I've finished listening to the BBC Radio Little Dorrit dramatization, and I'm sorry to say I didn't think it as good as their Tale of Two Cities. For one thing, there's too little of it. There's no Tattycoram or Miss Wade, no Cavalletto or Mrs. Plornish, no Mrs. Gowan, no Mrs. General, and -- oh, travesty! -- no Mr. F's Aunt. Affery, Mr. Meagles, Pet, Gowan, and Mr. Casby have their parts slashed to the bone. Even Blandois has only four scenes, all of which are at Mrs. Clennam's house. I can see how the adapter might need to pare down the book for a radio drama, but the stripping out of so many characters and subplots, and the simplifying of others (e.g., Blandois simply strolls into Mrs. Clennam's house and steals the box he wants), result in a rather colorless production on the whole.
The characters who are there manage to hold things together fairly well. Jasmine Hyde does fine as Amy, and Julian Wadham is an adequate Arthur for the most part, though he's entirely too chipper towards the end. His voice never convinced me that he was a sick and broken man. Ian McKellen, as you might expect, makes an excellent narrator. Most of the cast is quite competent, but there aren't any other real standouts. This Little Dorrit isn't a bad way to while away a few car trips, but I didn't find it nearly as enjoyable as the miniseries.
I just listened to that last week on a drive from Missouri to Montana. Ian McKellan was indeed excellent.
If you want a good BBC Dickens audiodrama, try "Our Mutual Friend." Really excellent.
Posted by: Christy | October 12, 2009 at 12:03 AM
I thought there was supposed to be one for David Copperfield but now I can't find it. Does anyone know if there's a BBC audiodrama for that? O_o
Posted by: Nibs | October 12, 2009 at 12:27 PM
Also Gina, speaking of Little Dorrit, have you ever read the book "Tattycoram"? I just heard of it the other day - apparently it's a fictional account of a real Tattycoram Dickens knew and based the character on - and I was wondering if you knew about it. :)
Posted by: Nibs | October 12, 2009 at 02:21 PM
I haven't, but I should look for it!
In "Charles Dickens and the House of Fallen Women," which I'll be reviewing in the next few days, there's a mention of the woman who might have been the real Tattycoram. There's even a picture of her, looking very prim and formal and un-Tattycoram-like!
Posted by: Gina | October 12, 2009 at 05:15 PM
I would suggest the best way to listen to any book such as Charles Dickens, Jane Austen etc is to download unabridged versions of the audio books from such programmes as iTunes and listen to them in leisure on MP3 players. I am currently listening to the unabridged version of Little Dorrit and even compared to the excellent Andrew Davies miniseries it is brilliant and there was quite a lot left out of the miniseries which I understand has to happen.
Posted by: Zillerbeth | October 13, 2009 at 08:37 AM
Just for clarity's sake, the BBC Radio version I was listening to was a dramatized version -- a radio play with actors -- not an abridgment of the book. Believe me, I loathe abridgments. :-)
Posted by: Gina | October 13, 2009 at 09:15 AM
And if you want to listen to free audiobooks, go to Librivox.org! Lots of Dickens there!
Posted by: ibmiller | October 13, 2009 at 11:14 PM