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The Turn of the Screw

by: Henry James

Publication date: 2006-07-21

Usage: Public Domain

Topics: librivox, literature, audiobook, henry james, turn of the screw, nikolle doolin

Language: English

Librivox recording of The Turn of the Screw by Henry James.
Read by: Nikolle Doolin

The Turn of the Screw is a novella written by Henry James. It is a ghost story that was originally published in 1898. A nameless governess reports the events of two ghosts who stalk the young children she has charge over. Is she reliable, or an imaginative neurotic? (Summary adapted from Wikipedia)

For further information, including links to M4B audio book, online text, reader information, RSS feeds, CD cover or other formats (if available), please go to the LibriVox catalog page for this recording.

For more free audiobooks, or to become a volunteer reader, please visit librivox.org.

Addeddate: 2006-07-21 09:56:04

Boxid: OL100020215

Call number: 431

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

External_metadata_update: 2019-04-10T18:38:31Z

Identifier: turn_screw_librivox

Ocr: ABBYY FineReader 9.0

Ocr_converted: abbyy-to-hocr 1.1.11

Ocr_module_version: 0.0.14

Ppi: 600

Run time: 5:43:20

Source: Librivox recording of a public-domain text

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Reviews

Reviewer: Wmnoffaith1 - - July 15, 2019
Subject: Wonderful narration

If you enjoy Henry James, or this genre, you'll like this recording. The only one better I've heard is Emma Thompson 's Audible recording. I know a few reviewers have complained they can't get through it, or the book is too hard. You have to realize this was written at a time when education was at it's peak. People had much bigger vocabularies, and they painted pictures with words. If this isn't to your taste, you'd be better off sticking to books written after the 60s or 70s. The word count per sentence is less, they're easier to understand, and they are aimed at a lower grade level. Modern libraries today can give you the rating of each book, and it's score and difficulty rating because they have all been ranked for students, so you can find the difficulty rating you are comfortable with, and then check to see what the rating is before you attempt a book.

Reviewer: notmyname - - February 11, 2010
Subject: Odd classic, good recording

This really is an odd book -- strangely inconclusive.

The recording is very professional in sound quality and also pretty professional in reading style. The female reader is lushly expressive, to the point of sounding sentimental. In fact this overlush quality convinced me that the narrating governess really is a delusional hysteric (a matter of much debate, for some reason). The child characters' voices strike me as well done too. If the Librivox intro grates on your ear, as another reviewer mentioned, skip ahead and listen to a bit of the text itself -- you may find it more to your taste. One word I noticed was mispronounced: "interminably."

Reviewer: benefitsingers - - December 21, 2009
Subject: An odd story

I was given the books Daisy Miller and The Turn of the Screw when I was a child. I never read them as I found them too hard. I am guessing I was about 9 or 10. The book was not much better as an adult. I listened to this one some time ago so I do not remember the narration and that may have been part of it. I really had a hard time getting through this story and honestly I am not sure what the big deal is about Henry James or a lot of classics for that matter. I am grateful; however, to Librivox that at least I had the opportunity to listen to this book.

Reviewer: tinamcsag - - December 15, 2009
Subject: Excellent

By far one of the best readings I heard so far. I highly recommend the recording.

Reviewer: Clanky - - October 6, 2008
Subject: The Turn of the Screw

I have to say that I listened only through the first chapter. The story seemed as though it would be interesting, and the reader's voice and style seem as though they might have been lovely in person or perhaps on a conventional recording device, but the computer-like utterances and spacing and silences was something I simply found too irritating. I have to say, I don't have high expectations of readers, but this recording sounded too much like a computer voice for me to be able to enjoy it. If that kind of thing doesn't bother you, then you'll likely enjoy it as the first reviewer did.

Reviewer: biffparcells - - January 18, 2007
Subject: Good story, great recording

I downloaded this and listened to it on a 9 hour solo drive from Jacksonville, FL to Richmond, VA. The story was intriguing and quite chilling, painted beautifully with the words of Henry James. The woman reading has a very pleasing voice and the recording is of professional quality. My only complaint was that each chapter had an introduction identifying the author, reader, book name, chapter, and the audio collection that this piece came from. It lasted about 20-30 seconds but really broke up the flow of the book, since some chapters are very short. That being said, I would recommend this to anyone.

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