The Expedition of Humphry Clinker
Tobias Smollett
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
The Expedition of Humphry Clinker was the last of the picaresque novels of Tobias Smollett, and is considered by many to be his best and funniest work.
Published in London on 17 June 1771, it is an epistolary novel, presented in the form of letters written by six different characters: Matthew Bramble, a Welsh Squire; his sister Tabitha; their niece and nephew, Jery and Lydia Melford; Tabitha's maid Winifred Jenkins; and Lydia's suitor, Wilson.
Much of the comedy arises from differences in the descriptions of the same events by different participants. Attributions of motives and descriptions of behavior show wild variation and reveal much about the character of the teller. The setting, amidst the high-society spa towns and seaside resorts of the 18th century provides his characters with many opportunities for satirical observations on English life and manners. (Summary by Wikipedia) (17 hr 32 min)
Chapters
Reviews
great reading
Sol
difficult to get into the story at first when you don't know the characters and who is reading. I recommend to read the description and to pay attention to the titles of the first sections. it is worth it.
Improves as you progress
Leslie G
It took me a while to get into the swing of Smollett's style but as I got used to it, I found this increasingly enjoyable. Having different narrators for the different authors of the letters worked well. Most of the narrators were very good but the one for Lydia Bramble was a bit hard to understand.
kirk
This is a regular audiobook for me, a regular listen. Loses half a star purely because I get something akin to tourettes when Debra lynn talks about Scottish estuaries. (FIRTH!) She does a perfect Matt Bramble for all that. Top stuff. Everyone does a great job
Fayetta
A LibriVox Listener
Wonderful story, it may be Smollett’s best work. Read by some of the best at Libravox.