Far away from the hustle and bustle (Level 4)

Author: (British) Hardy, T. Cai, Huang Fang Annotation
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-06-01
Features: This is a pastoral novel set in the rural south of England. The honest farmer Ok loved the beautiful dairy worker Bathsheba Everdene, but she rejected him. Meanwhile, when Ok lost his flock and went bankrupt, Everdene inherited her uncle's estate and transformed into the farm's new owner. Consequently, Ok was hired by her as a shepherd. At this time, another farmer, Boldwood, became obsessed with courting Miss Everdene. However, her heart was given to the charming soldier Troy, and she soon married him. Yet Troy had other lovers, leading to numerous unhappinesses in their marriage. ater, Boldwood killed Troy, who had returned to his hometown after running away for over a year, and was himself sentenced to life imprisonment for insanity. In the end, Miss Everdene ame 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 belongs to the tragic genre. Other long novels by the author, such as Return to Wessex, Tess of the d'Urbervilles, The Mayor of Casterbridge, and Jude the Obscure, often reflect the tragic fate of rural people under capitalist invasion, exposing the hypocrisy of bourgeois morality and religious concepts. Many of the characters (especially women) in his works are victims of these false moral and religious beliefs. This abridged version has a concise structure, simple and fluent language, and is not devoid of humor, making it suitable for readers with general English proficiency.