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Hi everyone,

I'm Jean, and have just become your new moderator. I noticed that the founder K has been inactive since 2014, another moderator has been and gone, and in 2018 Amy asked for another mod. We have 105 members here, who are all interested in Thomas Hardy, so that's a great core! I moderate 4 groups, and can see great potential here. Amy is happy to let me relaunch the group, so here I am :) Thanks Amy!

At the moment I'm reorganising; adding some folders, starting off some new threads, and writing a few ground rules. With a good core of members already, I'm sure we can make this a great group!

I'll be sending everyone a message about the relaunch tomorrow when it's sorted out a bit more. And I hope you'll join in enthusiastically, as we already have such a good base.

Keep your eyes open for new threads, discussions, group reads and lots more :)

Thank you!

Hi Bionic Jean. You are well-regarded for your moderator work in the Dickensians. I almost joined for the Bleak House read, but would have come in late, due to finishing a read of Our Mutual Friend in the Chunksters GR group, another dormant group resuscitated by another active reader/moderator named Hugh. Anyway, I passed on joining the read, as I was deterred by the sheer volume of daily posts - it was like trying to jump on a moving train with the chapter a day pace.

Here's a post I made in this group's Order of Books thread explaining the Hardy group's demise to my fellow Brian, Brian Fagan aka Brian#1:

"Brian (Fagan) wrote: "Hello Hardians. Any interest in a new read ?"

My reply:
"This group is inactive and has no moderator. Amy did a wonderful job but pulled out about late 2017 or 2018. Emilymom joined and became the moderator and put her heart into it. We had some good discussions, but there were only a few participants. Brian #1, I think you joined or at least started participating at that time.
Then, sometime in 2020 or so, Emilymom must have quit ŷ������, or at least this group, because she not only left, but deleted all her comments. Since many threads consisted of only myself and her, it now looks like I'm just talking to myself in the threads. Kind of funny.

In other words, if you want this group to go on, somehow come up with a way of becoming the moderator of it so you can start threads. I'm not interested. I had read all of Hardy's novels before joining the group in 2014 and in this group have read the short story collections and reread the 5 major novels. I may reread The Woodlanders sometime but not too soon as I have other novels I'd rather read."

I still would like to reread The Woodlanders but otherwise am up to date on my Hardy reads and re-reads having finished Wessex Tales and A Chamged Man and Other Stories, the only remaining ones of his short story collections, earlier this year.

Brian wrote: "Hi Bionic Jean. You are well-regarded for your moderator work in the Dickensians. I almost joined for the Bleak House read, but would have come in late, due to finishing a read of Our Mutual Friend..."

Thanks for your kind words Brian, and the information. Yes indeed there were a phenomenal number of posts each day in that read! Some thought at first that one chapter a day was far too slow - but in fact it's quite intensive if you read in depth. What a shame you couldn't join in. The threads are still there and all linked to the beginning ... I know some readers do follow on behind at their own pace. But that is a different group, and differently structured.

I am currently reading through all the threads here, so had come across the one you quoted, but thank you for placing it here.

l look forward very much to seeing you in the other threads :)

Bionic Jean wrote: "I am currently reading through all the threads here, so had come across the one you quoted, but thank you for placing it here. ."

I just wanted to make sure you knew that Emilymom had been a moderator and then deleted all her posts, in case you wondered if that Brian guy liked talking to an imaginary person.

LOL I kinda worked it out! :D

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Jean ! Greetings from the other Brian :)

Thank you too for your support, Brian :)

I hope everyone feels this enthusiastic ... you don't actually have to be called "Brian" to join in by the way :D I'm really excited about relaunching this group!

Here I am, happy to be here! Thank you Jean!

Thanks for the invitation, Jean! I’m excited to be here.

Thank you for the invite, Jean. I'm not sure if I will do much participating. I have read almost all of Hardy's works, many more than once, but he is my favorite Victorian author so I couldn't resist joining. If I can find time, I will enjoy following the threads. YOU amaze me being able to juggle so much!

I bought a bunch of Hardy to read this year with another group, but I didn’t really enjoy The Bluest Eye or Far From the Madding Crowd, so I stopped reading with them. I do want to read Tess and Jude some time though, and may be tempted to read others if this group is active. I see some familiar faces here and think it could be a great discussion! I bet I’d get more out of it and probably enjoy it more in a group like this! So that’s me showing my excitement and support, but also being honest about my hesitancy.

