Bajo la verde fronda

by Thomas Hardy, Catalina Martínez Muñoz (Translator)

«La más perfecta de las novelas de Thomas Hardy.» J. M. Barrie

«Para quienes viven en el bosque, casi todos los árboles tienen una voz propia, además de unos rasgos propios»: así también son los persona-jes de esta novela, que forman una comunidad pero tienen cada uno su propia historia. La comunidad es, al final, la unión de historias particulares y distintas, porque ninguna se repite de la misma manera ni con la misma voz. Los músicos de la parroquia de Mellstock, orgullosos de su arte, ven peligrar su continuidad cuando el nuevo párroco compra un órgano para la iglesia que supone reemplazarlos. Las razones del párroco para esta novedad no son solamente musicales: la oportunidad de tener cerca a la que será la joven organista, Fancy Day, ha pesado en su decisión. Pero a la señorita Day la rondan otros dos pretendientes, el hacendado Shiner y el joven Dick Dewy, hijo del buhonero, que se asombra «de su osadía al pedir la mano de una mujer a la que desde el principio había considerado superior a él».

Bajo la verde fronda (1872), segunda novela de Thomas Hardy y la primera que situó en su característico territorio de Wessex, cuenta con un narrador simpático y cordial que parece que comparte escena con los personajes: con humor pero sin sarcasmo registra su vida al compás de las estaciones y detalla sus trabajos y sus fiestas al tiempo que las finuras, vacilaciones y adversidades del cortejo amoroso.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Romance, 19th Century, Victorian, Historical Fiction, British Literature

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1872

About the author

Thomas Hardy, OM, was an English author of the naturalist movement, although in several poems he displays elements of the previous romantic and enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural. He regarded himself primarily as a poet and composed novels mainly for financial gain.

The bulk of his work, set mainly in the semi-fictional land of Wessex, delineates characters struggling against their passions and circumstances. Hardy's poetry, first published in his 50s, has come to be as well regarded as his novels, especially after The Movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

The term cliffhanger is considered to have originated with Thomas Hardy's serial novel A Pair of Blue Eyes in 1873. In the novel, Hardy chose to leave one of his protagonists, Knight, literally hanging off a cliff staring into the stony eyes of a trilobite embedded in the rock that has been dead for millions of years. This became the archetypal — and literal — cliff-hanger of Victorian prose.

Excerpted from Wikipedia.

Reviews

[Henry Avila · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thomas Hardy's third novel in 1872 ( in fact a novella) however his first "The Poor Man and the Lady" was rejected, and lost in the winds of time . A short narrative Under the Greenwood Tree is based on his experiences, since it's set in the area of his birth. Basically rural life in mid 19th century southwest England, a plain love story with local musicians of sacred music becomes in the hands of a master writer, a poem to the long forgotten inhabitants in Georgian society. The beginning of Wessex's superb novels and Hardy's love for both the people and the dream country. Wessex may be fictional nonetheless underneath the places and people are easily recognized because the author has lightly disguised from the authentic. The luscious forest dominates all and gives meager opportunities for employment to those that strive for improvement. Still the brilliance of nature's atmosphere is beautiful but does limit the population , rather small by our contemporary times, they are uneducated, but contented, hardworking law abiding and poor... the village citizens their normal condition, having difficulties in transportation as machines are lacking, communications almost non-existent. Dick Dewy member of the church choir, the son of Reuben a carrier of goods and passengers in his wagons, for a price. Fancy Day the delectable new village teacher and no surprise the two best-looking in Mellstock fall in love. But the novel needs to continue so rivals appear..Mr.Maybol the new aloof vicar in the hamlet and another the rich farmer ( by local standards) Frederick Shiner...well misunderstandings transpire , heartaches, nervousness and accusations fly like bees in a hive , which there are many in the region, the usual love story plot. Relatives are important in this uncertain era, and luckily Dick has a lot, both grandfathers alive, William Dewy the most prominent, parents healthy as are siblings, the support and comfort of the youth is assured. A well written and interesting subject of how the living attempt to exist in a hostile world where help is not there but goodness by neighbors are. This gives Mr. Hardy the deserved reputation of being not only a great writer but even better a wonderful human being... By the way, the amateur musicians try, and try and try but aren't very good. So much for constant rehearsals...

[Duane Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is Hardy’s second novel and the first to feature his “realistic dream” setting of Wessex, which includes the fictional town of Casterbridge, in reality known as Dorchester and located in the south of England.

Under the Greenwood Tree is a romantic novel with a common working class man vying for the attention and affection of a beautiful young woman who has several suitors to choose from. It kind of reminds me of Far from the Madding Crowd in that regard, but much more lighthearted. I like Hardy’s writing and have enjoyed every book that I have read.

