Idylls of the King

This is wonderful poetry--descriptive, evocative and moving. The language is spell-binding. I would find myself leaving the car and thinking about the day to come in the language of Arthur and his knights.

The story is also compelling. It is a tragic and doomed tale, yet it is also noble in the characters' aspirations, efforts and, perhaps most surprisingly, self-perceptions.

Narration is the key to poetry, and Griffin's reading is absolutely superb.

There is also a fine scholarly introduction to the work, which includes an Edison recording of Tennyson himself reciting "The Charge of the Light Brigade". Not to be missed.

I have read Idylls of the King, Tennyson's masterwork, and listened to some artists sing portions of it (Lorena McKennit - Lady of Shalot). Truly, the way to get the best experience of Tennyson's sweeping blank verse is to listen to it. Tune out the world, relax, and be swept away by the elegant language. 12 hours is a long time to isolate oneself from the outside world, but there are breaks, segues from one section to the next. One can take a snack break, handle e-mail and phone calls that came in while the ringer was off and other trivial details. Then put on the earphones and depart the mundane for the glorious. I highly recommend this for someone taking a long road trip. Be careful not to get so involved that you forget to pick up the kids for soccer practice. Idylls 1 & 2 is a wonderful production of a work that is neglected in print because it is too long to teach in an average English class. The Audble.com recording makes it truly accessible to eveyone. What a wonderful experience.

First of all, the longish introduction to the Idylls and the career of Tennyson was very interesting and added quite a bit to my appreciation of the poem itself. The narrator really brought out the beauty and drama of the writing, which is thrilling, strange, nuanced and incredibly sad. It gets ever darker and more tragic as it progresses, while bringing out the epic spiritual and human themes more and more vividly. Also vivid, ecstatic imagery is suggested in every line. I'm downloading in enhanced format to listen again.

The narrating style of Charlton Griffin is perfect for this most famous work by Tennyson. He reads with tasteful flair. I especially enjoyed "Merlin and Vivien."

It's a real bonus to have the complete Idylls of the King in audio format, but this issue has one major problem - it is poorly read - badly enough for me to consign it to the trash.

It sounds as if Charlton Griffin is trying to assume a British accent, and it doesn't really work.Then the actual reading of the music of poetry is terribly flat and dull - it reminded me of those flat, dull readings of the Bible that one sometimes comes across, where the reader seems to be going through the motions, or is practicing to be an auctioneer.

The whole thing is exmplified by a classic mistake. This is an English poem. Charlton Griin (tries) to read it as if he is an Englishman. But he pronounces Idyll - in the title of the poem - not in the English fashion - 'id - yl' - but in the American fashion - 'idle'.

This is great, musical poetry, and a great story. You would never know it from this reading.