THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE

Clym Yeobright, native of Egdon Heath, returns from the bright society of Paris and, as any reader of Hardy knows, all is not smooth. He is quickly taken by and marries the one woman he should not--Eustacia Vye. The suffering that follows is mitigated somewhat by the ending, but more by the mastery of Alan Rickman's reading. At the start, Rickman senses the voice for each character in Hardy's fictional world, and he maintains each character's personality throughout. He even manages to project Hardy's subtle shadings of tone with the rhythm and tempo of his narration, throwing in a song here and there because, in spite of his gloom, there is a festive strain to Hardy, as well. If you have a hard time reading this classic English writer, this is how to do it. P.E.F. © AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC/JAN 00]