Hard Times cover art

Hard Times

 Preview

Audible Standard 30-day free trial

Try Standard free
Select 1 audiobook a month from our entire collection.
Listen to your selected audiobooks as long as you're a member.
Get unlimited access to bingeable podcasts.
Standard auto renews for £5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Hard Times

By: Charles Dickens
Narrated by: Patrick Tull
Try Standard free

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £15.22

Buy Now for £15.22

About this listen

 In the spare, no-nonsense Gradgrind household, Tom and Louisa are raised according to their father's unyielding guiding philosophy: facts - nothing but facts. But while a ban on imagination is mere policy for the Gradgrind children, lack of whimsy is a necessary survival skill in Coketown, the grimy and grim working-class burg devoted to nothing but the relentless advance of industry...©1987 Recorded Books, Inc. Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction

Editor reviews

As the title suggests, the characters do not have much room for leisure and horseplay in this audiobook from Charles Dickens. Hard Times, performed with a biting musicality by veteran narrator Patrick Tull, is one of Dickens's later works and is a serious examination on the effects of the Industrial Revolution. The story begins with the no-nonsense Gradgrind household, where Mr. Gradgrind instills his strict teachings of facts and only facts. As the story progresses, the classic humor of Dickens seeps in, and Mr. Gradgrind receives some education himself. Whether it's the artful prose or the social commentary, there's plenty to enjoy as Patrick Tull takes listeners through this classic from Charles Dickens.
All stars
Most relevant
Although the narration is great, Patrick Tull is fabulous to listen to, the sound quality is terrible. It's like listening through custard!

Hard Times

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.