In This Extravagant Book the Tale of the Mayor of Casterbridge

In This Extravagant Book the Tale of the Mayor of CasterbridgeThe Mayor of Casterbridge - Or, 'In This Extravagant Book' (p. xv) is a fictionalized account of the life of Thomas Hardy. It is based on his short stories 'The Man That Cornered the Dragon'The Tiger'. It tells about the events leading up to his death in a cruel manner.The Mayor of Casterbridge is written in an engaging style with superb dialogue and the author tries to follow the biography of Thomas Hardy with his humour. But the book lacks coherence and if the narrative were to follow the natural progression of the author's biography it would not be very interesting. It is possible that it was the author's opinion that Thomas Hardy was so witty that he may have been a great orator, but this is not the case here.It begins with Taylor G. Reed as the narrator, but he is only the narrator in a limited sense. It is clear that he has some connections with the world of the author and readers are attracted by this fact.Badger is the character who starts out the story as the hero. He leads the villainous Buck, the young ruler of Gaffney, to do the right thing when he seizes control of the tyrant Morval in order to put an end to his inhuman slaughtering of the aboriginal population.The Book of Badger is written in the form of verses. Readers do not find this difficult to follow because these verses are humorous. It is a sign of the times that we do not find any convincing argument presented in this book.It is amazing that Thomas Hardy's tale has been incorporated into literature. For instance, the book was published in 1887 and is a retelling of the events of Thomas Hardy's life. It seems that the author wanted to write a book based on his own life.He wanted to illustrate his poems with the story of the hero Badger, so he decided to use his life as a model for the tale. After all, the author is Thomas Hardy.The Mayor of Casterbridge shows how Thomas Hardy's life could have been written a book, but it does no t. It is well written and entertaining. Readers will appreciate the humour of the story and the author makes sure that the reader gets to know the characters well.