Hard Times
Charles Dickens
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
Hard Times, the shortest of Dickens's full-length novels, is set in the fictitious Victorian-England city of Coketown, where facts are the rule and all fancy is to be stamped out. The plot centers around the men and women of the town, some of whom are beaten down by the city's utilitarian ideals and some of whom manage to rise above it. The novel was written in 1854 and was a scathing attack on then-current ideas of utilitarianism, which Dickens viewed as a selfish and at times oppressive philosophy. Perhaps the novel's best features are its clever, ironic narration and the larger-than-life characters that push the plot forward, such as the upper-class banker and hypocritical braggart, Josiah Bounderby, and the fact-driven schoolmaster, Thomas Gradgrind. (Summary by Rosalind Wills). (10 hr 54 min)
Chapters
| Book 1, Chapters 1-3 | 23:49 | Read by Kirsten Ferreri |
| Book 1, Chapters 4-5 | 31:28 | Read by Stewart Wills |
| Book 1, Chapter 6 | 25:28 | Read by Rosalind Wills |
| Book 1, Chapters 7-8 | 26:24 | Read by Joseph Ugoretz |
| Book 1, Chapters 9-10 | 35:07 | Read by Paul Hansen |
| Book 1, Chapters 11-12 | 24:59 | Read by Rosalind Wills |
| Book 1, Chapters 13-14 | 33:46 | Read by Paul Hansen |
| Book 1, Chapters 15-16 | 35:46 | Read by Paul Hansen |
| Book 2, Chapter 1 | 31:42 | Read by Stuart Bell |
| Book 2, Chapters 2-3 | 27:11 | Read by Joseph Ugoretz |
| Book 2, Chapters 4-5 | 41:06 | Read by Paul Hansen |
| Book 2, Chapter 6 | 31:30 | Read by Paul Hansen |
| Book 2, Chapter 7 | 29:23 | Read by Debra Lynn |
| Book 2, Chapter 8 | 26:56 | Read by Zachary Brewster-Geisz |
| Book 2, Chapters 9-10 | 30:52 | Read by JemmaBlythe |
| Book 2, Chapters 11-12 | 31:00 | Read by Debra Lynn |
| Book 3, Chapters 1-2 | 35:28 | Read by Debra Lynn |
| Book 3, Chapters 3-4 | 39:40 | Read by Debra Lynn |
| Book 3, Chapter 5 | 21:30 | Read by Graham Thomsen |
| Book 3, Chapter 6 | 21:37 | Read by Joseph Ugoretz |
| Book 3, Chapter 7 | 24:17 | Read by Joseph Ugoretz |
| Book 3, Chapters 8-9 | 25:46 | Read by Joseph Ugoretz |
Reviews
Just excellent!
LibriVox populi var. VB
Wow, can't believe I'm only review of this. Great readers!! Thanks, wonderful volunteers
Great Classic
A LibriVox Listener
One of the better classic novels I've been assigned to read.
A LibriVox Listener
Another great story by Dickens and a great bunch of readers!
Wonderful set of readers!
Yash Kant Pandey
Thanks to the volunteers who made their contribution into reading this timeless classic by Dickens. They brought the text alive.
enjoyed this book really well read
Maureenjones
Hiker1956
a Dickens classic read by multiple readers. Had a difficult time tracking all the characters when different readers read characters as different voices. if readers are going to read characters differently it would be nice if there would be only one reader per book so characters would have one voice than several
some great readers some poor
Keith Buhler
this is a classic text. well worth the effort to get through the first chapter or two! beautiful ending
Touching and Lighting
Mimansa Mahajan
Amazing reading by different readers, many thanks for your precious and eternal contribution.