NOVEMBER 2015 - AudioFile
Steinbeck’s experimental novel, self-labeled a “play novelette,” tells the story of a desperate love triangle involving a woman whose desire for a child drives her to adultery. Focusing on four characters, the story is told through dramatic tête-à-têtes. Narrator Richard Poe projects the tension between each combination of characters. He especially captures the deep friendship expressed in the interchanges between friends Ed and Joe Saul, who speak to each other in raspy, earnest voices. Joe Saul’s young wife, Mordeen, is portrayed with warmth and vibrancy in her voice. Through his attention to intonation, Poe captures the seriousness of the characters’ conversations while maintaining a friendly tone. D.W. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
From the Publisher
By the Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature
“A morality play conceived with poetic intensity.” —New York Herald Tribune
“[Burning Bright’s] four solitary characters are neither flesh-and-blood nor stock figures; husband, wife, friend, outsider, they are the legendary archetypes of folklore, speaking a spare, bare-boned language salted with color—a kind of abstract folk speech that is stilted, poetic and moving.” —The New York Times
NOVEMBER 2015 - AudioFile
Steinbeck’s experimental novel, self-labeled a “play novelette,” tells the story of a desperate love triangle involving a woman whose desire for a child drives her to adultery. Focusing on four characters, the story is told through dramatic tête-à-têtes. Narrator Richard Poe projects the tension between each combination of characters. He especially captures the deep friendship expressed in the interchanges between friends Ed and Joe Saul, who speak to each other in raspy, earnest voices. Joe Saul’s young wife, Mordeen, is portrayed with warmth and vibrancy in her voice. Through his attention to intonation, Poe captures the seriousness of the characters’ conversations while maintaining a friendly tone. D.W. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
