Orley Farm
Anthony Trollope
Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024)
Orley Farm is Trollope at his best (as good as the Barsetshire series), which means some of the best characterizations in the English language. Trollope's people are real; the beleaguered Lady Mason, charged with forging a will; the aged lover Sir Peregrine Orme; Madeleine Stavely, deeply but practically in love; the shallow, fickle Sophia Furnival and others are 3-dimensional figures that live and breathe. His satire of the so-called "justice" system is the best kind of satire: he just describes the court proceedings as they really are. The result is as up-to-date as today's newspaper. (Introduction by Leonard Wilson) (32 hr 48 min)
Chapitres
| 01 - THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE GREAT ORLEY FARM CASE | 30:18 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 02 - LADY MASON AND HER SON | 35:56 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 03 - THE CLEEVE | 20:49 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 04 - THE PERILS OF YOUTH | 18:50 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 05 - SIR PEREGRINE MAKES A SECOND PROMISE | 16:59 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 06 - THE COMMERCIAL ROOM, BULL INN, LEEDS | 33:09 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 07 - THE MASONS OF GROBY PARK | 33:11 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 08 - MRS. MASON'S HOT LUNCHEON | 15:03 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 09 - A CONVIVIAL MEETING | 27:23 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 10 - MR., MRS., AND MISS FURNIVAL | 23:04 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 11 - MRS. FURNIVAL AT HOME | 25:37 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 12 - MR. FURNIVAL'S CHAMBERS | 24:26 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 13 - GUILTY, OR NOT GUILTY | 25:13 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 14 - DINNER AT THE CLEEVE | 24:52 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 15 - A MORNING CALL AT MOUNT PLEASANT VILLA | 23:04 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 16 - MR. DOCKWRATH IN BEDFORD ROW | 23:25 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 17 - VON BAUHR | 24:09 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 18 - THE ENGLISH VON BAUHR | 18:08 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 19 - THE STAVELY FAMILY | 32:46 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 20 - MR. DOCKWRATH IN HIS OWN OFFICE | 19:50 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 21 - CHRISTMAS IN HARLEY STREET | 25:19 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 22 - CHRISTMAS AT NONINGSBY | 32:50 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 23 - CHRISTMAS AT GROBY PARK | 18:46 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 24 - CHRISTMAS IN GREAT ST. HELENS | 19:28 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 25 - MR. FURNIVAL AGAIN AT HIS CHAMBERS | 25:11 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 26 - WHY SHOULD I NOT? | 28:39 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 27 - COMMERCE | 18:53 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 28 - MONKTON GRANGE | 25:37 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 29 - BREAKING COVERT | 22:22 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 30 - ANOTHER FALL | 24:38 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 31 - FOOTSTEPS IN THE CORRIDOR | 17:35 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 32 - WHAT BRIDGET BOLSTER HAD TO SAY | 31:01 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 33 - THE ANGEL OF LIGHT | 25:05 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 34 - MR. FURNIVAL LOOKS FOR ASSISTANCE | 18:36 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 35 - LOVE WAS STILL THE LORD OF ALL | 33:49 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 36 - WHAT THE YOUNG MEN THOUGHT ABOUT IT | 21:37 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 37 - PEREGRINE'S ELOQUENCE | 22:29 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 38 - OH, INDEED! | 19:29 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 39 - WHY SHOULD HE GO? | 37:42 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 40 - I CALL IT AWFUL | 18:41 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 41 - HOW CAN I SAVE HIM? | 26:12 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 42 - JOHN KENNEBY GOES TO HAMWORTH | 20:30 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 43 - JOHN KENNEBY'S COURTSHIP | 20:23 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 44 - SHOWING HOW LADY MASON COULD BE VERY NOBLE | 31:45 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 45 - SHOWING HOW MRS. ORME COULD BE VERY WEAK MINDED | 29:46 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 46 - A WOMAN'S IDEA OF FRIENDSHIP | 19:26 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 47 - THE GEM OF THE FOUR FAMILIES | 20:25 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 48 - THE ANGEL OF LIGHT UNDER A CLOUD | 28:10 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 49 - MRS. FURNIVAL CAN'T PUT UP WITH IT | 24:04 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 50 - IT IS QUITE IMPOSSIBLE | 34:33 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 51 - MRS. FURNIVAL'S JOURNEY TO HAMWORTH | 21:12 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 52 - SHOWING HOW THINGS WENT ON AT NONINGSBY | 20:25 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 53 - LADY MASON RETURNS HOME | 29:42 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 54 - TELLING ALL THAT HAPPENED BENEATH THE LAMP-POST | 23:24 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 55 - WHAT TOOK PLACE IN HARLEY STREET | 22:00 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 56 - HOW SIR PEREGRINE DID BUSINESS WITH MR. ROUND | 22:16 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 57 - THE LOVES AND HOPES OF ALBERT FITZALLEN | 22:18 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 58 - MISS STAVELEY DECLINES TO EAT MINCED