Tess of the D'Ubervilles/Babylon Revisited/Siblings

Tess of the D'Ubervilles/Babylon Revisited/Siblings

Still fed up with the overload of saccharine sweetness that one receives when reading several Dickens books at once, I decided to continue my current dark reading patterns by reading Tess of the D'Ubervilles by Hardy. A truly shocking book indeed, showcasing the tragic injustice of Victorian rural England against a young, naive dame whose naivety led to her rape by her 'cousin' and 'benefactor' Alec D'Uberville. What follows is an unrelenting turn of failure, unhappiness and ruin. From a family crippled by poverty, Tess is forced to find her own way in the world ending up at a far away dairy farm. Things seem to get gradually better, she meets the love of her life Mr Angel Clare, but her 'sin' in the rape is something that will continue to haunt her and eventually lead to her ruin. A candid tale that oversees the decay of a blossoming young lady who aspires to be a teacher to a desultory and lackadaisical wreck. All Tess wants is to have a family and settle down, living an inoffensive life, making the tale all the more heart-wrenching. The tale occurs over the space of many years and thus one can see Tess grow as a character learning from her hardships but also losing hope. Hardy's vivid description of the harsh English countryside and the biting cold throughout increases the sadness one gets from this read, though in reflection I found it a relatively easy read, mostly because there was always the faint glimmer of hope that events may end up well for Tess. Tess of the D'Ubervilles does indeed spur up many debates, at the time of release many readers were shocked as it challenged the sexual ethics of the time, many see it as a feminist tale whilst others argue the opposite. The argument that comes to mind most easily for me is whether Tess condemned herself to suffering. She decides that as she is the victim in the situation she'll play the victim and not at all try to sort out the situation, at times I did find this rather irritating and minutely 'Kingshaw-esque' (those who have read Susan Hill's I'm The King of the Castle will understand this). I do strongly recommend Tess with all the complex characters (from the insipid Alec D'Uberville to the loyal Marion, Retty and Izzie) and the unforeseeable tale yet be warned upon finishing you'll find your spirits rather down as a result.

Indeed having finished Hardy's epic, with an unquenchable thirst for something more cheerful to read I rushed over to 'Babylon Revisited' (a collection of short stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald of the Great Gatsby Fame). How foolish I was... The main tale itself was fine, a sorrowful story, of a man who having sobered up from the glamorous and decadent 1920s, is now struggling to gain custody of his daughter. But the operose tale of The Cut Glass Bowl which glances over the loss of youth and family was a different thing altogether. It follows Evelyn Piper, a former young beauty approaching middle age who was once given a cut glass bowl by a former enemy, the passive piece of furniture is ode to her beauty yet also her hardness, her simple nature and lack of substance. The tale follows around 20 years of her life where the piece haunts her life and eventually her death. I would also recommend this eclectic selection of tales, a quick half an hour read, with major themes of the recovery from the pompous 1920 American lifestyle and the decay of material possessions.

Lastly, I end on what is possible the most easily unlikeable TV show I've ever seen, Siblings. It consists of two lazy and bratty 20 somethings, Hannah and Dan, who are brother and sister. Despite the first few episodes being incredibly predictable and annoying, I implore perseverance, the third episode of the series is ingenious.