Thomas Hardy dictionary

Press, 30 May 1981, Page 17

Thomas Hardy dictionary

Hardy: An Illustrated Dictionary. By Alan Hurst. Kaye and Ward, 1980. 215 pp. $21.45. (Reviewed by Heather McPherson)

This attractive book fits somewhere between a scholarly and a popular approach to the man and the work. A generous' use of photographs includes a mixture of Hardy family, friends and living places. Hardy's Wessex, characters from stage and television adaptations of the novels and short stories, and a sprinkle of interesting oddments such as Hardy s drawing of Emma searching for the cup lost under the waterfall. The text is equally eclectic. Facts, succinct plot summaries and brief critical comments are supplemented by a chatty use of

quotes from Hardy's notebooks, from contemporaries and early reviewers. A dictionary compiler, the author points out, faces the responsibility of selection. The dictionary has too many omissions for a scholar to find the book essential. Some entries, for instance 10 lines on "Philosophy,” suggest school reference possibilities; others are more whimsical. “Style” is amplified only by a quotation from Hardy's “Life": “The whole secret of style lies in not having too much style -- being in fact a little careless.” Such good humour pervades. The dictionary is written with affection rather than adulation or — that trap of biographers — moral disapproval. A pleasant addition to the collection of Hardy memorabilia and a stimulating one for the beginner.