content: I didn't enjoy reading this one. I know Hardy isn't the most cheery writer, but this was beyond just depressing -- it was boring. About halfway through, I was tempted to just skip the rest but I trudged on to the bitter end.This may have been scandalous when it was published, but why couldn't Hardy have done a better job with the ending? The almost Dickensian sequence of hard-to-swallow tragedies was too contrived for my taste. Was Hardy afraid of writing a happy ending for this unconventional pair, or did he want to display the worst-case effects of a rigid social code of behavior? Either way, it all became pretty unbelievable.From a historical point of view, as a jumping-off point for a discussion of the social constraints and morals of the period, Jude is a success; it certainly seems to have set off some fireworks when it was first published. As casual reading, I can't recommend it.