Product Description

Wild passion leads to tragedy as love is perverted by marriage. But the concerns of mortals are belittled by the sombre, immemorial presence of Egdon Heath, perhaps Hardy's finest evocation of his native landscape. The text is accompanied by a critical introduction.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #131295 in Books
• Published on: 2007-01-12
• Formats: Audiobook, CD, Unabridged
• Original language: English
• Binding: Audio CD

From AudioFile
Clym Yeobright, native of Egdon Heath, returns from the bright society of Paris and, as any reader of Hardy knows, all is not smooth. He is quickly taken by and marries the one woman he should not--Eustacia Vye. The suffering that follows is mitigated somewhat by the ending, but more by the mastery of Alan Rickman's reading. At the start, Rickman senses the voice for each character in Hardy's fictional world, and he maintains each character's personality throughout. He even manages to project Hardy's subtle shadings of tone with the rhythm and tempo of his narration, throwing in a song here and there because, in spite of his gloom, there is a festive strain to Hardy, as well. If you have a hard time reading this classic English writer, this is how to do it. P.E.F. (c) AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Review
`I can recommend to anyone...Oxford University Press's Worlds's Classics edition.' Daily Mail

'very nicely presented' Borehamwood and Radlett Advertiser

Financial Times
"Rickman's austere yet humane narrator is right for this tragic story of passion and loss."