Mind Transformation 356

356
Jude the Obscure
Antibiotics have cured me pretty fast. Now, my condition is alright, though I’m still lying on bed and reading books for the whole day. I think there is no need to change this state of affairs. I became completely engaged in reading, and it’s so amazing that I can read more than 100 pages in English every day. It’s very interesting and highly productive in the same time. Half of a year of such reading and I’m familiar with a large part of English literature.
Today I reexamined my attitude towards Hardy’s “Jude the Obscure” and found that this character, Jude, was outstanding only at the beginning of the story. Later on he became a bloody fool, and the whole story lost its charm after his course switched from striving for knowledge to chasing love, pleasure, and all sorts of things like that. What’s even more annoying is that I can’t admire Jude any longer. He turned into an average man after such a great beginning, so I have only a kind of swell of pity for him. For me it seems quite impossible to read great books for about 10 years and eventually be turned into such a silly fellow. I think the author chose Sue to express his own ideas, that’s why he made Jude a mere puppet of her. It’s also strange that in the beginning Jude reads mostly classic Greek and Roman authors but eventually his mind got into a religious jail. I had a sense that Hardy would make him one of those free spirits after such a long preparation, but instead I found an old lady who sacrificed everything for a well-known matter. However, maybe, the second part of the book will turn it upside down. Now, I’ve read 260 pages, and there are 210 pages more to satisfy my curiosity.

To the beginning: http://www.proza.ru/2018/03/10/1530
Next: http://www.proza.ru/2019/06/20/1688