Oliver Twist

Nowhere is Dickens' anger at Victorian "political economy" more evident than in this stinging rebuke, and reader Martin Jarvis mitigates none of the sting. It's evident in the unctuous voice of Fagan, the brutal voice of Bill Sykes, the pomposity of Mr. Bumble, the pleading of Nancy, but above all, in the innocent hope of Oliver himself. With his precise but subtle reading of the author's irony, even when it occasionally lapses into sermons, Jarvis conveys to the reader all of Dickens' stinging anger at Victorian hypocrisy. He brings all of this nasty world to life but does it in such a graceful and relaxed way that Dickens' essential hope in the ultimate goodness of man and faith in the Victorian order are preserved intact. P.E.F. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine


[Editor's note: The following is a combined review with OLIVER TWIST.]--"Cliffs Notes"meets "Masterpiece Theater." If you like turgid nineteenth-century melodrama, you'll certainly enjoy these tapes, for they are slick, professionally--albeit unimaginatively--acted, and meticulously produced in the BBC's house style. Warning: Do not listen to these dramatizations expecting to find Dickens. Adapter/Director Nigel Bryant has excised everything that lifts the master's works high above conventional scenery chewing. For blood and thunder, these plays will do fine; for more satisfying Dickens on tape, we recommend the readings of Martin Jarvis and Miriam Margolyes. Y.R. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine

Starred review from July 26, 2010
The inimitable Martin Jarvis brings his talents to bear on Charles Dickens's classic in an audiobook that will delight listeners with its superb recreations of gritty 19th-century London. To escape Mr. Bumble and life in the workhouse, Oliver flees to London where he meets the Artful Dodger and becomes embroiled with Fagin's ragtag band of thieves. Jarvis simply dazzles: his performance captures both the humor and sorrow of the text, his narration is crisp, and his characterizations—his rendition of the terrifying district magistrate, Mr. Fang, is particularly memorable—are as varied as they are energetic, befitting, and enjoyable.