The difference? The audiobook narrated by Martin Jarvis. His narration was entertaining and dynamic, and made reading along with my free kindle copy and highlighting key notes for class actually enjoyable. Jarvis made the story fly by, and really captured Dickens' wit and dark humour in a way I would have completely missed had I read the novel plainly. Not once did I feel my attention drift, for his voice shifted to suit every mood and every character, and I think this really heightened my reading experience because I didn't miss out on a single line - nor did I want to.
The story is still longer than it needs to be, but it is enjoyable regardless. Dickens has a way of making stock character types feel complex and real, and I found it wonderful that he wanted to give different classes a voice whilst calling out his readers for their ignorance for human life (although I can't deny that Dickens wasn't too generous as he still stereotyped the lower class massively massively).
All in all, this was a read I would definitely recommend if you have the time, and I am glad to be studying it.
Warnings: discrimination, abuse, violence, death, antisemitism
I'm glad to hear the audiobook worked out so well. I might have to try that with classics, which I typically hate reading.
ReplyDeleteI often struggle with classics, but I've found audiobooks incredibly helpful. A lot of them can be found on youtube as most of them are now in the public domain so it's worth having a look there :)
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