THE KISS AND THE DUEL

It’s easy to hear why Blackstone Audiobooks hired Fred Williams to read for them: his voice has an unusual resonating quality with liquid overtones and a seldom heard sound. But to comprehend Chekhov requires more than good diction. Williams falls below the requirement. He reads from phrase to phrase, following the demands of punctuation, but not the train of Chekhov's story. He relaxes a bit with the second story, but he never aims for the entire scope of the work, and the poor listener loses the opportunity to enjoy the brilliance of Chekhov. J.P. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/MAR 01]