The Fiddler of the Reels and Other Stories: 1888-1900

by Thomas Hardy, Keith Wilson (Introduction), Keith Wilson (Noted by), Kristin Brady (Introduction), Kristin Brady (Noted by)

Overview

The eleven short storiesin this collection range from those with the Wessex setting familiar from Hardy's novels, to aristocratic historical fantasies set in the 17th and 18th centuries, and tragic or ironic contemporary dramas. Enormously readable in their own right, thestories can also be seen as a rich testing ground for ideas and themes that receive more sustained treatment in Hardy's most innovative and controversial novels.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780140439007
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	11/25/2003
Series:	Penguin Classics Series
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.80(h) x 0.91(d)
Lexile:	1110L (what's this?)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) immortalized the site of his birth—Egdon Heath, in Dorset, near Dorchester—in his writing. Delicate as a child, he was taught at home by his mother before he attended grammar school. At sixteen, Hardy was apprenticed to an architect, and for many years, architecture was his profession; in his spare time, he pursued his first and last literary love, poetry. Finally convinced that he could earn his living as an author, he retired from architecture, married, and devoted himself to writing. An extremely productive novelist, Hardy published an important book every year or two. In 1896, disturbed by the public outcry over the unconventional subjects of his two greatest novels—Tess of the D’Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure—he announced that he was giving up fiction and afterward produced only poetry. In later years, he received many honors. He was buried in Poet’s Corner, in Westminster Abbey. It was as a poet that he wished to be remembered, but today critics regard his novels as his most memorable contribution to English literature for their psychological insight, decisive delineation of character, and profound presentation of tragedy.

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

The Fiddler of the Reels and Other StoriesAcknowledgments
General Editor's Preface
Chronology: Hardy's Life and Works
Map: Wessex Novels Edition
Bibliographical Note
Introduction
Further Reading
A Note on the History of the Texts

Short Stories

The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion
A Tragedy of Two Ambitions
The First Countess of Wessex
Barbara of the House of Grebe
For Conscience's Sake
The Son's Veto
On the Western Circuit
The Fiddler of the Reels
An Imaginative Woman
A Changed Man
Enter a Dragoon

Notes
Appendix I: History of the Short Story Collections
Appendix II: Hardy's Use of History in "The First Countess of Wessex"
Appendix III: A Note on the Illustrations
Glossary