The Return of the Native

By: Thomas Hardy

Narrated by: Alan Rickman

Length: 15 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

Earphones Award Winner (AudioFile Magazine)

Exclusively from Audible

Set on Egdon Heath, a fictional barren moor in Wessex, Eustacia Vye longs for the excitement of city life but is cut off from the world in her grandfather's lonely cottage. Clym Yeobright who has returned to the area to become a schoolmaster seems to offer everything she dreams of: passion, excitement and the opportunity to escape. However, Clym's ambitions are quite different from hers, and marriage only increases Eustacia's destructive restlessness, drawing others into a tangled web of deceit and unhappiness.

Considered a truly modern story due to its sexual politics and hindered desires it still holds relevance to audiences today. There is a tension between the symbolic setting of the heath and the modernity of the characters that makes the listener question our freedom to shape our lives as we wish. Are we always able to live our dreams?

Like George Eliot, Hardy was a Victorian realist whose novels and poetry were greatly influenced by Romanticism, especially the poet William Wordsworth. His critical thoughts on Victorian society can be seen throughout much of his work.

Narrator Biography

Multi-award winning actor and director Alan Rickman, famous for roles such as Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films and the Sherriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), had a varied career that included performing on stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company in modern and classical theatre productions. In America, he gained recognition for his Broadway appearance in Les Liaisons Dangereuses (1985) and later his role in Die Hard (1988) made him internationally famous. Other notable performances included his 2001 return to the West End and Broadway in Noël Coward's Private Lives and Ibsen's John Gabriel Borkman in 2010. Rickman is most remembered for his roles in films such as Love Actually (2003) and Sweeney Todd (2007) as well as voicing Marvin the Paranoid Android in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005), and Absalom the Caterpillar in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland (2010).

Public Domain (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Rickman's voice is masculine and seductive; yet by altering tempo, modulating tone, he becomes Hardy's women and children, utterly compelling as he projects all ranges of emotion. His individualizing dialogue of the human-sized characters, that country chorus who form the backdrop of normality for Hardy's titanic lovers, is brilliant." ( AudioFile)

Rickman is a triumph!

An actor and true talent too early gone, yet brilliantly done! Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the book but the only reason why I gave it a four star on story is the mere fact that the women are often written as daft and silly little creatures. It reminded me of Far from the Madding Crowd and the circles so foolishly drawn by the main character. Otherwise, it was a wonderful listen!

If Only He Could Have Narrated More

I enjoyed this Hardy book more than Tess of the D'Urbervilles although it has the same style of tragedy. Certain characters are fated to suffer it seems. Not the happiest story you will ever read, but worthwhile all the same. Alan Rickman does a wonderful job and it is easy to get lost in the story while listening to him. It's a shame he was unable to narrate more.

Classic Novel Read by Classic Actor

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

My last experience with Hardy was 40 years ago -- High School literature class, so I wanted to try him again. I confess, once I saw that Alan Rickman was the narrator, I was sold. I was not disappointed, neither by Hardy's story and rich prose, nor by Rickman's dramatic reading. If you want to return to the classic literature that you read (or should have read) "back in the day", this recording is a must. Seriously, get it to hear Rickman help you fall in love with Hardy.

What about Alan Rickman’s performance did you like?

Rickman's rich voice, allows Hardy's prose to sing. He dramatizes the passions of the story and fills in the characters in such I way, I was truly sad when it was over.

Alan Rickman and Thomas Hardy perfect pairing

I read Return of the Native when I was in high school, many many years ago. I decided to listen to the Audible version when I saw Alan Rickman performed the book. I had no memory of the book but wow, what a story. Excellent narration. I read other books by Thomas Hardy but I think this is my favorite.

sublime

Hardy as he was meant to be read. Alan Rickman reading Hardy is the perfect match of author and narrator.

Alan Rickman Reads Thomas Hardy, Exquisitely

I'm not much of a Hardy fan (there are a few depressing titles in his bibliography) but Alan Rickman's commanding and exquisite voice makes this audiobook a most enjoyable listening experience. Rickman narrates and performs each male and female character uniquely and distinctly with conviction, passion and sincerity. I greatly wish he had read and recorded other classics of literature. Listening to his reading is like laying back and enjoying a heart-shaped box of chocolates. I love this particular production so much I also own it on cassette and listen on my boombox as I unwind during the evening. If you're an Alan Rickman fan, do NOT hesitate to purchase this title. And if you've already read the Thomas Hardy book, this audio performance will greatly enhance the linguistic beauty of the text.

Beautiful prose superbly narrated

Harry’s exquisite literary skills are rendered perfectly by Alan Rickman’s flawless narration. The story is somewhat plodding but an enjoyable listen nonetheless.

Good Book, Alan Rickman was great!

Interesting classic book by Thomas Hardy. I really enjoyed hearing Alan Rickman narrate this book.

Stunning

Beautifully written and utter perfection in narration. Alan Rickman gives a stunning performance. Absolute favorite.

Dark and beautiful

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Fro the writing, and the incredible narration by Alan Rickman.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Diggory Venn, of course, because he takes things to heart in an honest way, works things out in his mind, and persists in his beliefs and his love.

What does Alan Rickman bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He can drip with irony, and this is a book where such ironic depth brings out the author's intent.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

A fire that kindles hotly burns out quickly.

Any additional comments?

Egdon Heath is a full character in The Return of the Native, which is a dark and brooding book. From page one, Hardy draws us in: "A Saturday afternoon in November was approaching the time of twilight, and the vast tract of unenclosed wild known as Edgon Heath embrowned itself moment by moment. Overhead the hollow stretch of whitish cloud shutting out the sky was as a tent which had the whole heath for its floor.The heaven being spread with this pallid screen and the earth with the darkest vegetation, their meeting-line at the horizon was clearly marked. In such contrast the heath wore the appearance of an installment of night which had taken up its place before its astronomical hour was come: darkness had to a great extent arrived hereon, while day stood distinct in the sky….The somber stretch of rounds and hollows seemed to rise and meet the evening gloom in pure sympathy, the heath exhaling darkness as rapidly as the heavens precipitated it. And so the obscurity in the air and the obscurity in the land closed together in a black fraternization towards which each advanced half-way."Just wait till you hear Alan Rickman read that.