A Changed Man and Other Tales

Thomas Hardy

The stories that make up The Changed Man were written at different points in Hardys life, but this collection was not published until 1913. Hardy wrote really excellent short stories many of his stories had the scope and complexity of a full-length novel. This collection of twelve stories; Tales of soldiers, shepherds, milkmaids and dukes often contain some elements of the creepy or supernatural to some extent.

A Group of Noble Dames

Thomas Hardy

A group of "local historians" of men comes together and tells each other stories about women from the past. All stories are connected with love, marriage to the wrong person and illegitimate children. This says a lot about how women looked at that time. Even those in abundance had very little influence and were often convicted of using it when they had a chance.

A Laodicean. A Story of To-Day

Thomas Hardy

Paula Power, daughter of a wealthy railroad tycoon, inherited De Stancy Castle, an ancient castle in need of modernization. She instructs a young London architect, George Somerset, to do this work. Somerset falls in love with Paulo. But Paula, the Laodicean title, referring to a person with a warm or indecisive soul, is torn between the admiration of George and the admiration of Captain de Stancy, whose romanticism in the old world contrasts with Somersets visionary gaze.

A Pair of Blue Eyes. A Novel

Thomas Hardy

The heroine of the novel is a young Elfrid. She can easily charm anyone with the look of her blue eyes. In her life, two appear, a young architect and an experienced writer. Former friends become rivals, and Elfrida is faced with a painful choice.

Desperate Remedies. A Novel

Thomas Hardy

Once upon a time there lived in the 19th century a charming young lady from a poor but proud family and a young ambitious gentleman in spirit, but not in origin. And now the boundaries of estates and welfare were ready to be erased under the pressure of the couples feelings and understanding of the girls parents that its not the age of her daughter to attract men and we need to work with what we have. However, the lady turned out to be capricious, fell into a hysteria and forced the family to rush off to hell, as soon as she heard about a marriage proposal from our hero.

Far from the Madding Crowd

Thomas Hardy

In the novel Far From the Crazed Crowd, Hardy reveals the great and eternal drama of the relationship between a man and a woman. At one time, the vivid, complicated story of the love triangle of the independent and proud Bathsheba, who inherited the farm in the wilderness of Northern England, the peasant Gabriel Oak and the alien from urban civilization sergeant Troy became a real literary scandal. Interestingly, Hardys novel is still considered scandalous and violates the foundations of the foundations of the current society. So how did Hardy manage to touch the strings of the souls of readers of three centuries?

Jude the Obscure

Thomas Hardy

Jude is a layman who is cursed by an even larger figure: a pre-feminist minx. In the case of Jude, being associated with a woman in the then strange double is a fatal flaw. And not just any woman: Sue Briadhead, a Bovarian double, is ambivalent, mean and not romantic. Of course, she alone would betray Judahs affection, break his heart. She is the sad queen of drama!

Szafirowe oczy

Thomas Hardy

W wiktoriańskiej Anglii miłość nie jest najważniejszym powodem, by wziąć ślub. Młoda i śliczna Elfride jest uwikłana w klasyczny trójkąt miłosny. Jej serce pała do ambitnego, lecz wywodzącego się z ubogiej rodziny Stephena. Ojciec dziewczyny nie chce jednak dopuścić do tak niepewnego kontraktu matrymonialnego. Zwłaszcza, że na horyzoncie pojawia się kolejny zalotnik - dużo starszy i dobrze usytuowany Henry Knight. Radio BBC 4 stworzyło na podstawie książki słuchowisko, gdzie w rolę Knighta wcielił się Jeremy Irons. Powieść powinna zainteresować miłośników "Lalki" Bolesława Prusa.

Tess of the dUrbervilles. A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented

Thomas Hardy

This story of temptation, love and betrayal formed the basis of the scripts of several film adaptations. The young beauty, the daughter of an impoverished descendant of an ancient aristocratic family, seemed to be created for happiness. But suffering persecutes Tess, she becomes a victim of the words of the voluptuous bourgeois, loses her child, experiences the betrayal of her husband... Once a victim is a victim for life! Such is the law! She says, but a riot ripens for her soul...

The Hand of Ethelberta. A Comedy in Chapters

Thomas Hardy

Hardys fifth novel, entitled "Comedy in Chapters." In a typical Hardy manner, the story is based on a love triangle. Ethelberta and her involuntary sister Picoti are in love with the same man, Christopher, who reciprocates Ethelbertas feelings. However, a happy result for them is out of the question, because it is poor.

The Mayor of Casterbridge. The Life and Death of a Man of Character

Thomas Hardy

The novel tells about a man with character and unusual fate. The life story of Michael Henchard, first a homeless worker, a haymaker, then the mayor of Casterbridge and a local rich man and again a farm laborer, involuntarily arouses interest in the intensity of events.

The Return of the Native

Thomas Hardy

Young beauty Eustace Way, passionate, self-willed, selfish and ambitious, eager to break out of the hateful rural outback into a different life, full of splendor, fun and pleasure. Meanwhile, after several years of service as a manager in a Paris jewelry salon, Clime Ibright returns to his Blooms End estate, who also wants to live a different life - to settle in his native land and open a school for the rural poor. Soon, Eustace and Klyme meet - and this meeting is destined to be fatal for both ...

The Trumpet-Major

Thomas Hardy

Hardys historical novel against the backdrop of the grandest Napoleonic wars tells about the love and sorrows of ordinary people who found themselves in unusual times. When the expected invasion brings several regiments to her small rural community, the young maid Anna Garland is looked after by three people in uniform: faithful trumpet major John Loveday, his sailor brother Bob, and the cowardly Festus Derriman of the cavalry of Yomanria.

The Well-Beloved. A Sketch of a Temperament

Thomas Hardy

"The Well-Beloved" complete the series of Hardys great novels, repeating his favorite themes of mans eternal pursuit of excellence both in love and in art, and the ensuing suffering, Jocelyn Pearston, a famous sculptor, tries to create the image of his ideal woman - his imagined Beloved - in stone, just as he tries to find her in the flesh. Powerful symbolism marks this romantic fantasy, which Hardy firmly substantiated in reality with a characteristic authentic display of the location, the Slinger Islands or Portland.

The Woodlanders

Thomas Hardy

The novel takes the reader to the very depths of rural England. The small village of Hintok, the scene of the novel, is so small that its even hard to find in the thicket of the forest, but this is where the tragedies of truly Sophocles greatness are played out. The reason for these tragedies is the clash of natural human characters preserved in the reserved wilderness of rural England.

Two on a Tower. A Romance

Thomas Hardy

The novel "Two on a Tower" is one of the most famous works of the author. An atmospheric, dynamic story throws the characters at the disposal of forces far beyond their control. Lady Viviet, violating all the rules of decency, falls in love with Cleve, who is not only below her in social status, but also the youngest by 10 years. In an ancient monument turned into an astronomical tower, the heroes create their own universe ...

Under the Greenwood Tree. A Rural Painting of the Dutch School

Thomas Hardy

This story began around Christmas, when a group of guys from the village of Melstock walked and sang carols. It was then that the cab driver Dick Dewey saw and fell in love at first sight with the new teacher Fancy Day who had just arrived. She is also looked after by a wealthy farmer Shiner, whom Father Day favors, and pastor Maybold, who considers himself the most suitable party for Fancy. But the story did not begin in vain on the fabulous days of Christmas - it will end festively.

Wessex Tales

Thomas Hardy

Wessex Tales contains seven stories, the first two of which are really very short the rest are much longer. In this collection, Hardy explored the familiar themes of marriage and rural life that we see in his novel. The Three Strangers is surprisingly atmospheric, with a delightful little twist, although, in short, this is a perfectly thought out little story, a small isolated cottage filled with locals to celebrate, inclement weather and the unexpected arrival of three strangers.

Z dala od zgiełku

Thomas Hardy

Wspaniały portret niezależnej kobiety, która potrafi wybrnąć nawet z pozornie nieodwracalnych skutków źle podjętych decyzji. Klasyczna i jedna z najlepszych powieści w dorobku autora, obrazowo ukazująca przesądy i zwyczaje małej wiejskiej społeczności. Dziewiętnastowieczna Anglia. Betsaba Everdene dziedziczy farmę po zmarłym wuju. Wszyscy oczekują, że wyjdzie za mąż i zajmie się dziećmi. Ale ona, silna i inteligentna, nie zamierza wiązać się z nikim bez miłości. Życie przyniesie wiele niespodzianek – nieoczywiste wybory, sercowe rozterki oraz pomyłki losu. Betsaba zrobi jednak wszystko, żeby znaleźć sobie miejsce w zmaskulinizowanym świecie. Uroda i niezależność dziewczyny przyciągają wszakże mężczyzn. O jej względy zabiega trzech całkowicie odmiennych kandydatów: oddany pasterz Gabriel Oak, sąsiad i szanowany farmer William Boldwood oraz sierżant królewskich dragonów, a przy tym kobieciarz i hulaka, Franciszek Troy. Relacje pomiędzy Betsabą a jej adoratorami stanowią podstawę studium wielu obliczy miłości – od tej szczerej i gorącej, po pozbawione skrupułów i skłonne do manipulacji uwielbienie. Książka o gwałtownej sile miłości i namiętności, która doczekała się dwóch głośnych ekranizacji kinowych.  

Z dala od zgiełku

Thomas Hardy

Wspaniały portret niezależnej kobiety, która potrafi wybrnąć nawet z pozornie nieodwracalnych skutków źle podjętych decyzji. Klasyczna i jedna z najlepszych powieści w dorobku autora, obrazowo ukazująca przesądy i zwyczaje małej wiejskiej społeczności. Dziewiętnastowieczna Anglia. Betsaba Everdene dziedziczy farmę po zmarłym wuju. Wszyscy oczekują, że wyjdzie za mąż i zajmie się dziećmi. Ale ona, silna i inteligentna, nie zamierza wiązać się z nikim bez miłości. Życie przyniesie wiele niespodzianek nieoczywiste wybory, sercowe rozterki oraz pomyłki losu. Betsaba zrobi jednak wszystko, żeby znaleźć sobie miejsce w zmaskulinizowanym świecie. Uroda i niezależność dziewczyny przyciągają wszakże mężczyzn. O jej względy zabiega trzech całkowicie odmiennych kandydatów: oddany pasterz Gabriel Oak, sąsiad i szanowany farmer William Boldwood oraz sierżant królewskich dragonów, a przy tym kobieciarz i hulaka, Franciszek Troy. Relacje pomiędzy Betsabą a jej adoratorami stanowią podstawę studium wielu obliczy miłości od tej szczerej i gorącej, po pozbawione skrupułów i skłonne do manipulacji uwielbienie. Książka o gwałtownej sile miłości i namiętności, która doczekała się kilku głośnych ekranizacji filmowych.