4 Stars.

[Steven Godin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thomas Hardy's second novel (first of the Wessex novels) is a light, pleasant and romantic read that was a world away from the despondent and tragic themes of his later novels, of which he is better known. It's rural setting is classic Hardy, and he captures country life set in and around the Mellstock parish church with a blend of naive, friendly, and sympathetic characters. For a work as gentle and serene as Under the Greenwood Tree Hardy opts for an appropriately minor feature of traditional social life – the musicians and singers of a parish choir. At the centre of the novel Hardy explores a very innocent and simple romance between two characters - Dick Dewy and Fancy Day, who, unlike other Hardy characters are not blighted by deep psychological problems, although issues do crop up in their blossoming relationship now and again. Fancy’s father Geoffrey Day objects to Dick Dewy as a suitor to his daughter on grounds of class expectations and education, and he is hoping to attract a well-to-do middle class husband for his daughter. Dick Dewy is seen by Mr Day as merely the son of a man with a horse and cart business, but Dick is a decent and honest chap and always treats Fancy with great affection. There is a predictable turn of events after Fancy accepts vicar Maybold’s proposal of marriage whilst she is still engaged to Dick, but then rescinds the decision the following day. This part of the novel is about as problematic as it gets, as Hardy only ever so slightly shows his central characters flustered in any way. Dick was the easiest to like, as Fancy, although well-educated and independent, felt too meek at times. There is nothing bad to say about anyone throughout, as everything is nice and good natured, and Hardy delivers a lovely finale. But the novel as a whole only picked up in the last third, as it was for periods earlier on just a bit underwhelming. There were still things to like, but it just didn't deliver the emotional impact, depth or complexities of his later work. The speech patterns and local slang of the time also took some getting used to. There is nothing bleak or sorrowful about this at all, so it would make for a good summer read, but I still feel Hardy was at his best as a writer when dealing with darker themes.

[Elyse Walters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Duane!!!!

Sweet love story....
Great atmosphere....
Gorgeous writing.....
Enjoyed it and look forward to reading Thomas Hardy again!

[MJ Nicholls · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hardy’s third novel is about a string band that gets replaced by a sexy female organist. After that, about how the sexy female organist is pursued by three suitors and she chooses the poor, handsome one. How do students write theses on this shit? I have two ornamental degrees and I can’t think up anything useful to say about this extremely slight, simple novel. Except, I tried Thomas Hardy’s approach to courting at the speed dating last night. First woman: I wonder if you would do me the honour—no, the convenience, of marrying me. Response: No. Second woman: If it’s no trouble, I would like to install you as my spouse. Response: Drink poured on head (crème de menthe, with dandruff flecks). Third woman: I have decided to take a wife. You meet my needs. Response: Testicles kicked into the next village and served as meatballs on the platter of an unsuspecting toddler. Fourth woman: Marry me? Response: Sure, on one condition: you demonstrate a pair of functioning testicles. Ah—life’s little ironies. This book is simply nice, let’s not pretend otherwise.

[Piyangie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Under the Greenwood Tree or the Mellstock Quire(which was the first given title to the book) is the first successful prose writing by Thomas Hardy. Having failed at publishing as a poet, Hardy reluctantly turned into prose writing without much hope of being published. However, the book was not only published but was also a commercial success, establishing Hardy as a successful and celebrated classic author.

Being an early work of Hardy, the book is bright and optimistic, unlike the tragic tales to which he later on resorted to. The writing is beautiful with the use of his authentic poetic style. And his attention to detail in human emotions and especially to the beautiful rural landscape is quite remarkable. Hardy's architectural training must have developed in him an excellent sense of detail.

The book deals with a double-plot where he dwells on a lost generation of church musicians and a rural way of life which was in danger of being replaced by emerging 'modernization', and on a sweet love story. Both are interwoven to produce an enjoyable story. There is humor though out the book mixed with irony and when your initial laugh has subsided, the truth of the observation leaves you pondering.

However, one negative thing I noticed in this book is Hardy's unfavorable opinion of his heroine. I have read only Far from the Madding Crowd other than this one, and in both books, this was a common trait. Hardy is sympathetic towards his heroes and portrays them with excellent human qualities while he is critical of his heroines, always implicating them with flirtatious behavior. I wonder whether he had any personal grievance for him to characterize women as such.

Despite his treatment of the heroine, it was quite a good engaging story. Not one of Hardy's best works I suppose but interesting enough in its own special way.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

An optimistic Thomas Hardy novel? Is there such a thing?? Published the same month Hardy turned 32, this is, at least as far as I’ve read, the cheeriest of his works — that alone should be a selling point! In some ways it’s an exploration of the changes he saw enveloping England, played out in the changes to a tiny parish church. The story centers on Mellstock, a village much like Hardy’s native Higher Brockhampton, and the local church that’s much like his own beloved Stinsford. The story’s premise is simple enough: in rural Mellstock, church music has always been provided by the “string choir,” a group of local men who take their duties seriously, if not always soberly. Now the new pastor has brought in — gasp! — a mechanical organ to replace the choir, and, as if that isn’t upheaval enough, the new organist is a beautiful and educated young woman! You can imagine the turmoil, scheming, and romantic speculations.

