Kirjahaku

Thomas Hardy from Serial to Novel was first published in 1927. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions.This volume is a valuable examination of Thomas Hardy’s revisions in The Mayor of Casterbridge, Tess of the D’Urbervilles, and Jude the Obscure that rendered them acceptable to the taste of the 1880s magazine reader. A fascinating study of authorship, a compelling study of Hardy’s major works, a historical study of literary construction: no one seriously interested in the art of the novel or in its relation to social history can neglect Professor Chase’s study. It is an indispensable Hardy “item” for libraries, collectors, and all students of literature.

THE STORY: When Elwood P. Dowd starts to introduce his imaginary friend, Harvey, a six-and-a-half-foot rabbit, to guests at a society party, his sister, Veta, has seen as much of his eccentric behavior as she can tolerate. She decides to have him committed to a sanitarium to spare her daughter, Myrtle Mae, and their family from future embarrassment. Problems arise, however, when Veta herself is mistakenly assumed to be on the verge of lunacy when she explains to doctors that years of living with Elwood's hallucination have caused her to see Harvey also The doctors commit Veta instead of Elwood, but when the truth comes out, the search is on for Elwood and his invisible companion. When he shows up at the sanitarium looking for his lost friend Harvey, it seems that the mild-mannered Elwood's delusion has had a strange influence on more than one of the doctors. Only at the end does Veta realize that maybe Harvey isn't so bad after all.