Less Than Angels Audiobook By Barbara Pym cover art

Less Than Angels

A Novel

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Less Than Angels

By: Barbara Pym
Narrated by: Mary Sarah
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A tale of a woman's romantic entanglements with two anthropologists - and the odd mating habits of humans - from the author of Jane and Prudence.

Catherine Oliphant writes for women's magazines and lives comfortably with anthropologist Tom Mallow - although she's starting to wonder if they'll ever get married. Then Tom drops his bombshell: He's leaving her for a 19-year-old student.

Though stunned by Tom's betrayal, Catherine quickly becomes fascinated by another anthropologist, Alaric Lydgate, a reclusive eccentric recently returned from Africa. As Catherine starts to weigh her options, she must figure out who she is and what she really wants.

With a lively cast of characters and a witty look at the insular world of academia, this novel from the much-loved author of Excellent Women and other modern classics is filled with poignant, playful observations about the traits that separate us from our anthropological forebears - far fewer than we may imagine.

©1955 Barbara Pym (P)2020 Tantor Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Satire Comedy Witty
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Narrator has a very pleasant voice, but the style, inexplicable pronunciation manglings and peculiar pacing of spurts of words make sections of the text unintelligible.
That is such a pity!

Pity about the narration …

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Wonderful Barbara Pym novel. Really enjoyed it. Surprised that whomever chose The narrator was so off the mark. The narrator was just fine for another book. But not for a Barbara Pym novel. Unfortunate selection.

Barbara Pym excellent! Narrator a mismatch

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Narrator had misplaced emphasis -made the softness of the book appear all trite. Expected Barbara Pym writing- true to form

Need a different narrator

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Love Barbara Pym and loved the recording and narrator of Excellent Women. This narrator uses a breathy over-dramatic voice that is annoying and out of sync with the material in places. Disappointed.

Agree Excellent Book Exerable Narrator

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I have been a fan of Barbara Pym for many years. I purchased the Pym book , Excellent Women from Audible and the narrator was perfect. I was so disappointed that this book didn’t have the same narrator.
Hopefully, Audible will offer more Barbara Pym books and that they will have excellent narrators.

Terrible narrator for a wonderful book

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This recording is so sing-song and sweet that it is almost impossible to actually pay attention to the words. She reads this like it’s a children’s book, overly feminine, and sickly sweet, which is so annoying and, looses all the subtle humor.

Saccharine voice gets in way of story

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A forgotten literary genius. I’ve read several of her books.
Worth your while
Liked it all. Recommended ( see above) Rick Lieberman

Unique story. Funny and insightful perspective into 1950s Britain.

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Among my most favorite Barbara Pym's, this one reflects her insight and irony at its most incisive while still being fun. In combination with a superbly drawn view into the life of an anthropologist at a particular time and place, this one features Catherine. Catherine, with all her foibles, is a hugely compelling character, and is the perfect (though somewhat unlikely) writer of light articles for women's magazines. Alaric Lydgate and Esther Clovis win the best supporting character awards from me. That's saying quite a lot, as I have never found a supporting character in Pym lacking in any way. Highly recommended.

The narration of this reader is better suited for this novel, than the other Pym novels she narrated. I wasn't fond of Tom's voice, but somehow it fit his character well, and the narrator was okay with the two main young women. The thing is, I have grown more tolerant of the reader, though she was miscast for the other Pym stories. And, "it is a pity," to quote Alaric, that no effort was made to voice the older and more eccentric women appropriately.

Many thanks to Audible for making another Barbara Pym available in the States!

Incisive and fun insight and irony

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I love Barbara Pym — her humor, her ability to draw powerful stories from the minute details of life and to observe human behavior with wit and compassion. It’s hard to find her books in print so I turned to Audible. What a disappointment— the narrator is abysmal and almost destroys Pym’s beautiful finely drawn prose. An American, she clearly has no idea what upper class British dialect of the era should sound like. Her mispronounced ‘A’s are painful as are her mispronounced surnames and place names. The voice she chose for the narrator was totally off— frivolous and light— and the way she pitched it affected (badly) every character she attempted to portray, especially the men. I could go on but you get the picture. Find Pym’s books to read!

Wonderful novel ruined by an awful narrator

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I always like Barbara Pym but this one was marred for me by the very dated and racist thinking, very unlike anthropology’s repect for the peoples they study.
The worst thing was the appalling British accent of the reader! Why not use a British actor or just read it in a good American accent?

Problems here with both story and performance

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