Works of Thomas Hardy discussion

Hardy again mentions Mop viewing Car'line with one eye, and Car'line having no control over her reaction to the Devil's music:

"There was that in the look of Mop's one dark eye which said: 'You cannot leave off, dear, whether you would or no!' and it bred in her a paroxysm of desperation that defied him to tire her down."

Hardy's knowledge of the violin and dances comes through in this story. We can visualize the music and dancing in our minds. Those were good quotes that you pulled from this section, Bridget.

Charlie Daniel's song, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" is one of my favorites. I've been having that tune run through my mind all week as I've been reading this story.

Connie wrote: Charlie Daniel's song, "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" is one of my favorites. I've been having that tune run through my mind all week as I've been reading this story.

Char..."

I like that song too,Connie. It is completely appropriate for this story!!

I like the quote you used too. It captures that moment when I feel so hopeless for Car'line.

August 16th – Read to the End

As we feared, Mop has taken little Carry and is nowhere to be found. Mild mannered Ned is filled with anger, and fear for his daughter, and yes, he thinks of her as his own because he’s cared and loved her for the last three years. He looks for her outside, but all he sees is the dark heath, a perfect place for a man to escape with a child. Ned and some others search anyway, but with no success.

Ned and Car’line leave for Stickleford. Car’line is better, but she still has fits. She is not quite herself, and she doesn’t seem worried about Carry at all. Ned for his part feels more love for Carry than he does for Car'line. Weeks pass with no word of the girl.

Finally, Ned hears a rumor that a man like Mop, playing the fiddle with a little girl dancing on stilts was seen in London. He races there, but again has no luck finding Mop and Carry.

The story ends with the narrator telling us it is generally assumed that Mop and the girl emigrated to America. That he is probably there now, at 70 years old, playing his violin while her dancing supports him and that she is a 45-year-old woman.

Remember at the beginning of this story, I mentioned it's about two Worlds Fairs? It's easy to miss, but that last paragraph is alluding to Mop and Carry performing at the Chicago World Fair in 1893. He's giving us the clue in Carry's age. You see, Carry was born sometime in 1848 (which makes her 3 years old when Carline and Carry arrive in London in 1851). So, by 1983 she would be about 44 or 45 years old. Hardy doesn't come right out and say they are in Chicago, he leaves it to our imagination, so we are free to think Mop and Carry ended up just about anywhere. But since Hardy was writing this story for Scribner's special edition for the World Fair, I think that's what Hardy had in mind.

We've reached the end of the story, and we have a few more days to keep discussing. If you are coming late to reading, please feel free to chime in with any thoughts or comments. All are welcome!

Yes, if you read it all in one chunk (or not!) then it's safe to come in and add your thoughts! We can see just how many are reading this, so please don't be shy 😊

The ending makes me think about the difference between Carry's two fathers. Mop is using her for his own purposes, bringing in money as a performer even as a small child. Ned was loving her, teaching her, and playing with her even though Carry was not his biological daughter.

Poor Car'line seems to never have recovered from her last meeting with Mop.

Thanks for pointing out the connection to the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. I had forgotten that the work was in a special edition for the Fair.

It's a fun coincidence that Erik Larson's book about the Chicago fair has the word "devil" in its title, The Devil in the White City Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair that Changed America. He was writing about another devil, H H Holmes.

Connie wrote: "It's a fun coincidence that Erik Larson's book about the Chicago fair has the word "devil" in its title, The Devil in the White City Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair that Changed America. He was writing about another devil, H H Holmes..."

I love that connection. I read that book a long time ago, and really liked it. I like your comparison of Mop and Ned too. Biology is not the only thing that makes one a parent.

This story reminded me a little of Tess of the D'Urbervilles. (I'm going to put this thought under a spoiler in case someone stumbles through here without reading Tess first (view spoiler)[For one thing both Tess and Carline have children out of wedlock. On a deeper level they also both try to put their scandal behind them and lead a virtuous life. Sadly, neither of them succeeds. (hide spoiler)]

I didn’t participate in the discussion until the read was finished because I didn’t remember the plot details enough to comment. However, I very much enjoyed the deep and detailed Connie and Bridget banter.

The following is what I posted in the prior incarnation of this Group’s discussion thread on THE FIDDLER OF THE REELS when the Group read Life’s Little Ironies. New comments are in parentheses.

