ISBN-13: 9781603121743 / Angielski / Miękka / 2007 / 216 str.
Hardy, among other things, was the author of the poem, -The Dead Man Walking.- Considered the -writer of Dorset, - Hardy's fictional Wessex is perhaps bleaker than the real Dorset itself, long possessed of a hard, cold, lonely beauty. A Changed Man and Other Tales is a collection of Hardy's stories written between 1880 and 1910. The title story is reminiscent of Hardy's longer, darker novels such as Jude the Obscure. The -Changed Man- is Captain Maumbry, a dashing Hussar from a regiment that comes to Casterbridge, captivating all the young women and most of the young men. But the regiment is -haunted- and -- after a new parson comes to town, the formerly carefree soldier Maumbry is transformed into a deeply religious minister. But his wife has no intention of becoming a poor parson's bridge; the dissolution of their marriage and both of their lives constitutes the rest of the tale. In distilling deep insight from what serves as cruel gossip in most towns -- not merely Casterbridge -- Hardy is writing about his heart's truest subject. A Changed Man and Other Tales is highly recommended for readers who are moved by such bleak, uncompromising, yet truthful visions.