Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte; gothic romance, classic; 576 pages (about 16 hours on CD)The recent film adaptation of this (one of my favorite books) put me in the mind to reread. I decided to try the audio book for a change, but was somewhat disappointed with the quality. I tried several different versions before settling on the Tantor media edition. All seem to be narrated by older women, which seems incongruous with Jane's age (19 through most of the book, but she's telling the story as a woman of 30). The reader of the Tantor edition handles the regional English accents very well, but the recording seems to have been transferred over from cassette tape: the volume varies considerably, and the hiss of tape moving is audible in most of the pauses.
Leaving aside my issues with the audio, it's safe to say that I enjoyed this story. I haven't read it for several years (I usually just watch on of the many film versions when I need a Bronte hit), so it was surprising to see how much I had forgotten. Also surprising: how much more horrible St. John is in the book than in any film version I've seen. I must have somehow blocked that out...
Overall, this is a great book, but I have to hope that there's a better audio edition out there somewhere.
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