Thanks Jean for the invitation. Thomas Hardy is probably my favorite poet. His last book of poetry Winter Words: Poetry and Personal Writings of Thomas Hardy is one of the great achievements of poetry in the 20th Century.

I will try to focus my activity here on the poetry because I find myself rather behind in some of my other reading. I do have his Collected Poems, which I treasure.

Oh!! I saw the weekly poem! I’m super excited about that!

Thanks Jean for the invitation. I’m a fairly newbie to Hardy - I loved Tess and Madding Crowd so far. I am also in awe of how much you do! I’d love to try to add more of Hardy’s works into my schedule.

Thanks Jean for the invitation! Big fan, but haven´t read all of Hardy´s work yet. Looking ahead to the poems, and will be reading The Hand of Ethelberta with another group through the next months. Otherwise don´t know about being very active here, as my reading receded over the last months.

Thanks Jean for relaunching this group. I am excited to read along.

Thanks for the invite. I haven't read any of Hardy that I can recall, I am a slow reader and can't commit to many group reads at one time but I am interested in delving into the novels of Hardy.

I'll join the chorus and thanks for inviting me. I have heard of Thomas Hardy but have yet to read any of his works, although I'm fairly sure I have a copy of Tess of the d Urbervilles somewhere in my stash �� so I did have an intent at one time! I hope I will learn a lot from all of you and be prompted for a deeper dive!

Jean, you are amazing! I am a Mod in 3 groups but 2 require minimal effort on my part. You are such a great discussion leader and so knowledgeable!

Thank you for inviting me and for relaunching the group, Jean.

Wow - lots of comments so soon! Thanks everyone for your kind words. Whether you are a Thomas Hardy newbie, or have read all his works more than once, I am delighted to see everyone :) I think we'll have some great times here.

Thank you for the invitation, Jean. I have read Tess of the D'Urbervilles and Far From the Madding Crowd so far, and honestly don't remember liking them all that much. But I'm open to having my mind changed by a group of Hardy enthusiasts! I'm sure I'll enjoy following the discussion threads and participating when I can find the time.

I don’t know how much time I’ll have to devote to Hardy, but I couldn’t say no to Jean’s invitation. “Tess�� is one of my top five favorite novels ever. Can’t wait to read more of Hardy. And Jean is my favorite Moderator, so it seemed like a perfect match.

Thanks for the news of the relaunch. I will try to be a good soldier/Trumpet Major in contributing more frequently than previously.

LOL David!

Aw, Bridget - thank you! And you always give such a lot to any group you are in :)

Kim - Prepare to be converted ;)

Ashley - With the incredible number of new members joining in one day, I think I can promise that this will be an active group!

Robin and Lori - Thank you so much for your kind words :)

Michaela and Sara - Not to worry - just join in when you fancy it! The point about this group is to try to make a little space for Thomas Hardy even for those who are members of many other groups.

John - That's fantastic - so I'm counting on you to lead some of the weekly poems :)

I'm participating in a Hardy readalong on instagram and we are reading Tess this month so I'll be slightly out of sync but I'll keep and eye out for everyone's thoughts when you start.

Hi Laura that's really good, as it will be so fresh in your mind!

Thanks for the invite, Jean! I read Hardy many years ago--so long ago that reading his works now will seem like new (one of the benefits of aging! :) His name has been popping up here and there in my Facebook book groups and always reignites a desire to pick up one of his books, but I haven't actually managed to do it. This group will provide the impetus I need! Having seen you in action, all I need to know is that you're leading the discussion and I'm in! Looking forward to it!

That's brilliant Cindy! Thanks for the vote of confidence :)

I'm here as a fan of Bionic Jean and Thomas Hardy. Right now I am more comfortable discussion the poetry. My eyes are up to no good. Reading and thinking about poetry is great. I've come to appreciate the haiku as a restorative art form.

I've been to Hardy's childhood home. It was impressive and diminutive.

Wow, I'm in the same sentence as Thomas Hardy :D Thank you for the lovely vote of confidence Natalie.

I'm glad you've seen his cottage :) Several people are talking about places associated with him, so I'll start a thread off for this.

