American Notes for General Circulation


Read by LibriVox Volunteers

(4.2 stars; 6 reviews)

American Notes for General Circulation is a travelogue by Charles Dickens detailing his trip to North America from January to June, 1842. While there he acted as a critical observer of these societies almost as if returning a status report on their progress. This can be compared to the style of his Pictures from Italy written four years later, where he wrote far more like a tourist. His American journey was also an inspiration for his novel Martin Chuzzlewit. (Summary by Wikipedia) (11 hr 11 min)

Chapters

00 - Preface 4:03 Read by Alisson Veldhuis
01 - Chapter 1: Going Away 20:22 Read by Alisson Veldhuis
02 - Chapter 2: The Passage Out 40:00 Read by Alisson Veldhuis
03 - Chapter 3: Boston Part 1 41:15 Read by bobolink
04 - Chapter 3: Boston Part 2 40:10 Read by bobolink
05 - Chapter 3: Boston Part 3 19:53 Read by bobolink
06 - Chapter 4: An American Railroad. Lowell and its Factory System 28:32 Read by EliMarieHK
07 - Chapter 5: Worcester. The Connecticut River. Hartford. New Haven. To New Y… 26:02 Read by Denny Sayers (d. 2015)
08 - Chapter 6: New York 53:20 Read by Denny Sayers (d. 2015)
09 - Chapter 7: Philadelphia, and its Solitary Prison 35:32 Read by Ric Cornwall
10 - Chapter 8: Washington. The Legislature. And the President's House 44:24 Read by Guero
11 - Chapter 9: A Night Steamer on the Potomac River. Virginia Road, and a Blac… 41:33 Read by Alisson Veldhuis
12 - Chapter 10: Some Further Account of the Canal Boat, its Domestic Economy, … 24:43 Read by Ric Cornwall
13 - Chapter 11: From Pittsburg to Cincinnati in a Western Steamboat. Cincinnat… 24:11 Read by Tom Crawford
14 - Chapter 12: From Cincinnati to Louisville in another Western Steamboat; an… 26:53 Read by Ric Cornwall
15 - Chapter 13: A Jaunt to the Looking-Glass Prairie and Back 19:35 Read by Ric Cornwall
16 - Chapter 14: Return to Cincinnati. A Stage-Coach Ride from that City to Col… 40:33 Read by Alisson Veldhuis
17 - Chapter 15: In Canadal; Toronto; Kingston; Monstreal; Quebec; St. John's. … 47:38 Read by bobolink
18 - Chapter 16: The Passage Home 24:33 Read by Denny Sayers (d. 2015)
19 - Chapter 17: Slavery 39:06 Read by Alisson Veldhuis
20 - Chapter 18: Concluding Remarks 24:34 Read by Alisson Veldhuis
21 - Postscript 4:58 Read by Alisson Veldhuis

Reviews

Interesting, and a small booboo


(5 stars)

Listening to this after hearing the marvelous librivox recording of Dickens' MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT, which contains a sharp critique of the United States. So glad LV has also given us an audio version of Dickens' first visit to America. Well done, volunteers! Small issue not important to me, but I know LV strives for perfection...the preface consists of two takes (the text is repeated twice). Told you it was small.

There are two prefaces


(0 stars)

In answer to the previous reviewer, there are (odd as it may seem) TWO prefaces in this edition of American Notes. They are similar, though not identical, and have been recorded exactly as written.