Things I liked in the story:
1. The Fiddler is from Mellstock and there are references to their quire-band and the Dewys from Under the Greenwood Tree; (I like it when Hardy makes interconnections between his stories as it makes Hardy’s Wessex more existent)
2. Ned works on building the glass house at the 1851 Great Exhibition which I heard so much about in the last year of episodes of Victoria on PBS (or ITV); (the previous discussion on this has been informative)
3. Scenes change from familiar Wessex towns such as Mellstock, Stickleford, Moreford and Casterbridge to the Lambeth area of London; (While I love the fact that Hardy focuses on one location, his Wessex, one of the things I like about his short stories is that it gives him an opportunity to stretch his wings, so to speak. I enjoyed the variety of locales in this story. )
4. I learned that passenger trains from Wessex to London added for the Great Exhibition were open-air; (I love to learn about society and culture of a past time and place through reading the fiction of the times rather than the history about the times)
5. The ending does not leave anyone happily ever after. Again, wistful melancholy prevails. (While his short stories usually eschew the epically tragic tone of his novels, in its place they tend to embrace the wistful melancholy rather than the happily-ever-after)

I choose this story because my family is very involved with music, violins especially. My brother is a luthier, and my son is a violinist. Fun fact . . . I did most of my research for this story while I was chaperoning my son at his violin camp. So, I was literally surrounded by fiddling. Though if I called a violin a fiddle, my son and brother would not be happy!

I loved learning how important violins were to Thomas Hardy. In 1916, Thomas Hardy wrote a heartfelt poem about his deceased father by addressing his father's violin. That conceit reminds me a bit of how Mop's violin seemed to have a life of its own. Now that the story has ended, I thought I would share it with you.

"To My Father's Violin"

Does he want you down there
In the Nether Glooms where
The hours may be a dragging load upon him,
As he hears the axle grind
Round and round
Of the great world, in the blind
Still profound
Of the night-time? He might liven at the sound
Of your string, revealing you had not forgone him.

In the gallery west the nave,
But a few yards from his grave,
Did you, tucked beneath his chin, to his bowing
Guide the homely harmony
Of the quire
Who for long years strenuously-
Son and sire-
Caught the trains that at his fingering low or higher
From your four thin threads and eff-holes came outflowing.

And, too, what merry tunes
He would bow at nights or noons
That chanced to find him bent to lute a measure,
When he made you speak his heart
As in dream,
Without book or music-chart,
On some theme
Elusive as a jack-o’-lantern’s gleam,
And the psalm of duty shelved for trill of pleasure.

Well, you can not, alas,
The barrier overpass
That screens him in those Mournful Meads hereunder,
Where no fiddling can be heard
In the glades
Of silentness, no bird
Thrills the shades;
Where no viol is touched for songs or serenades,
No bowing wakes a congregations’s wonder.

He must do without you now,
Stir you no more anyhow
To yearning concords taught you in your glory;
While, your strings a tangled wreck,
Once smart drawn,
Ten worm-wounds in your neck,
Purflings wan
With dust-hoar, here alone I sadly con
Your present dumbness, shape your olden story.

Brian E wrote: "The ending does not leave anyone happily ever after. Again, wistful melancholy prevails. (While his short stories usually eschew the epically tragic tone of his novels, in its place they tend to embrace the wistful melancholy rather than the happily-ever-after)"

I like your term "wistful melancholy," Brian. This story is a bit open-ended, as was "The Three Strangers" that we read last month. We can guess at the outcome, but only hope for the best for the characters.

Bridget, I enjoyed the poem, "To My Father's Violin," that you posted. I especially liked the line, "When he made you speak his heart," because so much emotion can be expressed through music.

There's a lot of Hardy history in that church where Thomas Hardy Sr played. He's buried near the same church where he played for their services.

It's not surprising that you have a connection with violins, Bridget! You seemed so comfortable discussing the music. Thank you for all the time you took doing research into this wonderful story. It was an enjoyable read.

Brian E wrote: "I didn’t participate in the discussion until the read was finished because I didn’t remember the plot details enough to comment. However, I very much enjoyed the deep and detailed Connie and Bridge..."

I enjoyed your thoughts, Brian. Thank you so much for sharing them. I too enjoy when Hardy overlaps things in his novels and stories, it truly makes Wessex more existent (love that phrase!).

Bridget, thank you so much for sharing this lovely personal connection! I love the idea of you being surround by all those violin connections, and what a perfect story for you to choose 😊 I had to look up the word "luthier" even though I learned the violin at school (I didn't really get very far though, or keep it up.)

