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Jude The Obscure cover art

Jude The Obscure

By: Thomas Hardy
Narrated by: Stephen Thorne
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Summary

Exclusively from Audible

Eager to escape the confines of his lower-class upbringing, Jude Fawley dreams of pursuing higher education, graduating from university and becoming a scholar. Slowly, we witness the resistance Jude is met with and, in keeping with Hardy's other works, the consequences of having dared to defy a society with long-held traditions.

Thomas Hardy's last novel, Jude the Obscure, offers scathing commentary and insight into 19th century England. Widely considered Hardy's boldest and most avant-garde work, it was first published in serialised form, sending weekly shockwaves of outrage to its Victorian audiences. Despite being an able and driven young man, Jude's potential is squandered and his aspirations quashed when he relents and becomes a stonemason. Grounded by an unhappy marriage and a lack of opportunity, Jude's only escape comes in the form of his beloved cousin, Sue Bridehead. An unconventional yet extraordinary heroine, Sue becomes Jude's only chance at happiness, but in a society so unwilling to accept change, their love becomes their undoing.

One of the most influential and prolific novelists and poets of the 19th and early 20th centuries, Thomas Hardy followed the naturalist movement and was greatly inspired by the works of Charles Dickens and William Wordsworth. In turn, his work enthused the likes of Robert Frost, W.H. Auden and Philip Larkin.

Narrator Biography

Stephen Thorne is a classically-trained radio, film, stage and television actor. He graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and has toured with The Old Vic Company and the Royal Shakespeare Company. His voice experience is extensive and he is credited with over 2000 radio broadcasts and 300 unabridged audiobooks. These include works by James Henry, Dick King-Smith, Arthur Conan-Doyle and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Stephen famously voiced the character of Aslan in the 1979 adaptation of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. His unique narration style has won him various awards in both the UK and the USA, including a Talkies Award and several Golden Earphones Awards from Audiofile Magazine.

Stephen is no stranger to the screen and his television roles include Z-Cars, Death of an Expert Witness, David Copperfield, Crossroads, Last of the Summer Wine and Doctor Who. He also appeared in the 1984 film, Runaway and the 1985 film, Lollipop Dragon: The Great Christmas Race.

Public Domain (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Jude The Obscure

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Irritating in places

Would you try another book written by Thomas Hardy or narrated by Stephen Thorne?

I would try any book written by Thomas Hardy.

What did you like best about this story?

A great classic.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

As for the narrator, Stephen Thorne, his voice is very agreeable. Unfortunately, Thorne thinks it necessary to render the women's lines in a painfully querulous falsetto. The result strips the dialogue of credibility and drama. As someone put it on Twitter, it sounds as if the characters are being mocked, and/or infantilized. Pity. I recently listened to a great performance by Annette Bening, who never altered her voice when playing male characters, leaving the writing shine through.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

I was pulled out of the story during most dialogues. Listening was particularly irritating when the narrator was supposed to convey a woman's strong emotion. But a few male characterizations suffered as well. Each time a character other than the protagonist speaks, Thorne has to send it up.

Any additional comments?

It seems to me that the narrator should resist the temptation to make a theatrical performance of a reading.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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Powerful themes amongst pathos and regret

Jude the Obscure is a roller coaster of intensity but doesn’t flow as well as Hardy’s other novels, and there are moments when contrived events seem to propel the plot.

Hardy describes a conflicted society in a story of individual pathos and regret; challenging the church, moral issues of relationships, sex and academic opportunity of the time.

One has great sympathy for the lead protagonists, Jude and Sue; innocents battered, and victims of a repressive and perverse society. I unsuccessfully willed Jude on, frustrated by his naïveté; Sue is complex, presents unexpected revelations but is finally worn down.

There is a quaintness ... when Sue and Jude have their first discussion after many months of friendship...Sue says that “she has remained as she began”...(that she is still a virgin) ... how euphemistic is that ! ? ... and partly exemplifies the hypocrisy of the time ....attitudes toward sexuality, marriage and oppression of women.

