Alternative Hardy /

The new and mulitfaceted interest in Hardy in the past two decades has been achieved partly by a shift of interest in what constitutes his central importance (notably a new focus on his poetry), and partly by means of new critical vocabulary and techniques. This collection of essays is indicative of the wide range of topics still open for exploration, and the kinds of success that may result through the use both of more traditional and of fresher critical approaches. Particularly informative here is Michael Radiger's "Hardy's Fictional Process and His Emotional Life," which uncovers a "central archetype" ("the displacement of a weaker man by a stronger"), shows it at work in the novels, and then (without forcing the issue too strongly) relates this obsessive pattern to Hardy's relations with Horace Moule and Tryphena Sparks. An essay titled "Buddhist Tendencies in Hardy's Poetry" (perhaps unconvincing on the face of it) again provides a framework through which to see Hardy's ideas, particularly those on an absentee god and the mental quietude attainable through pessimism. The editor's own essay is an impressive reading of several poems and fictions, beginning with a close reading of the poem "She Who Saw Not." Alternative Hardy is an important piece of evidence of the richness now available as numbers of critics respond in different ways to the challenges that Hardy's work offers to the world. Graduate students and faculty. -L. J. Clipper, Indiana University at South Bend