The Evil Genius
Wilkie Collins
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
The Evil Genius, one of Wilkie Collins' last works, is subtitled "A Domestic Scene". It is the intriguing tale of family Linley, including the "evil genius", and their governess Sydney Westerfield. In colorful pictures, Collins presents the story of this family, which becomes entangled in the often hypocritical Victorian perceptions of morality and decency. (Summary by Carolin) (12 hr 50 min)
Chapters
Reviews
Crummy story in so many ways...
mikezane
I have both read and listened to Collins' stories, and I can honestly say this is the worst one so far. First, it was WAY too long; I ended up reading through about 1/3 of the chapters because they just drag out without need. A husband gives in to the temptation to KISS another woman, so for that his wife throws him out and divorces him at the instigation of her nasty and mean spirited mother. The old bat should have gotten a comeuppance, but nope, she basically hangs around causing issues and lying her way around with the supposed intention of helping her daughter. In reality, she's a grasping schemer. A happy ending would have, in my opinion, ended with her at the underside of a train. The recordings are mixed, some are good, some are awful, tinny, accents so heavy you can't really follow the story line. It made what was already a rotten story unbearable. Lastly - Am I the only person who has noticed that EVERY recent book has the chapter chopped off at 30 characters long? Books prior to this year have the whole chapter name in the properties, but recent books are always lopped off. Hard to tell what chapter you are on with that, especially with this book. I see 8 chapters with the title of "Fourth Book - Chapter XXX". I ended up listening out of order 3 times because I got confused as to which chapter I was really on. The page listing doesn't have that problem, but if you download the zip file and extract it to media player, you will see what I mean. I can't recommend this book, it is just awful.
Good book.
Fabi
I liked the book ,and I think Wilkie Collins is great authors.But some of the readers ruined the book for me.I wish that this book or all the books in general should be read only by one reader.I give only three stars because of the readers.I don't mean no disrespect but I have an accent of my own as well and it is very hard for me to understand other people who accents too.I would of liked that the first reader would have read the whole book,because he seems like a great reader.
Re title being truncated
librivoxbooks
The whole chapter title is still there, and displays in full in VLC Media Player. I do not use Windows Media Player, but I can see that Windows Properties (in Win7) shows only 30 characters. This must be a MS Windows issue, I'm afraid, and I can only suggest using a different player. ETA On reflection, this shouldn't really be a problem on any player, as the title is always prefixed with the section number, so the play order is always clear.
Betrayal
mamacheetah
I like the part when Sidney finally repented her conduct. But I hate the ending when Herbert was able to get back to her wife and kid. If Katherine should get the justice, the author should've made Herbert die, so she could be free and married the Captain. But of course it was only my vanity. Lol. I hate the ending but still think WK is awesome. And thank you for all the volunteers.
Bittersweet story
Ana
Another great story from WC. A Rollercoaster of emotional ups and downs as you are led through the mischief and misery of infidelity, and the hope for a 'happy' ending. A previous reviewer had noted a missing chapter--that's been corrected. I think it ended as well as a story like this can end.
A LibriVox Listener
I was forced to abandon this selection as one of the readers had such a thick accent. After listening to book 1, chapter IV, on 3 occasions,I surrendered. I tried again several days later. unfortunately the same narrator showed up for additional chapters . It neccessrily lessened the enjoyment of the story.
A long story
CAROL
It took me a long time to get to the end of this book. the ending was not satisfying. most of the reading was quite good but I did have some difficulty understanding some of the accents. I would have liked to know what happened to Sydney.
very good read
Roceathia
a few of the readers made me want to stop the book all together. The last reader really took away from the book!!! He really over did what he thought the voices should be . It was like he hadnt known the characters at all.