Wednesday, June 02, 2021

Happy Birthday Thomas Hardy

"She was of the stuff of which great men's mothers are made. She was indispensable to high generation, feared at tea-parties, hated in shops, and loved at crises." - Far From the Madding Crowd

Today is the 181st birthday of Thomas Hardy (he's dead now, btw), one of my favorite authors. 

Interesting facts:

- He was awarded the Order of Merit in 1910 and had been frequently nominated for a Nobel Prize in Literature

- The term “cliffhanger” is thought to have come from the serialization of one of his stories, in which a character is literally left hanging off a cliff

- He was a member of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and his strong views against animal cruelty are expressed in some of his works

Much more interesting facts:

Wrote one of the most crushing blows of any moment in any book I've ever read.

He's responsible for the most curiously specific robbery I've ever been involved with.

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