Gaudy Night
Lord Peter Wimsey, Book 12
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Gaudy Night
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Narrated by:
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Jane McDowell
About this listen
The best of the golden age crime writers, praised by all the top modern writers in the field including P. D. James and Ruth Rendell, Dorothy L. Sayers created the immortal Lord Peter Wimsey. The twelfth book featuring Lord Peter (the third novel to feature Harriet Vane) is set in an Oxford women's college.
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 she is not the only target of this murderous malice - and asks Lord Peter Wimsey to help.
©1935 The Trustees of Anthony Fleming (deceased) (P)2015 Hodder & StoughtonListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
Gaudy Night
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Dorothy L. Sayers at University
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Miss Sayers at her best - shame the narration wasn't that great
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Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?
The jerky, spitting style of the reader spoils the bookWhat did you like best about this story?
The Wimsey Vane romance resolution, The detective work is fun and originalWould you be willing to try another one of Jane McDowell’s performances?
No. Couldn't stand the jerky style. Totally overdoes the attempt to 'spit out' upper crust speak.Was Gaudy Night worth the listening time?
Yes. But i wish it had been a different reader or in a dramatised form.Sayers needed a ruthless editor
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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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What did you like most about Gaudy Night?
There is a strong plot and engaging characters. Miss Sayers' wit comes out most strongly in this bookWho was your favorite character and why?
Peter Wimsey has always been my favourite detective, the epitome of a civilised gentleman who treats everyone with courtesy and charm.Which character – as performed by Jane McDowell – was your favourite?
Ms Mcdowell's narration brought out the character of the Dean very strongly, in particular.Any additional comments?
I was a little hesitant in ordering this book, as the narrator has received a number of bad reviews. However, I found her approach to be perfect for a novel of the 1930s. Her pronunciation is not perfect, but there is always something to criticise in any audio book. I will listen regularly to this performance of one of my favourite books.Brilliantly realised
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Gaudy Night
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Why?
Good story with some Careless pronunciation errors
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All the way through I kept trying to figure out the exact nature of the narrator's shortcomings:
1. She has a nice voice
2. She doesn't have the ability to differentiate her voices according to character, sometimes she tries it and applies the voice too late, mostly she doesn't (Martin Jarvis is one of the best in this regard and often improves one's enjoyment of the story).
3. The way that the words are strung together sounds like my kindle when I select the voice option (what you get is a computer selecting the words from a database and stringing them together without the necessary understanding to give the correct intonation and emotion).
It is a real tragedy because it appears that this narrator is currently the only option in the audible stable for the Lord Peter Wimsey books.
However, this story is wonderful and scholarly, I am not a scholar and supplemented my understanding by researching for example Latin phrases on the Internet - it gives more depth and tenderness to the story.... Sublime, truly sublime..............shame about the narrator.
The narrator does not do a good job
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2021 Edit. It is still impossible to buy unabridged recordings of Sayer’s books that aren’t read by this dreadful narrator, even though wonderful recordings of them being read by Ian Carmichael exist. A great disservice to the author and Audible customers.
Ruined by performance
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