Jean, thanks for the invite. I may not be able to participate regularly especially in the beginning as I am, once again, over extended with my reading plans, but I do want to follow the group and join in when I can. Hardy has been a favorite for a long time.

That's fantastic Sue - it's lovely to see you here in "The Works of Thomas Hardy" group!

We just have a weekly poem until September, so you may find you can squeeze one in, just to dip your toe in the water so to speak. Long-term fans of Thomas Hardy are especially welcome :)

Bionic Jean wrote: "Hi everyone,

I'm Jean, and have just become your new moderator. I noticed that the founder K has been inactive since 2014, another moderator has been and gone, and in 2018 Amy asked for another mo..."

Hello, dear Jean,

Foremost, I admire all your posts and have expanded my own reading because of your insights and choices. I am excited about this group, and I'm curious about the weekly poems along with the longer book. What a wonderful, complete approach. Thank you, thank you for the invitation!

It's early morning here in my corner of the world. May your Sunday and new week be lovely!

With a smile,
Jan

Hi Jan and welcome to the "Works of Thomas Hardy" group. Thank you for your lovely post! It's good to see you here :)

I can see you have read several of Thomas Hardy's novels, so I do hope you will be able to join in. Our second weekly poem has now been posted (by John) and I think you will enjoy our reading of Tess of the D'Urbervilles next month.

I've already got another copy of Tess and will look for the weekly poem. Thank you again!

Great! They start out in the "Currently Reading" folder LINK HERE but will then be moved to "Poetry".

Hi, I have been a member for a while but I haven't participated very much. I am looking forward to trying to get more involved as I love reading Thomas Hardy but I have no idea why, maybe you can all help me understand. I am now going to go read the weekly poem and look forward to being more involved. Thank you Bionic Jean.

Hi Christina! I'm delighted to see you commenting :) Oh yes, I'm sure we all know that feeling, that we love the way Thomas Hardy writes.

Good to see you you'll be following the weekly poems, and I do hope you will join in our reading of Tess of the D'Urbervilles beginning next month!

When will you start another book read? And what is it to be? Thanks. peace, janz

We are reading a different poem every week Janz.

LINK HERE for the one which was posted just an hour ago!

Each leader puts this week's poem at the beginning of their post. An edition of Thomas Hardy's complete poems is on our home page, and on our group shelves. That particular edition costs pennies. A fuller explanation and links to our discussion of each poem is LINK HERE

Each poem is moved to the Poetry folder after a couple of weeks.

If your interest is the novels, take a look at our discussions of Tess of the D'Urbervilles LINK HERE for the first thread. As you can see, it links to each chapter summary, so you will not get any spoilers. If you prefer, you can read and follow these threads, adding your comments at the end of each phase.

I look forward to you comments in whichever place. 😊

Thank you -- I think I just replied to another email like this. I am not up for poetry at the moment and I am thankful that there are people in my world who love it. I never learned to love poetry in general - poor early education in north Alabama in the mountains. Thanks for all the work you are doing. peace, janz

Jean, this is a question regarding the section for member threads. Would it be okay if I start a thread where we can discuss Hardy in relation to others? I think it might be interesting to have a specific area where we can share any interesting Hardy influences and connections we come across in our reading outside of the group.

Of course, Jane 😊 Thank you!

Christina wrote: "Hi, I have been a member for a while but I haven't participated very much. I am looking forward to trying to get more involved as I love reading Thomas Hardy.."

Hello! My name is Lee and I could have written the above myself. I am also a member of Dickensians which is currently reading Oliver Twist, a book I myself completed in Dec. 2022. I also love Hardy, but due to a strange coincidence I read Tess of the D'Urbervilles last year also.

So I have been peeking at the poetry here but never commented until now. The readings are quite beautiful so here I am. Looking forward to a novel by Hardy perhaps this fall 2023.

This sound like a reverse sort of sychronicity Lee! At least these classics are worth rereading may times 😊

But for anyone who does not know Lee, she has great insights and her comments are always really good.

I'm so happy you are here with us, Lee. Please do add your thoughts to our poetry threads at any time! Greg is leading one at the moment, and Jane's choice is up next.

Nice to see Lee here! I am curious to know which novel by Thomas Hardy you will decide to read, Jean.

All plans are fluid at the moment.