Jude The Obscure

By: Thomas Hardy

Narrated by: Stephen Thorne

Length: 15 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

Exclusively from Audible

Eager to escape the confines of his lower-class upbringing, Jude Fawley dreams of pursuing higher education, graduating from university and becoming a scholar. Slowly, we witness the resistance Jude is met with and, in keeping with Hardy's other works, the consequences of having dared to defy a society with long-held traditions.

Thomas Hardy's last novel, Jude the Obscure, offers scathing commentary and insight into 19th century England. Widely considered Hardy's boldest and most avant-garde work, it was first published in serialised form, sending weekly shockwaves of outrage to its Victorian audiences. Despite being an able and driven young man, Jude's potential is squandered and his aspirations quashed when he relents and becomes a stonemason. Grounded by an unhappy marriage and a lack of opportunity, Jude's only escape comes in the form of his beloved cousin, Sue Bridehead. An unconventional yet extraordinary heroine, Sue becomes Jude's only chance at happiness, but in a society so unwilling to accept change, their love becomes their undoing.

One of the most influential and prolific novelists and poets of the 19th and early 20th centuries, Thomas Hardy followed the naturalist movement and was greatly inspired by the works of Charles Dickens and William Wordsworth. In turn, his work enthused the likes of Robert Frost, W.H. Auden and Philip Larkin.

Narrator Biography

Stephen Thorne is a classically-trained radio, film, stage and television actor. He graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and has toured with The Old Vic Company and the Royal Shakespeare Company. His voice experience is extensive and he is credited with over 2000 radio broadcasts and 300 unabridged audiobooks. These include works by James Henry, Dick King-Smith, Arthur Conan-Doyle and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Stephen famously voiced the character of Aslan in the 1979 adaptation of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. His unique narration style has won him various awards in both the UK and the USA, including a Talkies Award and several Golden Earphones Awards from Audiofile Magazine.

Stephen is no stranger to the screen and his television roles include Z-Cars, Death of an Expert Witness, David Copperfield, Crossroads, Last of the Summer Wine and Doctor Who. He also appeared in the 1984 film, Runaway and the 1985 film, Lollipop Dragon: The Great Christmas Race.

Public Domain (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

The Deepest of Undeserved Tragedies

Jude wants to be a man of literacy, he wants to be a cleric, he wants to be a good lover, he wants, he wants, he wants, and he should be, should be, should be, but nothing breaks in Jude’s Favor. Jude The Obscure by Thomas Hardy and read by Stephen Thorne, is a study of tragic failures by the turn of the 20th Century education system, the church, and the institution of marriage. This is Jude’s story, the deepest of underserved heartbreaks. All Hardy books are laden with heroes and heroines whose obtuse decision-making leaves them adrift with loss. The peculiarities of humankind, and how we are hurt by the peculiarities of other humankind. This book is no exception to Hardy’s style. Perhaps it is just the most despondent of his novels.

Jude gets trapped into a forlorn marriage while falling in love with a cousin, who foolishly passes Jude up for an older loveless man, and they struggle, to live with their mistakes. Finally, they ignore social norms and co-habitat in an effort to resolve their love but achievement in love never arrives, but for a fleeting moment and then disaster. A tortured disaster. The tale is painful but capturing. One may wonder, how with all its pain, it has remained in literature an alluring read? Because Hardy always instructs in how not to live your life. Read Hardy in hopes of not making the mistakes his characters make.

I can’t believe I waited this long to read it

A stunning book by Hardy. I had to look up papers on whether Hardy liked or disliked women to have created such a story. I’m satisfied with the conclusion many have suggested that he loved strong, educated women but also feared them in the new changing world of late 1800s. I probably will read this again and small other Thomas Hardy books.

It kept me engaged...

I thought the narrator was good as far as creating the environment but his portrayal of the female characters is weak and kept slightly pulling me out of the story. Not enough, however, to bring me to quitting it all together. I don't regret the time spent on the book.

A romantic melodrama

Hardy is obviously a canonical writer. My personal take, though? He's sad, abbreviated Dickens.

While I've appreciated his other novels -- Mayor & Tess particularly -- this one is tough to take. For one, I didn't particularly like any character. Second, speaking of characters... Sue is insufferable.

Third, there are way too many unfortunate coincidences that push the plot forward.

About 37 million people lived in England in the 1890s. There's no way four characters who live in different towns would so consistently just happen to run into each other over a decade.

And the tragic plot point that sends things spiraling is the highly intelligent (if insufferable) Sue spilling her guts to a random stranger (don't think that's a spoiler but... )

The lesson in this tale? While some want to talk about the unfair economics that prevent Jude from attending university, it's really about not being stupid when choosing a spouse. I kid you not... don't choose an incompatible, slightly nutty or unethical person to marry. Trust me on this.

And, really, Jude is kinda... lazy? As in: He writes some elders at the University asking for advice on how to get in and gets just one response which says, "Give it up." And he does. He made no real effort and showed no tenacity for pursuing his dream of academia. And he repeatedly abandons his work over and over because... he's sad?

I read this to check another box on my "Great Books" list. But unlike most of those, I finished with relief rather than intellectual or emotional elevation.

A truly complex and lovely tragedy

If you could sum up Jude The Obscure in three words, what would they be?

Lovely tragic novel

What was one of the most memorable moments of Jude The Obscure?

Jude's foolish drunken scenes.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, it would have been too rich

Any additional comments?

My first Hardy novel. Brilliant. Tragic. When I finished it, I had an overwhelming feeling of having participated in something so aesthetically rich and complex. Learned a a lot about myself by exploring these characters. Would recommend.

A new favorite!

A poignant novel with much to communicate. Bleak and heart-wrenching beyond what I had predicted, but a profoundly moving social commentary & an exceptionally agonizing romantic saga. I have never found so much of myself in any fictional characters as I did with our central pair. As a nonbeliever living in a theocratic country, I found myself so intimately sympathizing & aligning with their struggles, defiance, & sense of alienation,

I've grown to deeply cherish our sympathetic, troubled, and imperfect protagonists: The stubborn bird who tried her darnedest not to be caged, & the passionate dreamer who longed to learn & love above all else.

Damn you Hardy for how you tortured them, and myself by extension. Onto read everything else he’s ever written!

Disappointing but still worth reading.

I was disappointed with parts of this story but overall feel it was worthwhile to read.

Compelling Story

Psychopathy, borderline personality, and Christian sadomasochism combine to do the dirt to Jude, wonderfully narrated

So sad

I felt so sad for Jude in this story. It’s hard to imagine a man loving such a tormenting and demanding woman, yet he loved her til his last breath. The ending left me sad and unfulfilled.

Staggering

I first read this book about 40 years ago, and coming back to it now, with Stephen Thorne's wonderful narration, I feel the same sense of overwhelming tragedy. The climax of the book is shattering.

Jude is a country laborer with a dream, and with patience and determination to match. He teaches himself Greek and Latin while supporting himself as a stonemason, and he hopes to become a fellow at the University. But one thing after another happens, and his opportunities become more and more constricted. Personal drama takes center stage. He falls in love with his cousin Sue, a relationship doomed not only by his own prior entanglements but by Sue's own indecisiveness and apparent horror at physical expressions of love. (There's something damaged about Sue that Hardy never tries to explain: it just is.)

Stephen Thorne is a terrific reader: all characters distinctively voiced in a variety of accents, with the brooding narrator hovering over all. Enthralling throughout: but be forewarned that it ends badly for pretty much everybody you care about.