Riceyman Steps

De: Arnold Bennett

Narrado por: Peter Joyce

It is 1919 shortly after the termination of the 1st European holocaust. Henry Earlforward, a middle aged North London Bookseller, courts and marries Violet Arb, a widow who has inherited the confectioners shop opposite his own premises in Riceyman Square. Henry and Violet engage the services of Elsie as ‘charwoman’. The marriage outwardly appears to be successful, although Henry has also inherited and is not an esteemed native of the district and Violet likewise - having been a nomadic traveller due to the demands of her late husband’s employment, and her entrenched belief in class differences. But Henry has a monstrous passion which transcends his love for Violet, his resolute determination for thrift. This flaw will ultimately destroy him and his wife and has resounding implications for those within his immediate circle. Elsie, also a widow, stolidly maintains her love for Joe, a mental casualty of the recent conflict, despite his inability to surmount his personal torment.

This novel established Bennett firmly on a pinnacle of literary achievement with a foothold in both the 19th and 20th centuries. It is a brilliant, clinical dissection of a troubled marriage, in troubled times and, at its centre, an irritating scratch that ‘will out’.

©2011 Assembled Stories (P)2007 Assembled Stories

Reseñas de la Crítica

About Assembled Stories: Over the years the national press have reviewed Assembled Stories titles as "excellent", "remarkable", "entrancing", "superb", "magic for sure", "masterly", "wonderful", "a class act" and "a splendid example of audio at its best".

"Peter Joyce is the most remarkable one-man band in audiobook publishing. Joyce, an experienced actor, reads them all himself." ( The Independent)

"I was entranced by Arnold Bennett's subtle 1919 study of marital checks and balances in Riceyman Steps." ( The Times)

How lovely!

a true depiction of London life in the early 20th century with all its little secrets, ups and downs.

Bennett? Joyce? Never again!

A huge Trollope fan, lover of George Elliot, admirer of Henry James, and encouraged by the plaudits above ('masterful', 'superb', 'entrancing'), I thought I'd give this Edwardian novelist a try, But I was shocked, almost from the first minute, how banal, colourless and lifeless Arnold Bennett's writing is, let alone his story which starts slow and gets slower. As for 'characterisation' (apparently, Bennett's 'big thing'), his characters are as flat as pancakes. And I'm sorry to say it, Peter Joyce's dull child-like rendition augments the worst aspects of Bennett's story telling. Worst? I can't think of one good one. I returned the audiobook after less than two hours - not being able to bear listening to another minute of it.