Vanity Fair
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Vanity Fair
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Narrated by:
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John Castle
About this listen
Exclusively from Audible
Set during the time of the Napoleonic Wars, this classic gives a satirical picture of a worldly society. The audiobook revolves around the exploits of the impoverished but beautiful and devious Becky Sharp who craves wealth and a position in society. Calculating and determined to succeed, she charms, deceives and manipulates everyone she meets.
A story of early 19th-century English society, it takes its title from the place designated as the centre of human corruption in John Bunyan's 17th-century allegory Pilgrim's Progress.
Receiving popular and critical success on first publication, the novel is considered Thackeray's masterpiece, and this satire of society is as relevant now as when it first appeared. In 2003, Vanity Fair was listed at Number 122 on the BBC's The Big Read poll of the UK's best-loved books.
Thackeray was born in Calcutta in 1811. After his father's death, he was sent to be educated in England at five years old, while is mother remarried in India. The canings and abuses he received in private boarding schools formed a basis for some of his work as did the culture of Anglo-Indians which also featured prominently.
Narrator Biography
After training at RADA, John's professional career began in 1964 at the Regent's Park Theatre.
Film credits include Michelangelo Antonioni's Blow Up, The Lion in Winter, Man of La Mancha, King David, Antony and Cleopatra, Robocop 2 and The Sparrow. Theatre credits include Bloody Sunday (The Tricycle Theatre), Claudius in Hamlet (National Theatre), Rat in the Skull (Duke of York's Theatre), End Game (Tron Theatre, Glasgow), Shylock in The Merchant of Venice (London Shakespeare Group), Infidelities (The Boulevard Theatre), and Breaking the Code (The Comedy Theatre). Television credits include Tracate Middoth, The Fixer, Spooks, Poirot, Silent Witness, The Holocaust on Trial, Casualty, Princes in the Tower, Gods and Generals, Fight Against Slavery, Ben Hall, I, Claudius, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, and Lillie.
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What listeners say about Vanity Fair
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- knittyboot
- 27-09-19
Great fun
It reminded me of Jane Austin at her best and most humorously cynical. Odd that although you feel for the heroine you symutaniously want to punch her in nose. Enjoyed it immensely.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- MR JULIAN BENFIELD
- 24-11-21
Excellent novel, superbly told
Easy listen, John Castle has a great voice and handles the voice of the narrator expertly.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Clurr
- 25-08-19
Excellently read classic
excellently read classic dig at society and its hypocrisy. I never got round to reading this myself so it was great to have it brought alive by such a super narrator.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- A S C SEPHENS
- 20-11-16
Vanity Fair - what a good story.....a good old fashioned story of love and life.
This was a pleasure to hear .
Long books so daunting to read - but to listen to the spoken word is a joy.
Love the historical detail and language, read v.pleasingly.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- carolyn king
- 30-10-18
Nineteenth Century Masterpiece
I enjoyed every minute of this book, although I knew nothing about it but the name Becky Sharp. I was captivated by the characters and the story moved along quickly. This is expertly performed and enjoyable.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- David Bisset
- 24-11-18
A novel without heroes
John Castle narrates splendidly. He deals with the diverse characters without histrionics. The long interventions of the omniscient observer are read with immaculate clarity. Vanity Fair merits narration of this high quality.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- elizabeth murton
- 12-12-22
Epic but brilliant tale
Thank you audible for this delectable rendition of Vanity Fair . A great novel brought to life by an excellent audio , well read !!!!!!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ms. Kim J. Forster
- 22-12-22
Tremendous
John Castle captures perfectly the satirical tone of this classic novel. Becky Sharp is one of my favourite characters and she is brought to life in all her self-centred, manipulative, materialistic glory. The pompous, foolish Jos Sedley is also beautifully read. Highly recommended.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Claire
- 11-11-15
As Sharp as Becky
Where does Vanity Fair rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
It is a demanding listen and you have to apply a certain dedication to following it as it's very long and covers a lengthy time period, meaning characters and circumstances change at a pace, but I took a lot from it - and, my word, Thackeray was a clever, incisive gent! Written with a relish which resonates today as loudly as any other time, at least it did with me. 'It will make you laugh, it will make you cry', and it will make you highlight favourite passages in your physical/kindle copy!
What other book might you compare Vanity Fair to, and why?
The opening chapters have you thinking it may be another Jane Eyre, but it's nothing of the sort. I'd compare it to Austen, Dickens, even Galsworthy (well, compare Galsworthy to Thackeray, not the other way around): all the great chroniclers of humanity and all its characteristics - depicters of shrewd social climbers navigating their position in society as best they can. I love a good old fashioned saga following the fortunes of many characters over time, and this is an epic.
Which character – as performed by John Castle – was your favourite?
Well you have to love Becky and her usually dispassionate scheming, and hopeless lovesick Dobbin, the novel's moral centre - but I especially enjoyed John Castle's reading of Jos Sedley: great fun. I also liked the way he portrayed Rawdon and his maturation throughout the course of the novel. Very sad ending.
If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?
Too much is never enough...
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16 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Vicuña
- 22-11-18
Outstanding
Impeccable narration really brought this intriguing story to life. Witty, satirical, and very relevant. A masterpiece which I rate in my top 5 Audible titles ( and I have over 500).
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1 person found this helpful