Winter Words

Thomas Hardy ceased novelizing, disgusted at the critical reaction to his masterpieces of Midland gloom. He continued, however, to compose verse well into the twentieth century. In this recording, examples of his poetry from early to late are interspersed with brief notes and quotes from his prose writing that put the selections in context. Bruce Alexander and Janet Maw take turns interpreting the works. They read expressively, with particular attention to mood. However, the British tend to treat their classics like museum pieces. With this author that approach gives the production an air of stuffy, funereal oration. However overcast Hardy's skies may have been, he was never a stuffed shirt. Y.R. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine