Jude the Obscure created storms of scandal and protest for the author upon its publication. (May) - This text refers to the Audio CD edition. The result is a truly memorable literary experience that demands repeated listens. As Jude, Jason shifts his voice to become, by turns, optimistic and lovelorn, while the supporting characters are equally well crafted. Jason's proper tone and slow pacing is a perfect fit for Hardy's prose. Beautifully narrated by the gifted Neville Jason, this story of repression, judgment, and true love will appeal to listeners who love the classics. The controversial tale of Jude Fawley and his unconventional relationship with his cousin, Sue Bridehead, is as fascinating today as it was when Hardy published the novel in 1895. Hailed by modern critics as a pioneering work of feminism and socialist thought, Hardy's tragic parable continues to resonate with readers. The lovers find themselves equally incapable of living within the conventions of their era and of transcending its legal and moral strictures. Thwarted at every turn, Jude Hawley abandons his hopes, is trapped into an unwise marriage, and pursues a doomed relationship with his free-spirited cousin, Sue Bridehead. Hardy's last novel depicts a changing world, where a poor stonemason can aspire to a university education and a higher place in society - but where in reality such dreams remain unattainable. Its heated reception led the embittered author to renounce fiction, turning his considerable talents ever afterward to writing poetry.

Between its frank portrayals of sexuality and its indictments of marriage, religion, and England's class system, the novel offended a broad swath of readers. Powerful and controversial from its 1895 publication to the present, Jude the Obscure scandalized Victorian critics, who condemned it as decadent, indecent, and degenerate.

Jude the obscure