Under the Greenwood Tree

by Thomas Hardy, Claire Seymour (Introduction), Claire Seymour (Noted by), Keith Carabine (Editor)

Overview

A traditional tale of love rivalry is set against a story of the plight of the musicians who are ousted by the new church organ. The text is accompanied by a critical introduction.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781853262272
Publisher:	Wordsworth Editions, Limited
Publication date:	01/28/1994
Series:	Classics Library Series
Edition description:	Revised ed.
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	5.08(w) x 7.81(h) x 0.37(d)

About the Author

Simon Gatrell is Professor of English at the University of Georgia. He has previously published critical editions of Tess of the d'Urbervilles (1986) and The Return of the Native (1990), both in the Hardy series of Oxford World Classics for which he was also General Editor. Professor Gatrell is also author of Hardy the Creator: A Textual Biography (1988), Thomas Hardy and the Proper Study of Mankind (1993), Thomas Hardy's Vision of Wessex (2003) and Thomas Hardy Writing Dress (2011).

Date of Birth:

June 2, 1840

Date of Death:

January 11, 1928

Place of Birth:

Higher Brockhampon, Dorset, England

Place of Death:

Max Gate, Dorchester, England

Education:

Served as apprentice to architect James Hicks

Table of Contents

List of illustrations; General editor's preface; Acknowledgements; Chronology; Abbreviations; Introduction; Under the Greenwood Tree; Variants in punctuation and styling; End-of-line hyphenation; Editorial emendations; Appendix A. Hardy's preface to the Wessex Edition; Appendix B. Under the Greenwood Tree and The Poor Man and the Lady; Appendix C. Detailed analysis of the manuscript; Appendix D. Chapter-division in the manuscript; Appendix E. Watermarks in the manuscript; Appendix F. The compositors of the first edition; Appendix G. Robson's compositors in A Pair of Blue Eyes; Appendix H. Differences between the first and second editions; Appendix I. Printing orders for Under the Greenwood Tree Published by Chatto and Windus and Macmillan; Appendix J. Frontispieces; Appendix K. Description of substantive editions; Explanatory notes.

Editorial Reviews

This early Hardy novel tells the story of a pastoral romance in the small Wessex village of Mellstock. Jamie Parker’s friendly, resonant tone adds warmth to a surprisingly cheerful work by an author known for his dour stories. Parker’s use of vocal variation in delivering Hardy’s descriptive prose guides listeners smoothly through the plot. He also demonstrates mastery in his renderings of local country dialects. The conversations between the choir members, who include an interesting range of ages and characterizations, are especially well performed, and his singing of various songs also enlivens the text. Overall, Parker’s charming performance adds much personality to this Hardy classic. D.M.W. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine

NOVEMBER 2014 - AudioFile