Far from the Madding Crowd

Ar writes:
After reading only half of the novel Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy I realized how remarkable his writing really is. This particular novel is about a man named Gabriel Oak that lives in a small village in a fictional place called Wessex. He is a young man that recently bought land and plenty of sheep to watch over and tend to. However, Gabriel has a unique talent that he uses many times in the novel while he watches over his livestock. He is able to tell the time of day at night by looking at the positions of the stars and the constellations.
The novel starts with the first meeting of Gabriel and the woman he will later fall in love with. He sees her at a gate arguing with the guard. After watching for a while he decides to help the woman out and pay for her to cross the gate. For a long time Gabriel thinks about this girl and becomes very interested in her. He watches her work from a distance a few times and eventually meets with her, but doesn't figure out much about her.One night, Gabriel falls asleep in his barn with a flame still lit. Luckily he is saved by the woman he has been watching before he is killed by the flames or the smoke. However, he still does not find out the name of her hero even after she saved his life. Later con he learns her name is Bathsheba Everdene and she lives with her  aunt in the village. He finally gets the courage to go and ask her aunt for her hand in marriage. Once he arrives his offer is turned down because the aunt tells Gabriel there are many other men who have asked for her hand in marriage and he is not fit for her. After Gabriel leaves Bathsheba suns after him and tells him that her aunt lied and they have not had any other men who proposed to her, but he is still not fit for her and she does not want his hand in marriage. Oak accepts the fact that he is an inexperienced farmer and is not very rich, but he tells her that he is still in love with her. Bathsheba happens to leave town after the proposal and is not seen in a while, but Gabriel thinks about her all the time.
Gabriel also has two dogs that help him in his farming; George and his young son. These two dogs have always been good to Gabriel until one night when he falls asleep one of the dogs chases the sheep over a cliff and kills most of them. After this tragic loss Gabriel finds some joy. He thinks about how unfortunate it would have been if he had married Bathsheba and almost all his sheep had died. He is glad he did not ruin them both and he needs to find another way to survive. That is what has happened so far in the novel Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy.