The Mayor of Casterbridge

THE MAYOR OF CASTERBRIDGE BOOK REVIEW

I chose the Mayor of Casterbridge to be my second divulgence in the world of Thomas Hardy. It follows the path of a Greek Tragedy, with the tragic figure Henchard leading the way. Henchard, as a creation, is very much the star of the book. Through his actions alone (he sold his wife, he threatened to kill his future son-in-law, he lied that his non-biological daughter was dead in order to fend her biological father away), any decent person would be shocked and disgusted. But, Hardy manages to paint a character way too complex to just be labelled as 'a baddie'. Henchard has an unforgiving need to be loved, and loves others fiercely, though he struggles to show it. He is incredibly impulsive, prone to jealousy and fits of anger, but, knowing of this flaw, throughout the novel he tries to control himself and inflicts punishments upon himself for his wrongs, acting rather like the repenting sinner. An example of this is seen in how he remains sober for over 20 years as punishment for his wrongdoing in selling his wife and how he marries Susan to pay for his earlier failings despite not loving her, as seen in: 'Nobody would have conceived from his outward demeanour that there was no amatory fire or pulse of romance acting as stimulant to the bustle going on in his gaunt, great house; nothing but three large resolves: one to make amends to his neglected Susan, another to provide a comfortable home for Elizabeth-Jane under his paternal eye; and a third to castigate himself with the thorns which these restitutory acts brought in their train.' Thus, the reader is not so quick to judge Henchard, for there is something incredibly human and real about him (after all who wouldn't be jealous with the seemingly perfect picture that is painted of Farfrae). He has his flaws, but he also shows great kindness and charity to many. The Mayor of Casterbridge does undoubtedly follow the sequence of the Greek Tragedy. Henchard's 'hamartia', or main flaw, is his inescapable need to be loved and to be loved. His agnorisis, or moment of recognition, comes when he realises that Elizabeth-Jane is not in fact his actual daughter, and this leads to his peripeteia, as he chooses to solely focus on Lucetta (with disastrous consequences), as his 'daughter's' presence pains him, and he cannot love her. The catharsis of the novel occurs at the end, as Henchard passes away. At this point in the novel he's finally free from the pains of life and before leaving, has left to his 'daughter' a token of his love, at last revealing some of his emotion and receiving a redemption of sorts in the eyes of those dearest to him. The character Henchard is much summed up in the line 'he had not expressed to her any regrets or excuses for what he had done in the past; but it was a part of his nature to extenuate nothing, and live on as one of his own worst accusers'. 

Other commendable themes and aspects of the novel as the stellar descriptions of the British countryside throughout (similarly seen in the other Hardy novel I have read Tess of the D'Ubervilles) as the reader is almost physically brought into the fields and hills. The gossipy culture of the countryside town is also played on strongly, but perhaps the most interesting area of this description is that of the Roman roots of Casterbridge, which is richly played on. The amphitheater of times past, for instance, plays a part in many of the play's crucial transactions. The 'Roman' soil of times past contrasts strongly with the overriding sense of change in the novel. The funfair at which Henchard did his first wrong (by selling wife) has long fell out of existence by the novel's end, the industrial revolution is gaining momentum and farming is advancing rapidly (a new, modern version of the plough crops up in the novel also, causing much speculation). Characters such as Elizabeth Jane are able to adapt, and so survive this change, those such as Henchard (who coincidentally disapproves of this new plough), cannot (thus he dies at the end of the novel). 

My only complaint for this excellent novel is the lack of strong female characters - please do allow some consideration for how I'm viewing the novel through the mindset of a citizen in the 21st century. Lucetta's value of a character extends little beyond face value, whilst Elizabeth-Jane seems to be the definition of subservience (without complaint accepting maltreatment from Henchard and barely battering an eyelid after being pushed aside by Farfrae in favour of Lucetta - she later accepts being his second choice later on). Yes, her sensible and measured approach to life can be commended, but, for much of the novel she seems to be a spare part, irrelevant. Indeed, she only crops up at the end, in my opinion, to tick the 'rags to riches' box that seems to be compulsory for most novels of the period.

