What one reviewer at amazon said about A Pair Of Blue Eyes:
I've loved every Hardy book, poem, and short story that I've ever read. He reminds me of our own William Faulkner who surely must have read Hardy because he patterned his style in the same manner (Yoknapatawpha County versus Hardy's Wessex, etc.). The blue-eyed girl, Elfride, reminds me of the main character in a book I'm reading now: Clyde Griffiths in Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy, also a book describing the conflicts of class and love and, since it's set in the US, lust for money. A long suit of Hardy's is his wonderful quotes from the peasants ("I have no use for a flower that neglect won't kill," and "dead, but wouldn't drop down." The other thing I like is his many references which enrich the story and educate the reader. Therefore I look for editions that have explanatory notes. Then too I like to have a pile of reference books on hand to get his fuller meaning: the Bible, Shakespeare, books on English literature, etc. And last, like all Hardy novels, A Pair of Blue Eyes has plenty of sex (if you can read between the lines). Hardy recognized that strongest of all drives beside the basic ones of survival, and despite what he called the Grundyism of the period, he conveyed that truth in his books. Read this book and any other by Hardy. A lifetime of pleasure awaits you. But of course that's just my opinion.
The characters of Thomas Hardy’s books seem less victims of circumstance and more like victims of the irresistible impulse that overpowers reason and for which in hindsight one can fathom no explanation whatsoever. Elfride Swancourt of a pair of blue eyes is one such callow maiden impulsive and vacillating, She first falls in love with young Stephen Smith, almost marries him. Later, she is drawn to Henry Knight and becomes deeply devoted to him discarding all her feelings for Stephen. The couple are betrothed but on Knight’s suspicions becoming aroused he leaves her. One is tempted to dismiss her as an insensitive, fickle girl except that we could easily be her, letting emotion overpower reason. Knight appears as a man who is hard hearted, a slave to his prejudices. By contrast Smith seems the hero of the piece, noble and selfless.. The book reflects so many little human follies and weakness and their result. The penultimate chapter is the most gripping, it has subtle elements of humour and grim under tones. Both the men, rushing of to Elfride, only to find at the end of their journey that all of the way she has been in the same conveyance as them (I would not like to reveal the ending by saying in what manner). Thomas Hardy’s works are replete with quotable (and beautiful) lines and withal are a pleasure to read.
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