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ISSN: 0950-4125 Incorporates: Electronic Resources Review Online from: 1997 Subject Area: Library and Information Studies

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Books & Journals Bibliographic Databases Case Studies Dow nloads: The fulltext of this document has been dow nloaded 555 times since 2010 Article citation: Linda Kemp, (2010) "A Companion to Thomas Hardy", Reference Review s, Vol. 24 Iss: 1, pp.39 - 40

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Languages and literature : A Companion to Thomas Hardy The Reviewers

Linda Kemp, Senior Library Assistant and LIS Postgraduate Researcher, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK RR 2010/027 Review Subject: A Companion to Thomas Hardy Edited by Keith Wilson Publisher Name: Wiley-Blackwell Place of Publication: Malden, MA and Oxford Publication Year: 2009 ISBN: 978 1 4051 5668 4 Price: 95/$199.95 Article type: Review Pages: xiiv+488 pp. Keywords: English Literature, Nineteenth century Emerald Journal: Reference Reviews Volume: 24 Number: 1 Year: 2010 pp. 39-40 Copyright: Emerald Group Publishing Limited ISSN: 0950-4125
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One of the later essays in this collection opens by stating that No one is more prized as a national English author than Thomas Hardy (p. 345). Whether one agrees or not, the name Hardy conjures up something quintessentially English in the imaginations of the fiction-reading public. This nineteenth century novelist and twentieth century poet is unusual in that he is recognised for his mastery of two genres and for his popularity both within and beyond academia. This collection of essays is appropriately accessible to both the general reader and the scholar. The 30 contributors hold academic positions in America, Australia, Canada, Denmark, New Zealand and the UK. A short introduction by the editor precedes the 30 essays presented through five headings identifying different thematic approaches to the works. Part I, The Life, is a standalone chapter outlining the shape of Hardy's life and examining some of the ways that our current understanding of his life story has been constructed, notably by Hardy's editorial hand and cultural/social factors shaping the texts available for scholars to examine. Part II presents The Intellectual Context with seven essays approaching Hardy's intellectual and creative development through the ideas and influences that can be traced in the novels and poetry. Phillip Mallett looks at Hardy and Philosophy whilst George Levine re-examines the by now well established connection between Charles Darwin's ideas and Hardy's intellectual development, suggesting that Hardy looks with Darwinian eyes and re-enchants it (p. 128). In the next chapter, Hardy and the Place of culture, Angelique Richardson looks at the nature/culture dichotomy, followed by Pamela Dalziel's take on Hardy and the Church. Chapter 6 explicates some of the roles Hardy's notebooks play in revealing the writer's development, chapter 7 explores generic hybridity in the fiction and chapter 8 presents one view of gender as seen in Hardy's novels. The seven chapters comprising Part III The Social-cultural Context present a range of contexts in which to consider Hardy. The first chapter under this heading takes the familiar approach of Hardy in the Rural, although this is followed by the less familiar theme Thomas Hardy of London. Essays on Hardy and (Social) Class, Reading Hardy through Dress, and Hardy and Romantic Love follow, presenting critical approaches which scholarly readers are likely to find familiar whilst the general reader may discover some new takes on familiar texts. The final two essays in this section contextualise Hardy amid the Visual Arts and Music respectively. Claire Seymour presents an interesting case for Hardy the musician, an identity not generally associated with him. Part IV forms the substantive collection of essays, with 12 chapters presenting specific texts. The first eight essays (chapters 16 to 23) cover: Under the Greenwood Tree and Far from the Maddening Crowd, The Return of the Native, Desperate Remedies, The Hand of Ethelberta and A Laodicean, A Pair of Blue Eyes, The Trumpet-Major, Two on a Tower and The Well-beloved, The Mayor of Casterbridge, The Woodlanders, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, and Jude the Obscure. These textual readings are followed by Peter Widdowson's provocatively titled essay Into the hands of pure-minded English girls: Hardy's short stories and the late Victorian literary marketplace. Two chapters look at the poems, specifically the significance of sequence and series and the scholarly situation in

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other words, an overview of the available editions of Hardy's poems, and also the letters, notebooks, biographies, the availability of electronic resources (including CDs) and critical and interpretive studies. The final chapter in this section takes a look at The Dynasts Hardy's drama that, again, may be familiar to scholars but is perhaps less well-known to the general reader. Part V closes this selection with three essays on Hardy the Modern. J. Hillis Miller uses the motif of hand-writing to demonstrate Hardy's modernity in The Mayor of Casterbridge. Charles Lock presents Thomas Hardy and Modern Poetics by looking at the way his poetry has been included and excluded from significant poetry anthologies and the final chapter considers D.H. Lawrence and John Cowper Powys as Hardy's literary heirs. Each essay is followed by Notes where the author has required them, and roughly a page of References and Further Reading which across the selection of essays avoids excessive repetition and accordingly provides a good bibliography for the student. As one would expect from a title in this Blackwell series, the volume presents the latest scholarly approaches, is fully indexed and the entry for Hardy is usefully subdivided into autobiography, collected editions, drama, miscellaneous prose, novels, poetry and stories. The typeface is clear, the page quality and binding of a high standard, making this, like other titles in the series, an excellent addition to any academic library collection serving English literary studies and the public library looking to provide an up to date critical context for its fiction collection.

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