RAFFLES: THE AMATEUR CRACKSMAN

An English gentleman’s honor is beyond reproach or suspicion even in the case of Raffles, a national cricket star and an utterly charming and accomplished thief who turns to crime to sustain a lifestyle he can ill afford. Alas, our intimacy with this fascinating protagonist and his accomplice is hindered by a labored, often torpid narration, which is heedless to the text’s dramatic cues. Although Covell approximates a “top-drawer” English accent, he cannot sustain it; his attempts at regional dialects are inconsistent and lapse into painful parody. Perhaps a native speaker might have succeeded better in capturing the flavor of Victorian society, wherein the appearance of honor and position, so delineated by language, is to be respected above all else. B.M.W. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 96]