Uncle Tom's Cabin

At first, one might wonder at the relevance of this 150-year-old political melodrama to modern readers and listeners, but it takes little of Liza Ross's heartfelt reading before the listener is captivated by this story of faith, race and slavery in the antebellum South. Ross adapts her voice to capture the accents of a large cast of characters of every race, gender and age. The story is punctuated with classical music, and the high-quality digital recording is packaged with a booklet of liner notes and background information. S.E.S. (c) AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine

September 29, 2014
Berneis gives a bravura performance in the latest audio edition of this classic tale. First published in 1851, Stowe’s novel focuses on the stories of two black slaves. The first is young Eliza, who makes a desperate run for freedom when she discovers that her son is about to be sold and taken away from her. The second is Uncle Tom, who is about to be sold by the masters he loves and trusts. Rather than run, he accepts his fate, holding on to his Christian faith to carry him through these tribulations. Both characters long for the peace that would come with the release of their bonds, and both, after much heartbreak, troubles and tears, find that peace, but in very different ways. Berneis is a consummate storyteller. She gives the book’s many characters distinct, individual voices that nimbly flow from one line to another. Her reading is simple and easy to listen to, even when the words and situations are disturbing. This is a powerful antislavery book that still resonates, over 100 years since its initial publication, and Berneis is an excellent choice to bring Stowe’s provocative novel to life.

Using a mixture of clearly distinguished voices, Ricco Ross brings Southern accents, Negro dialects, and another era to life in this rendering of UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. Listeners can almost see the young Negro quadroons, Jim Crow, and Topsy, who says, "I just growed," when asked when and where she was born. While Ricco portrays the ugly slave master, Simon Legree, with menacing tones of cruelty, he switches to sounds of compassion and grace with Uncle Tom. Ricco depicts the barbarisms of slave trading in which men, women, and children are bought and sold like livestock with chilling reality. This timeless classic is worth revisiting. G.D.W. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine

February 1, 2000
Gr 10 Up-Perry Keenlyside's abridged rendering of this classic tale adequately tells Harriet Beecher Stowe's antislavery story. Uncle Tom, a dignified and strong man, endures ownership by two men who treat him kindly: first by George Shelby who keeps Tom's family together until economics forces a sale, and second by Augustine St. Clare who comes to respect Tom's character and all he stands for. When Augustine dies, Tom is sold to the cruel Simon Legree. It is at Legree's farm that Tom dies as a result of one of his beatings. Although Tom suffered a wavering in his faith at the hands of Simon Legree, it is here that Tom has a religious reawakening and dies strong in his faith. In its condensed form, the religious aspects of the novel seem to be given added significance, but perhaps that is only right given the social climate out of which this novel was born. Liza Ross reads the story, assuming several voices for each of the different characters. In a few places, the reading of the tags describing a voice we just heard seems awkward and redundant. Overall, Ross's voice is a convincing one, able to engage even today's visually oriented students. A music interlude signals the break between chapters, a good stopping point for discussion.-Suzanne Goodman, Park High School, Livingston, MT

Copyright 2000 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.