“Far from the Madding Crowd”

I could have been happy, I think, as an English major.  In any case, I’ve been drawn to Thomas Hardy since I was in high school.

So I enjoyed this new version of Far from the Madding Crowd — both for its own sake and for its reminding me of the novel.

My wife liked it as well, but says that she still prefers the 1967 version, with Julie Christie, Alan Bates, Terrence Stamp, and Peter Finch.  However, she’s not sure whether she’s actually preferring that film or her nolstagic memories of that film — a problem that doesn’t afflict me, really, because I don’t think I’ve seen it again since it first appeared.  So we’ll have to watch that version one of these days.