Some Tame Gazelle Audiobook By Barbara Pym cover art

Some Tame Gazelle

A Novel

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Some Tame Gazelle

By: Barbara Pym
Narrated by: Mary Sarah
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Belinda and Harriet Bede live together in a small English village. Shy, sensible Belinda has been secretly in love with Henry Hoccleve - the poetry-spouting, married archdeacon of their church - for 30 years. Belinda's much more confident, forthright younger sister Harriet, meanwhile, is ardently pursued by Count Ricardo Bianco. Although she has turned down every marriageable man who proposes, Harriet still welcomes any new curate with dinner parties and flirtatious conversation. And one of the newest arrivals, the reverend Edgar Donne, has everyone talking.

A warm, affectionate depiction of a postwar English village, Some Tame Gazelle perfectly captures the quotidian details that make up everyday life. With its vibrant supporting cast, it's also a poignant story of unrequited love.

©1950, 1983 Barbara Pym (P)2020 Tantor Family Life Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction
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Barbara Pym is my favorite author. It’s a pity the narration isn’t better. The reader has a rather affected style, and what accent she is using seems to change at times, sounding rather Irish at times. At least, to my ears. Also, the editing is poor. There are a few repeated or wrongly read phrases. I’m very familiar with the book, so it’s annoying. I gave a good rating overall, because I love the story.

Narrator is distracting

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I have read all of Barbara Pym’s novels ant this one is a favorite. This reader almost ruined it for me, however. She is SO affected and her breathless, fainting away reading made me want to stop listening. I will avoid any more books read by her.

Big fan of Barbara Pym

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Barbara Pym’s books are wonderful, but Mary Sarah’s narrations are almost unbearable. Please find a better narrator for future recordings.

Please do not use this narrator for any further Audible Barbara Pym books!

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I am so disappointed. I have read and enjoyed Pym for years. The speed of the narrator too fast. Words are lost in almost every sentence. The beauty of the writing is obscured or lost. Please slow down and relish the words and meaning.

Reading Far Too Fast!

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This narrator is American, and ruins what should be a wonderful Barbara Pym novel by speaking with a very strange accent. Mary Sarah should stick to American fiction.

Narrator ruins it

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Truly dreadful narrator. I felt like throwing my phone against the wall with this it was so annoying. I am not sure what accent she was aiming for but was not British. Her destruction of A was horrible and example was Back became Bach. She has this annoying lilt at the end of her sentences. The worse narrator I have ever endured in Audible. Like poison in one’s ear.

Did anyone listen to this reader before publication?

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I am an audio book addict and a Pym devotee. Of all the years and all the audio books, I can't recall such a mismatched, poor reader in all of my experience. This has got to be the VERY WORST rendition by someone who is tone deaf to Pym's gentle irony and perfect comic timing. Even in a desperate moment I find Mary Sarah's reading of Some Tame Gazelle, probably my favorite Pym novel, utterly unlistenable. Her weird breathy whispers and strange inflection ruin the style and atmosphere of Pym's writing. Having just finished a MAGNIFICENT READING BY JAYNE ENTWISTLE I was completely caught off guard and tragically disappointed. Why has Mary Sarah been commissioned to ruin so many Pym audio books and Jayne Entwistle has only been given Excellent Women to read??? SOS.

TERRIBLE READING / NARRATION

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I'm a huge fan of Barbara Pym and was delighted to see more of her books brought to Audible. However, and this is a HUGE however, Mary Sarah's reading made the book unlistenable. Her voice is too breathy, she speaks too fast in many places, and rushes the end of her sentences. While Ms Sarah may have read other books with more clarity (perhaps without the affected accent), her enunciation here is lazy and sophmoric. Much to my disappointment I had to return the title.

Great Book. Horrible Reading.

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I love Barbara Pym. I've read all of her titles multiple times, but the narrator makes this unlistenable. Wish I could return it. The sample doesn't reveal the horror that is this narration. Seriously, it's awful.

Love Pym, can't stand the narrator

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I am a fan of Barbara Pym's novels and have long enjoyed the Audible recording by Jayne Entwistle of "Excellent Women." I kept waiting to see new Audible titles of her other novels, and was tremendously excited by Audible's listing of three new titles recenlty. The reader is not Jayne Entwistle, however, but Mary Sarah. I listened to the Sample of each of the novels and did not particularly like what I heard, but because I love "Some Tame Gazelle" so much I nevertheless downloaded it. After only a few chapters, I have to say that it is unbearable to listen to. The main problem is that Mary Sarah does not enunciate the words; she swallows the ends of sentences. You miss half of what is being said. Another problem is her whispery voice. Thus, you can't hear either. Not to be recommended, especially if you are just getting to know Barbara Pym.

Great book, terrible reader

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