Type of bind: Audio Cassette
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN num: 9780001053731
Format: Audiobook, Large Print, Unabridged
ISBN number: 0001053736
Label: Trafalgar Square Publishing
Manufacturer: Trafalgar Square Publishing
Quantity: 2
Printing Date: 1999-09
Publishing house: Trafalgar Square Publishing
Sale Popularity Level: 1680702
Studio: Trafalgar Square Publishing
Other books you might be interested in perusing:
Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
HarperCollins UK Audio Classics presents abridged and unabridged readings of the world's favorite literary masterpieces. Among the distinguished readers are Christopher Lee, Derek Jacobi, Simon Callow, Linus Roache, Elizabeth McGovern, Terry Jones, Peter Firth, and Rufus Sewell. Each package of cassettes in the Audio Classics series is beautifully packaged and shrink-wrapped.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
-
This is a nice, reasonably priced version of the old English tale, translated by J.R.R. Tolkien, our favorite writer of hobbits, Dark Lords and perilous jewelry. My Dad was very pleased to receive it as a present, and best of all, I can borrow it from him and read it myself! ;) Love it.
Rated by buyers -
For anyone who cares about the subject and yet is too lazy to read the original it is always a joy to read Tolkien, a master of English. The story is not fantasy, which many mistakenly look for in Tolkien, but a classic of middle English literature. If you get hooked on this genre there are many other stories, both long and short, available, and the original language is not so different from our own.
Rated by buyers 
-
Slightly more interesting piece of output, due to the theme being the
old Green Knight story. That tale is usually quite entertaining, and is
in this version, as well. The other piece is eminently forgettable,
however. I suppose you would say that it is for Tolkien completists
only.
Rated by buyers -
These three texts from the translating pen of J.R.R. Tolkien coprise an uplifiting trio that give the reader a glimpse of times when literature was aimed at both beauty and the edification of proper values. This is particularly true in the very first two texts.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight presents a late Arthurian legend which was penned in a relatively obscure West-Midland dialect of early Middle English. The text, as translated by Tolkien, still maintains the auditory alliteration used to drive the poem itself. This in itself is a blessed treasure to the reader, as it is a rarely used method of poetry. The story is a gem in that it presents a fallible human, Gawain, who strives by the Grace of God to fulfill his oaths made. It is an exposition of piety, casting the Arthurian knight into a wholly Christian light.
Pearl, written in a dialectic style of poetic meter, is a moving poem of grief and understanding in the face of the death of a two-year-old child. The imagery used in it is absolutely breathtaking, drawing heavily on the Apocalypse of John for its material. The discourse is a journey of enlightenment and eventual peace, marked with profound trust in God. I found this poem to be absolutely stunning in itself. Pearl, along with Gawain, exposes the existence of a great deal of Marian piety at the time of the writing. This presents an intriguing scenario which reminds Christians of the ongoing understanding of Mary's role in the Christian faith.
Sir Orfeo, related in many ways to Classical myth, is a much more light-hearted adventure. It is a quick read that presents the reader with the brave quest of King Orfeo for his lost wife,Heurodis. The sybols used are mixed from Classical as well as English/Celtic sources. While the story is not wholly inventive, it is a fun read and has been presented very well by professor Tolkien.
I suggest this set of texts to everybody, for they present the reader with poetry which is not only grounded in romance/adventure but also in morality (particulary I and II) and faith.
Rated by buyers -
"Sir Gawaine and the Green Knight" is a great and holy work of literature and I return to it on an annual basis to breathe the air of its strong magic and to observe with awe its rutheless moral rigor. What a profound joy it is to foresake the barren land of contemporary hack literature and enter once more into a world where the colors are brighter, the language is grander, and the characters stride across the mysterious landscape like gods or faery-figures lit from within by a mystic sun. The great J.R.R. Tolkien did us all a supreme kindness when he advocated for the deep spiritual and aesthetic significance of "Beowulf" (for whom his own writings bear covert relations) and he doubled it when he translated this masterpiece of the enchanted but decidedly anonymous soul who wrote it.
Five stars are a poor return for such pleasure and wisdom offered.
Find other books like this one:
