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The Life of Samuel Johnson, Vol. II

Gelesen von LibriVox Volunteers

(3,944 Sterne; 9 Bewertungen)

Boswell's famous work on the life of his admired friend Johnson, the formidable poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer, is a milestone in the development of biographical writing, a treasure-house of Johnson's witticisms and opinions, and a window on his social circle that is packed with incidental detail of 18th-century life and concerns.

This second of four volumes covers the years 1764-1776. (Summary by Philippa) (14 hr 6 min)

Chapters

1764 to 1766

46:20

Read by Justin Brett

1766(cont) to 1767

31:47

Read by Katie Riley

1768

29:48

Read by Katie Riley

1769 part 1

37:52

Read by Ruth Golding

1769 part 2

34:53

Read by Gary Dzierlenga

1770

43:07

Read by Richard Ellwood

1771

16:29

Read by BenW

1772 part 1

25:56

Read by Philippa

1772 part 2

45:10

Read by Anna Simon

1772 part 3

50:21

Read by Brendan Brown

1773 part 1

34:39

Read by Anna Simon

1773 part 2

37:12

Read by Anna Simon

1773 part 3

40:40

Read by Anna Simon

1774

34:00

Read by Justin Brett

1775 part 1

39:29

Read by Philippa

1775 part 2

42:22

Read by Philippa

1775 part 3

37:04

Read by Philippa

1775 part 4

44:57

Read by adsum iam

1775 part 5

48:34

Read by lennich

1776 part 1

31:18

Read by Anna Simon

1776 part 2

50:10

Read by Katie Riley

1776 part 3

44:24

Read by Katie Riley

Bewertungen

Boswell shares letters, conversations, he had with Johnson.

(4 Sterne)

This continues Boswell's approach of using letters, conversations, etc., which allows Johnson to describe himself and his views on a variety of topics. There's an interesting exchange of correspondence seeking Johnson's advice on an issue involving Boswell's inheritance. Traditionally, only males could inherit property yet Boswell's father was apparently going to stipulate that an elder daughter would receive at least part of the inheritance. The readers were generally quite good, although it probably could have been better if more British readers had been available to better simulate how English might have been spoken in the middle of the 18th century. And it would have helped in the pronunciation of various names and places.

(3 Sterne)

A very enjoyable text, although it’s a shame that Justin Brett didn’t read the entire book - his pronunciation was impeccable, his Latin a pleasure to listen to, and as for his intonation and delivery, they cast all the other readers into the shade. The last reader of volume II was very poor, albeit infinitely better than the person allowed to read both volumes as the sole, named reader. The latter read so incomprehensibly that I was forced to turn to this multi-reader version. I appreciate all the readers are volunteers, but when so many of them are excellent, like Justin Brett, I can’t help wondering why any others are included.