Although it’s a charming love story set to the changing seasons, Under the Greenwood Tree is suffused with nostalgia for the rural way of life that Hardy saw coming to an end. And for an author who doesn’t romanticize rural life and people, he nonetheless displayed a real sympathy and affection for them in this book. You can see why his family would allow his body to be interred at Westminster Abbey, as demanded by an adoring nation, but would bury his heart in the churchyard at Stinsford.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

“And what was goodness beside love!”

This is a gentle and pleasant story, an early Hardy novel, where you can see him developing his themes.

On the one hand, it’s just a bit of fun. We’re introduced to the tranter Reuben Dewey, a hard-working carrier for the village of Mellstock. He has a delightful dialect, a playful relationship with his wife and a bushel of children. His son Dick plays with him in the church “quire,” a merry band of dedicated rural musicians including his father Old William, the shoemaker Mr. Penny, and an awkward but loveable misfit named Thomas Leaf.

But even early on, Hardy had his dark side. He’s exploring change coming to this rural village, and he’s not particularly keen about it. The church quire is being replaced by a fancy organist, the young teacher appropriately named Fancy. Young Dick falls for the lovely but self-obsessed Fancy, and we shift to a love story. Dick seems to represent the humble, old ways, and he feels inadequate compared with his rivals for Fancy’s affections, men with more stature and better prospects.

I can see my favorite Hardy trait developing here too--the exploration of his characters’ psychological makeup. It’s subtle in this story, like he’s dipping a toe in the water he will dive into in later stories.

This if my fifth Hardy novel, and I can see why his fans enjoy re-reads. The more I think about his stories, the more I like them.

[Captain Sir Roddy, R.N. (Ret.) · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're looking for an enjoyable and relatively quick summer read, I highly recommend Thomas Hardy's Under the Greenwood Tree or The Mellstock Quire: A Rural Painting of the Dutch School. This delightful little novel is one of the more bucolic and pastoral novels I've read in some time, and depicts the disappearing rural life of Hardy's southwestern England. This novel was first published in 1872, and was the last of his work published anonymously. This novel is considered the first of Hardy's great 'Wessex' novels, followed by: Far From the Madding Crowd (1874), The Return of the Native (1878), The Mayor of Casterbridge (1886), The Woodlanders (1887), Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1891), and the monumental Jude the Obscure (1895), that ended up being Hardy's last work of fiction (he devoted himself to his poetry from this point until his death in 1928).

Without giving anything away, let me say that the plot of Under the Greenwood Tree revolves around two stories. The first is the lovely story of the small group of men who comprise the Mellstock Quire (choir) and the music that they provide to the small parish church and for dances, weddings, and other community gatherings and celebrations during the course of the year. The novel is arranged in five parts, and the first four represent the seasons of Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn, and Hardy describes the role of music in each. I especially loved the first part--Winter--with the quire walking through the forests and fields on a snowy Christmas Eve, and stopping to carol at each house in the county. Of course, time marches on, and changes are suggested, and these changes will affect the men of the quire and their relationship with the community.

The second plot that proceeds breezily through the novel is the romantic entanglements that arise with the arrival of the new school-mistress, the young Miss Fancy Day. Almost immediately there are three eligible suitors vying for her hand in marriage, and Hardy does a delightful job of leading the reader through the seasons of the year as we follow the progress of the lovers that finally culminates with a wedding "where music, dancing, and the singing of songs went forward with great spirit throughout the evening."

I loved Hardy's use of the local Dorsetshire dialect in his character's dialog, and mixed with his almost poetic descriptions of the rural environment and the seasons, the novel imparts the comfortable nostalgia of a daydream on a warm summer afternoon whilst reclining against the bole of an old oak tree on the side of hill. If you love Thomas Hardy, or just want a simple and effective plot, with some very good writing; this gentle and idyllic short novel is tailor-made for you. When you are done, pass it on to a friend, they'll appreciate it and you. I loved this novel, and will certainly read it again; and maybe read the first section aloud at a Christmas gathering some time.

My review was based upon the Wordsworth Classics soft-cover edition, published in 1994, 146 pages.

[Briynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've come to accept that I'm the only person of my generation with whom I am personally acquainted that likes Thomas Hardy. It's fine. It's astonishing and amazing to me, but fine. This particular sort of isolation has it's perks, though; I like to think that Tom and I are buddies - you know, sort of us against the world. And through this bizarre, completely imaginary relationship, I had myself pretty well convinced that I knew what to expect from a Hardy novel. Not so, friends.

I picked this up as a part of my "books which have been made into BBC costume dramas featuring Keeley Hawes" reading theme of the moment, which also includes The Last September by Elizabeth Bowen. Since I had watched the movie, I expected this to be a little fluffier than typical Hardy fare, but I loved the movie and expected that to be ok. As it turns out, the BBC version was a virtual angst-fest compared with the original novel. Where was the class conflict? How about the poisonous effects of ambition or the suffocating tension of social censure? All of the themes which pervade Hardy, and make me love him, were palpably missing from this one.

