I need to decide what to read next: The Phantom of the Opera or Jude the Obscure

[StColumbofNavron]

Relevant information

• I do like a bleak tale
• I have loved (as much as one can) Tess and Return of the Native
• I like Gothic
• I want something all encompassing (I've been reading a lot of light, breezy fiction lately that was fine but didn't sweep me up)
• a GoodReads review compared the Phantom to Heathcliff which almost swung it for me as I adore Wuthering Heights

So which shall I opt for?

Jude the Obscure is deeply, deeply depressing. But I loved it.

It took me 7 years to get over Tess and read The Return of the Native - both of which I adored.

Read Phantom. It is nicely gothic instead of depressing with an absolutely terrible haunting twist.

Jude. Get it over with so you can recover before you're on your deathbed.

If you like gothic, have you read Northanger Abbey? So funny.

Read Jude if:
you are 17
you are a goth
you like writing dark poetry
you want to cry
you're patient enough to not spend all of the novel wanting to slap bloody Sue

I haven't read Phantom. I nearly bought it a couple of weeks ago and changed my mind. Maybe you will be able to tell me later if I want to read it.

Jude, Jude, Jude. What a book.

Oh dear … You probably need to get off MN and start Jude now.

Before someone spoilers it for you!

But yes, it is the very peak of a particular type of achievement. Be warned …

Jude The Obscure is A LOT, I have Phantom on TBR

My English teacher told me to read Jude the Obscure when I was 15. Good heavens.

Good Jude is depressing and the characters are annoying. I read it when I was young, I don't think I could bear it now.

It is, but not as much of ‘A Lot’ as Tess of the D’Urbervilles. Yeah, I’d go for Jude.

Jude and Tess are equally A LOT, I'd say. Although Angel bloody Clare probably needs slapping more than any other character in the whole of literature.

Tess is a lot, but it has all sorts of layers. I love it. Angel Clare is brilliantly written - we are meant to want to slap him. I spend the whole book shouting at different characters - and it still ends the same each time. Reread it several times.

But Jude . . . (Shudders at the memory.) It's the bleakest thing ever. No shouting there. Just a whimper and the wish never to have started it. It's a black hole of a book, sucking all life, all hope, all joy into it. You've been warned!

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie
"Although Angel bloody Clare probably needs slapping more than any other character in the whole of literature."
Now there's a discussion! I offer Marianne Dashwood as my contender.

Jude. Get it over with so you can recover before you're on your deathbed.

😂

I loved Return of the Native
Read Jude

Awwww. I like Marianne - she's a bit more human than Elinor.

Romeo

Well, it looks Jude is the winner.

@RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie see you on 50 books with my view.

Jude the obscure haunts me

For me, Jude is a book you'll never want to read twice. Bleak does not come close.

Add 'The Grapes of Wrath' to that list, too. Devastating.

Jude the Obscure is on my excellent books but too traumatic to read again list, along with The Kite Runner and Schindlers Ark.
You could always read Jude and then watch Phantom at the theatre to cheer yourself up.

Looking forward to the review @StColumbofNavron .

Hahahaha.. I have actually seen Phantom.

Good choice! But do remember not to do any flicking through out of curiosity…