Jude the Obscure

I've enjoyed other Hardy novels, but this one was definitely my favorite of the ones I've read. It's true that I mainly read Hardy because his work is often about Oxford. Jude, it seems, had a similar lifelong dream as one of mine--to receive a degree from the University of Oxford (or Christminster, in the actual book).

The book basically follows the ill-fated life of Jude Fawley, who taught himself Latin, Greek, theology, etc, just so he could win a place at Christminster. He was, however, a commoner, and therefore had no way to enter a "Christminster" college. He trained himself in the art of masonry and stonecarving, and was divorced and then lived with his divorced cousin out of wedlock, having children with her. He finally returns drunken to his first wife, and dies of consumption/lung disease. Not the best set of qualifications for a successful life in Late Victorian England.

The book is overall not super useful for a broad, sweeping application to history, but Hardy's social commentary is brilliant. He turns the institution of marriage on its head, exploring what marriage really is. He is critical of religion and of the Late Victorian Oxford system. Overall though, Hardy's work is not really one that simply criticizes and tears down systems/institutions (as so many writers do), but one that causes the reader to think. After reading it, I personally developed an even stronger devotion to the Church-sanctioned institution of marriage and greater drive to accomplish my own goal of an Oxford degree.

So, not a great work for understanding the writing of history, but still a worthwhile, if depressing, read.