The Mayor of Casterbridge
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The Mayor of Casterbridge
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Narrated by:
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Tony Britton
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By:
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Thomas Hardy
About this listen
Exclusively from Audible
This audiobook is about the rise and fall of Michael Henchard. While out-of-work he gets drunk at a fair and impulsively sells his wife and baby for five guineas to a sailor. Eighteen years later he is reunited with his wife and daughter, who discover that he has gained wealth and respect and is now the most prominent man in Casterbridge. Though he attempts to make amends he is no less impulsive and once again loses everything due to bad luck and his violent, selfish and vengeful nature.
In this dramatic audiobook, Hardy sympathetically portrays a deeply flawed tragic hero, searching for love and acceptance from his community. It poses the question: do we shape our own fate or is the outcome inevitable? This tragic tale is played out against the vivid backdrop of a close-knit Dorsetshire town.
Thomas Hardy was an English writer and one of the most significant novelists and poets of the 19th and early 20th centuries. He was greatly influenced by Charles Dickens and William Wordsworth.
Narrator Biography
In 1952, Tony Britton came to major attention after his role as Rameses in The Firstborn at London's Winter Garden Theatre. A renowned classical stage star, he has also appeared in numerous British films since the 1950s; most notably Operation Amsterdam (1959), Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971) and The Day of the Jackal (1973). In 1975, he won the Broadcasting Press Guild Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Nearly Man. From 1983-1990, he starred in the long running BBC sitcom Don't Wait Up alongside Nigel Havers and Dinah Sheridan. In 2013 he performed in a Gala Performance of King Lear at the Old Vic, London. Over the years Tony has lent his soothing voice to a huge collection of audio productions including Daphne du Maurier's Jamaica Inn and Anthony Trollope's An Old Man's Love.
Public Domain (P)2014 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
What made the experience of listening to The Mayor of Casterbridge the most enjoyable?
The large ensemble of characters - as portrayed by Tony Britton - are all clearly delineated and his choice of accents and way of speaking really bring out the nuances of their personalities, class and position in society, essential to the understanding of the story. Real tour-de-force performance from Mr Britton.What did you like best about this story?
The story is not as unremittingly bleak as the most famous of Hardy's novels, and the glimpses of possible happiness (Elizabeth-Jane and Farfrae at the end of the novel?) serve to emphasise the tragedy the main story of Michael Henchard. The imagery of the starved goldfinch as the trigger for Elizabeth-Jane's forgiveness (but her step-father's ignorance of that forgiveness) is unbelievably powerful.Which character – as performed by Tony Britten – was your favourite?
Henchard - complex, proud to the point of stupidity, honourable, emotional and impulsive. One of literature's great characters and portrayed extremely well by Tony Britton. I have to say that it took a few minutes for me to settle to Tony Britton's narration (it was those horrible memories of the dreadful 80s comedies he did), but once I'd got past that his reading was flawless.If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?
Beware of what you want, you may get it ...Compelling, Cruel, But Ultimately Redemptive?
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Riveting story and narration.
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Where does The Mayor of Casterbridge rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
My first book.Who was your favorite character and why?
Henchard. Watching a man on his path of self-destruction.Which scene did you most enjoy?
I didn't enjoy any scene. How can you enjoy such a sad story. A follow-up has got to be The Woodlanders with its appalling last paragraph.Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
NoAny additional comments?
Thomas Hardy has been a life-long favourite author. This reading not only does the book justice, but it adds a new dimension. Are all the readings as good as this one ?One of my favourite books, beautifully read.
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Brilliantly narrated and a well written tale
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What did you like most about The Mayor of Casterbridge?
The narrator has really brought to life the cast of characters in the novel and even manages to play the few women with some real feeling - quite a task in my opinion and having listened to a far less successful Tess of the D'urbervilles in the same series. The book is really a study in character of the Mayor, a bitter and lifelong misanthrope that manages to poison all good in his life. In spite of the heavy moral load that we are expected to shoulder the story and descriptions are leavened with enough wit, acute observation and commentary on the life of the country people in Dorset to make it well worth the listen. I would recommend it.Which character – as performed by Tony Britton – was your favourite?
Excellent performance.First class adaptation
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