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Uncle Tom's Cabin, with eBook

Audiobook (Includes supplementary content)
0 of 1 copy available
Wait time: About 2 weeks
0 of 1 copy available
Wait time: About 2 weeks
Uncle Tom's Cabin opens with a Kentucky farmer named Arthur Shelby facing the loss of his farm because of debts. Even though he and his wife, Emily Shelby, believe that they have a benevolent relationship with their slaves, Shelby decides to raise the needed funds by selling two of them—Uncle Tom, a middle-aged man with a wife and children, and Harry, the son of Emily Shelby's maid Eliza—to a slave trader. Emily Shelby hates the idea of doing this because she had promised her maid that her child would never be sold; Emily's son, George Shelby, hates to see Tom go because he sees the old man as his friend and mentor.


When Uncle Tom's Cabin was published in 1852, it became an international blockbuster, selling more than 300,000 copies in the United States alone in its first year. Progressive for her time, Harriet Beecher Stowe was one of the earliest writers to offer a shockingly realistic depiction of slavery. Her stirring indictment and portrait of human dignity in the most inhumane circumstances enlightened hundreds of thousands of people by revealing the human costs of slavery, which had until then been cloaked and justified by the racist misperceptions of the time.
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  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Stowe may have intended UNCLE TOM'S CABIN to be a political statement, but she also created an unforgettable story. In telling the story of the honest slave Tom, she vividly brings the hardships of slavery before the listener. Richard Allen lends his expert narration to this classic. In a deep, friendly voice, he movingly reads the novel. His articulate narration is augmented by his vocal characterizations, which he executes with careful attention, giving each character a distinctive voice. Tom's deep, somber voice almost resonates, while the cruel slave owner, Simon Legree, speaks in a raspy vernacular. Allen masterfully elicits an array of Southern dialects for Stowe's variety of characters. His thoughtful, engaged performance creates a memorable audio experience. D.M.W. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      September 29, 2014
      Berneis gives a bravura performance in the latest audio edition of this classic tale. First published in 1851, Stowe’s novel focuses on the stories of two black slaves. The first is young Eliza, who makes a desperate run for freedom when she discovers that her son is about to be sold and taken away from her. The second is Uncle Tom, who is about to be sold by the masters he loves and trusts. Rather than run, he accepts his fate, holding on to his Christian faith to carry him through these tribulations. Both characters long for the peace that would come with the release of their bonds, and both, after much heartbreak, troubles and tears, find that peace, but in very different ways. Berneis is a consummate storyteller. She gives the book’s many characters distinct, individual voices that nimbly flow from one line to another. Her reading is simple and easy to listen to, even when the words and situations are disturbing. This is a powerful antislavery book that still resonates, over 100 years since its initial publication, and Berneis is an excellent choice to bring Stowe’s provocative novel to life.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Using a mixture of clearly distinguished voices, Ricco Ross brings Southern accents, Negro dialects, and another era to life in this rendering of UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. Listeners can almost see the young Negro quadroons, Jim Crow, and Topsy, who says, "I just growed," when asked when and where she was born. While Ricco portrays the ugly slave master, Simon Legree, with menacing tones of cruelty, he switches to sounds of compassion and grace with Uncle Tom. Ricco depicts the barbarisms of slave trading in which men, women, and children are bought and sold like livestock with chilling reality. This timeless classic is worth revisiting. G.D.W. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine
    • AudioFile Magazine
      Classic nineteenth-century literature can be difficult to read and hear. But this production is an exception. Buck Schirner's characters are so vivid, so well enunciated, that we wish Stowe had created more people for Schirner to give voice to. His characters argue about slavery, lament their fortunes and survive by their wits. He gives each person emotion and depth and reads Stowe's prose with conviction. Indeed, it's hard not to, given the moral force behind her words. The only negative is when Schirner reads in his own voice, which is low and flat. Because of his excellent vocal work, though, the book reminds us that the debate over race and human worth was as vivid in the 1850's as it is today. R.I.G. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
    • AudioFile Magazine
      At first, one might wonder at the relevance of this 150-year-old political melodrama to modern readers and listeners, but it takes little of Liza Ross's heartfelt reading before the listener is captivated by this story of faith, race and slavery in the antebellum South. Ross adapts her voice to capture the accents of a large cast of characters of every race, gender and age. The story is punctuated with classical music, and the high-quality digital recording is packaged with a booklet of liner notes and background information. S.E.S. (c) AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • Lexile® Measure:1050
  • Text Difficulty:6-9

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