Review of Far from the Madding Crowd (2015) by Victor Y — 17 Jul 2016

Sometimes I see what looks to be just another period drama, and I will do my upmost to shy away from it. I managed it with the likes of Downton Abbey but when presented with the opportunity to view this, I caved in to a moment of weakness thinking it would make a change from the usual onslaught of blood and guts I tend to opt for.

To cut a long story short, I'm still bewildered by the fact that I actually enjoyed this, more so because the dynamics of the relationships is still running through my mind days after witnessing the story.

It's one of those plots that can be analysed in so many different ways depending on the audiences stance, and one which would be the perfect topic for a film or book club discussion. I can evidently see why such a novel would be used as part of English literature coursework or a subject for class debate because it has been cleverly written to pose many questions - Who is the true victim, who is the player, what is everyone feeling? The answers are not clear and can justifiably change as we encounter different chapters of this script.

Perhaps it was a lucky guess but my prediction of how it would end came largely true but even that was inconclusive as its not 100% clear whether she finally does marry, and was it to the man who was always her one true love? My opinion is that she loved attributes of all her three suitors, but none of them were ever the full package that ticked every one of her needs.

She also appeared to fear commitment and thrived too much upon the thrill of being sought after. Could that also be the case for the men in this story though? Relationships can often bring out different personality traits, and there's an argument here that we inadvertently often hurt most, the ones we actually love.

One thing I can be sure of from this is that I have found a new niche genre that I can get my teeth into, not necessarily the aged setting or historic backdrop, but the complexities of character interactions is something that can get my analytical mind buzzing.

Is this a sign that I'm finally turning old?!