The author provides the treasure chest, but the reader holds the key. Loth as I am to agree with any opinion held by the dusty old pedant who marries young, beautiful, idealistic Dorothea Brooke, he has got it in one. "I am fastidious in voices and I cannot endure listening to an imperfect reader," says Edward Casaubon in chapter two. Halfway through CD six I was ready to concede that, if not the greatest, Middlemarch – which follows the various fortunes, thwarted, blighted and occasionally happy, of a dozen characters in provincial England circa 1830 – is certainly up there with the finest novels in any language. Ever dutiful, I opted for the unabridged BBC recording with an unknown reader, originally published on cassette. Then two abridged audio versions of Middlemarch, often described as the greatest novel in the English language, came out from Penguin and Naxos. Being force-fed Silas Marner as a child didn't help, but I dutifully ploughed through all her critically acclaimed books, vowing never to return. Sometimes it just doesn't tally with your own fond memories. Rereading the classics becomes a whole new experience if, second time round, you have to rely on audio rather than print. Middlemarch, by George Eliot, read by Maureen O'Brien (32hrs unabridged, BBC, £30.99)
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