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Gaudy Night

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Gaudy Night

By: Dorothy L Sayers
Narrated by: Jane McDowell
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Summary

 Harriet Vane has never dared to return to her old Oxford college.
Now, despite her scandalous life, she has been summoned back . . .

At first she thinks her worst fears have been fulfilled, as she encounters
obscene graffiti, poison pen letters and a disgusting effigy when she
arrives at sedate Shrewsbury College for the 'Gaudy' celebrations.

But soon, Harriet realises that she is not the only target of this murderous
malice - and asks Lord Peter Wimsey to help.

'I admire her novels ... she has great fertility of invention, ingenuity and a
wonderful eye for detail' P. D. James

(P)2015 Hodder & Stoughton©1935 The Trustees of Anthony Fleming Crime Fiction Mystery Traditional Detectives
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Strong Poison By: Dorothy L Sayers
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Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I enjoy this book very much so the time wasn't wasted but the narrator let the story down.

What did you like best about this story?

The story line itself.

What didn’t you like about Jane McDowell’s performance?

There were a couple of shocking mispronunciations that irritated me more than somewhat and made nonsense of what was being said. English lends itself to this but context usually makes it clear. In this case 'row' and 'bow' both caused confusion to the narrator but it was clear from the context which pronunciation was required. I found the word 'mischievous' being mispronounced 'mischeevious' most annoying.Sayers' use of language in Gaudy Night is quite complex and is a demanding read. Perhaps due to this the narrator lost her way at times.. For me, she simply didn't manage to capture the 'feel' of the book at all. On the other hand her French was good.

Could you see Gaudy Night being made into a movie or a TV series? Who would the stars be?

There was a TV series made some years back that was very good. Harriet Walters played Harriet Vane very well.

Any additional comments?

I see that Jane McDowell has recorded a lot of the Wimsey stories. I won't be buying any more. I have a couple narrated by Ian Carmichael and Edward Petherbridge, which were excellent.

Change the narrator.

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I love this book but almost didn't finish it because of the narration. I would almost say that the narrator doesn't understand much of what she is reading, as she continually stresses less important words in sentences; and mispronunciations abound. And she narrates all the Wimsey/Vane books! Does no-one at the publishers listen to the books before releasing them?

My favourite Dorothy spoilt by narration

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This is a wonderful book and oh how I LONG for a good audiobook version. Juliet Stevenson would be wonderful. Jane McDowell’s agonisingly flat and humourless readings of the Sayers and the Elly Griffiths books are infuriating. (I feel bad criticising McDowell, but why don’t producers bother reading feedback on their readers?) Brilliant book, inferior reading, but better than no reading.

Wonderful book - wrong reader

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Any additional comments?

I'm surprised to realise this was the first Dorothy L Sayers I have ever read. The story was both gloriously golden age, but also surprisingly relevant today in regard to men and women's relationships, right versus kindness, women's education. Not a book where there's a new corpse every couple of chapters and so much better for developing at a thought provoking pace.I want to hear more, but concur with other reviewers that sadly the narrator let the author down.

Classic golden age of crime literature

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competent narration spoiled by irritating pronunciation howlers, such as "a bough at a ventiure"!
Why?

Good story with some Careless pronunciation errors

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