I hate myself for saying this, but the movie was so much better than the book. The heroine in the book was silly and vapid - Keeley's version was sensible and conflicted. The hero, sadly named Dick Dewey, was rather charming in the movie but was a little jealous and irritating in parts of the book. However, Hardy gets points for his descriptions and his sense of place. Also, his scenes with Reuben and the rest of the parish choir are wonderful.

Three stars, and I'm closing this screen before I add another one out of loyalty. It's a sweet, harmless book - I just prefer a little more Hardy in my Hardy novels.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

(2.5) Between college and grad school I read Hardy’s five major novels, but it’s probably been 10 years or more since I tried a new one. Far from the Madding Crowd is one of my favorite books of all time, so I couldn’t help but compare Under the Greenwood Tree* to it – unfavorably, alas – as I was reading.

Greenwood was Hardy’s second novel, published in 1872. That’s just two years before Madding Crowd, and the two are quite similar in a few ways: the main female character is a conceited flirt who has to decide between three potential suitors; the supporting cast is made up of “rustics” who speak in country dialect; and the Dorset setting, including the landscape, weather and traditional activities, is a strong presence in its own right.

But where Bathsheba Everdene, though periodically maddening, is ultimately a sympathetic figure, Greenwood’s Fancy Day is a character I could never warm to. As the new schoolteacher and organist in Mellstock village, she puts on airs and imagines she’s too good for Dick Dewy, a salt-of-the-earth peddler. She’s also incurably vain. “Yes, I must wear the hat, dear Dicky, because I ought to wear a hat, you know,” she says, even though Dick calls the hat “Rather too coquettish.”

A bare-bones summary of the novel makes it sound more entertaining than it actually is: A set of country musicians (the “Mellstock Quire”) learns their services are no longer required at the local church; they are to be replaced by an organ. The novel opens on Christmas Eve and in the early chapters proceeds by way of caroling, cider drinking and dances. It’s rather jolly, but where is it all going? Then, once the plot takes over, Fancy’s weighing up of the wooing attentions of Dick, Mr. Shiner and Parson Maybold soon grows tedious.

Whereas the passages about the rustics are brief, welcome interludes in Madding Crowd, here they are nearly constant and start to feel overpowering. “You are charmed on condition that you accept Hardy’s condescension towards his characters,” Claire Tomalin observes in Thomas Hardy: The Time-Torn Man. They are harmless folk, but their rural way of life will soon be superseded. The novel is set a generation back, in about the 1840s, so has an elegiac tone to it, and Hardy’s subtitles suggest he was trying to freeze an image of a bygone time.

Fancy’s directives for her wedding reception make clear the divide between old and new:

The propriety of every one was intense by reason of the influence of Fancy, who, as an additional precaution in this direction, had strictly charged her father and the tranter [Dick’s father] to carefully avoid saying ‘thee’ and ‘thou’ in their conversation, on the plea that those ancient words sounded so very humiliating to persons of newer taste; also that they were never to be seen drawing the back of the hand across the mouth after drinking—a local English custom of extraordinary antiquity, but stated by Fancy to be decidedly dying out among the upper classes of society.

This is a pleasant enough book, and at just 160 or so pages goes by fairly quickly, yet I found myself losing interest at many points and often could not bear to read more than one short chapter at a time. At this rate, will I ever get to decidedly minor Hardy novels like The Hand of Ethelberta, The Trumpet-Major, A Pair of Blue Eyes, and A Laodicean?

*“Under the greenwood tree” is a line from Shakespeare’s As You Like It.

Favorite unrelated line: “Clar’nets were not made for the service of the Lard; you can see it by looking at ’em.”

Originally published with images on my blog, Bookish Beck.

[Zoeb · Rating 5 out of 5]

My curiosity about Thomas Hardy began, expectedly, when I was reading "The Comedians" - the epigram to that incredible novel was quoted from Hardy and later on, when reading Greene's other masterpiece, "The Honorary Consul", I again stumbled upon yet another brilliant quote by him. So, yes, just as Greene introduced me to Trollope, Stevenson, Haggard, Chesterton and other such brilliant storytellers in the last few years, he also led me to discover Hardy as well. Not withstanding the Maugham novel I read last year, "Cakes & Ale", in which the key character of Edward Driffield was allegedly based on the Victorian-era lion of English literature, my curiosity lasted long enough for me to try him out finally, and a little cautiously (for one hears many conflicting things about this author), with, as the blurb puts it, the sunniest of his works.

