The Return of the Native

De: Thomas Hardy

Narrado por: Alan Rickman

Earphones Award Winner (AudioFile Magazine)

Exclusively from Audible

Set on Egdon Heath, a fictional barren moor in Wessex, Eustacia Vye longs for the excitement of city life but is cut off from the world in her grandfather's lonely cottage. Clym Yeobright who has returned to the area to become a schoolmaster seems to offer everything she dreams of: passion, excitement and the opportunity to escape. However, Clym's ambitions are quite different from hers, and marriage only increases Eustacia's destructive restlessness, drawing others into a tangled web of deceit and unhappiness.

Considered a truly modern story due to its sexual politics and hindered desires it still holds relevance to audiences today. There is a tension between the symbolic setting of the heath and the modernity of the characters that makes the listener question our freedom to shape our lives as we wish. Are we always able to live our dreams?

Like George Eliot, Hardy was a Victorian realist whose novels and poetry were greatly influenced by Romanticism, especially the poet William Wordsworth. His critical thoughts on Victorian society can be seen throughout much of his work.

Narrator Biography

Multi-award winning actor and director Alan Rickman, famous for roles such as Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films and the Sherriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), had a varied career that included performing on stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company in modern and classical theatre productions. In America, he gained recognition for his Broadway appearance in Les Liaisons Dangereuses (1985) and later his role in Die Hard (1988) made him internationally famous. Other notable performances included his 2001 return to the West End and Broadway in Noël Coward's Private Lives and Ibsen's John Gabriel Borkman in 2010. Rickman is most remembered for his roles in films such as Love Actually (2003) and Sweeney Todd (2007) as well as voicing Marvin the Paranoid Android in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005), and Absalom the Caterpillar in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland (2010).

Public Domain (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Rickman's voice is masculine and seductive; yet by altering tempo, modulating tone, he becomes Hardy's women and children, utterly compelling as he projects all ranges of emotion. His individualizing dialogue of the human-sized characters, that country chorus who form the backdrop of normality for Hardy's titanic lovers, is brilliant." ( AudioFile)

Always Hardy

In this book Hardy proves he is one the really great writers that the English language has. Hardy's literary style is clearly 19th century, but it is really readable today. I thought that his style would be a little too heavy for an audiobook, but I found that the opposite is true - just like Dickens', his style lends itself well to the audiobook format.

The perfect union: Hardy and Rickman

Would you consider the audio edition of The Return of the Native to be better than the print version?

YES. I'm a huge fan of Hardy's writing but Alan Rickman makes Hardy's poetic language sink into your soul. He narrates with such passion and emotion and he chortles, sings, moans and despairs, thus reviving Hardy's memorable characters into full life, off of the dead pages of a novel nearly 150 years old.

What other book might you compare The Return of the Native to and why?

Honestly, in my opinion, no other writer of the English language can or could write like Hardy. Perhaps George Eliot is the closest in poetic expression and tone.

Which character – as performed by Alan Rickman – was your favorite?

I completely loved the Reddleman in the novel. Rickman does an amazing job with the female characters but he really excels at the country folk.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I didn't cry but I do feel like Hardy's ethereal poetic prose and Rickman's sultry and sad sounding voice combine to make the absolute perfect union imaginable. I only wish that Rickman would record all of Hardy's novels.

Any additional comments?

This is the audiobook that got me hooked on the format and while I've enjoyed many, many other audiobooks, this is my favorite one so far because I love the novel and I love Rickman's performance. The best of the best!

Powerful story, Rickman is great

Where does The Return of the Native rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

One of the best, and I've listened to dozens of them. It took me awhile to get into the book because it starts with lots of descriptions of the landscapes, etc. But once the plot got going, it became a riveting story.

What other book might you compare The Return of the Native to and why?

Not surprisingly, it's similar to other Hardy novels -- Jude the Obscure, Tess of d'Urbervilles, Mayor of Castorbridge, etc. Unlike some other Victorian novelists, Hardy was unafraid to let very bad things happen to good people. But his characters are unforgettable. Eustacia, Clym, Thomassin, Diggory...

Have you listened to any of Alan Rickman’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Never heard him read a book before, but I'd love to hear another. He did a fantastic job at the end of the book, keeping the suspense and drama moving forward.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The final scenes when Eustacia tries to leave Egdon Heath was amazingly told. As suspenseful as any page-turning thriller.

Any additional comments?

Well worth the time and money. I'd read the book in high school, some 50 years ago, but didn't understand why it had been assigned. Definitely had to have lived as an adult to understand how insightful the book is.

I loved every second of this book. Alan Rickman!

I love Thomas Hardy and no one could have read it better than Alan Rickman.

The rich voice of Alan Rickman

One of the best narrators on Audible. I enjoyed immensely and will be listening to more of his narrated books. Timothy West, Eleanor Braun and Juliet Stevenson are some of my favorites.

As good as it gets!

If one likes Thomas Hardy, this is an ultimate experience because who doesn’t love Alan Rickman!?! His voice is perfect for this book and his performance is sublime.

Terrible reading

Reader whispers sometimes and screams sometimes. Unacceptable. I didn’t enjoy the book for that reason.

Pinnacle of fan-boy narration

No intended disrespect to the author, but I listen at 75% speed, as it gives the impression of being read a story by professor Snape. A wonderful way to drift off to sleep.

That voice!

I confess that I only listened no to this book because of Alan Rickman’s narration. It was very enjoyable.

Enthralling Reading by Alan Rickman

I have always loved this book - romantic English heaths and barrows, isolation, passion, devotion, heartbreak, and hope all told with beautifully rendered diction -- but listening to Alan Rickman read it was an entirely engaging experience. I forgot he was simply one reader because I was so connected to each character. Nothing felt contrived or silly; he just read it beautifully and with such appropriate nuance. I highly recommend this recording.