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Joel Chandler HarrisUncle Remus, by Joel Chandler Harris (October 24, 2006)

LibriVox recording of Uncle Remus, by Joel Chandler Harris. Read by Mark F. Smith.

Many readers will already be familiar with Uncle Remus’ favorite animal characters – Br’er Rabbit and Br’er Fox among them – and some of the popular tales concerning them. (To this day, “tar baby” as an expression for a particularly sticky situation that is almost impossible to solve, has passed into the English language and common use.) Even people who have never read any of these tales will know exactly why you don’t throw a rabbit into a briar patch, mainly because Walt Disney produced his first movie ever to use professional actors with animation, called “Song of the South”, based on the Uncle Remus tales.

Joel Chandler Harris, a newsman in Georgia, grew up listening to folktales told by the local black population. Later, he published his version of these tales in a series of stories printed in the “Atlanta Constitution.” The tales of, and by, Harris’ chief character Uncle Remus, an old black man scrabbling to make his living in the post-Civil War South, were extremely popular and widely read. Harris’ use of innovative spelling to give the reader a sense of the black dialect was considered novel.

While this is not a book that will pass a current political correctness test, due to its use of labels for black folks which have gone out of polite conversation, Uncle Remus is a largely sympathetic look at post-war plantation life. Uncle Remus himself is a warm, folksy man of good humor and dry wit, and after finishing his animal stories, the remaining sayings and tales are a moment of history frozen in amber. (Summary by Mark)


This audio is part of the collection: LibriVox

Artist/Composer: Joel Chandler Harris
Date: 2006-10-24
Source: Librivox recording of a public-domain text
Keywords: librivox; literature; audiobook; children; remus; harris; folktales; animals

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

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Reviewer: tua_micia - - December 27, 2008
Subject: Excellent Uncle Remus!
I am most impressed with the reading by Mr. Mark Smith. His 'southern negro' voice is wonderful. It is as though I were sitting there with the boy, listening to the old gentleman tell the tales. Thank you for doing the reading, Mr. Smith.