Surely, "Under The Greenwood Tree" can be described, quite winningly, as Hardy at his sunniest and most upbeat mood. The other day, I was talking to my mother-in-law who had read many classics in her youth and she opined that Hardy was a brilliant author who was nevertheless too pessimistic about people and life and society in general. Well, this slim novel should be a complete relief to the sadder and more melancholy atmosphere of his following novels and yet it is difficult to ignore that beneath its surface lightness and its elements of humour, warmth and romance, it is also a sharply satirical portrait of rural society on the brink of revolutionary change and progress that has the dangerous power to alter it beyond recognition. Above all, it is a novel which examines a changing England and is also, thus, poignantly but not too sentimentally a final farewell to that old England of innocence, closely knit communal unity and simple pleasures.

And yet, again as I repeat it now, this is hardly a serious or depressing read. In the vein of a Trollope novel, yet even more light-footed and less concerned with deconstructing themes of wealth and status or satirizing religious and political institutions, "Under The Greenwood Tree" is more of a mesmerising (though certainly not slow) and mellow story of a lovably old-fashioned English village and its equally admirable, if a little outmoded, inhabitants and how they try and make some sense of inevitable new changes, some welcome and even lively and some not so welcome and merely puzzling. The old church choir, for instance, is more than a little upset to know that they are soon being replaced by the new church organ on the insistence of their new and modern-thinking vicar. Hardy delightfully introduces the members of this choir to us in the first few chapters; merely ten or twenty pages in, we know all their quirks, habits, whims and preferences and we are also acquainted with the youngest member of the choir and the hero, if you can call him so, of the romance at the crux of the novel - the earnest and charming Richard Dewy who falls in love with a vivacious young lady - who is also one of the many new changes in this old village that people cannot quite come to terms with, amusingly.

That young lady is the beautiful Miss Fancy Day, the new mistress at school and coincidentally also the new voice of the church music replacing the old choir effectively. It is admirable how Hardy builds a winsome, gently amusing romance between the young Dewy and the fresh-faced Fancy, allegorically a tipsy romance between the old and the new but even when charting the course of their love story through the narrative with a leisurely, casual hand, he lends unmistakable hints of the two worlds slightly at odds at each other. Dewy's modesty and diligent simplicity is contrasted by Fancy's frivolity and her extravagant enthusiasm at always looking good. She is quite a memorable character, a sign of Hardy's well-known skill at creating realistic female characters - she is armed with licence and yet her affections for Dewy cannot be doubted and yet again, there is just a shade of sketchy ambiguity about her feelings and motives that makes her even more enigmatic and compelling. Is she into Dewy simply because for love or does she yearn to break free from her humdrum surroundings as well? The answer is beyond our reach but Hardy shrewdly teases it out from time to time.

Other than our two charming lovers, the other characters in the fray are also admirable in their realism. Richard's father, an affable transporter, is tactful and diplomatic in confronting the new vicar Mr. Maybold, well-intentioned and easily embarrassed, about the new changes that affect them the most and there are a few other characters, such as Fancy's step-mother, a shy and edgy woman, is nevertheless as generous as she can be when the opportunity presents itself. These measured strokes also provide a pointed and nuanced commentary of social norms being changed and challenged; somewhere in the middle of the novel, there is even a "witch" who is portrayed in the most charmingly benevolent fashion, which further reveals just how modern and progressive Hardy was for his time.

And then, there is his affectionate, almost poetic description of the pastoral beauty of rural England, of his beloved Wessex with its copses and firs and oaks and its bushes and fields, all put to paper here in the most stirring and beautiful sentences, perhaps the prose equivalent of Wordsworth's romantic poems devoted to Mother Nature. Wisely dividing his novel's parts as per the changing seasons, Hardy's nostalgic compassion for an unhurried, pre-industrial England is what lends this enjoyable novel with a deeper sentiment of emotional resonance and the final chapter, from which the book takes its name, is a masterstroke indeed.

"Under The Greenwood Tree" is a wonderful introduction to Hardy and I recommend it wholeheartedly for everyone new to him. It is charming, melancholic, romantic, lightly humorous and yet, even as all ends happily, the final line is a wicked and wry wink, hinting at something unexpected. Look out for it.

[Aida Lopez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Se ha traducido “Bajo la verde fronda” de uno de mis autores preferidos y yo no he podido hacer otra cosa que poner rumbo a Wessex.

🍎Me encontré con un Hardy más “descafeinado “ menos dramático y muy bucólico.

🍎He disfrutando un montón la lectura y descubierto a un autor menos pesimista pero con toda su esencia.

🍎Las descripciones de paisajes son una delicia.

🍎La trama gira en entorno a Fancy una joven profesora muy coqueta que cuenta con unos cuantos pretendientes,cada un de un estrato social:aquí ya nos “tropezamos” con conflictos sociales.

🍎El joven Dick por el que pronto tomamos partido,nos va a hacer reflexionar bastante :entre otros temas sobre la inocencia de la juventud.

