Fantastic Narration in Delightful Story

If you are a true fan of E M Forster or the Merchant Ivory dramatizations of his works, or the most recent Starz mini series, this book is for you. With great subtlety and the pace that pre-1930 novels enjoyed, Forster fleshes his characters' worlds artfully. This is one of those literary works that brings alive so perfectly the period in which it was written in a way that is relatable. The Schlegel family is the new artistic rather radically minded siblings that are at the heart of the story. The Wilcoxes represent the old guard with whom they have chance acquaintance.
Steven Crossley's distinguished performance perfectly relates all points of view with multiple intonations, dialects, and pacing essential to the setting. I listened carefully to samples of other readings and his was by far superior. Even with feminine main characters, his narration supplies full nuance.
Recommended.

13 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Good story. Poor production.

Where does Howards End rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Top half.

Any additional comments?

The reader has a tendency to trail off at the end of a sentence. I had to raise the volume on many occasions to understand what he was saying. I thought maybe my earphones were going but I am listening to another book now and it is fine. It is a good novel. I recommend another recording. Audible has several.

6 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

A Tough, But Stately "Read" With Bad Narrator

Unfortunately, my first Forster book on Audible was a struggle to finish.

Henry Wilcox was my favorite character full of characters that, in my opinion, were not fleshed out enough in personality or given much to do. Henry at least had some nice words.

My favorite part was when Henry proposed to Margaret/Meg. Nicely paced with perfect pitch.

I think as nice as Crossley's voice sounds, his bad performance sunk this book for me. A book written by men with females as the main protagonists requires a male narrator who is excellent in creating different female voices. Crossley is worst than any narrator I have yet to hear on audible. All the female voices sound the same. With so many back and forth conversations between Margaret and Ellen without personal identification of who is speaking, the narrator needs to make voices distinctive since I dont have the book in front of me to know which character is speaking. Consequently, things got confusing thus making this talk-driven story hard to follow thus trying my patience and interest.

I would highly recommend another version of this classic book. I am getting my money back for this one.

5 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Problems with volume

Volume is too varied either too loud or too soft; disturbing to what would be otherwise a totally enjoyable audio book.

2 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Completely MEH

I honestly don’t understand how this is considered a classic. The story is fairly unimaginative and none of the characters, save Helen, are not very likable. I read it back to back with Brideshead Revisted and found the latter far more engaging. This was not a favorite.

1 personne a trouvé cela utile

Best book I've ever read and heard

#StevenCrossley's reading of #EMFoster's incomparable words was a revelation, a true performance, bringing every character to life, like listening to a great play. A totally life-changing work of literature, whose admonition to #OnlyConnect can serve us all as the prescription for achieving #happiness.

1 personne a trouvé cela utile

Terrible narration

The narrator’s voice would constantly shift between very loud and very soft, requiring me to turn my volume WAY up to be able to hear the quiet parts, thus hurting my ears during the loud parts. This should be part of book reading 101: relatively even volume. Made for a terrible listening experience.

1 personne a trouvé cela utile

I am sure I will be listening to it again!

Have seen two film versions and finally listened to it! It is now one of my favorite novels. I understand so much more than when exposed to the Emma Thompson Anthony Hopkins film version when I was young. Brilliant writer and lively narrator. Also, the newest mini series film version lovely to as the mini series format allows for these compression of the story.

1 personne a trouvé cela utile

I love this book

This is a timeless book ,could have been written about life today. It is rather sad, but life hasn't changed all that much. Many people who are wealthy feel it is their right to gain more wealth at the expense of other.

1 personne a trouvé cela utile

Maybe life is predetermined.

It was rough starting, but the sisters won me over in the end. Loved it.

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