I'm currently reading Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy. I probably should have read something by Mr. Hardy prior to this point, but I haven't. Although I'm only just over halfway through it, he'd have to do something really screwy to make me not a fan. It's considered a classic, and so far I would rate it worthy.
What has impressed me most about Hardy's style is his great way of describing a character's feelings or setting the emotional tone of a scene. His choice of words and wry observations make his writing easy to relate to. Set in one of my favorite time periods for writing, the 1800's, this story demonstrates again that human behavior doesn't vary much from era to era.
Here are a few examples. Hope you enjoy!
- Mr. Fray here drew up his features to the mild degree of melancholy required when the persons involved in the given misfortune do not belong to your own family.
- Silence has sometimes a remarkable power of showing itself as the disembodied soul of feeling wandering without its carcase, and it is then more impressive than speech. In the same way, to say a little is often to tell more than to say a great deal.
- He brimmed with deep feeling as he replied in a steady voice, the steadiness of which was spoilt by the palpableness of his great effort to keep it so.
- For a moment Boldwood stood so inertly after this that his soul seemed to have been entirely exhaled with the breath of his passionate words.
