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Pardonable Lies
- A Maisie Dobbs Novel
- By: Jacqueline Winspear
- Narrated by: Orlaugh Cassidy
- Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,724
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,257
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,254
In the third novel of this best-selling series, London investigator Maisie Dobbs faces grave danger as she returns to the site of her most painful WWI memories to resolve the mystery of a pilot's death.
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3 out of 5 stars
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please find someone else to narrate.
- By mary on 05-09-12
- Pardonable Lies
- A Maisie Dobbs Novel
- By: Jacqueline Winspear
- Narrated by: Orlaugh Cassidy
please find someone else to narrate.
Reviewed: 05-09-12
I have just begun Pardonable Lies. I am very disappointed in the narration. I was going to let it pass, but after listening to the very illuminating interview with Jacqueline Winspear which follows Messenger of Truth I feel impelled to say something. These books are quite good. The detection of crime is but one element; the books are very strong anti-war statements. Ms. Winspear’s research is far reaching and her depiction of the physical, moral and psychological devastation in England during and after WW1, and the consequent enforced poverty, is powerful and heartbreaking. Ms. Winspear says in the interview that she actually hears the voices of her characters in her head. This narrator (Orlaugh Cassidy) shows us little in this regard. Frequently a sentimental approach is taken (which blunts an affect) and with a one dimensional painting of the characters. There is seemingly little understanding of who or what it is she is reading. I will make my point with one example: there is a young girl who is introduced in the first chapter of Pardonable Lies and we are given certain information to allow us to know she has undergone a traumatic event. When she finally speaks she has a rather generic cockney sound - it could, in fact, be Billy speaking. This could, perhaps, be passable, but there is no sense that this child has undergone anything, let alone involvement in murder or that she is covered in blood and grime. Rather than being drawn into this child, I was taken altogether out of the story. These are good books and call out for a narrator with an imagination, one who will move the story along in an organic way.
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39 people found this helpful
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The Cherry Orchard: (Classic Radio Theatre - Dramatised)
- By: Anton Chekhov
- Narrated by: Sinéad Cusack, Anna Massey, Patricia Routledge, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 48 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 36
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 31
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Story4 out of 5 stars 32
Sinéad Cusack, Anna Massey, Patricia Routledge, Andrew Sachs and Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies star in this 1974 BBC Radio full-cast production of Chekhov’s classic play.Madame Ranyevskaya and her daughter Anya have returned home from Paris to discover that their family estate - which includes their beloved cherry orchard - has to be sold to cover the family’s debts.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Stellar production of Chekhov's masterpiece
- By mary on 04-16-12
Stellar production of Chekhov's masterpiece
Reviewed: 04-16-12
A brilliant and heartbreaking production of this masterful play peformed by some of Britains greatest actors.
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2 people found this helpful