The Faerie Queene (version 2)
Gelesen von Thomas A. Copeland
Edmund Spenser
(4,853 Sterne; 17 Bewertungen)
Spenser planned a 24-book romance-epic consisting of two parts, of which he completed half of the first. The first twelve books were to illustrate the development of virtues within the individual soul, and the second twelve were to depict the application of these moral virtues to remedying evils that afflict the world. Each of the first set of quests was to begin at the court of the Fairy Queen, Gloriana, and the knights were to return thither after having defeated some foe representing a personal weakness. Having thus proved themselves, they were qualified to undertake the second quests, in the world. The neat plan becomes somewhat muddled by Book 3, which nevertheless contains the philosophical core of the poem's allegorical structure: the Platonic notion that love (grace) unifies the cosmos and draws the will, through the pursuit of beauty, into virtuous action, returning to God at last in worship. The plot structure of the poem is rich and complex, with many strands interlinked and overlapping, each replete with allegorical significance. (Summary by Thomas Copeland) (31 hr 54 min)
Chapters
Bewertungen
FANTASTIC READ
Avid Listener
(5 Sterne)
I hope that the listeners appreciate Copeland for the masterful rendition of this grueling work. Unlike prose, one does not just begin reading and restart at a glitch of some sort. Rather, heroic epic poetry requires study, practice, and other preparation. Many thanks to the reader for his hard work.
Outstanding
Jaufry
(5 Sterne)
"The Faerie Queene" may not be the very greatest poetic work in English, but it is right up there, and while there are even more accomplished audiobook narrators than Thomas Coleman, there aren't all that many of them. I would put him certainly in the top 3% of volunteer readers of free audiobooks that I've heard, and even among professional narrators of commercial audiobooks he might well rank in the top 30%. True, he does not "do the police in different voices," but neither does he try to overwhelm the listener with cloyingly mannered exhibitions of thespian power and versatility. Occasionally a canto does not seem to be read with his full engagement, and his insistence on making actual rhymes out of what in present-day English are merely eye-rhymes is distracting. But this is quibbling. Having expertly read many audiobooks, Copeland so far has the field of sixteenth-century romantic epic (Ariosto, Tasso, Spenser) pretty much to himself. He is a worthy champion.
An irresistible performance of Spenser's epic romance
Harumphrey
(5 Sterne)
What an endless work he had in hand, but Thomas Copeland has given us a masterful and complete audiobook that supersedes all others. The audio production values might be better at Audible or Downpour, but no one is apt to give a better oral performance of "The Faerie Queene," ever. (And, listeners, don't miss his readings of the Italian epics that influenced Spenser: "Orlando Furioso" and "Jerusalem Delivered," in the classic Elizabethan translations by Sir John Harington and Edward Fairfax.)
Epic achievement
poet-taster
(5 Sterne)
I'm only a short way into this Renaissance masterpiece, but I feel I have to say a huge thankyou to Thomas Copeland for the incredible feat of recording this work in its entirety. His immense stamina and of course his wide knowledge of the literature of this period are quite staggering.
Superlative!
Runcible
(5 Sterne)
I must add my appreciation for this terrific recording. The reader is outstanding and the Faerie Queen is difficult to read because of its old style spellings and word syntax. Thomas Copeland captures the nuances and the meaning behind the words. Simply great!
Such eloquence!
Library Freak
(5 Sterne)
Love Thomas A. Copeland's reading!
AMAZING!
(5 Sterne)
Thomas Copeland is a goddamn saint.