Today I completed reading Tess of the D’Urbervilles. It is, plainly speaking, the most well written book I’ve had the chance to read, and I thank the person who recommended it, and indeed lent me a copy it. However, it is a book that is hard to enjoy, simply because the plot is so tragic; the heroine’s lot in life is one of hardship and utter sadness. Having said that, though, I fell in love with Thomas Hardy’s style of writing from the very first page:
On an evening in the latter part of May a middle-aged man was walking homeward from Shaston to the village of Marlott, in the adjoining Vale of Blakemore or Blackmoor. The pair of legs that carried him were rickety, and there was a bias in his gait which inclined him somewhat to the left of a straight line. He occassionally gave a smart nod, as if in confirmation of some opinion, though he was not thinking of anything in particular…
But perhaps the best aspect of Hardy’s writing, in Tess at least, is his character descriptions. One gets the feeling that Hardy knows how people think, and his mastery of the English language allows him to relate the personalities of each of the characters he created with astounding clarity; unless, of course, he chose deliberately to create ambiguity in the character. The heroine, Tess, is the prime example of this. Hardy gives the impression of having studied the complexities of human nature for quite some time.
I find myself launching into a book review, even though I promised myself I wouldn’t because it takes something away from having read it. So I’ll stop here. I zipped through the book as I found it un-put-downable, despite its depressing plot. My reading list will most definitely be updated to include more Thomas Hardy novels. Having finished one book, I now begin another: Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine.
SEM’s parents arrived in Brisbane yesterday after seeing Sydney, Uluru and Kakadu. Nigel picked them up from the airport. They stayed with us for the night, but have relocated to a hotel in the CBD. Although they don’t speak much English, and I don’t speak much French (read as "I speak no French"), we were able to communicate quite well by arm waving and whatnot. SEM’s father was especially keen to chat with us about Australia, France, IT and nuclear power stations (he is employed by one). I must say I thoroughly enjoyed his company for the short time he was here. They gave me a copy of Le Petit Prince, which I mentioned in casual conversation to SEM once a while back. Nige was given a French comic book. We are determined to read through these books no matter how long it takes! Or we could just get SEM to translate them for us, but that wouldn’t be much fun. In addition, they left us a brochure-cum-map of the area of France in which they live. They live in a small town called Vaux-en-Bugey, which is between Lyon and the French-Swiss border. It looks like exactly the kind of quaint little village that I adore. SEM and her parents will be leaving for Cairns on Monday, and will also visit some other points along the Queensland coast.
