Had to read it, not all bad - Rated 
I had to read this book for GCSE english, I read it once but as I am a slow reader I had lost the plot by the time the end was reached, so then I went on to purchase this Audio Book and it really was a God send, the plot and the characters came to life, and it turns out the story isnt half bad.
A book with fantastic characters! - Rated 
I thought that Far From the Madding Crowd was a really good book. It was the first novel by Thomas Hardy that I had read and it encouraged me to read some more of his works.
It is my favourite novel at the moment. I liked it so much because of the fantastic way in which characters are created and established. They are given such strong personalities, like Bathsheba Everdene, that it helps you become swept up in the action.
Far From the Madding Crowd is a novel about a country romance. A beautiful and interesting young woman is caught in a love triangle with three very different men. The first is the honourable and steady Gabriel Oak, who loves Bathsheba and is obviously fated to be with her, even though he seems quite her opposite. There is Farmer Bolwood who becomes obsessed with Bathsheba after she sends him a valentine, he is upstanding yet passive and we watch him drive painfully on to his undeserved end. Then there is the debonare Sargent Troy, who wins womans hearts and breaks them without thought.
This is a novel about life in the country, and how maddening it can be. It follows a magnificent set of characters, set in the beautiful place of Wessex, Hardy's imaginative countryside of England.
My favourite thing about this novel is how it centres on a woman. (A rare thing in the 19th century.) And a woman who is given the power to make her own descisions, be in charge of her money, and given sexual power. Bathsheba Everdene is a wonderful creation, up there with the best of 19th century fictions heroines. As complex as Madame Bouvary, innocent like Tess and tragic like Anna Karenia.
I reccomend this novel to anyone who is a fan of Thomas Hardy, enjoys romance novels or wants to gain a fresh view of England in the 19th century.
The tragedy of life revealed... - Rated
An unusually upbeat ending for Hardy... Or is it? I would say not. To marry without passion; to accept what is designed for you by fate; that is the tragedy of life. Bathsheba is a vital and strong woman who is eventually forced into succumbing to the ideals of the patriarchal society in which she lives. As with all Hardy, you feel you know she could do so much more, but is doomed to remain what she is: woman.
A True British Classic - Rated
Although I had previously seen the television version some years ago, it was only recently that I read the novel. Spurred on by reading 'Return of the Native' for A Level (another fascinating read), I fell for the [non] love affair between Bathsheba and Gabriel Oake immediately. 'Far from the Madding Crowd' has tragic love, unhappy marriages, lust, death, murder, estrangement and so much more. Unlike most of Hardy's other novels, this one has a happy ending, although you have to go through the bad stuff holding Bathsheba's hand before you arrive there. Don't be put off because it's an old book, it just might surprise you.
Great book about the underdog getting the girl. - Rated 
A good love story with a number of different subplots to keep the story exciting. The characters become very real, especially Oak and Bathsheba. Great story about life and love.
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