This has been a wonderful read of an unusual story, and I hope you enjoyed leading it for us. Even though it's been more like a buddy read, we can see that quite a few have been reading along 😊 The Fiddler of the Reels is not a very well known story at all, I don't think. But it was a good one to choose, because Stinsford ("Mellstock") church and the violin players were so important and personal to Thomas Hardy, as we noted. (Oh by the way, "Stickleford", where the inn was, is actually Tincleton. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tincleton )

And fancy finding a story which ended with an American connection! That surprised me; it's just perfect!

So I hope you think the hard work was worth it to you. I'm very grateful, as you have made a great resource for our group to keep, for when others wish to read it. And please will you be willing to share that poem again, when we are back with our weekly poems early next year?

Again, thank you very much! 😊

Bionic Jean wrote: "Bridget, thank you so much for sharing this lovely personal connection! I love the idea of you being surround by all those violin connections, and what a perfect story for you to choose 😊 I had to ..."

It was my pleasure to lead this little unknown work 😊 I learned so much while researching. I guess it did turn into more of a buddy read, which was lovely because Connie is a delightful reading partner! Thank you Connie.

And of course, I'd be happy to share the poem again when we start up our weekly poems.

Thanks, Jean, for starting up the Hardy Group again, giving me a reason to dust off my Thomas Hardy books and find new ones too. Plus meet lots of wonderful people who also love his work.

Thank you all, once again, I'm late to the party but I did want to read these short stories so am working through them and reading the comments when I come to the set breaks.

This is really a very sad story and I feel for a woman who was so transported by music that she seems to have any control over her actions. But I also feel very sorry for Ned because he was steadfast with Carline and lost the true object of his love, the little girl.

And lastly, the poor little girl who saw no other options but to follow the fiddler. Thank you for the terrific background Bridget and all the wonderful comments.

Pamela wrote: "Thank you all, once again, I'm late to the party but I did want to read these short stories so am working through them and reading the comments when I come to the set breaks.

This is really a very..."

Pamela, I'm so glad you got a chance to read this story. It is quite sad, I agree. Thank you for commenting and letting us know you read along with us!

I've just read it all again, and got so much enjoyment from your comments 😊

It strikes me that Ned is a solid character - one of Thomas Hardy's salt of the earth types, who lost out in this story. First he was tricked by fickle Car'line, who surely should have told him about Carry before travelling. Then when he gave her stability, he end up losing the little girl of whom he was so fond. Car'line wasn't nearly as bothered.

The more I think about this, the more I think there is a lot of hidden sexual tension, as you said Bridget and Connie. Also the hypnotic quality of the music reminds me of two other similar tales with a traditional feel:
1. The narrative poem The Pied Piper of Hamelin (1842) by Robert Browning (English)
2. The Red Shoes (1845) by Hans Christian Andersen (Danish)

Both of them feature music which hypnotises the listener so that they dance to their death or to oblivion (following the piper).

Yes, I too was reminded of Tess, Bridget, in the part you mention, and also in the inn where Car'line was recognised.

But Car'line is a devious character, I think. Didn't the narrator say there was a possibility that she might have contacted Ned again because she had heard that Mop was in London for the Great Exhibition? 🤔

The open carriages surprised me; I didn't know about those. It made me think of Charles Dickens, who complained about the rickety open carriages on American railroads!

Jean, I'm so glad you are enjoying the posts again. I like your thoughts about "The Piped Piper" and "The Red Shoes", those are great comparisons. I haven't read those in so long, I'm tempted to seek them out again, especially with "Fiddler of the Reels" so fresh in my head.

"But Car'line is a devious character, I think. Didn't the narrator say there was a possibility that she might have contacted Ned again because she had heard that Mop was in London for the Great Exhibition?"

Yes, the narrator definitely said this! Personally, I go back and forth on whether Car'line is "devious" or "possessed" or just "sexually awake". And I think the brilliance of Hardy is he creates a story with enough ambiguity to keep me wondering. Hardy did this again in "To Please His Wife" and I think there is some ambiguity with how exactly the encounter with Tess and (view spoiler)[Alec (hide spoiler)] occurs. I haven't read enough of Hardy to know if ambiguity is common in his work, but as a reader, I find it really enjoyable.

Thanks for posting your thoughts after reading again. It's nice to keep the conversation going :-)

If you liked The Fiddler of the Reels and read through to the end of this thread discussion, you might also like to read this group's discussion of Thomas Hardy's poem "Lines to a Movement in Mozart's E-Flat Symphony". It's another reminder of how important music was for Thomas Hardy

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...