Books on tape
Robert Cooper
It takes a strong mind and a steady hand to abridge any work of fact or fiction. The most nail-biting award at the inaugural Talkies 'ceremony was for the Best Abridged Fiction Classic. There was a dead heat between Joyce's Ulysses (Naxos, £9.49 tape, £11.99 CD) and Dirk Bogarde's read- ing of Death in Venice by Thomas Mann (Reed, £7.99). Roger Marsh, the abridger of Ulysses deserves a double award for not only reducing this tour de force to five hours but also for retaining the distinct flavour of Leopold Bloom's memorable day. Jim Norton gives an outstanding performance as reader; he clearly has an affinity with Joyce.
This winning formula looks sure to con- tinue with the release of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Naxos, £7.99 tape, £9.99 CD). Norton is so versatile; one minute a blubbing Dedalus, the next delivering a thunderous sermon on Hell, making the Church of England rendering look like a family trip to a theme park. The use of sound effects and music adds to the quality and atmosphere. Next stop Finnegans Wake?
Wives and Daughters, Mrs Gaskell's final novel, (Cover to Cover, unabridged, £44.99) has been called the most underrat- ed novel of the 19th century. Listening to Prunella Scales read this classic tale of `youthful folly' you can see why. It was writ- ten in 1866, and Mrs Gaskell died barely a chapter from its completion, leaving just a few loose ends to be tied. Andrew Davies, the reigning King of TV adaptations, is said to be making a close study of Gaskell's work. Let's hope that Wives and Daughters is high on his short list: sharp, witty dia- logue with no shortage of tragedy and a host of memorable characters — Prunella Scales should play them all.
Finding a way to fill the void after being gripped by 25 hours of rural life may be a problem. Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev (Cover to Cover, £19.99) could be the answer. The reader, David Horovitch, is brilliant; in the heated exchanges between Arkady and his revolu- tionary friend Bazarov it is hard to believe there are not two separate voices. This is not just a reading but a nine-hour perfor- mance from Horovitch.
Set in 1930s Alabama, To Kill a Mocking- bird by Harper Lee (Listen for Pleasure, £24.99) caused a stir when it was published in 1960. Racial intolerance seen through the eyes of the children of Finch's Landing makes for tense listening. Scout, Jem, Dill and the mysterious Boo Radley are con- vincingly brought to life by the reader Gayle Hunnicutt — she also copes well with the lawyer Atticus (Gregory Peck in the 1962 film). Even though Hunnicutt's southern drawl is always smooth as blue- berry pie, after 12 hours it sets the nerves a-jangling. But, if y'all can take it, y'all enjoy these here tapes.
Don't be put off by the sugary title music to The Village (BBC, £7.99) No, not the return of Waggoner's Walk or a day trip to Ambridge. This is the real thing. An every- day story of real-life country folk. Proof that fact is far more riveting than fiction. Presenter Nigel Farrell makes himself at home in Bentley — a village just over the Surrey/Hampshire border. In two and a half hours we learn virtually everything about its inhabitants. Life on Glade Farm, trouble at the village shop, and bubbly Simmi from the beauty parlour goes on a blind date. Or horror for the village worthies when a coach load of Americans fail to make it to the church for tea . . . `they've driven off. Radio documentary at its best.
Cross Channel (Random House Audio- books, £8.99) is Julian Barnes' first collection of short stories. There's not the slightest whiff of this being a cobbled together pot-boiler; this is three hours of top quality story-telling. Barnes is a con- firmed Francophile, so the theme of the British fascination with France comes as no surprise. His rich, mysterious voice sounds as if he is trying to share with us the most deadly of secrets. It makes for compulsive listening.
Three cheers for Carol Shields! The Stone Diaries (Reed, £7.99) reached the Talkies short list for Best Abridged Modern Fiction. It shows that occasionally abridgement doesn't reduce the real thing to just a handful of highlights. Shields' 1992 novel, The Republic of Love (Reed, £7.99), is now available, read by Connie Booth. The Shields formula is for short, intense, cinematic scenes. Maybe that is why the imagery is so vivid. The story tells of a 35- year-old woman who (only on side three out of four) meets her dreamboat. Or is he? Share her torment.
The thought of cramming two of Trol- lope's Barchester Chronicles into five hours is quite preposterous. Unless of course it's a radio adaptation which is quite different. The Warden and Barchester Tow- ers (BBC Classic Collection, £9.99) is a tried and tested Radio Four Classic serial. Heading a strong cast is Alec McCowan as the bumbling but saintly Septimus Harding. Barchester Towers is the stronger of the two, especially with the entrance of the slippery Obadiah Slope and the indomitable Mrs Proudie (Rosemary Leach). If you don't have 30 hours to spare, this is the answer.
Could the release of Nevil Shute's classic doom-laden novel On the Beach (Reed Audio, £7.99) mean that we're amidst a revival of his work? Let's hope so. On the Beach, written in 1957, sails through the test of time, unlike its wretched characters who are about to perish from the after-effects of a nuclear war. It is set main- ly in Melbourne, where ordinary people continue their lives in a world without hope. It is read with appropriate melan- choly by Jonathan Hyde. The marginally less gloomy A Town Like Alice (Reed Audio, £7.99) read by Robert Hardy is also worth hearing.
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