Far From the Madding Crowd

By: Thomas Hardy

Narrated by: Julie Christie

Penguin Classics presents Thomas Hardy's Far From the Madding Crowd, adapted for audio and now available as a digital download as part of the Penguin English Library series. Read by the actress Julie Christie.

Hardy's powerful novel of swift sexual passion and slow-burning loyalty centres on Bathsheba Everdene, a proud working woman whose life is complicated by three different men - respectable farmer Boldwood, seductive Sergeant Troy and devoted Gabriel - making her the object of scandal and betrayal.

Vividly portraying the superstitions and traditions of a small rural community, Far from the Madding Crowd shows the precarious position of a woman in a man's world.

Part of a series of vintage recordings taken from the Penguin Archives. Affordable, collectable, quality productions - perfect for on-the-go listening.

Great performance by Julie Christy.

She is definitely more than a pretty face from the sixties. I had no idea of Julie Christie's talents as an Audible actress. The story is fairly predictable. I usually find English novels of the Thomas Hardy period too slow to hold my attention. However, this performance is well worth the listening.

Bathsheba character ahead of her time.

I thought the narrator was perfect for this book and I really enjoyed the character's transformation through out the novel- Bathsheba Everdeen

Lovely, Romantic Story

I really enjoyed this book. While Bathsheba is not the most sympathetic protagonist in the world, her growth as a character is strong. What I really loved was the steadfast love of Gabriel Oak for her. He is a character worth falling in love with.

The narration by Julie Christie is hypnotic and effective.

It's an excellent story, told extremely well. (I do wish, however, that it was unabridged!)

This is NOT the whole book!

What would have made Far From the Madding Crowd better?

I am sad that I wasted money on this because this is NOT the whole book! I was following along with penguin edition and they would skip paragraphs just to make it shorter. You really miss a lot of the story. I loved Julie Christies voice thou!

What about Julie Christie’s performance did you like?

I loved Julie Christies voice performance!