Robert Elsmere
Gelesen von Simon Evers
Mary Augusta Ward
(4 Sterne; 9 Bewertungen)
Essentially the book covers the life of Robert Elsmere, a boyishly intellectual clergyman. The first part covers his meeting with and eventual marriage to Catherine Leyburn. After a period as a country vicar, Robert’s meetings with the local squire, an intellectual atheist, lead to his having a crisis of faith. The pair move to London where Robert works with the poor and uneducated. The lives of the people closely associated with the pair are also covered.
The book is set against the late Victorian world and its reactions to Darwinism, Unitarianism and the rise of secularism and modernism. At the time, it was a runaway best seller and its attack on orthodox Christianity was fiercely debated by all, including Gladstone. - Summary by Simon Evers (28 hr 38 min)
Chapters
Bewertungen
Preachy, Tedious, and Shallow
Scott in Sandy Eggo
(3 Sterne)
Mary Augusta Ward may have believed this novel to be an exploration of modernism, and it probably was for its day. However her continuing theme of dumb and temperamental women tangling up the lives of brilliant men is just too much to take in such heavy doses as in this epically slow story. As a dive into the science of the day that provoked the attentions that then led people of thought to question religion as a whole, there is relatively none of the even basic explanations (such as simple Evolution or Astronomy) that could have made this an interesting novel. However, this was just one painstaking reiteration of a simple upgrade to Jesus 2.0. Perhaps others will find merit in this over long, shallow drama, that eluded this reviewer. Simon Evers did a magnificent job with his reading, but just perhaps, maybe two or three better works could have been brought into the Librivox catalog with a similar effort instead. Nonetheless, sincere thanks Mr. Evers, your dedication to your art and craft are always greatly appreciated.
sorry
Kim B
(3,5 Sterne)
I thought it was a good story on the whole, but very unbalanced. Ward took on an extremely contraversal subject but gave only one person's side of it. She cast Katherine as narrow-minded and wrong but didn't do her the justice of stating the solid reasons for her beliefs. Instead she describes them, through Robert, as mere traditions. Sure, Robert did a lot of good, but to Katherine, Doing wasn't the point: it's belief. Further, although true to the time, it was the man who knew and the woman who had to realize it. So typical. In all I found the story sad. I found that I couldn't separate my own beliefs from this fiction and just enjoy the plot. Maybe others can and will enjoy it better than me.