A great story with a heavy dose of morals. I actually read this book for a class and i don't regret it. The book inspired me to keep strong and always do whats right. Because... the way i see it if you keep moving forward you will run into somebody. That may be the way the book influenced my personal life, but the book is still a work of art among other titles of Thomas Hardy. His use of imagery is superb but the development of the psyche of characters is too "wooden"(Where with the Victorian Era the characters would have matched the times.) and not as dynamic, as compared to "Tess of the D'urbervilles" (also set in the victorian era).