🍎Pero para mí los verdaderos protagonistas y los que me han hecho disfrutar de lo lindo con la novela:los músicos de la parroquia de Mellstock,que se enfrentan a un cambio de tradición:sustituir al coro parroquial por una organista.Un auténtico drama en sus vidas cotidianas.

📌Sin duda el título de este libro tendría que ser :”El coro de Nellstock” como estaba previsto inicialmente.

📎Si nunca te has “atrevido “ con el autor este es un primer contacto que sin duda te recomiendo.

[Beda · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0 Stars This book is such a sweet country tale!

Actually, I wasn’t planning on reading it this year, But last week, faced with reading mainly about the Gordon riots in Barnaby Rudge, and the inner thoughts of a murderer in Crime and Punishment, I decided I needed some counterbalance to ‘grim and depressing’ and this quaint little tale was just the ticket.

The first book in Thomas Hardy’s Wessex series, this story is about a small group of country folk in and around the village of Mellstock. All of the characters are associated with an old time country church choir of singers and musicians.

The story takes place over a year, and follows the courtship of Richard ‘Dick’ Dewey, a trantor’s son (a trantor being a hauler of goods, agricultural products and livestock - think of today’s local truck drivers) and Fancy Day, the village school mistress.

It’s a quiet, sweet and warm little tale filled with friendly villagers and country wholesomeness. Ladies, we could all do a lot worse than earnest, hard working, and attentive Dick Dewey.

Nothing overly dramatic. Just an enjoyable and peaceful read.

[John Dishwasher John Dishwasher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a delight. Everyone in this town is forthright and well-intentioned. There may be interests among them, but no intrigues between them. And everyone listens. And everyone is included. Conflict is dealt with respectfully, and with a smile, and with concern on both sides for the other’s feelings. In other words, this is as much a fantasy as any self-described fantasy novel; but, just like a fantasy novel, it is refreshing to visit this ideal place full of endearing characters so warmly drawn. Hardy has presented a portrait of the naive. And I mean that word in its best sense: honest, unsuspicious candor. Also, he lets his story stay as naive as his characters. An almost childlike directness informs his telling; transparently he turns the corners of his narrative. I just gave myself up to this book and smiled. Hardy shows the best of us, what we could be.

Interestingly, his characters are able to survive in this naive state due to their honoring of respectability, and the presence of tradition. I found Hardy’s valuing of these two influences provocative since usually I scorn their restraints.

[Jan-Maat]

The least relentlessly grim novel of Hardy's that I have read. It only features culture clash and the inevitable defeat of traditional mass village culture by an incoming bourgeois one (bye, bye village choir) and one rusty man-trap.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thomas Hardy’s second published novel is very much on par with his first one. If he had written no others, he would be an adequate and enjoyable author, but not a great one. As it is, it is necessary for most writers to get their footing, and I think that is what these early works represent.

Under the Greenwood Tree is a sweet and interesting read. Many of the hallmarks that make Hardy great are already there, descriptive passages that take your breath, tense moments in human relationships, and class struggle. But, there is a depth of feeling that is missing, and I dare say Hardy has either not yet experienced or not yet learned how to convey the fatalism that permeates his later works.

If you find Hardy too dark, this would be a chance to revel in his beautiful prose without having to swim through seas of despair. I am enamoured of Hardy’s darker side and needed no break from it, although its absence did not prevent this being a lovely read for me.

It was a morning of the latter summer time; a morning of lingering dews, when the grass is never dry in the shade. Fuchsias and dahlias were laden till eleven o'clock with small drops and dashes of water, changing the color of their sparkle at every movement of the air; and elsewhere hanging on twigs like small silver fruit. The threads of garden spiders appeared thick and polished. In the dry and sunny places dozens of long-legged crane-flies whizzed off the grass at every step the passer took.

I dare say you don’t watch him walking, you walk with him. This is consummate Hardy–poetic and flush with palpable imagery.

I cannot help rating Hardy in comparison to himself alone. There are a few authors like that; I cannot compare them to others, I can only compare their works to one another. This is not Hardy’s finest. If I were rating it against its contemporaries, it might fare better, but I am thinking of The Mayor of Casterbridge and Jude the Obscure. I have rated it accordingly.

[Dianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Tess of the D'Urbervilles for its scenery, but this book was ten times more enjoyable to me because it's still got good scenery; it's written about a group of rustic, drunk church musicians; and it's happy. Now of course Hardy couldn't end the book without making us question whether they'll stay happy, but I'll take what I can get.

As a violinist and a lover of literature, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Reading it soon after The Adventure of English: The Biography of a Language made it even more interesting to me, because this book is a perfect photograph of a past English dialect.

This book worth reading alone for the part at the beginning where the string players bash clarinets. Also, it uses the word dumbledore, which means bumblebee. That's the first time I've seen it actually used outside of Harry Potter.

If you don't like depressing books but you like beautiful writing, this is the Hardy for you.

[Raquel Estebaran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una historia de amor y costumbrismo en la Inglaterra rural del S.XIX.

