Oliver Twist (version 4)

Just beautifully read

(5 stars)

LibriVox populi var. VB

Just finished 53 chapters of amazing narration. Blown away, and so grateful for the unbelievable talent freely offered. Tadgh, I'll eat Mr. Grimwig's head and mine for dessert if audible could find anything this good to sell us darlings! Thank you from Seattle in the Other Washington!

Amazing

(5 stars)

A LibriVox Listener

One of the best parts of this story is the man who reads it. He has different voices for each character. They are done so well, I forget there is only one person reading the story. I would not be able to keep track of all those different voices if it was me! He makes the story very easy to follow. In regards to the story itself, it was wonderful. There are so many twists and turns that you sometimes want to pull your hair out, but some moments also make you smile and laugh. There is never a dull moment and I love learning about all the different characters. I never thought I would enjoy the story as much as I did.

wonderful!

(5 stars)

Murray

I love this reader, and I love this book. Both are brilliantly executed. As for the anti-demotion, we could as well call it anti-English, as every other despicable character belongs to that category. Our Mutual Friend, another of Dickens’s works, portrays a kind, benevolent Jew and Jewish community. As for the criticisms of classism, all classes are portrayed as equally horrible, and all have examples of goodness. Arguably the most convincing and beloved character has always been Nancy. Oliver himself is not of noble birth according to Victorian thought. His illegitimacy made him of the lowest class, yet his good kindness rises above it. This is undoubtably unrealistic, but rather than reinforce class stereotypes, actually stands directly opposed to traditional thought. Who was the good son? The one of class, legitimate birth and wealth? No, the illegitimate son of a fallen man and born in s workhouse. Little Dick, not privileged Mr. Bumble, is the hero of kindness and piety in Oliver’s early life. No, our modern lack of historical knowledge and shallow thinking completely miss the revolutionary socialism of Dickens, and show ourselves to be fools.

Wonderful reading

(5 stars)

Barbara O.

My first Dickens novel. (and his first, too). Although the plot of the story and the character oft the hero are very far from convincing, still the language , wit and realism are compelling and show the author's genius. Absolutely fantastic reading, bringing each character to life, making every sentence even of lengthy parts a pleasure to listen to. Performance of a quality rare even in commercially produced Audio books. Are you an actor by profession or just a rare talent, Taghd?

(5 stars)

Michael W. Archer

This reading was very enjoyable. The reader did a top-notch job. He was very articulate and added a lot of depth to the reading by altering his voice, portraying emotion, his inflection, etc. I was entertained and engaged from the first chapter to the last.

Good reader, Not too fast and with consistant accents

(5 stars)

rashaunny

UPDATE: I checked version 3 again. It is read by multiple volunteers, not a single person as I had thought. This version is far superior! I liked this reader Tadhg Hynes. I enjoyed the different accents and the consistency of accents! As well, it is an English novel thus the reader seems more appropriate as opposed to an American reader as the woman that reads version 3. It was hard to remember the characters at times without seeing the names. Version 3 or 4 (this one) are good.

Fun and unforgettable

(5 stars)

Dallas 13

A fun book, well written and of a much more innocent time. The reading is excellent with the reader using different voices for the characters. While the time was innocent, many of the people in the story are anything but. It is an iconic story for a reason, you won't find witches or ghost, explosions and cursing. You will get a well told story with unforgettable characters and circumstances.

A great reading of a very mediocre novel.

(4 stars)

paulgato

A truly great reading of a truly awful novel. Perhaps I'm being unfair, as this was Dickens' first attempt at a novel. Perhaps his later novels were better? The plot seems both hackneyed and contrived. In particular, the dénouement in the last few chapters is cringeworthy and really quite hard to follow. Much is made these days of the possible antisemitism inherent in the character of Fagin, and of course he is a horrible caricature of every negative Jewish stereotype you can think of, but all the characters here are stereotypes of one kind or another. There is a certain graphic clarity and distinctness in the characters, just as there is in an artist's cartoon portrait, but ultimately I felt I was among puppets and ciphers, not human beings. As for the antisemitism thing, yes, clearly the novel is antisemitic, but what I found more striking was the deep, deep classism running through the novel. Over and over again we learn how those of 'noble birth' will always have their fine qualities recognised regardless of the meanness of their upbringing. Both Oliver and Rose follow this pattern, having been rescued by wealthy benefactors despite their lowly upbringing. It's really quite odd that Dickens clearly wants to educate those in his own class about the injustice suffered by the poor, and yet consistently denies their humanity. Perhaps this is not so odd: one can after all feel mercy towards animals without ascribing to them any of the finer feelings one ascribes to one's own species. This is the thing: yes, Dickens depicts Fagin, "the Jew," as less than fully human, but that's how he depicts all his characters who are not of the moneyed, gentile and noble class.