Far away from the hustle and bustle (Book with two audio cassettes)

Author: Hardy
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-06-01
Features: This is a pastoral novel set in the rural south of England. The honest and kind farmer Ok loves the beautiful dairy worker Bathsheba Everdene, but she rejects him. Meanwhile, when Ok loses his flock and goes bankrupt, Everdene inherits her uncle's estate and becomes the owner of the farm. As a result, Ok becomes a shepherd working for her. At this time, another farmer, Boldwood, also desperately pursues Miss Everdene. However, her heart is given to the charming soldier Troy, and she soon marries him. Yet, Troy falls in love with someone else, leading to many unhappinesses in their marriage. In the end, Boldwood kills Troy, who had returned home after running away for over a year, and himself is sentenced to life imprisonment for insanity. Through all the hardships, Miss Everdene finally becomes Mrs. Ok.
This book is the breakthrough novel of the British realist writer Thomas Hardy (1840–1928) and is a typical Hardy novel. Although it is rich in humor and can be considered to have a happy ending, the overall tone of the book is tragic. Other long novels by Hardy, such as The Return of the Native, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, The Mayor of Casterbridge, and Jude the Obscure, often reflect the tragic fate of rural people under capitalism and expose the hypocrisy of bourgeois morality and religious beliefs. Many of the characters (especially women) in his works are victims of these false moral and religious values.
This abridged version has a concise structure, simple and fluent language, and is not without humor, making it suitable for readers with general English proficiency.