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Title details for Wessex Tales by Thomas Hardy - Available

Wessex Tales

by Thomas Hardy
Neville Jason
Audiobook (Includes supplementary content)
1 of 1 copy available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
1 of 1 copy available

Wessex Tales, a collection of short stories including The Three Strangers, The Withered Arm and The Distracted Preacher, deal with a number of timeless themes seen so often in Hardy's work, including marriage, class, revenge and disappointed love. Many of the tales have a supernatural tinge, and all are set around Hardy's much loved homeland.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

    June 1, 2012

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781843795841
      • File size: 304616 KB
      • Duration: 10:34:36

  • Languages

    • English

  • Levels

    • Lexile® Measure: 1120
    • Text Difficulty: 7-9

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      In Hardy's first collection of short stories he presents the region of Dorset in the 1880s--the lives of its people, as well as their beliefs and superstitions. Narrator Neville Jason beautifully conveys the rich descriptions of people and place, including regional and historical speech patterns and characters of varying ages and stations. Romance and family life are often Hardy's focus. Many of the men fall in love with love and propose to many woman or the same one often, only to be repeatedly rebuffed. In one standout story, a married woman falls in love with a poet she's never met, a situation that ends in a double tragedy. In another story, the celebration of a baby's birth is so well rendered that listeners will feel they're there. S.G.B. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      August 27, 2012
      Originally published in 1888, Hardy's classic collection of short tales set in early-19th-century Southwest Englandâexamines the lives of everyday folk, many of whom go through otherworldly occurrences. Neville Jason deftly narrates this audio edition. With only minor shifts in tone, Jason lends each character a distinct voice that is easily recognizable to listeners. Additionally, Jason's narration possesses an eloquence that will delight listeners and transport them to another time and place where the magical was indeed possible. While the book's language may seem dated to some listeners, Jason does his best to incorporate a slightly modern approach into his performance, and this brings a sense of immediacy to the stories. An enjoyable listen from start to finish and a must for Hardy fans.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Regrettably, Brimble's fine regional accent cannot uplift this listless reading to the level it deserves. E.E.L. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
    • Library Journal

      November 1, 2012

      Hardy's collection of stories takes place in an imaginative locale, Wessex, based on the area around the author's home in Dorchester, England. Combining the real with the imagined, Hardy unfurls the ironies of everyday life; his introduction gives the listener an appreciation of what is to come. Neville Jason, an experienced actor and reader, is virtually flawless in rendering these vignettes. His diction, pacing, and inflection are spot-on, glorifying these tales of love, death, and the seeming supernatural and presenting the listener with a veritable audio Masterpiece Theatre. The dialog is rendered as ably as the narrative. VERDICT Academic libraries will want to include this one; public libraries should definitely consider.--Michael T. Fein, Central Virginia Community Coll., Lynchburg

      Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • Lexile® Measure:1120
  • Text Difficulty:7-9

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