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Barchester Towers

by: Anthony Trollope

Publication date: 2007-03-05

Usage: Public Domain

Topics: librivox, audiobook, literature, trollope

Language: English

LibriVox recording of Barchester Towers, by Anthony Trollope. This is the second in Trollope’s ‘Barsetshire’ series of novels. The later novels in the series move away from Barchester itself but 'Barchester Towers' is very much a sequel to the first book ‘The Warden’, which is also available from Librivox.

The old bishop dies, the archdeacon, Dr. Grantly fails to succeed him and a new bishop, Dr. Proudie is appointed. Dr. Grantly gains a worthy foe, not the new bishop but his wife, Mrs. Proudie, strict sabatarian and power behind the Episcopal throne together with the bishop’s chaplain, Mr. Slope.

John Bold is also dead and Eleanor, now a wealthy young widow sets clerical hearts fluttering. The new bishop must deal with the wardenship of Hiram’s Hospital. Will it go to Mr. Harding? All is to play for. Then the old Dean dies and the stakes are raised. (Summary by Andy) For further information, including links to online text, reader information, RSS feeds, CD cover, M4b or other formats (if available), please go to the LibriVox catalog page for this recording.

Addeddate: 2007-03-05 22:42:28

Boxid: OL100020015

Call number: 565

External-identifier: urn:storj:bucket:jvrrslrv7u4ubxymktudgzt3hnpq:barchester_towers

External_metadata_update: 2019-04-06T01:19:16Z

Identifier: barchester_towers

Ocr: ABBYY FineReader 9.0

Ocr_converted: abbyy-to-hocr 1.1.11

Ocr_module_version: 0.0.14

Ppi: 600

Run time: 22:25:30

Source: Librivox recording of a public-domain text

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Reviews

Reviewer: MPDMedia - - April 15, 2024
Subject: Great to hear Andy again

I'm currently reading P D James' "Death in Holy Orders", wherein a young priest in-training slyly reads the first chapter of Barchester Towers to a hated archdeacon, and others, at a tea. Came on here to listen to (hopefully) a British reading, and lo & behold, it's the late, great Andy Minter reading the very chapter I needed to hear. Too bad he didn't get to read the whole book, per the reviews below....

Reviewer: librivoxbooks - - February 11, 2020
Subject: Another Version Here:

There's a solo recording of this book here: http://archive.org/details/barchestertowers_1710_librivox

Reviewer: Thirzina - - February 11, 2020
Subject: Don't be fooled!

The first chapter is beautifully read, then a multitude of terrible readers follow. Yes, Librivox readers are volunteers, but just because something is free doesn't mean it should be awful. These atrocious readers do an enormous disservice to both opensource/volunteer operated online projects in general, and to the timeless literary gems they narrate.

Reviewer: Honora Lee - - May 5, 2016
Subject: Gave up listening

Wonderful book
But impossible to listen. Some of the reading was so terrible
Impossible to listen to. Am amazed. Does anyone listen before a recording is uploaded.

Reviewer: Eddie Z - - September 19, 2013
Subject: Enjoyable story with some good readers

A fun and light story filled with all sorts of conversations about the goings on around Barchester towers and the intrigues and politics involved. Some chapters are ready by Andy Minter, one of my favorites. The others are OK.

Reviewer: Nullifidian - - January 13, 2013
Subject: To william hauff

The reason that non-native speakers of English are permitted to read English texts is that they volunteer to do so. LibriVox is an all-volunteer organization, and there is no centralized authority telling readers what they are 'allowed' to read. Nothing could be more inimical to the spirit of a volunteer-run organization.

Now, aside from the obvious option of paying for a professionally produced recording, you also have the option of signing up at LibriVox and recording the chapters that displease you, or recording the entire book as a solo work. Multiple versions of books and chapters are encouraged there.

Reviewer: william hauff - - January 9, 2013
Subject: wonderful novel ruined by bad reading

A magnificent novel almost ruined by one of the readers whose accent is so thick that many times you cannot understand the words being spoken. Understandably the readers to Librivox are volunteers but one would think there would be a minimum competency required. Why in the world would someone with a very thick German(?) accent be allowed to read a Victorian English novel? Why wouldn't that reader read books in German, of which Librivox needs more. It seems some of the readers are only reading for their own vanity, not in the interests of the books or the listeners. Miserable job Librivox!

Reviewer: bowhows - - December 24, 2010
Subject: Difficult to Understand

This is a wonderful story, unfortunately though many of the chapters are read by someone who has difficulty pronouncing many English sounds. I had to strain to understand many of the words she said, and I found trying to make out what she was saying frustrating.

Reviewer: katknit - - August 11, 2009
Subject: Much ado

Second in Trollope's Barsetshire series, Barchester Towers concerns the family of the Reverend Septimus Harding, whom we first met in The Warden. The new bishop has arrived, accompanied by his domineering wife and her hand-picked clerical cohort, the hypocritical Obadiah Slope. A sharply satirical comedy of errors ensues, played out by a cast of memorable characters who struggle for power, position, love, and money. Trollope knew human nature, and he knew how to portray it in both its positive and negative aspects. Part of the appeal of Barchester Towers is that he is able to do so with relative gentleness, without preaching or obvious moralizing. I'm looking forward to the sequel, to find out what happens to the bishop's virago of a wife.

Reviewer: ListeninginChicago - - July 16, 2009
Subject: An enjoyable character study

From Librovox:
This is the second in Trollope’s ‘Barsetshire’ series of novels. The later novels in the series move away from Barchester itself but ‘Barchester Towers’ is very much a sequel to the first book ‘The Warden’, which is also available from Librivox.

The old bishop dies, the archdeacon, Dr. Grantly fails to succeed him and a new bishop, Dr. Proudie is appointed. Dr. Grantly gains a worthy foe, not the new bishop but his wife, Mrs. Proudie, strict sabatarian and power behind the Episcopal throne together with the bishop’s chaplain, Mr. Slope.

John Bold is also dead and Eleanor, now a wealthy young widow sets clerical hearts fluttering. The new bishop must deal with the wardenship of Hiram’s Hospital. Will it go to Mr. Harding? All is to play for. Then the old Dean dies and the stakes are raised. (Summary by Andy)

My comments: Andy Minter is one of my favorite readers and he takes quite a few chapters in this book. The other readers also do an excellent job, making the entire book easy to listen to.

The book is limited in locale and time, but not in characters. Trollope spends considerable time developing interesting people to populate his little ecclesiastical world. We not only follow the various players around but we hear their thoughts and what the narrator thinks of each of them. There's much misunderstanding, as conversations get twisted and turned in the retelling, as inferences drawn in error take on a life of their own, and as certain characters try t manipulate events to their own advantage. As a listener, I found quite a bit to laugh at, but I also found a fair exposition on how we often see what we want to see and miss the clues which should tell us that reality is otherwise.

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