Which Far from the Madding Crowd recording should you buy?
The complete readings of Far from the Madding Crowd that we list run 13 hrs 25 mins to 16 hrs 17 mins. The short listings are abridgements, and they say so; one of them, Julie Christie's, is long enough to be mistaken for the book.
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Short answer
Nathaniel Parker: complete and solo. Jamie Parker, John Lee, Olivia Vinall with Karen Cass (the Penguin Classics edition) and the other complete readings in the table run 13 hrs 25 mins to 16 hrs 17 mins; choose on voice. Chris MacDonnell's listing is labelled "1895 Edition". Jamie Parker's name is also on a longer Educational Edition with Lucy Scott and Francis Gilbert, which is not a different reading of the novel. Of the abridgements, Julie Christie's is the one to read carefully: it is far longer than the others, and still abridged.
The recordings, compared
| Narrator | Length | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nathaniel Parker Our pick | 13 hrs 25 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. |
| Olivia Vinall and Karen Cass | 15 hrs 44 mins | Unabridged | Complete, with two readers; the Penguin Classics edition. |
| Jamie Parker | 14 hrs 52 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. His name is also on a longer Educational Edition with Lucy Scott and Francis Gilbert, which is not a separate reading of the novel. |
| John Lee | 13 hrs 47 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. |
| George Hagan | 16 hrs 17 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. |
| Nick Sandys | 14 hrs 13 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. Listed as the AmazonClassics Edition. |
| Davina Porter | 15 hrs 14 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. |
| Jill Masters | 15 hrs 43 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. |
| Chris MacDonnell | 15 hrs 2 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. Labelled "1895 Edition". |
| David McCallion | 13 hrs 50 mins | Unabridged | Complete and solo. |
| Julie Christie | 6 hrs 19 mins | Abridged | ABRIDGED, at 47% of the shortest complete reading here, which is long enough to be mistaken for the book. |
| Martin Shaw | 2 hrs 53 mins | Abridged | Abridged. |
| Robert Powell | 2 hrs 21 mins | Abridged | Abridged. |