The Case of Charles Dexter Ward

De: H. P. Lovecraft

Narrado por: Felbrigg Napoleon Herriot

FNH Audio presents a complete and unabridged audio book of H.P. Lovecraft’s novel "The case of Charles Dexter Ward". Charles is a young man, a young man with a passion, a driving passion, a love of the past. What starts as the curious interest of a young boy, growths up with the youth to become the obsession of the man.

His friends turn their back on him, he becomes reclusive. His few new friends are dark and mysterious, ominous even. And then... Charles starts to change. Follow the exploits of Charles' family as they try to discover the truth about what is happening to their beloved son. Feel their dread and despair as they aided by the family doctor, discover the horrifying truth.

©2011 FNH (P)2011 FNH

Well Done Performance for a Rather Tough Read.

Good story! Lovecraft does, indeed have a very antiquated style writing, even for his own age. Interesting nonetheless. The "Case of Charles Dexter Ward" is a fun story and well worth the effort! Enjoy! I have gotten to rather enjoy hear this narrator, Herriot, for most of the Lovecraft stories I listen to. He has a well-suited voice for theses stories!

Classic Novel, Horrible Reader

Would you try another book from H. P. Lovecraft and/or Felbrigg Napoleon Herriot?

From Lovecraft? Absolutely. I am a long-time fan. Read by Herriot? Absolutely not.

What did you like best about this story?

This is one of Lovecraft's strongest novels, with a mounting sense of dread and perpetual mystery that builds to a masterful climax.

Would you be willing to try another one of Felbrigg Napoleon Herriot’s performances?

No. I have listened to two of his performances ("The Case of..." and "At the Mountains of Madness") and the man CONSTANTLY mispronounces words (palimpsest, paroxysm, alembic, Adirondacks, Metatron, and many, many more) and then continues to mangle them throughout the reading. What is more, while his voice is not unpleasant, there is no variation in his tone and no emotion. All characters sound the same, and he sounds like he is simply reading the text without being aware of what is being read. It was alternately infuriating and tedious.

Did The Case of Charles Dexter Ward inspire you to do anything?

As a boy, it inspired me to study antiquities and ancient religious and magical practices in my professional life.

Any additional comments?

Lovecraft forever! Herriot never!

My favorite story by HPL

Fantastic reading of a great novella. The New England accent really brought the reading of this story up a notch.

Great Story Hobbled by Narration

Where does The Case of Charles Dexter Ward rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Frankly, this is not so good as most other Lovecraft offerings.

What other book might you compare The Case of Charles Dexter Ward to and why?

It is fair to compare this with the other works of Lovecraft. As a story, and in the overall context of Lovecraft, this is worthy of attention.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

I found the narration throughout more distracting than compelling. Initially, I was surprised to hear a British reader taking on a quintessentially American story. After that, however, I was more surprised at the number of mispronounced words and awkward phrasing. By about the halfway point, I found myself listening for more errors. Definitely not the listening experience I was hoping for.

Any additional comments?

Get the ones read by Wayne June. Terrific narrator.

Dry Scientific Horror

If you could sum up The Case of Charles Dexter Ward in three words, what would they be?

Dry Scientific Horror.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I don't thing there's a favorite character as its written in more of a case study style.

What does Felbrigg Napoleon Herriot bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I Love the Narration of this one. But be warned that he delivers it in a very dry style. It makes me think of a english doctor trying to not get emotional about a case that was strange and personal. He underacts it but to me at least it comes of as dry but not boring it seems more the style that HP wrote it in.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

This is one of the few books I return to again and again when I'm looking for something else to read. This book really doesn't provoke any type of extreme reaction its not really meant to.

Any additional comments?

There are some other comments on how dry this book is and boring it gets. But I think its charm. Its a tale of the strange that the requires a bit of background knowledge in the mythology that is slightly hidden in the margins. Like many of Lovecrafts stories it tries to take it self seriously and at first the narrator doesn't want to believe that odd things are happening and finds mental safety in trying to be detached and scientific. But slowly things become irrefutably unexplainable and the protagonist must ether except and work with the new rules of the strange world or go mad and let evil in the world run unchecked.