{"product_id":"2026200011229-secondhand-jude-the-obscure","title":"Jude The Obscure","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition remarks:\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003eCondition: Good to fair. Paperback. Page Condition: Good - possible tanning. Markings: possible previous owner inscription.   \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThomas Hardy's final novel, Jude the Obscure, stands as one of the most powerful and uncompromising works of Victorian literature, chronicling the tragic life of Jude Fawley, a stonemason from rural England who dreams of academic greatness at the fictional university city of Christminster. The novel unflinchingly details his thwarted ambitions, his ill-fated marriage to the earthy Arabella Donn, and his passionate yet doomed relationship with his free-thinking cousin Sue Bridehead. Hardy presents a searing critique of the rigid class structures and moral conventions of late nineteenth-century England, arguing that society's institutions — marriage, religion, and education — are instruments of oppression that crush individual aspiration and desire. Written with Hardy's characteristic blend of lyrical prose and bleak fatalism, the narrative uncovers the devastating cost of dreaming beyond one's station in a world indifferent to human suffering. First published in 1895, the book caused such a scandal upon release that Hardy renounced novel-writing altogether, cementing its status as a landmark of English literature.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Secondhand Stock","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48956180201691,"sku":"2026200011229-SECONDHAND","price":10.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0523\/7646\/9701\/files\/5eeda899-6e67-4403-8b1f-c9aa803202cd.png?v=1783498751","url":"https:\/\/bookgrocer.com\/products\/2026200011229-secondhand-jude-the-obscure","provider":"Book Grocer","version":"1.0","type":"link"}