Un relato entrañable, simpático y bucólico.

Muy bien escrito.

[Kellie O'Connor · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful 5 shiny stars rating of a beautiful treasure of a book from me!! ✨✨✨✨✨

" With the rose and the lily
and the daffodowndilly,
The lads and the lasses
a sheep sheering go."

I absolutely loved this book!! It's easy to enjoy the Classic works of Thomas Hardy!! It's a fun tale of life in an early Victorian village. It's a delicate balance of a sweet and tender romance between the beautiful village school mistress, Miss Fancy Day and a member of the Mellstock parish choir. Only one problem, which member wins her hand in marriage? She has many suiters. Hence, the famous quote of the book " If we be doomed to marry, we marry; if we are doomed to remain single, we do, " spoken by Dick Dewey. I really like Dick Dewey, a real gentleman! This story also speaks about how the new vicar wants to change the old instruments that the choir loves, to a new church organ. Does the new vicar succeed?

This is such a sweet, wholesome, relaxing, charming story. It's beautifully written and flows flawlessly. I love the themes of faith in God that runs throughout the story. Thomas Hardy describes nature so beautifully --- says how every tree, flower, hill, sky, animal and bird have their own song. 🎶🎶. You feel like you are walking down the lane with each character. His description of the Mellstock parish is so vivid that you feel as if you are sitting in one of the pews or singing with the choir!! 💒

I didn't know that this is one of Hardys' most popular books. In fact, I never heard of it until my friend, Teresa on Goodreads, told me about it..... thank you, Teresa!! It also fulfills one of my goals of this year to read more Classics!! 🌳 I really loved Tess Of The D' Ubervilles by Thomas Hardy and wanted to read this book. Tess is so very different from this one but honestly, I loved them both!!! I want to read " A Pair Of Blue Eyes" by this author written in 1873, this one is written in 1872. I'll get to it, because I love his writing style.

Drawn from Hardys childhood memories, it represents, he said, " A true picture at first personages, ways and customs which were common in the villages." If you are looking for a lightheaded, easy to enjoy story, look no further! You've found it!!! The narrator of the audiobook is fantastic and I read the book with it.

I really love this old hymn that the Mellstock parish choir signs. It's beautiful and long, so I'll share with you the last two verses:

" Remember God's goodnesse
O thou man.
Remember God's goodnesse
His promise made
Remember God's goodnesse
He sent his son sinlesse
Our ails for to redress
Be not afraid!

Give thanks to God alway.
O thou man:
Give thanks to God alway
With heart - most joy.
On this our joyful day;
Let all men sing and say,
Holy, Holy! "


Enjoy and Happy Reading 💫 ✨ 🌳

[Irena Pasvinter · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Under the Greenwood Tree" lacked the drama and passion of "The Return of the Native" and "Far From the Madding Crowd". I couldn't relate to the petty trials and tribulations of the characters. The "great conflict" of church quire replaced by an organ and the courting of coquettish Fancy left me pretty much indifferent. Everything about "Under the Greenwood Tree" seemed to me rather petty and insignificant. On the other hand it was neither funny nor ironic enough to count as a comedy of manners where pettiness might have worked.

[Emmeline · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

A distinctly minor Hardy, composed of one part tedious romance and one part rustic Somerset. Rustic Somerset lacks drama but provides some entertainment, while the romance does keep the reader turning pages but is really quite weak.

This is Hardy’s first novel, so he absolutely gets a bit of a pass. The last half page was very strong, really surprising for an otherwise saccharine Victorian love story, and definitely gives a taster of the kind of story we can expect from Hardy in future years. And there are some strong scenes at village parties, wonderfully contrasting new ideas of elegance with a disappearing kind of rural culture. I read a few sections aloud to my father, and we’ve decided to reinstate the tradition of wiping the back of our hand across the mouth after drinking. Everything old is new again.

Only recommended for enthusiasts and completists.

[Victoria Rose · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly? I liked the movie better. There, I said it. I almost always like the book better, on principle if nothing else. But Under the Greenwood Tree was much improved by the heavy editing it underwent for the screen.

Ultimately my argument lies with the two main characters, Dick Dewy (typically apt last name, as he is a totally limp character, once in love) and Fancy Day (again, indicative name: her fancy changes with each proverbial day). They simply sucked as characters. I adored the old church "quire" members, and Reuben Dewy was a pretty cool and realistic father, but the lovers were sickening. Not only were they unrealistic in their relationship, but Dick was blind to Fancy's (many) faults and Fancy was more concerned about having a nicely fitting collar than getting her father's permission to mary her supposed true heart. I was sorely disappointed by the lack of depth in that relationship, once it finally occurred. But really, Fancy's horrible treatment of Dick, lying to him and NEVER HAVING THE LIE RESOLVED, that's what pushed me over the edge. You'll have to read it (or the Wikipedia plot summary) to find out what I mean.

