A ROOM WITH A VIEW

Whether you read this classic long ago or have never read it, the advice remains the same. Listen to this audio version. Do it right now, without delay. You will be amply rewarded by Wanda McCaddon’s performance of E.M. Forster’s wickedly funny critique of his people--nineteenth-century middle- and upper-middle-class Britons who traveled abroad. (Listening, one is painfully reminded of twenty-first-century Americans traveling abroad.) McCaddon’s nuanced reading makes clear the author’s frustration with his blinkered countrymen and women, as well as his exasperated affection for them. She shades the characters’ voices with accents that help the listener understand the issues of class, geography, and education. And she allows the characters to develop--our heroine sounds less high-pitched as she learns a thing or two, our hero less sure as he encounters difficulty. A masterful performance. A.C.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC 02/ JAN 03]