My first Hardy! I’ll admit I only read it this because the movie was coming out (though not in my country, sadly). And one of my instructors at university loves Hardy, and told me to read him (she may have suggested Tess of the D’Ubervilles, but I picked this one instead). My first encounter with him was a beautiful poem called “The Voice”, which is also a very nice read.

The novel is about Bathsheba, a young girl who inherits a farm and a huge fortune from a distant family member. She’s confronted by three main suitors: the sexy Gabriel Oak (he actually meets her before her fortune change and wanted to marry her then), rich William Boldwood (a total bore) and Sgt. Frank Troy (kind of a hot mess, like Wickham in Pride and Prejudice).

Bathsheba Everdene is an awesome female character. She’s strong and very capable to hold her own before the men in her life. Yes, she falls for the hot mess, but she’s not defined by him (or any of her suitors, for that matter). And she has one of the best answers I’ve ever read: “It is difficult for a woman to define her feelings in a language that is chiefly made by men to express theirs.” There you have it, feminist icon in one sentence. And even if she didn’t s say that, she also refuse to get married without love (remember: Victorian England), lead her business very well and so on. Bathsheba became one of my favorite female characters in classic literature. It’s hard not to like her, though. She is just really cool and brave.

I know that one is supposed to take classics “very seriously”, because they are “Great Works of Art”. But I happen to hate reverence and I really enjoy fangirling. So yes, I fangirled HARD while I read this book. Blame fantastic Gabriel Oak and almost everything he said. I’m a bit of a sucker for that kind of romantic hero (take that, Heathcliff). He falls in love with her at the beginning and doesn’t become a bore when Bathsheba tells him not, though he is still present in her life. He doesn’t pressure her in the way Boldwood does, he waits for her to make a decision. So he’s also a very awesome character. How could that girl resist such a gorgeous man, I’ll never understand. Though if all that didn’t happen, I wouldn’t care for him in the least.

Boldwood and Troy are fairly boring. I couldn’t really care for them at all. I just wanted them to get away so I could enjoy Gabriel’s sexiness and cuteness. Boldwood was the typical man who can’t have a no for an answer (shitty move), while Troy wasn’t really in love with Bathsheba. Gabriel was the best, I insist.

Do yourself a favour and read this book. It’s a must if you love classics, awesome female characters and romance. Oh, and sexy farm-men. I’ll go and watch the film (the DVD comes out this week!), and complain about all the changes they made.