The Barchester Chronicles – Audiobooks
Enjoy Anthony Trolloppe's Classic Tales of Victorian Life
Fans of Anthony Trollope or people who enjoy Victorian literature will be interested in the audiobook versions of The Barchester Chronicles. These witty and amusing novels track events in Victorian England. The cast of characters are followed through the books, with different characters developing within each. In addition to being an often comic tell of society life during the 19th century, The Barchester Chronicles offer an interesting insight into a life that was full of standards and conventions.
The Barchester Chronicles
Anthony Trolloppe wrote The Barchester Chronicles over the course of 12 years. Each book is part of the series, however can also be enjoyed as a standalone work. The six books in the series are:
- The Warden (1855)
- Barchester Towers (1857)
- Doctor Thorne (1858)
- Framley Parsonage (1861)
- The Small House at Allington (1864)
- Last Chronicle of Barset (1867)
The Barchester Chronicles are long books and require a significant time investment in order to read all the books. A convenient alternative is to listen to the audiobook editions. This means that the books can be enjoyed during commutes and while traveling as well as at other times. The audiobook editions of The Barchester Chronicles include unabridged recordings of the novels and dramatized performances.
Unabridged Recordings of The Barchester Chronicles
Unabridged recordings of The Barchester Chronicles are available recorded by various narrators including Timothy West, Simon Vance and Stephen Thorne. These are long audiobooks with each novel having a playing time of over 15 hours (The Last Chronicle of Barset has a playing time of over 30 hours). The books have also been recorded by volunteers as part of the Librivox project.
Dramatized Recordings of The Barchester Chronicles
The BBC has dramatized the entire Barchester series and this is available in audiobook format. The books are available separately or the entire collection is available as a single audiobook. The dramatized versions have been significantly abridged, for instance Barchester Towers has an unabridged running time of over 19 hours and the dramatized version is under 4 hours.
Both the unabridged and the dramatized versions of The Barchester Chronicles have advantages and disadvantages. The unabridged recordings present the novels in their full form and allow the reader to enjoy Anthony Trolloppe's writing. The dramatized editions, however, have the benefit of a presenting the novels as works of audio drama. Listeners who are unable to make the large time commitment to listen to the works in their full form may find that the dramatized editions are more accessible.
The Barchester Chronicles have been recorded by many different publishers. They are also available for free from Librivox. The dramatized versions have been published by BBC Worldwide. The audiobooks are available in digital and cd format from book stores and audiobook retailers such as Audible.com.
Anthony Trollope Website
More information about Anthony Trollope can be found on the Anthony Trollope website. The website has a lot of useful information about Trollope and his work, as well as some interesting interactive features. This includes a money calculator that allows visitors to work out how much the amounts of money referred to in the novels would be worth today.
The various audiobook versions of the Barchester Chronicles make the books accessible to a wide range of readers.
The Barchester Chronicles
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