Cranford

Loving 18th century literature as I do I had high hopes for Cranford... while not packed with humour, action, or scandal it was actually very sweet.  I liked the characters and I liked the presentation of a chronicle rather than just a single storyline.  The community dynamic was very touching, and of course it was concluded in a very pleasant way (I wonder if this was a style of the time?).  Of course Hardy puts that speculation to death...I don't think I will ever forgive him for Jude The Obscure.   I just don't know enough yet.  I thought the pokes at 'Boz' were quite funny, and I appreciated that this was another era that I don't have too much familiarity with (Hardy and Dickens do not a Victorian era make...with so many books to still be read from this time period I feel like Scrooge McDuck about to go for a swim in his money bin!).  On an unrelated note,  I won't buy a Dover edition again.  While inexpensive, they are not the easiest to read, the words are too close to the binding which is distracting.