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Jude The Obscure
- Narrated by: Stephen Thorne
- Length: 15 hrs and 21 mins
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Jude The Obscure
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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.
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What listeners say about Jude The Obscure
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- Hes
- 04-10-21
Beautiful
I love Thomas Hardy, this book took me a while to get into but I really enjoyed it.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- Shona Thompson
- 05-01-24
Brilliantly read
It took a while to get into the story, but I thoroughly enjoyed listening to it. The characters were all brilliantly portrayed by the reader.
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- F. Wynn
- 27-07-15
A Harrowing Tale
The novel was beautifully read . A multilayered tale of thwarted idealism and the tragic consequences thereof.
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2 people found this helpful
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- CATRIONA SYME
- 21-03-21
The narration brings Harry's novel to life.
Thoroughly enjoyed the book. Had never read this one before so was not expecting it to be as tragic. Hardy was very forward thinking on religion and the availability of education to all.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Jacki
- 18-05-20
Haunting
Beautifully written and narrated story. Haunting in its tragic love story and reflection of society. Brought me to tears
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Mrs. C. A. Goulding
- 18-03-21
Not my favourite Hardy
Beautifully read with lots of feeling and emotion. Not my favourite Thomas Hardy I have to say, a tad too morose for my taste. The numerous Latin phrases, though in keeping with the general mood of the book, had me flummoxed and I found them self indulgent by the author. Nevertheless I stuck with it until the end and in the main enjoyed it.
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- J. M. Wiggett
- 30-03-21
Enthralling ...
This was a Hardy novel I’d surprisingly not read before.
It received shocking reviews after publication, claiming it to be obscene and immoral.
You can understand why considering it’s day.
This tale would easily translate current times, although wouldn’t be considered shocking in these times.
It is well narrated and enthralling to the end.
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- Peter Maggs
- 05-04-23
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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1 person found this helpful
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- Kindle Customer
- 11-04-23
Excellent
Stephen Thorne's rendition is beautifully done and the characters of Jude and Sue are brought wonderfully to life. Bravo
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- hostelgirl
- 18-01-24
Clear and engaging delivery of a fabulous book
This is the first Thomas Hardy book I have ‘read’ and I have really enjoyed the saga of it.
Very relatable and relevant today.
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