FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD

This 1874 novel set in the English Midlands has, by its author's standards, a relatively happy ending. At least the faithful Gabriel Oak eventually marries beautiful Bathsheba Everdene,whose first husband is murdered by an insane suitor, after the husband's jilted first love dies in the workhouse. Martin Shaw, while giving spirited interpretations of the characters, lays back the narrative to the point of mumbling. The abridgment is a bit too drastic to deliver the qualities that make the book special. Y.R. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/JUL 01]