LITTLE DORRIT

Charles Dickens's tale of debtors' prisons, cheating bankers, inept bureaucracies, and slowly sinking working people will resonate in today's economic meltdown. Dickens always mixes commentary with romance and humor, and the enthusiastic Anton Lesser, a master of timing, character, and accent, understands that. The title character is born in the Marshalsea Prison, and her sense of delicacy and thoughtfulness, as well as her discomfort with sudden wealth, are effectively rendered by Lesser. Arthur Clennam, who cannot see that Little Dorrit loves him, sounds thoroughly decent and likable. Lesser has fun with the comic characters. The listener will laugh out loud as the unrelentingly silly Flora chatters on and on at great speed and Pancks's dedication to work (with his hair standing straight up) is tested by his grasping capitalist boss. A.B. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: MARCH 2009]