Overall the Mayor of Casterbridge is an exemplary addition to Hardy's collection, with (mostly) fascinatingly complex characters, beautiful descriptions and useful morals. 

The Best Short Stories of Fyodor Dostoevsky

The Best Short Stories of Fyodor Dostoevsky

Fyodor Dostoevsky 

This eclectic selection is, in my opinion, a great starting point for anyone who is looking to ingratiate themselves with the legend that is Dostoevsky. Nietzsche once called him, 'the only psychologist from which I had something to learn' and indeed, the portrayal of  the human condition throughout the tales is breathtaking. DBC Pierre could not have been more 'en pointe' when he termed Dostoevsky's observations as being 'acute and universal. Frequent themes throughout the striking septet of stories in the collection I read were the dangers of excessive pride (one literary critic went as far to say that the protagonist's in the stories can be arranged in terms of their abundance of the stuff) and the loss of reality one gains when being encompassed by their dreams. The cold and desolate setting and equally cold and desolate people really bring about a harshness and cruel image of Russian life, yet regardless of the fact that the heap of these tales may result in momentary depression after reading, they are well worth the pain! 

Personal highlights for me were White Nights, Notes from the Underground and A Gentle Creature. To start, White Nights, a rather simple story really of a dreamer experiencing one genuine moment of beauty in his life. Dostoevsky is quick to define what exactly a 'dreamer' is, a dreamer being a 'creature of the neuter gender' who 'settles mostly in some inaccessible place' sticking to the place 'like a snail'. This unidentified dreamer spends much of his time walking about the streets of Saint Petersburg in a daze, via some sort of emotional intuition knowing the beating heart of the city, without formally knowing any of its inhabitants. The aforementioned moment of genuine beauty comes when he stumbles across a maiden called Natenska. She gives him a sort of salvation, a cleansing, as he is finally able to reveal his innermost thoughts to someone. These thoughts and planned conversations have been bottled up for years waiting for him to come out so that the dreamers eventually explanation is rather fluid and well phrased, like a book. There is a particular sense of ambiance drench through the whole tale, but one particular passage was especially striking for me. 

This passage came as the dreamer described the mechanics of imagination and the like. Once a dreamer gradually falls into the void of a dream a 'castle in the air comes crumbling noiselessly around [them]' and their imagination 'catches fire, burning gently at first' but then begins to '[flare] up fitfully'. This impassioned outburst of imagination, paralysing the individual in whatever practical task is at hand for them highlights the main moral of the story. Imagination and dreaming are beautiful, incredible things but, in the rather Forsterian suggestion of 'only connect', one can't allow them to run ones life. A balance is needed between the vast, expansive plains of imagination and the cramped, contained space of one's office. Dreaming, human connection and practicals need to be balanced in order to even have a chance at genuine happiness. 

The other two highlights for me were Notes from the Underground, the story of an individual 'intoxicated with spite' and A Gentle Creature. The former follows the whims of a bitter, horrid, passive aggressive protagonist, an antihero if there ever was one. The reader firstly has to endure his rather extreme and incredibly pretentious views on pressing issues in life, that the 'insects' that make up most of the populace won't be able to compute. This is a case of excessive pride if there ever were one, indeed the protagonist secluded in his flat boasts of how he 'refuse[d] medical treatment out of spite'. For the second half the reader is invited to an explanation for his current pitiful state as we hear of his harsh dealings with old school friends and a prostitute. The similarly depressing A Gentle Creature follows a wife who refuses to withdraw her pride and be ruled over her husband, thus the expanse of years of painful marriage that succeed her lead to her eventual suicide. Both of these tales follow Dostoevsky's philosophy as suggested in the quote 'much unhappiness has come into the world because of bewilderment and things left unsaid'. 

To conclude, I simply make a plea for those yet to read a work by the master of the human condition to do so. To finish a piece of food for thought by the man himself, of which there are so many:

'Man only likes to count his troubles, but he does not count his joys.'