A Shropshire Lad
Gelesen von Alaaious
A. E. Housman
(3,5 Sterne; 3 Bewertungen)
A Shropshire Lad is a cycle of sixty-three poems by the English poet Alfred Edward Housman. A Shropshire Lad was first published in 1896 at Housman's own expense after several publishers had turned it down. At first the book sold slowly, but during the Second Boer War, Housman's nostalgic depiction of rural life and young men's early deaths struck a chord with English readers and the book became a bestseller. Later, World War I further increased its popularity. (Summary from Wikipedia) (0 hr 53 min)
Bewertungen
good reading with a less-than-ideal voice
False Grind
(3,5 Sterne)
This first and most important collection of Housman's scant poetic oeuvre is, as others on this app have pointed out, clearly not read by an Englishman -- much less an Englishman from Shropshire. The reader is American and he reads these poems just a hair too rapidly for my liking, but he still reads them articulately and -- at least, to my knowledge-- accurately, which is appreciated. I try not to fault a reader on the uncontrollable circumstance of his birthplace and native tongue, but in this case, I do agree with other reviewers in that "A Shropshire Lad" simply screams to be read by a Shropshire-accented man.
Doesn't work
ThreeCat
(2 Sterne)
I'd like to thank the volunteer reader for his effort, but I'm afraid he reads it much, much, much too rapidly. It's written as calm, pastoral, lyrical poetry. I'm afraid that this one also doesn't work with an American accent. While that's often a grumble from English listeners, in the case of A Shropshire Lad, this is very particularly true - it is SO much a piece about a specific English regional identity, that it desperately needs reading in an English accent - and preferably a Shropshire one.