TOM BROWN'S SCHOOLDAYS

Ian Masters reads this classic of school life, the story of a Rugby education in the 1830s. His delivery has a subtle excellence that disguises how good it is. Some voices are naturally pleasurable; his is like a rich cup of coffee. He shifts effortlessly between accents and modulates pitch effectively to indicate boys of different ages. Only on the few songs does he falter, seeming to make up the tunes as he goes. The abridgment leaves out the first quarter of the book, before Tom reaches Rugby, and some episodes, rather than cutting throughout the entire book, so it can be followed well. But it's a pity the whole book wasn't recorded, Masters does it so well. W.M. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/ SEP 07]