Hard Times

Once in a while a great reader captures a classic work with such perfection that the listener can't put the headphones down. British actor Martin Jarvis, who lately achieved attention in the movie Titanic, attempts a full character portrayal, and succeeds--he glides effortlessly from one character to another. A sprightly old woman, for example, he enunciates in a high-pitched near-falsetto--it could be the woman herself. Professor Gradgrind's flat words sound like the prim schoolmaster he is. Mr. Bounderby, who throws his weight around throughout the book, is loud and blustery and insufferable. Jarvis carries the narrative portions nicely, too: His voice is precise, deliberate and yet smooth and expressive. Dickens was in the full flower of his talent when he wrote Hard Times, and this performance is a tribute to him. D.W. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine


This dramatization not only brings Dickens's classic novel to life, it transforms it. The music that opens and closes scenes sets the mood before a word is spoken, and the sound effects evoke the complexity of London and the Industrial Revolution. The scenes of emotional confrontation are almost hard to listen to; Mr. Bounderby's pounding words of self-praise are clear and painful assaults, and Mr. Gradgrind's teaching is as appropriately irritating as his name. In many cases, the adaptation makes the novel's accounts of the confrontations of classes more accessible, but the voice-over from the perspective of the adult Sissy Jupe distracts at times. She seems too calm and focused for the scenes recently recalled. G.T.B. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine


Once in a while a great reader captures a classic work with such perfection that the listener can't put the headphones down. British actor Martin Jarvis, who lately achieved attention in the movie Titanic, attempts a full character portrayal, and succeeds--he glides effortlessly from one character to another. A sprightly old woman, for example, he enunciates in a high-pitched near-falsetto--it could be the woman herself. Professor Gradgrind's flat words sound like the prim schoolmaster he is. Mr. Bounderby, who throws his weight around throughout the book, is loud and blustery and insufferable. Jarvis carries the narrative portions nicely, too: His voice is precise, deliberate and yet smooth and expressive. Dickens was in the full flower of his talent when he wrote Hard Times, and this performance is a tribute to him. D.W. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine