The Withered Arm | Thomas Hardy | A Bitesized Audiobook
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- Опубліковано 7 лип 2024
- Rural superstitions, jealousy and betrayal, with a hint of witchcraft, combine in this tragic tale of a young wife and her husband's abandoned lover. An atypical incursion into the realms of gothic horror and the supernatural by one of the great late Victorian novelists.
Narrated/performed by Simon Stanhope, aka Bitesized Audio. If you enjoy this content and would like to help me keep creating, there are a few ways you can support me (and get access to exclusive content):
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00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:18 Map of Hardy's Wessex
Chapters:
00:01:34 I. A Lorn Milkmaid
00:07:08 II. The Young Wife
00:16:38 III. A Vision
00:26:57 IV. A Suggestion
00:36:29 V. Conjuror Trendle
00:43:19 VI. A Second Attempt
00:50:16 VII. A Ride
01:02:16 VIII. A Waterside Hermit
01:09:35 IX. A Rencounter
01:17:42 Credits, thanks and further listening
Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) ranks as one of the greatest Victorian novelists, although he regarded himself primarily as a poet - and in the last thirty years of his life devoted himself almost exclusively to writing poetry after his last novel, 'Jude the Obscure' was published in 1895.
He was born in Upper Bockhampton, Dorset, in 1840, the son of a stonemason and builder, also called Thomas. His mother Jemima educated young Thomas at home for some years, before he attended school in Bockhampton and Dorchester, where he thrived academically. He was apprenticed to a local architect at the age of 16, which led eventually to his studying at King's College London in his early 20s. However, he was never comfortable living in London and felt his social inferiority and rural origins keenly; as a result he became interested in social reform. In later life he expressed his "harmony of view" with the great liberal philosopher John Stuart Mill, whose work 'On Liberty' Hardy discovered at around this time.
His career as a writer began in the late 1860s, although his first novel, 'The Poor Man and the Lady' (1867) failed to find a publisher as it was regarded as too "socialistic" and revolutionary. Hardy later destroyed the manuscript. His first two published novels 'Desperate Remedies' (1871) and 'Under the Greenwood Tree' originally appeared anonymously. It was his next two novels, 'A Pair of Blue Eyes' (1873) and 'Far from the Madding Crowd' (1874) which really began to make his name. 'A Pair of Blue Eyes', based on Hardy's courtship of Emma Gifford, who became his first wife, is credited with inventing the term "cliffhanger", as one chapter ends with one of the main characters literally hanging off a cliff... and readers of the serialised version in Tinsley's Magazine had to wait a month until the next issue to find out what happened next.
All of Hardy's novels are set in a fictionalised version of his native Dorset: a map of the area, based on Hardy's own sketches, can be seen in this video at 00:01:18
Later novels include some of his best known works, 'The Return of the Native' (1878, set in the same part of Wessex as 'The Withered Arm'), 'The Mayor of Casterbridge' (1886), 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles' (1891) and 'Jude the Obscure' (1895). The last two in particular were highly controversial in their day, for their challenge to Victorian sexual morality. After Jude, Hardy turned almost exclusively to writing poetry - although he had composed poetry throughout his writing career, he only published his first volume in 1898. He was appointed to the Order of Merit in 1910, and twice nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature (1910 and 1921).
Thomas Hardy married Emma Gifford (of 'Blue Eyes' fame) in 1874. They had no children and became gradually estranged, eventually living apart from the late 1890s, until her death in 1912. In 1914 he married Florence Dugdale, who had been his assistant since 1908. She survived him upon his death aged 87 in 1928.
'The Withered Arm' first appeared in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine in January 1888, and was subsequently published in book form as part of the collection 'Wessex Tales' later the same year.
The art on the title card is a detail from 'Woman on a path by a cottage', by John Atkinson Grimshaw (1836-1893). (Public domain; source Wikiart.org)
Recording © Bitesized Audio 2023 - Розваги
Rural superstitions, jealousy and betrayal, with a hint of witchcraft, combine in this tragic tale of a young wife and her husband's abandoned lover. An atypical incursion into the realms of gothic horror and the supernatural by one of the great late Victorian novelists. Chapter timestamps:
00:01:18 Map of Hardy's Wessex
00:01:34 I. A Lorn Milkmaid
00:07:08 II. The Young Wife
00:16:38 III. A Vision
00:26:57 IV. A Suggestion
00:36:29 V. Conjuror Trendle
00:43:19 VI. A Second Attempt
00:50:16 VII. A Ride
01:02:16 VIII. A Waterside Hermit
01:09:35 IX. A Rencounter
Biographical notes and further information available in the video description. Thanks for listening
You're a doll, Simon. Not only gifted and dedicated to thoroughly entertaining us with your voice and acting; but also a gentleman. You are so kind to give us replies to your well-deserved praise. Do take care of yourself and get plenty of rest. Have you been on stage of late? A well reviewed performance, perhaps? I certainly hope so!😁🙌👌👋👋👋👋👋👋
One of your best stories ❤thank you !!!
