Audiobook · read by volunteers
Sylvie and Bruno
Lewis Carroll (1832–1898)
Read by Lucy Perry, Claire Goget, EmAllise, Gesine, StarrDog, Matt Wills (1949-2017), David A. Moore., Patti Cunningham, Kalynda, Ted Nugent · 26 chapters · 7 h 16
About the book
Two stories run side by side in Lewis Carroll's last major work. In one, Sylvie and her little brother Bruno are fairy children, mischievous, loving and forever getting into trouble in a world where the rules of ordinary life do not apply. In the other, a narrator moves through Victorian England, among country walks, polite society, doctors, lords and a very ordinary kind of puzzlement. Between the two, a dreamlike thread connects them, and the narrator finds himself passing from one world to the other. Carroll fills the book with songs, riddles, wordplay and gentle satire, with nonsense that is often tender. It is an unusual, sometimes unruly novel, full of charm, and a rewarding discovery for those who already love Alice.
Introduction
Lewis Carroll, the pen name of the mathematician and writer Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832-1898), is best known for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. Sylvie and Bruno, published in 1889 and followed by a sequel, is a very different undertaking: a long, ambitious work in which he tried to combine fairy tale, social comedy, moral reflection and nonsense in one book.
The novel has two main plots. One takes place in the real world of the Victorian era, among the narrator's friends and acquaintances. The other is set in the fictional world of Fairyland, and its tone is closer to that of Carroll's most famous books, with nonsense verse, playful dialogue and invented creatures. The two plots interleave in a way that can seem strange at first, and the shifts between them are part of the experience.
Critics have often found the book uneven, and it never reached the popularity of the Alice stories. Even so, it contains some of Carroll's most affecting writing, as well as a good deal of humour and some of his best-loved poems. It also reflects his interest in questions of charity, faith and the nature of dreaming.
This LibriVox recording has twenty-six chapters and lasts a little over seven hours. It is read by volunteers, and it suits patient readers who enjoy exploring the byways of a great imagination. Be ready to follow a plot that wanders, doubles back and occasionally stops to sing. For readers who delight in Carroll's wordplay and in the odd corners of Victorian literature, the book offers a long and often delightful ramble, full of surprises.
Public domain
Lewis Carroll died in 1898: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text