophical ideas concerning the problem of existence. Mr. Hardy has never been an author to write novels merely for the purpose of providing entertainment, or for illustrating in more or less persuasive form some preconceived didactic proposition. He has been content to take men and women as they are, and no one in English fictionpossibly no one in the whole range of modern literaturehas been able to surpass him in depicting the reaction of circumstances upon character. In this carefully reasoned, closely woven narrative of " Jude the Obscure" he sets before us the entirely natural and consistent experiences of two sensitive and impulsive creatures, who have been profoundly and disastrously affected by the changes in popular thought regarding ideals of religious faith and personal conduct; who, yielding to their thoroughly undisciplined emotions, work out for themselves a destiny full of bitterness and sorrow. It has been said that Mr. Hardy is not a writer to work on preconceived theories,but he certainly has some effective doctrines regarding the behavior of the two sexes under similar conditions, and when one comes to analyze this story one finds that a settled conviction underlies its entire texture, and this conviction is that misfortunes and disappointments, which soften the heart of man and tend to make him more considerate and charitable in his dealings with his fellows, have as a rule a contrary effect upon the heart of a woman.

Young Tess Durbeyfield attempts to restore her familys fortunes by claiming their connection with the aristocratic dUrbervilles. But Alec dUrberville is a rich wastrel who seduces her and makes her life miserable. When Tess meets Angel Clare, she is offered true love and happiness, but her past catches up with her and she faces an agonizing moral choice.Hardys indictment of societys double standards, and his depiction of Tess as "a pure woman," caused controversy in his day and has held the imagination of readers ever since. Hardy thought it his finest novel, and Tess the most deeply felt character he ever created.

Far from the Madding Crowd was the first of Hardys novels to apply the name of Wessex to the landscape of south-west England, and the first to gain him widespread popularity as a novelist. When the beautiful and spirited Bathsheba Everdene inherits her own farm, she attracts three very different suitors; the seemingly commonplace man-of-the-soil Gabriel Oak, the dashing young soldier Francis Troy, and the respectable, middle-aged Farmer Boldwood. Her choice, and the tragedy it provokes, lie at the centre of Hardys ambivalent story.

Here you will find the complete novels of Thomas Hardy in the chronological order of their original publication.- Desperate Remedies- Under the Greenwood Tree- A Pair of Blue Eyes- Far from the Madding Crowd- The Hand of Ethelberta- The Return of the Native- The Trumpet-Major- A Laodicean: a Story of To-day- Two on a Tower- The Romantic Adventures of a Milkmaid- The Mayor of Casterbridge- The Woodlanders- Tess of the dUrbervilles- Lifes Little Ironies- Jude the ObscureIncludes Bonus two short stories- The Great English Short-Story Writers, Vol. 1- The Three Strangers