Silas Marner - Background and Resources

[Marta]

We are reading Silas Marner in April 2018 - something shorter after the big books.

This thread is for discussing background information,

[Marta]

There are many editions of Silas Marner. This one is free on Amazon Kindle and the one I own:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...

I also highly recommend the audio version narrated by Andrew Sachs, it is wonderful, and it is only $0.99 if you have the Kindle book (which is free!):
https://www.amazon.com/Silas-Marner/d...

A great perk of reading classics, besides reading amazing works, is that most of them are in the public domain and are available for free or for very little.

As you can see, I have already listened to Silas Marner, but I will likely re-read with the group because I have enjoyed very much.

[Marta]

George Eliot is a pen name by Mary Ann Evans.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg...

She used a male name to escape stereotypes associated with female authors. While nowadays female authors are very popular, we still see some of this in male dominated genres like sci-fi and fantasy. J.K. Rowling was told to use her initials, and she used a male name when starting a new crime series. Some also use initials like N.K.Jemisin.

[P]

Marta wrote: "There are many editions of Silas Marner. This one is free on Amazon Kindle and the one I own:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...

I also highly recommend the audio version narrated by And..."

Or, you can get an audio version free at Librivox:
https://librivox.org/search?q=silas%2...

Two narrations of this book are available to choose from.

In general, Librivox is highly useful if you like audio books, esp. those in the public domain. But because the narrators are volunteers, the quality of the narration can be sketchy. Still, 'the price is right'.

[Marta]

Thanks for the info, P! I am suggesting the version for 99 cents because that is the one I have listened to and the narrator was excellent. I have only tried Librivox once but the narration was so amateur that I never went back. I am guessing it varies.

If you belong to a library, check if they have online audiobooks. Mine uses Overdrive and they have quite a few classics that you can download. Lots of ebooks as well.

[Jon]

Marta wrote: "Thanks for the info, P! If you belong to a library, check if they have online audiobooks. Mine uses Overdrive and they have quite a few classics that you can download. Lots of ebooks as well. ..."

Yes, that is my normal M. O. I am signed up for Overdrive too, and I have the entire Maricopa County/Phoenix public library compendium to use. I download the e-books to read on my laptop. No audio-books.