BARRY LYNDON

The racy memoirs of the Irish braggart and rogue who flourished, if that's the right word, in the late 1700s, are delightfully imagined by one of the great Victorian writers. Even more than Dickens, his contemporary, Thackeray can still beguile the modern reader, as is well testified in his first important novel. The recording begins with a tedious introduction that belabors the obvious and arrogantly tells us how to interpret what follows. John Cormack reads it dutifully before launching into an Irish accent and the main feature. He is sometimes very droll, but much of the irony of the narrative escapes him. Y.R. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/ JUL 04]