I’m no longer surprised by anti-semitic references in Victorian novels... are these justified as accurate reflections of the day, or Hardy’s gratuitous and thoughtless inclusions .... !

There is high feeling and emotion; the novel builds and matures and the final chapters stupendous. Not the strongest of Hardy’s, but one needs to discover this and experience his work through; certainly the social comment is key.

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4 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Hardy at his best and darkest

Thomas hardy reminds us how far he was ahead of his time with this stunning, sad, story on the perils of love and marriage.

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Wonderful Novel / Mixed Performance

Performer's interpretation of the female voices is distracting and irritating, which is rather unfortunate as it detracts from the narrative.

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A Harrowing Tale

The novel was beautifully read . A multilayered tale of thwarted idealism and the tragic consequences thereof.

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A masterpiece

There were several moments while listening to this audiobook, when I found the emotional intensity of the narrative almost too much to endure, due in part to Stephen Thorne's perfect narration. But Jude the Obscure is more than just a tragic love story, it also tells of an intellect yearning for an unobtainable Oxbridge education. Having myself come to higher education via a fairly unconventional route, I deeply sympathize with Jude’s frustration. He is a stonemason who has taught himself Latin and Greek, and reads the New Testament in the original, but when he seeks advice from the masters of several Christminster (= Oxford) colleges how he could gain entry, he is told that he will have a “better chance of success in life by ... sticking to your trade”. He later chalks a quotation on the wall of the college: ‘“I have undersanding as well as you; I am not inferior to you: yea, who knoweth not such things as these?” Job xii. 3’

The substance of the book, however, is best summed up in Hardy’s own words from his introduction to the first unexpurgated edition of the work, of which I have a later copy: “For a novel addressed by a man to men and women of full age; which attempts to deal unaffectedly with the fret and fever, derision and disaster, that may press in the wake of the strongest passion known to humanity; to tell, without a mincing of words, of a deadly war waged with old Apostolic desperation between flesh and spirit; and to point the tragedy of unfulfilled aims, I am not aware that there is anything in the handling to which exception can be taken.”

But exception was taken, late Victorian Britain having raised hypocrisy in matters of ‘the strongest passion known to humanity’ (between men and women) into an art form. Jude, like Tess of the D’ Urbervilles before it, was ‘abridged and modified’.

This book is not for those of a melancholic disposition, unless they positively relish misery piled upon misery. I cannot say I enjoyed it, but I was greatly moved by it and it made me think.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Difficult at best.

Well read but goodness me what a tragic story. Almost gave up on it. Try Mayor of Casterbridge or far from the Madding Crowd first.

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So frustrating!!

I love Thomas Hardy but had never read Jude The Obscure. Oh my!!
It’s typical Hardy. Delicious writing. But spoilt for me because I just couldn’t care for any of the characters. ( maybe that’s the point).
I knew from the outset that trouble was afoot and it just didn’t let up! Lost track of how many times I muttered “ oh for crying out loud, just marry him for Gods sake!”
Have to say that Sue is THE most frustrating woman ever. I often felt like throwing my phone out the window in despair!
I’m pretty sure I could not have finished it- the story really does drag on with little progress made - were it not for the EXCELLENT narration. It really added atmosphere and the necessary feeling of impending sadness and doom. His accents were brilliant and I was able to distinguish who was talking. A first class performance.
If you love Hardy give it a go- but not if you’re in need of cheering up. Oh and accompany each sitting with chocolate and a bottle of wine! Youill need it!!

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Superb, probably Hardys best.

This, I understand was the last novel from Thomas Hardy, the story cannot be faulted , Hardy was the master observer of human relationship with a wide understanding and tremendous skill in weaving the reasoning into his story: Stephen Thorne does an excellent job in his narration.

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Worth the time

I love Thomas Hardy’s book, so relevant even now. So worth listening too, I listen on long car journeys !

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