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don’t suppose any of you have been watching this series on Sunday nights? was quite sceptical about it at first [so many adaptations and films of it over the years]..my daughter and I have been wallowing in misery for the past 3 weeks watching it..however, think it has been most excellent and has gone further than any other adaptaion in explaining why Angel behaved to way that he did…….however, daughter and I still both prefer Alec, the bad guy..we never learn……
I enjoyed this series very much, Moe, but relieved that it’s ended. Tess must be one of the most tragic, pitiful characters in literature and was quite draining on me by the end.
Hoping to see Brideshead Revisited this week, I didn’t see the original on t.v. did you?
Hardy is my favourite author by a distance; the hallmark starkness, tragedy and misery is a heavenly wallow for the melencholic.
So this latest adaption of Tess… has been dvd’d and come a suitible gloomy leaf-plummeting Sunday afternoon in November all four hours will be relished in one sitting, or rather lying on the settee wrapped in a blanket.
Thanks for the positive reviews ladies
Why yet another screen version of this tale though?
I wish Auntie would give ‘Return of the Native’ or ‘Jude the Obscure’ a bash
still feeling miserable, but luckily one of our patients this morning had been watching it so at least was able to have a chat about it! in my mis spent youth I lived in Boscastle for a while..my favourite walk was through the Valency Valley up to Minster Church; I always used to imagine Thomas Hardy and his wife to be Emma Gifford walking there….having gone through 4 weeks of misery I think I’m going to get the dvd [or may catch previous episodes on BBC i] because there were certain conversations in earlier episodes that were relevent to later events. I loved the series that was on ITV a few years ago, and was determined not to like this one [too soon after Lark Rise perhaps and kept expecting Tess’s mum to turn into Dawn French] but, as I said, it was superb..now, I don’t understand what sort of women men find attractive but the girl who played Tess was, in my opinion, mind numbingly beautiful,I thought the BBC did Jude many years ago [with Robert Powell], but the film with Kate Winslett was very good. I think, of all of his heroines, Hardy was in love with Tess..as someone once said ‘he wrote great parts for women but, boy, did he make them suffer for it!’ Yes, UM, I am, unfortunately old enough to remember Brideshead..the film hasn’t had the best of reviews..annoyingly BBC 4 had a night of programmes about Waugh [who I know very little about] but I fell asleep when they were on [it’s my age]. Most memorable series ever was Love for Lydia..think everyone in the country was hooked on that..just off to wallow a bit more…
‘Tess’ is my favourite Thomas Hardy novel. He dealt with very dark themes and was writing about subjects that most authors of that period wouldn’t touch upon.
There was a very good documentary on BBC recently about his life ( he wasn’t very nice to his wife apparently ) which explored and tried to explain the motivation behind his works. He was also a very good poet.
That said, Dickens ( who also wasn’t very nice to his wife, apparently
) is my favourite author.Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning
I read once that, when Hardy’s heart was removed to be buried in Dorset the cat ate it, so they killed the cat and buried it as well; how true it is I don’t know, but how Hardyesque if it is..the documentary was very good; there was/is a lot of witchcraft in that part of Cornwall which adds to the atmosphere and mystery of the place….I was always told not to go by Minster Church [which is very close to St. Juliots] at night.
I thought the film version of Jude was astonishingly good.
Obviously Hardy isn’t a gag a minute merchant, but my goodness, Jude brings a new meaning to ‘darkness.’
A young Christopher Eccleston and even younger Kate Winslett are absolutely brilliant in it.
Believe it or not it was actually a ‘date’ movie for me……
… we’re still together!
I think the BBC are now planning to do The Return of the Native, so it’s next stop Egdon Heath….how lucky are we to have tv programmes like this..I’m loving the BBC 4 series on the railways at the moment…and Big Cat Live. Hardy didn’t write another novel after Jude, did he, because of the public outcry at the time…
how lucky are we to have tv programmes like this…
Quite. BBC2 and BBC4 justify the license fee on their own for me, even if some of the other channels fall some way short on occasion.
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
I enjoyed it- Tess, the murderous slut, who only bothered with her parents and sister when it suited her- getting her just deserts.
I assume the last episode didn’t make you cry then??!
I may have felt sorry for Angel at the end-If it was not for the fact that it was obvious that he was going to end up shagging Tess’s sister.
I think the BBC are now planning to do The Return of the Native, so it’s next stop Egdon Heath….
Pleased to hear that
The opening chapter: ‘A face on which Time makes but Little Impression’ is an extraordinarily atmospheric portrayal of autumnal decay and the desolate beauty of nature in the raw…
…followed by the abrupt volte-face of chapter two: ‘Humanity appears upon the Scene, Hand in Hand with Trouble’
’twas ever the case
So many people I know didn’t watch it so I’m getting the dvd so I can lend it to everybody…have just brought the book back from my daughters; I haven’t read Hardy for more years than I care to remember, but I’ve just read the chapter where poor Sorrow dies and it’s pure poetry
I think the BBC are now planning to do The Return of the Native, so it’s next stop Egdon Heath….
Pleased to hear that
The opening chapter: ‘A face on which Time makes but Little Impression’ is an extraordinarily atmospheric portrayal of autumnal decay and the desolate beauty of nature in the raw…
The opening lines of course featured in a Monty Python sketch called "Novel Writing" (or similar), covered in the style of a cricket commentary.
The opening lines of course featured in a Monty Python sketch called "Novel Writing" (or similar), covered in the style of a cricket commentary.
That’ll be…
[orchestral score]
Anouncer: And now it’s time for Novel Writing, which today come from the west country in Dorset.
Commentator: Hello, and welcome to Dorchester, where a very good crowd has turned out to watch local boy Thomas Hardy write his new novel "The Return Of The Native", on this very pleasant July morning. This will be his eleventh novel and the fifth of the very popular Wessex novels,
And here he comes! Here comes Hardy, walking out towards his desk. He looks confident, he looks relaxed, very much the man in form, as he acknowledges this very good natured bank holliday crowd.
And the crowd goes quiet now, as Hardy settles himself down at the desk, body straight, shoulders relaxed, pen held lightly but firmly in the right hand. He dips the pen…in the ink, and he’s off! It’s the first word, but it’s not a word – oh, no! – it’s a doodle. Way up on the top of the lefthand margin is a piece of meaningless scribble – and he’s signed his name underneath it! Oh dear, what a disapointing start.
But he’s off again – and here he goes – the first word of Thomas Hardy’s new novel, at ten thirty-five on this very lovely morning, it’s three letters, it’s the definite article, and it’s "The". Dennis.
Dennis: Well, this is true to form, no surprises there. He’s started five of his eleven novels to date with the definite article. We had two of them with "It", there’s been one "But", two "At"s, one "On" and a "Dolores", but that of course was never published.
Commentator: I’m sorry to interrupt you there, Dennis, but he’s crossed it out. Thomas Hardy, here on the first day of his new novel, has crossed out the only word he has written so far, and he’s gazing off into space.
Oh, ohh, there he signed his name again.
Dennis: It looks like "Tess of the D’Urbervilles" all over again.
Commentator: But he’s…no, he’s down again and writting, Dennis, he’s written "B" again, he’s crossed it out again, and he has written "A" – and there is a second word coming up straight away, and it’s "Sat" – "A Sat" – doesn’t make sense – "A Satur" – "A Saturday" – it’s "A Saturday", and the crowd are loving it, they are really enjoying this novel.
And it’s "afternoon", it’s "Saturday afternoon", a comfortable beginning, and he’s straight on to the next word – it’s "in" – "A Saturday afternoon in" – "in" – "in" "in Nov" – "November" – November is spelled wrong, he’s left out the second "E", but he’s not going back, it looks like he’s going for the sentence, and it’s the first verb coming up – it’s the first verb of the novel, and it’s "was", and the crowd are going wild!
"A Saturday afternoon in November was", and a long word here – "appro" – "appro" – is it a "approving"? – no, it’s "approaching" – "approaching" – "A Saturday afternoon in November was approaching" – and he’s done the definite article "but" again.
And he’s writing fluently, easily with flowing strokes of the pen, as he comes up to the middle of this first sentence. And with this eleventh novel well underway, and the prospects of a good days writing ahead, back to the studio.
***
[Later: library music]
Announcer: And now it’s time for "Wasp Club" introduced as usual by Ronny Thompson.
Ronny: Hello and welcome to Wasp Club, where we….
Announcer: We interrupt this sketch to take you straight back to Novel writing from Dorchester and the latest news about that opening sentence
[loud crowd noise in background]
Commentator: Well, the noise you can hear is because Hardy has just completed his first sentence and it’s a real cracker!
Just listen to this. "A Saturday afternoon in November was approaching the time of twilight and the vast track of unenclosed wild knows as Egden Heath enbrowned itself moment by moment." and that after only three hours of writing. What a Hardy-esque cracker…
Announcer: Well, Ronny Thompson will be back with more of Wasp Club when he is all better. Meanwhile, here is Jeremy Burke with a new series of Tiger Club.
[intro music]
Announcer #2: "Tiger Club" introduced by Jeremy Burke.
Burke: Good evening. One of the main problems in keeping a Siberian tiger in an ordinary suburban..ahhh hooo… (yells) Oh, Christ! There’s a wasp in here!
[people running around trying to swat the wasp]
Burke: Quick, before he gets on the tiger! ….Oh, sh*t!
[yelling, general panic]
Announcer: Well, "Tiger Club" was introduced by [tiger roars] AAAAGGGHHH!!!!
Announcer #2: Before the next joke, there will be a short raspberry
[a short raspberry]
Announcer #2: And you will be able to hear that again… [wasp sound] OH!!!..oh!!… [running and yelling]
etc.
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
) is my favourite author.
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