Very good..thank you
Thank you
SPOILER ALERT
SPOILER ALERT
SPOILER ALERT
OOhhhhh. Ah... I do see it coming I believe...
Quite sad, really. And that's the song says, " There ain't no good guys, there ain't no bad guys"
Sigh
Just came in from a long morning of yard work, Rain coming soon & my back is complaining. Dr. Simon has just the medicine, a cuppa, a lie down and a marvelous story being told in the best of form. Hardy is so descriptive and your voices so colorful I'm cured.
So glad to hear that! Thanks Angela, best wishes to you
Q¹q😊
😊😊😊
I quite agree.
It was approx' 35°C here yesterday & I was settling down to choose an audiobook to listen to - so glad I found this wonderful narration by Simon of Thomas Hardy ( one of my favourite authors )
btw A relaxing hot bath with a couple of hands full of salt will do wonders for your back/muscles in general - please try
Dr. Simon is indeed medicine! X
After an awful week, I sat and listened to this with a glass or two of single malt, and all is now right with the world ! A thoroughly enjoyable story superbly written by Hardy, and narrated by a true pro, Thanks Simon
Sorry to hear you've had a bad week, but glad if this upload has made you feel better. Thanks so much for your support and kind comments
Thomas Hardy doing what he does best--plumbing the depths of despair 😢
Quite so!
I remember seeing the tv adaption of this story in 1973 starring Billie Whitelaw as Rhoda and Edward Hardwicke ( who played Doctor Watson in the Sherlock Holmes series) as Farmer John Lodge. It is/was available on a dvd called Wessex Tales, together with about 5 other Hardy stories. Well worth watching. 😊
Excellent tale, a very nice choice Simon! I got so wrapped up in the wife's dilemma, I did not see the twist coming. It was thrilling to say the least! And as always, a perfectly exceptional performance by my all-time favorite narrator, Simon. ❤ Thank you!
Thanks Susan, much appreciated!
Great to see you take on Thomas Hardy! I hope there are many more to come.
I hope so too! I certainly have some more Hardy short stories on my list
Agree.
What a lovely trip into Hardy’s Wessex 💚 like the light under a heap of rose petals 🥀
Oh yes, a lovely line. Thanks Stephanie, glad to know you enjoyed it
Being Hardy I naturally did not expect a happy outcome but it was only when Gertrude was setting out on the path to the Hangman's house that it dawned on me who was to be hanged.
God I hate Hardy. Brilliant but depressing as hell.
Enjoyably read as usual Mr Stanhope.
Appreciated, thank you
@@BitesizedAudio I recently chanced upon the church in Cornwall which Hardy was contracted to restore. It was here that he met his future wife. To my mind Hardy was undoubtedly a depressive. His reaction to the death of his wife is telling.
Your undoubted talent is that you can make a 'Hardy tale' thoroughly enjoyable to someone who avoids negativity wherever possible.
What a pity there aren't more of Allen Upward's Ghost Hunter tales. My favourites .Absorbing and uplifting.
As ever I look forward to your next production.
You do this writer justice. I can think of no higher praise for your rendering and am subbed.
Thank you!
Another great tale from a master of the written word delivered by a master of the spoken word.
Very happy to hear you read Hardy! Fantastic stuff
Appreciated, thanks Henry!
Looking forward to this. I love his poetry
Thanks Ross, much appreciated!
Another fabulous story, excellently narrated . Cheers Simon.✊♥️
You're most welcome as ever Julie
That's crazy!! I was just reading Damnable Tales collection of folk horror and saw this title lol
algorithm works in mysterious ways
Very spooky!
@@Herr_Flick_of_ze_Gestapo got that right, my episodes of this kind of thing has been very powerful lately.
@@BitesizedAudio appreciate ur channel!!
I'm glad Hardy got recognition in that collection. I think his role in the development of folk horror often gets overlooked because he wasn't a 'genre' writer. I love how he works bits of West Country life into his stories--language, music, and in this case, folk magic. If I remember correctly, magic also plays a role in Return of the Native and, to a lesser extent, Tess of the d'Urbervilles.
Tisty tosty. How delightful! British writers and Brit shows are so lyrical and interesting. American phrases just can't compete with British quips.