VEAL | 30:14 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 59 - NO SURRENDER | 21:52 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 60 - WHAT REBEKAH DID FOR HER SON | 24:20 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 61 - THE STATE OF PUBLIC OPINION | 23:37 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 62 - WHAT THE FOUR LAWYERS THOUGHT ABOUT IT | 21:47 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 63 - THE EVENING BEFORE THE TRIAL | 28:58 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 64 - THE FIRST JOURNEY TO ALSTON | 23:54 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 65 - FELIX GRAHAM RETURNS TO NONINGSBY | 28:31 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 66 - SHOWING HOW MISS FURNIVAL TREATED HER LOVERS | 22:56 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 67 - MR. MOULDER BACKS HIS OPINION | 17:52 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 68 - THE FIRST DAY OF THE TRIAL | 27:10 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 69 - THE TWO JUDGES | 19:36 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 70 - HOW AM I TO BEAR IT? | 26:32 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 71 - SHOWING HOW JOHN KENNEBY AND BRIDGET BOLSTER BORE THEMSELVES IN COURT | 30:18 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 72 - MR. FURNIVAL'S SPEECH | 22:13 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 73 - MRS. ORME TELLS THE STORY | 28:13 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 74 - YOUNG LOCHINVAR | 20:21 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 75 - THE LAST DAY | 27:48 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 76 - I LOVE HER STILL | 23:31 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 77 - JOHN KENNEBY'S DOOM | 20:22 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 78 - THE LAST OF THE LAWYERS | 27:50 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 79 - FAREWELL | 29:40 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
| 80 - SHOWING HOW AFFAIRS SETTLED THEMSELVES AT NONINGSBY | 20:10 | Lu par Leonard Wilson (1930-2024) |
Critiques
One of his best works. Persevere through the slow scene setting.
Tone
Trollope is known for slow starts and in-depth character heavy analysis. This one in particular takes a lot of early chapters setting the scene with very detailed analysis of the history of the plot, the psychoanalysis and countenance of every character. Eventually it settles in around chapter 9. Then it becomes a fascinating legal novel of the machinations of the civil law, the skullduggery of the greedy grifting lawyers and the games played by opportunists in probate, inheritance and property law. I enjoyed it more than any of his other novels and the heavy praise from other top novelists is well deserved: The work has received high adulation from Virginia Woolf, George Eliot, Dickens, George Orwell as well as senior judges and law school professors both in Britain and in the USA, who have tagged it as one of the best Legal novels of all time and it is included on many Law school reading lists. If you enjoyed the Parliamentary novels of the Palliiser set, you will feast on this.
Trollope puts his characters through the wringer
Margaret87
Trollope takes us through the horrible situation a mother's obsession can put everyone. He presents the crime as altruism, but I see it as selfish, despite her subsequent sweetness and light and beauty. He also manipulates us regarding Mr Dockwrath's comeuppance but after all, for all his faults, as far as the case is concerned the lawyer did identify the fatal flaw. As for characters Trollope likes better, Trollope disarms me when he tells me how I should forgive this and that, asking who among us has no blemishes. However, despite these quibbles, I enjoyed every minute of this long story. Wonderful reading by Leonard Wilson. He has a very agreeable tone of voice and reads at a pace that allows the listener to hear, take in and understand what's happening. (I can't cope with being rushed off to the next point without pause.) Thank you all once again.
Oh Sweet GUILT!?
Vancouver Ken
I was so sorry that Lady Mason didn’t get away with her crime and enjoy the proceeds of it living out a long life of Victorian upper class respectability, wealth, peace and quiet. But it was not to be so! “Crime” could not pay emotionally! Punishment must follow! Lady M was so unrelentingly miserable and capital G - guilty that Indeed I wonder if Trollope was actually satirizing the late 19th C British view of Christian Guilt , Punishment and Repentance. Lady M shed so many tears of remorse and repentance that salty water was dripping out of my earphones! Excellently read and recorded. I discovered Anthony Trollope this year and have listened to about 25 titles. He is so great a psychological writer that his indecisive or over decisive characters completely capture this reader and I think millions of others.
THIS DID NOT MAKE THE FAME OF TROLLOPE
AVID READER
His books are always slow, but this one is the slowest. It finally gains momentum around chapter 60. Thankfully the reader is one of the best, else I might have given up. One reader's comment deploring the lawyers of the England at that time rings hollow. Our group of ambulance chasers put them to shame.
I couldn't stop listening
Ada Ebbis
I loved this book! The story was engaging chapter after chapter and amazingly well written. I didn't want it to end.
Good book, excellent narrator
Helen Simpson
I really enjoyed listening to this book. Trollope at his best with the story, and the narrator was excellent.
Lady Mason’s past sin
Grace Mark
A somewhat drawn out tale of a widowed mother & the consequences of her love for her son + her ambition that he should never go through the poverty of her early life. It is well written & follows Trollope’s descriptions of the Upper & Lower classes of society in his era.
great reader, repetitive story w few surpises
A LibriVox Listener
Leonard Wilson is one of the few American readers who does great British accents. story a bit meh; everything turns out as expected except one major plot twist.