General Information

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Book............................Oliver Twist
Author..........................Charles Dickens
Narrator.......................Martin Jarvis
Abr/Unabr....................Unabridged
Genre...........................Literary
Publisher......................Chivers

File Information
============
Source...........................14 CDs
Encoder.........................Lame 3.98
Converted to.................96 kbit/s CBR | 32,00 Hz | Stereo ABR (Average Bit
Rate)
Number of MP3 files....14
Total Runtime...............16 Hours 26 Mins
Total Size.......................626 MB
Ripped By.....................OldScotsman
Date................................22-August-2008
ID3 Tags.........................Includes image and all information shown.

About The Book

Dickens's second novel was a far cry from THE PICKWICK PAPERS, his first. The story
of an orphan who flees the workhouse only to fall in with a gang of thieves and
prostitutes in London's sleazy underworld, it was a trenchant criticism of
England's poor laws. Enacted in the 1830s, these laws provided assistance for the
poor only through workhouses, which were deliberately squalid and miserable to
encourage the poor--who were considered lazy and immoral--to better themselves and
get out. The inequities between rich and poor were one of Dickens's constant
themes, and with OLIVER TWIST he established himself as a staunch champion of the
downtrodden, particularly children. The novel also, however, has its cheerful
moments, and contains some of Dickens's most memorable characters, including Fagin,
the Artful Dodger, the evil Bill Sykes, and the unfortunate Nancy.
The story of the orphan Oliver, who runs away from the workhouse only to be taken
in by a den of thieves, shocked readers when it was first published. Dickens's tale
of childhood innocence beset by evil depicts the dark criminal underworld of a
London peopled by vivid and memorable characters - the arch-villain Fagin, the
artful Dodger, the menacing Bill Sikes and the prostitute Nancy. Combining elements
of Gothic Romance, the Newgate Novel and popular melodrama, Dickens created an
entirely new kind of fiction, scathing in its indictment of a cruel society, and
pervaded by an unforgettable sense of threat and mystery.

About The Author

Charles John Huffam Dickens was born on February 7, 1812 in Portsmouth, Hampshire,
England. In 1824, his father was imprisoned for debt, so Charles was sent to work
in a shoe-dye factory. He later became a clerk in a law firm, a shorthand reporter
in the courts, and a parliamentary and newspaper reporter. In 1833, Dickens began
to contribute short stories and essays to periodicals, heralding the start of a
glittering and prolific literary career. He married Catherine Hogarth in 1836, with
whom he had nine surviving children before they separated in 1858. Dickens died
suddenly at home on June 9, 1870, leaving behind an internationally acclaimed canon
of work, including Oliver Twist (1837), Nicholas Nickleby (1838), David Copperfield
(1849-50), Bleak House (1852-53), Little Dorrit (1855-57), A Tale of Two Cities
(1859), Great Expectations (1860-61) and Our Mutual Friend (1864-65). He was buried
in Westminster Abbey. Michael Slater is Professor of Victorian Literature at
Birkbeck College in the University of London. He was editor of The Dickensian
(1968-77) and President of the International Dickens Fellowship (1988-90). He has
published many books and articles on Dickens. --This text refers to an out of print
or unavailable edition of this title.

About The Reader

Martin Jarvis OBE is one of Britain's most versatile leading actors with a very
long career and is probably best known for his radio work - his voice is a staple
of Radio 4. With his wife Rosalind Ayres, he runs Jarvis and Ayres Productions,
which produces dramas, readings and audiobooks. For this, and his other work,
Martin was honoured with an OBE for his services to drama in 2000.
Martin often steps behind the mike himself, and has narrated dozens of audiobooks
and readings, including versions of Richmal Crompton's William books, Kafka's
Metamorphosis, P.G. Wodehouse's Carry On Jeeves, and 101 Dalmations.
Martin's TV debut was in Doctor Who in 1965, playing a giant butterfly in The Web
Planet. A couple of years later he played Jolyon Forsyte in The Forsyte Saga. Since
then, his many TV parts have included Oliver, the main lead, in 1978 sitcom Rings
On Their Fingers, Uriah Heep in David Copperfield, and Jeeves in the TV version of
Alan Ayckbourn's musical By Jeeves.