Thank you, Simon.
Yes indeed, it's an old dialect word for a nosegay of flowers, I believe
Friday evening……and relaxation with your story to listen to. Thank you so much, Simon ❤️🙏🏼
You're most welcome, thank you Christine
Thank you so much for this. We studied the Withered Arm in English at school. It was the reason I first fell in love with Thomas Hardy's writing and is still my favourite of his short stories.
Wonderful! Do let me know if you have any other favourites...
A wicked husband beyond the pail, and an Ice Cream Maiden. So well narrated.
Perfect for a stormy night in the hills of southern Pennsylvania.
Absolute perfection 😊.
Your narrations are like a holiday for the soul. Thank you.
E3333333eßßss see è see see
😮
Rather racey for it's time!! Well done,Simon. Thank you very much.
Thanks Simon, I loved this. I’ve been a Hardy fan for close on 50 years but this story was new to me. Beautifully read as always - I don’t know if it’ll show up but I bought you a coffee as a thank you💚
Thanks Francesca, my BMAC login was playing up for a few days and couldn't access it, but it seems to have resolved itself now and I can see that your coffee has been received: thank you kindly!
Looking for inspiration this afternoon and…low and behold! A classic short by my favorite UA-cam audio artist!
Thank you Janet!
This was wonderful! I think this has to be one of my favorites that you've told so far. Very much enjoyed this one. Thank you Simon.💕😊
Favourite author and favourite narrator, delightful.
Thank you Barbara, much appreciated!
Hypnotic story. And your voice, Simon, is so very perfect to convey the slowly building sense of menace with undertones of sadness.
Cheerful stuff! A laugh in every line with Hardy.
What fascinating depths by the cerebral and intense Thomas Hardy!
I’m immediately back in college days and literature classes…
Great performance.Many Thanks 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻😊
Excellent, Simon! Such a lot of work. I thought from the name that I might know the story, but I don't remember it, and I'm sure I would not forget it! Thank you so much. 👏👏👏
Beautifully read. Thank you.
So glad I came across a Thomas hardy story. I’ve read all his books he was a literary genius born way before his time. He had such a natural way with him and his descriptions of the places he lived and visited came alive when you read them. Thank you so much.
A perfect reading. I listen at three-quarter speed so as to enjoy the timbre of Simon's voice for longer. Encountering any Hardy text is a gloomy pleasure. Spoiled Evangelical, atheistic, sceptical, in love with superstition and coincidences, Hardy creates prose that would be unbearable but for its beauty. The new wife's complexion was like light shining through a pile of rose petals, for example. Images like that one save the hearer from descending into a worse melancholy than the one that gripped poor Hardy. Well done, Simon.
Thanks Peter. I've had a couple of listeners commenting previously that they listen to me speeded up, I think you're the first who's said you slow me down!
Thank you so much for all of these stories; your deliverance is always a joy to listen to. I have listened to each story multiple times and will continue to do so, whether resting, relaxing or just doing chores around the house.
Amazing story. Thank you for your talented narration.
Jolly good show Simon .Thank u 💜
Just in time for the rainy weekend, thank you Mr S
Classy as always
Thank you so much Simon. I fall asleep listening to your well articulated English. Please continue to produce literature so well read.
I seem to have missed this . I have read Hardy’s novels but never a short story. Excellent choice! Thank you!
Very well narrated, Simon! I’m not particularly a Hardy fan, but this is a good tale.
Yippee. ❤💐 Thank you again. The map is awesome. 😊
Glad to know you liked it! I do like studying maps, and it's interesting to compare that one to the "real" map of the area
Simon just has the right voice for narration.
Thank-you very much Simon, it’s always the innocent that end up paying for the bad xx
A story of hard reality. Of course narrated so nicely as ever!
Just about to lay my head on the pillow and enjoy this Simon 🤫
Thanks for your support!
Learned a new word, "rencounter." If I had known the definition beforehand the twist may have been ruined for me. Excellent work as always Simon!
Very well done. I now remember why I disliked Hardy years ago, because he's so depressing - but a brilliant author, all the same. This story is so well written - I could guess kind of where it was going, but some of the conclusion was still a surprise.
Sad that the innocent person is often the person that pays the price for other people’s misdeeds.
Look so forward to your posts. Thank you for all the work you do
A sad story. A macabre twist at the end. Beautifully read Simon. Thanks.
Thank you Susan, appreciated
I read Thomas Hardy as a young teenager. Bad idea! But, I did love his writing. Hardy and Bob Dylan. I was dark. Love hearing you read this. Thanks. 💛
Thanks so much Simon !
A brilliant reading of a brilliant author. Thank you.
