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The Life of Samuel Johnson

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The Life of Samuel Johnson

By: James Boswell
Narrated by: David Timson
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About this listen

Charming, vibrant, witty and edifying, The Life of Samuel Johnson is a work of great obsession and boundless reverence. The literary critic Samuel Johnson was 54 when he first encountered Boswell; the friendship that developed spawned one of the greatest biographies in the history of world literature.

The book is full of humorous anecdote and rich characterization, and paints a vivid picture of 18th-century London, peopled by prominent personalities of the time such as Sir Joshua Reynolds, John Wilkes, Oliver Goldsmith and David Garrick, while also giving a compelling insight into Johnson's complex humanity - his depression, fear of death, intellectual brilliance and rough humor.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

Public Domain (P)2017 Naxos AudioBooks Art & Literature Authors Europe European Great Britain Literary History & Criticism World Literature Celebrity England Comedy Witty Thought-Provoking Middle Ages United Kingdom Biography
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A truly gifted narrator, who understands, sympathises, changes tone, mood and accent and offers an array of characters.
Johnson himself is a unique subject. Brilliant, irascible, rational, prejudiced, spiritual, worldly, annoying and loveable.

Exceptional narration

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A great book, a great performance. The book never lost steam from beginning to end. At the 40hr mark I began to lament its approaching end and I could wish that Boswell had given more of his great friend. I particularly relished Boswell's frequent accounts of his friend's deep piety and feel Boswell's choice to detail more of it as the book neared its close was perhaps the most fitting tribute to a fallen son of Adam grateful to have been lifted by grace.

Words fail...

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At 51 hours this is a marathon. David Timson does a wonderful job, moving between Johnson's Lichfield-inflected voice, Boswell's Scottish, and a host of other voices, bringing to life the huge cast that peoples the Boswell/ Johnson world. His knows how to get a dramatic sense of immdiacy from Boswell's recollections. He brings to life an important era in the history of London--as does Boswell himself.

Triumphant marathon

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The performance really brought the voices to life, and made listening more enjoyable than my previous experience of reading.

Great performance

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This is not for everyone as 51 hours is a huge commitment of anyone's time but for those of us who like this sort of thing this is the sort of thing that we like, The narration is superb with Johnson being given a slight Midlands accent, Boswell with an Edinburgh accent and so on. It is difficult not to feel that you really know these men after so much time in their company. For those interested in the domestic history of the day this is fascinating for this aspect alone. We learn that Boswell could get from Edinburgh to London in 5 days or if he left London at 01.00 he could be in Lichfield for supper. The language of the day is surprisingly modern in feel being reported speech rather than dialogue from a novel. If you are prepared to put the time in this is excellent value for a credit.

Brilliant Biography!

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