Life's Little Ironies (Wordsworth Classics)

I was blessed with two happy stays this summer in Touisset, an old-fashioned settlement on the Kickemuit River in Rhode island where my maternal grandparents built a summer house a hundred years ago. During our two Touisset stays this summer, I read four works by Thomas Hardy: two collections of short stories (Wessex Tales and Life's Little Ironies) and two novels (Under the Greenwood Tree and The Woodlanders). Initially, I assumed that I associate Touisset with Hardy because, during a Touisset stay sixty-one summers ago, I read Jude the Obscure. (I remember as if it were yesterday the July afternoon I read about young Jude Fawley gazing at the dim horizon and making out the distant domes and spires of Christminster. I was entranced, and I went on to read the other best-known Hardy novels: Tess of the D'Urbervilles, The Mayor of Casterbridge, The Return of the Native, and Far from the Madding Crowd). Eventually, however, I came to realize that I associate Touisset with Hardy because Rhode Island is like Wessex: an obscure and eccentric corner of the world. Indeed, Touisset is like Mellstock and Longpuddle and Little Hinton: a small settlement surrounded by old farms, composed of old houses filled with old furnishings, and peopled by descendants of old families who talk with odd accents and tell and retell treasured stories about old times and old-timers. Indeed, "touisset" is a Wampanoag word that means "at the old field"! A common criticism of Hardy's works is that they're all about tragic miscalculations and doomed characters. It's true that Hardy views human beings as "specks" ("speck" is one of his favorite words) in the vastness of Nature and the vastness of Time. It's also true that he views life as "a riband of light [that falls] through the opening [of a door ajar] into the dark atmosphere without," and views human beings as "moths[s], decrepit from the late season, [that] flit for a moment across the outcoming rays and disappear again into the night." Nevertheless, he tells us that, as we flit briefly across the riband of light, we can notice the details of the natural world, write majestically, speak idiosyncratically, cherish old and twice-told tales, chuckle at each other and ourselves, and act with curiosity and compassion toward each other and all creatures.

I like it.

Even though some of these stories don't rise to the stature of Hardy's great novels, each is a small gem that can be treasured on its own terms. Hardy was a master of the English language, and his artistry is on full display in these stories, which range from the tragic to the humorous. (What? Thomas Hardy humorous? Surprise, surprise!) I would highly recommend this book to those who love Hardy but know his prose only through his novels, as well as to those who have felt too daunted to read them.

Many people consider Thomas Hardy to be a great novelist and poet; but he is equally a great story writer. These are 19th Century stories; so they do not start in the middle and expect the reader to infer what the author leaves out; they are are not pared to the bone. They start at the beginning, describing vividly the setting of the place and the history of the leading characters, and build up to a proper conclusion. Without trying to derogate 20th Century writers like Hemmingway, these stories are all the better for it. They could have been easily extended to fully blown novels. They have all the touches that one expects from Hardy: vivid decription of Wessex, tragedy untouched by sentimentality; a solid style with touches of literary genius; and a perceptive understanding of the relationship between men and women, people and their environment, and a keen understanding of rustic life just before it was swept away by the arrival of the radio, the telephone, the motor vehicle, electricity and other aspects of modernity. If you love Jude or Tess, read this book. As soon as I had finished it, I hunted down his other short story collections, Wessex Tales, etc., which are just as good.

As a great admirer of "Jude the Obscure" and "Tess of the D'Ubervilles," I was intrigued when I saw this collection of some of Hardy's shorter works, and was not disapointed. The common theme running through these sketches is Hardy's dissatisfaction with the institution of marriage. Written in Hardy's impeccable style, these stories are short and biting looks at the circumstances that surround and influence marriage. You'll find few happy endings among these tales, but they are an enjoyable read. It's always a pleasure to immerse oneself in Hardy's world and language, and the twisted little plots Hardy creates show a side of his genius I had not previously realized. These stories are not as profound as some of Hardy's other works, and, by necessity, the characters are not as well developed. However, I would still recommend this book. For a fan of Tess or Jude, it's a fascinating look into the mind of Hardy at the time he was writing these novels. And for someone who's never read any Hardy, they are an easy and enjoyable introduction to a wonderful author.