This was different. I’m sure that I have read some of T.H but I can’t remember what atm. I did enjoy this as always Simon!
Thank you
♥️😎🇦🇺✌️
What a masterpiece of writing and reading. Absolutely griped to the point of immobility. Jobs had to wait. Thankyou so much.
Wonderful, glad to know you enjoyed it
Thank you for adding well-punctuated subtitles to your videos. It's very beneficial for ESL learners.
Glad to know that they help
Absolutely brilliant story, so descriptive you could visualise the countryside, shame those involved were not open with each other, then perhaps the ending wouldn't have been so tragic, beautifully read as ever Thank You Simon for another entertaining narration from the past
What an amazing story, brilliantly read. Thank you for your work
Thoroughly enjoyed this reading. Thank you!
I've never cared much for the bleak Hardy tales; however, your narration of this tale of envy made for an enjoyable listen. And the rich countryside description made the inevitable dark crash ending worth sitting through ! Such a wonderful gift you have. Thank you for sharing it😊
Outstanding presentation of a most intriguing story.
Ha! I suppose it's a bit much to expect Hardy to put someone through an intriguing moral dilemma rather than have them dramatically die of...ah..concentrated disapproval, but I had my hopes. I'll give him that it's a proper tragedy, too, since all might have been avoided had the farmer been a decent fellow or the women drawn into his orbit been honest with each other.
Comedy award goes to the 'Minister of Justice' insiting on his title whilst cheerfully hanging innocent folk (more than his job's worth to protest, I suppose), I did laugh. Thanks as ever for a tale well told, sir.
Chaced upon your channel to hear the Mary Elizabeth Braddon ghost story, which was wonderfully read and produced.
But, this! Your narration and the many character's voices transport me to Hardy's mythical Wessex. I can almost smell the hay.
Thank you for sharing your marvelous talent!
Thank you kindly!
Excellent work by Hardy & yourself
Thank you so much. This was wonderful
Thank you so much for sharing your talents with us.
Love listening to your stories Simon. Love your voice.❤
Hello Simon, I am just about to listen to you narrating this story before I go to sleep which I know will be lovely ! Nighty night. 🌙 xx
Thank you so much ❤
So good all around! Wonderful writing by Hardy and wonderful narrator's voice. Thanks!
Much appreciated, thank you
I really enjoyed that. Thank you very much.
Good one !
Thanks so very much.
Excellent, thankyou.
A true masterpiece beautifully read. Thank you.
Glad to know you enjoyed it, thank you
Oh how I love your channel! These stories are perfect for me as I love to read and listen to everything ghostly and mystery set in Victorian & Edwardian times. So glad you have brought these short stories to life again. Thanks so much for sharing these brilliant works with us all.
Thank you so much for your very kind comments, glad to know you enjoy the stories
I love your channel! Thank you!
☕☕☕☕👏👏👏👏👍👍👍👍And thankyou Simon for this and all you do!!!!!!
Thank you so much, Simon! What a great story!❤🎉❤🎉❤
Appreciated, thanks Beverly
Thank You *Simon* for the *Wessex* map
never new hardy went into horror . very interesting good story.
Read "Barbara of the House of Grebe".
Now THAT was a really really good one!
Thank you again Simon!
Glad to know you enjoyed it! Thanks Snippy
I'm 57 and have never had a Night Hag experience. I almost feel deprived.
Oooohhhhh....ugh. great job 👏 👍
Even though I saw where this one was going, I kept hoping above hope that there would be a surprise happy ending.
A masterpiece.
Ty for this great read ❤
I really appreciate the through, & interesting, authorship details!
Glad to know that, Evelan, thank you
Gosh ..what a sad and depressing tale ...Only made better by your wonderful narration .
Quite entertaining. Well performed.
Truly wonderful story
Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for listening
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ most excellent Thank You *Simon*
How did you KNOW it is my birthday today?! The big 50, too!
Thanks, dear Simon!
Happy birthday Liz! 🎉🎂
@@BitesizedAudio Thanks!
Goodnight Simon..
Time for slumber, and another great narration from you..
Cheers from me..
😊💤💤🥂✌🏻...
Thank you 😊
This was really good. I love you channel.
Thank you!
Thanks!
Such a sad story!😢
I absolutely LOVE your channel and your work - it's so relaxing and refreshing to listen to after a long day. And on rainy afternoons. And during study breaks. And whilst baking. Thank you so much for your work and may Allah keep you well and going strong always :)
That's lovely to know, thank you! Best wishes to you
As an A level student I hated Hardy. I've since become a convert for his wonderful style. Excellent rendition of this old classic.