The Egoist


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(2.9 stars; 10 reviews)

The Egoist is a tragi-comical novel by George Meredith published in 1879. The novel recounts the story of self-absorbed Sir Willoughby Patterne and his attempts at marriage; jilted by his first bride-to-be, he vacillates between the sentimental Laetitia Dale and the strong-willed Clara Middleton. More importantly, the novel follows Clara's attempts to escape from her engagement to Sir Willoughby, who desires women to serve as a mirror for him and consequently cannot understand why she would not want to marry him. Thus, The Egoist dramatizes the difficulty contingent upon being a woman in Victorian society, when women's bodies and minds are trafficked between fathers and husbands to cement male bonds. (Summary from Wikipedia) (22 hr 17 min)

Chapters

00 - Prelude 14:23 Read by Martin Geeson
01 - Chapter I 7:50 Read by Elizabeth Klett
02 - Chapter II 12:52 Read by Elizabeth Klett
03 - Chapter III 23:20 Read by Martin Geeson
04 - Chapter IV 42:27 Read by Martin Geeson
05 - Chapter V 28:07 Read by Martin Geeson
06 - Chapter VI 26:36 Read by Martin Geeson
07 - Chapter VII 35:27 Read by Martin Geeson
08 - Chapter VIII 17:15 Read by Dawn
09 - Chapter IX 29:18 Read by Lars Rolander (1942-2016)
10 - Chapter X 44:45 Read by Lars Rolander (1942-2016)
11 - Chapter XI 33:53 Read by Lars Rolander (1942-2016)
12 - Chapter XII 16:11 Read by Martin Geeson
13 - Chapter XIII 31:50 Read by skoval
14 - Chapter XIV 23:18 Read by Neeru Iyer
15 - Chapter XV 30:45 Read by Martin Geeson
16 - Chapter XVI 21:45 Read by Neeru Iyer
17 - Chapter XVII 19:19 Read by skoval
18 - Chapter XVIII 21:05 Read by skoval
19 - Chapter XIX 33:03 Read by Martin Geeson
20 - Chapter XX 30:43 Read by Martin Geeson
21 - Chapter XXI 33:30 Read by Lars Rolander (1942-2016)
22 - Chapter XXII 33:08 Read by Lars Rolander (1942-2016)
23 - Chapter XXIII 35:55 Read by Lars Rolander (1942-2016)
24 - Chapter XXIV 36:12 Read by Martin Geeson
25 - Chapter XXV 35:56 Read by hefyd
26 - Chapter XXVI 14:05 Read by hefyd
27 - Chapter XXVII 20:09 Read by hefyd
28 - Chapter XXVIII 16:58 Read by hefyd
29 - Chapter XXIX 47:14 Read by hefyd
30 - Chapter XXX 18:27 Read by Sarah Prusoff
31 - Chapter XXXI 25:22 Read by Elizabeth Klett
32 - Chapter XXXII 18:58 Read by Elizabeth Klett
33 - Chapter XXXIII 14:59 Read by Elizabeth Klett
34 - Chapter XXXIV 28:43 Read by Elizabeth Klett
35 - Chapter XXXV 33:02 Read by Elizabeth Klett
36 - Chapter XXXVI 21:43 Read by Elizabeth Klett
37 - Chapter XXXVII 21:24 Read by Elizabeth Klett
38 - Chapter XXXVIII 11:12 Read by Magdalena
39 - Chapter XXXIX 19:07 Read by Magdalena
40 - Chapter XL 23:43 Read by Magdalena
41 - Chapter XLI 39:10 Read by Linda Woods
42 - Chapter XLII 33:29 Read by Linda Woods
43 - Chapter XLIII 35:30 Read by Linda Woods
44 - Chapter XLIV 29:14 Read by Martin Geeson
45 - Chapter XLV 21:30 Read by Lars Rolander (1942-2016)
46 - Chapter XLVI 37:19 Read by Lars Rolander (1942-2016)
47 - Chapter XLVII 27:28 Read by Lars Rolander (1942-2016)
48 - Chapter XLVIII 26:28 Read by Lars Rolander (1942-2016)
49 - Chapter XLIX 24:29 Read by Lars Rolander (1942-2016)
50 - Chapter L 9:20 Read by Neeru Iyer

Reviews

Great book, disappointing readings


(2 stars)

"The Egoist" is one of the great comic novels in English. Unfortunately, most of the chapters here are read by people for whom English is clearly not their first language, and they read without any irony, comic timing, or sense of the true nature of the novel. Only one, Martin Gieson, is atune to Meredith's intent. Some of the others mispronounce hundreds of words and read without inflection, in a monotonous cadence. Sadly, I had to give up about halfway through.

Too bad


(2 stars)

Would have been a good book but too many bad readers ruined it. The last one read like a typist!


(3 stars)

The novel was tough to get through, with so much narrative exposition and so little action or even actual dialogue. Meredith was actually a valuable mentor and critic of Gissing's early work, but I think that Gissing is the superior novelist.

Egoist


(3 stars)

Great and sometimes very funny novel. Clara is an interesting character. Many different readers on this recording, so the standard is uneven, as some are very good and others don't catch the comic side of the story.