The History of Tom Jones: A Foundling (Classic Fiction) [Abridged, Audiobook, Classical] [Audio CD]

Product Description

The Voice of the Year competition introduced and sponsored by Naxos AudioBooks and The Times Books Pages, edited by Erica Wagner, took place in Spring 2004. Readers without any formal drama training or professional acting experience were invited to send in recordings of a short extract of either Dickens, Austen or from The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame and an own choice. The judging panel, Martin Jarvis, Juliet Stevenson and Anton Lesser, with John Tydeman, David Timson and Christina Hardyment, audiobook reviewer for The Times, under the chairmanship of Naxos AudioBooks managing director Nicolas Soames, chose the winner and finalists from nearly 1000 entries. First prize was to read a classic for Naxos AudioBooks. The winner was Maurice West, a 55 year old English teacher from Croydon. His chosen piece was from Tom Jones and he was invited to read an extended abridgement - 6CD set - of the same novel. 'We were very impressed by the natural storytelling talent shown by Mr West, with a strong narrative character, a sense of period style as well as a firm grasp of the many characters who appear,' said Nicolas Soames. After graduating from Oxford, Mr West applied to LAMDA on the main acting course and was accepted. Unfortunately, he didn't have sufficient funds to take up the offer and had to confine his thespian interests to amateur dramatics. Now, later in life, he has a chance to open a new thread of activity. This 6CD recording of Tom Jones is an important addition to the 18th century audiolibrary on Naxos AudioBooks. With music of the period 2004 marks the first decade of Naxos AudioBooks, the premier label for classic literature with classical music. There is a special programme of releases with important highlights including Joyce" Ulysses read unabridged; The Story of Classical Music for younger listeners presented in association with Classic FM; and The Tempest with Sir Ian McKellen as Prospero. There will also be high profile promotions for the label throughout the year.

About the Author

John Bender is Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Stanford University. He is author of Spenser and Literary Pictorialism and Imagining the Penitentiary: Fiction and Architecture of Mind in Eighteenth-Century England, co-editor of The Ends of Rhetoric and Chronotypes: The Construction of Time, and associate editor of The Columbia History of the British Novel. Simon Stern is completing a study ofliterary property and professional authorship in eighteenth-century England, focusing on Henry and Sarah Fielding. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

By : Henry Fielding
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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Naxos AudioBooks; Abridged edition (1 Nov 2004)
• Language English
• ISBN-10: 9626343311
• ISBN-13: 978-9626343319
• Product Dimensions: 14 x 12.4 x 2.6 cm
  

 

The History of Tom Jones: A Foundling (Classic Fiction) [Abridged, Audiobook, Classical] [Audio CD]

 

Costumer Evaluations

'Tom Jones' is a single of those lucky couple of- a book whose length is comparable in extent to its reader's enjoyment. 'Tom Jones' is a wonderfully dark, elaborately comic and utterly compelling account of the experiences of a young man as he pursues adore, honour and fortune across 18th-Century England. As opposed to a number of other novels and plays regarded as 'comic classics', Tom Jones is also genuinely funny. Seriously.

'Tom Jones' is enjoyable in and of itself- the characters and adventures are accessible, entertaining and varied. Despite this, a single of the most exciting aspects of the novel is the introductory chapters to the novel's 18 'books'- short, usually amusing essays regarding theoretical aspects involved in the book. If you are pushed for time, you can skip them- but, considerably like the comic acts in particular Shakespeare plays, some of the best moments in the novel are contained in what can seem unneccessary literary 'padding'.

So don't be put off by its length, its age, its appreciate for diversions and its complex net of human relationships Tom Jones is merely a great read. Specifically for any one acquainted with the historical environment the novel was written in, Tom Jones can be read as a satire on the hypocrisy of notions of honour the scathing attack on those who marry for fortune rather than like has a peculiarly appealing contemporary resonance.

In the end, what's most revealing about Tom Jones is not how far the novel as a form has created, but how tiny societal trends adjust over time. Fielding's world is 1 in which treachery and deceit are often the motives for acts of apparent benevolence, a world as hilarious as it is risky. If you have got a couple of weeks to spare, and a patient disposition, you could do a lot worse than to give 'Tom Jones' a try- for this cost, you'd have to have a pretty fantastic excuse not to!

This book is excellent, a superb, extended, indulgent read which carries you on a journey around eighteenth century England. Tom Jones, a very good-hearted, though misunderstood and spirited foundling is cast out of the house of Squire Allworthy and left to fend for himself in the planet. At the very same time, his childhood sweetheart runs away from dwelling in order to avoid a marriage to Mr Blifil, Tom's childhood companion and Squire Allworthy's nephew. The story charts the two young people's journey around the country, with a lot of moments of near meetings and reconciliations. Coincidences aplenty and Henry Fielding's dry wit make this novel each satisfying and tremendously funny. Perhaps not for the effortlessly offended given that it really is quite bawdy! (In the eighteenth century it was blamed for causing earthquakes in London and Dr Johnson was 'ashamed' to hear that a friend had read it)! Surely distinctive to most eighteenth century writers, Fielding has created his masterpiece in Tom Jones. Get pleasure from.

 

The History of Tom Jones: A Foundling (Classic Fiction) [Abridged, Audiobook, Classical] [Audio CD]