Tragicomedy, Pastoral
If someone asks you what kind of book Far from the Madding Crowd is, it's best to tell them that it's a tragicomedy. Now, a tragicomedy usually refers to a play, but it can also be used to describe any work of literature that combines tragic elements and comedic elements. Far from the Madding Crowd contains a whole lot of serious stuff like death and insanity and falling from grace, and more than a couple of lives get ruined along the way. At the end, though, we have a nice marriage between Gabriel Oak and Bathsheba Everdene.
Far from the Madding Crowd gives us a great example of the transition that Thomas Hardy was making from comedy to tragedy at this point in his career. It's hard to read about Boldwood's insanity or Fanny Robin's super-tragic end and imagine that Thomas Hardy was ever a writer of comedies, but hey, he was a multi-talented fool.
Far from the Madding Crowd is also hecka pastoral. Little lambs? Check. Beautiful English countryside? Check. Ruggedly handsome shepherds? Check, check, check. This novel makes us want to buy a one-way ticket to the English countryside and spend the rest of our days drinking cider in a hay bale.