The movie, however, made Fancy your standard "good girl" (except when she plunges into the river to make out with the shirtless and gorgeous Dick), and smoothed over the unpleasantness of the novel.

[Terris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this! -- I think because it was so unexpected. From my past reading of Hardy, he is always serious and dark, and the characters are just trying to get through their trials and tribulations.
BUT here is a Thomas Hardy book that is light and fun and funny and romantic -- I just couldn't believe it! Several times I laughed out loud -- and many times his play-on-words reminded me of Charles Dickens. I am so glad that this one was recommended to me, because I was unfamiliar with it. It was well worth it!

P.S I happened to listen to the audio book, but I liked the words and wording so much that I bought the e-book so that I can go back over it sometime -- maybe even read some of it aloud to someone and we can enjoy it together! :)

[Fuzaila · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF at page 59.
I have better things to waste my time on.

[Emmett · Rating 1 out of 5]

A short list of things I have enjoyed listening to more than this over the past week:

1. the goose that constantly screams outside of my apartment
2. the man who yells at the goose to get out of the road
3. the tiny puppy trapped in its tiny cage outside that barks all day
4. the police going by in their cop-vehicle yelling at people to follow covid restrictions
5. the deafening train going by in the middle of the night
6. my upstairs neighbor dropping things
7. my pregnant coworker flying into a hormonal rage and yelling "I AM NOT THE FUCKING MAILMAN" to someone over the phone
8. Men I Trust- Oncle Jazz album
9. Literally everything else that was not this.

Boring-ass story + Most annoying narrator ever = Plz help

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hardy attempts happiness.
Tragedy is his forte.

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book was like seeing childhood photos of a good friend. I recognized Hardy's minute attention to the natural world, the way the seasons move through the countryside, and his ability to capture a person's movements and individuality so that I feel like I could draw his portrait myself. But the general optimism of the story was a pleasant surprise (usually Hardy = big downer). Here, we still have the fallible, three-dimensional characters Hardy is so good at delineating, but they are able to correct their mistakes, the circumstances of their world are not so aligned against them. In short, this is a sunnier Hardy, although there is a melancholy subplot in the country church choir who must make way for the more modern organ. As always, Hardy reminds us that it didn't used to be this way, and that we lost a little something in the change.

[Mela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charming, sweet, atmospheric. I loved it.

I don't remember how the movie ended, but the ending (like the whole story) in the book was priceless. How many times I said: "O Fancy, Fancy..."

I am rounding it up for the atmosphere. I just needed it now.

[Jovana Autumn · Rating 4 out of 5]

“To dwellers in a wood, almost every species of tree has its voice as well as its feature.”

The first novel in Thomas Hardy's Wessex tales introduces the reader with a meeker version of Hardy's usual writing, the reasoning being:

A) Hardy considered himself a poet foremost, and tried getting his poems to press and publication but was met with failure. He expressed himself in prose mainly because it would be more socially acceptable and sell better. The novel form was on the rise at the time, foreshadowing the contemporary popularity of the form.

B) His first prose work, Desperate Remedies, did not do well and his last hope was instilled in Under the greenwood tree. A novel where he first expressed the thoughts, themes, and ideas for which he would later be known.

The novel, originally titled The Mellstock Quire, on a wider scale follows a rural environment on the verge of change, one that hints towards modernity and industrialization, alongside the personal love story of Dick Dewy and Fancy Day.

The opening chapter presents a set of characters singing in a village choir on Christmas day, participating in a tradition. Hardy puts a lot of emphasis on the importance of the tradition(in this case the choir)in binding people together, opposed to the coldness of the orchestral play lead by Fancy.

It would be all too simple to label Fancy as the villain who brings chaos to the idyll, being as she didn’t even want to be an organist but was prepositioned by the new vicar, Mr. Maybold(who also develops a romantic interest in her).
By positioning the member of the rural community as the one welcoming change, and the rest of them reluctantly accepting, Hardy doesn’t let the reader antagonize Fancy.

Nothing is idealized in this novel, just being a bit more observant while reading proves this.
The villagers passively accept the change, forever changing their future, Fancy and Dick enter a marriage with a secret(on her part) deconstructing the idea of a "perfect rural love story" that is shown at surface read and all of the characters are ruled by fate, over which the wo/men have no control.

"If we be doomed to marry, we marry; if we be doomed to remain single we do.”

All of these themes and motifs Hardy reused for his famous Far from the Madding crowd: the power of fate, the options of human choice, the perfection of nature, multiple men fighting over one woman, etc.

The key difference is in the tone, while FFTMC has a prevailing tone of pessimism, Under the greenwood tree has a lighter tone, although they both end in a similar skeptic way: in a marriage shown as a social transaction.

Nonetheless, this novel provides with everything it promised and is an enjoyable read for both a casual and critical reader of Hardy's work.
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I know it's exam season when I have zero time to actually read anything but still manage to squeeze something(Hardy) in. Review to come, 4/5.