IVANHOE

Scott's 1819 swashbuckler about the Disinherited Knight in the time of Richard I can still provide some thrills, chills, laughs, and tears. Harper's abridgment shaves too much from the vivid characterizations, a fault that Brian Cox somewhat corrects with his narration. For some reason, his Isaac the Jew has an odd, vaguely Eastern European accent, and all his Normans have speech impediments. Cox declaims the narrative like a town crier. While this cheats us of the more exciting moments, it does add welcome clarity to the centuries-old language. Y.R. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine [Published: JUN/JUL 01]