Reviews for Thomas Hardy: A Biography Revisited

The average rating for Thomas Hardy: A Biography Revisited based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-02-28 00:00:00 Pamela Lemay Solid and comprehensive biography of Hardy, meticulously researched with great detail and excellent use of sources. I know much more about the details of Hardy's life and opinions; about his two marraiges, his protectiveness about his work; the tension between the poet and the novelist; his love of his native county; the sources of his novels; his daily habits; his friendshipa and enemies and so on. And yet ... something is missing. Good as this biography is, I'm not sure I know Mr Hardy; his essence, if you like, is not quite there. Some biographies leave you feeling you have spent time with the person. Detailed as this was, I didn't come away with that feeling and felt that maybe Millgate knew so much about Hardy that getting it all down on paper was the aim rather than capturing the man himself. I suspect that I will read Claire Tomalin's biography at some point for a contrast. If you want a detailed and scholarly analysis of Hardy's life and work and you like splendid Victorian photographs this is the book for you; but though I now know I great deal about him, Hardy himself is still a little elusive.

Review # 2 was written on 2010-08-25 00:00:00 Jason Flinchum I just finished reading Michael Millgate's biography of Thomas Hardy. Interestingly, I read this immediately after finishing Claire Tomalin's more recent Hardy biography, Thomas Hardy. Millgate's biography is superb--scholarly and very detailed. I enjoyed it very much, but if I had to choose my favorite, I'd probably go with Tomalin's. Why? I loved the way that Tomalin integrated Hardy's poetry so seamlessly into the narrative of his interesting life. It was her great reliance and use of his poetry, from my perspective, that so fully fleshed out the man and the ideas behind those wonderful novels of his. Millgate, on the other hand, tells the full, complicated, and rich story of Hardy's life; and while Millgate features Hardy's poetry throughout the book too, it is but a part of the larger story of the man and his life. Both books are worthy and quite complementary, they are just different from one another. In summation, if you are a dyed-in-the-wool fan of Thomas Hardy's fiction and poetry, I say that you should have both of these biographies on your bookshelf. They really are the definitive Hardy biographies, and both are quite readable. Finally, to fully round out your Hardy library, I would also recommend the addition of Rosemarie Morgan's brilliant little volume, Women and Sexuality in the Novels of Thomas Hardy.