Hard Times (version 2 dramatic reading)

Charles Dickens (1812 - 1870)

Charles Dickens' 1854 novel opens with the philosophy of education espoused by the eminently practical Mr. Gradgrind, who prizes "facts and calculations." He raises his children, most prominently Louisa and Tom, to eschew imagination and emotion and embrace order and reason. The results are disastrous: Louisa marries out of duty to the supposed self-made man Mr. Bounderby, while Tom grows up dissolute, ultimately commits theft and blames it on an unfortunate laborer, Stephen Blackpool. Set in the fictional Coketown, a mill town in the north of England, Dickens' novel satirizes capitalism, social mobility, class stratification, and Utilitarianism. This dramatic reading of the novel features a full cast of LibriVox volunteers, who lend their voices to Dickens' vibrant comic characters. (Summary by Elizabeth Klett)

Cast
Narrator: Bob Neufeld
Mr. Gradgrind: Marty Kris
Sissy Jupe: J L Raimundo
Bitzer: mb
Gentleman: Tom Crawford
Louisa Gradgrind: Arielle Lipshaw
Mr. Bounderby: Andy Minter
Mrs. Gradgrind: Beth Thomas
Tom Gradgrind: Max Korlinge
Mr. E. W. B. Childers: David Lawrence
Master Kidderminster: Elizabeth Klett
Mr. Sleary: Ron Altman
Mrs. Sparsit: Elizabeth Klett
Stephen Blackpool: Nigel Boydell
Rachael: Karen Savage
Mrs. Blackpool: Bev J. Stevens
Mrs. Pegler: Sally McConnell
James Harthouse: Algy Pug
Slackbridge: John Steigerwald
Voice 1: sylly
Voice 2: J L Raimundo
Jane Gradgrind: Goldfish
Waiter: Nigel Boydell
Man: Algy Pug
Clown: Bev J. Stevens

Text prepared by Arielle Lipshaw and Elizabeth Klett
Audio edited by Elizabeth Klett

Genre(s): Dramatic Readings, General Fiction

Language: English

Section Chapter Reader Time
Play 01 Book 1, Chapter 01, The One Thing Needful Group 00:04:36
Play 02 Book 1, Chapter 02, Murdering the Innocents 00:15:12
Play 03 Book 1, Chapter 03, A Loophole 00:13:07
Play 04 Book 1, Chapter 04, Mr. Bounderby 00:18:11
Play 05 Book 1, Chapter 05, The Keynote 00:14:36
Play 06 Book 1, Chapter 06, Sleary's Horsemanship 00:33:01
Play 07 Book 1, Chapter 07, Mrs. Sparsit 00:16:52
Play 08 Book 1, Chapter 08, Never Wonder 00:13:38
Play 09 Book 1, Chapter 09, Sissy's Progress 00:16:57
Play 10 Book 1, Chapter 10, Stephen Blackpool 00:13:52
Play 11 Book 1, Chapter 11, No Way Out 00:17:50
Play 12 Book 1, Chapter 12, The Old Woman 00:13:31
Play 13 Book 1, Chapter 13, Rachael 00:20:07
Play 14 Book 1, Chapter 14, The Great Manufacturer 00:12:35
Play 15 Book 1, Chapter 15, Father and Daughter 00:19:45
Play 16 Book 1, Chapter 16, Husband and Wife 00:15:04
Play 17 Book 2, Chapter 01, Effects in the Bank 00:34:15
Play 18 Book 2, Chapter 02, Mr. James Harthouse 00:21:23
Play 19 Book 2, Chapter 03, The Whelp 00:12:40
Play 20 Book 2, Chapter 04, Men and Brothers 00:21:11
Play 21 Book 2, Chapter 05, Men and Masters 00:16:31
Play 22 Book 2, Chapter 06, Fading Away 00:30:46
Play 23 Book 2, Chapter 07, Gunpowder 00:31:01
Play 24 Book 2, Chapter 08, Explosion 00:32:25
Play 25 Book 2, Chapter 09, Hearing the Last of It 00:21:23
Play 26 Book 2, Chapter 10, Mrs. Sparsit's Staircase 00:11:44
Play 27 Book 2, Chapter 11, Lower and Lower 00:23:01
Play 28 Book 2, Chapter 12, Down 00:10:41
Play 29 Book 3, Chapter 01, Another Thing Needful 00:15:42
Play 30 Book 3, Chapter 02, Very Ridiculous 00:22:38
Play 31 Book 3, Chapter 03, Very Decided 00:21:54
Play 32 Book 3, Chapter 04, Lost 00:24:34
Play 33 Book 3, Chapter 05, Found 00:23:21
Play 34 Book 3, Chapter 06, The Starlight 00:26:33
Play 35 Book 3, Chapter 07, Whelp-Hunting 00:29:39
Play 36 Book 3, Chapter 08, Philosophical 00:16:58
Play 37 Book 3, Chapter 09, Final 00:13:29