Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview
  • Jude the Obscure

  • Penguin English Library
  • By: Thomas Hardy
  • Narrated by: Samuel West
  • Length: 6 hrs and 14 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (22 ratings)

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Jude the Obscure

By: Thomas Hardy
Narrated by: Samuel West
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

Penguin Classics presents Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Obscure, adapted for audio and available as a digital download as part of the Penguin English Library series. Read by Samuel West.

As you got older...you were seized with a sort of shuddering, he perceived. All around you there seemed to be something glaring, garish, rattling, and the noises and glares hit upon the little cell called your life, and shook it, and scorched it. If he could only prevent himself growing up! He did not want to be a man.

Jude Fawley, the stonemason excluded not by his wits but by poverty from the world of Christminster privilege, finds fulfilment in his relationship with Sue Bridehead. Both have left earlier marriages. Ironically, when tragedy tests their union it is Sue, the modern emancipated woman, who proves unequal to the challenge. Hardy’s fearless exploration of sexual and social relationships and his prophetic critique of marriage scandalised the late Victorian establishment and marked the end of his career as a novelist.

Part of a series of vintage recordings taken from the Penguin Archives. Affordable, collectable, quality productions - perfect for on-the-go listening.

©2012 Thomas Hardy (P)2012 Penguin Audio
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Tess of the D'Urbervilles cover art
Far from the Madding Crowd cover art
Hardy: The Mayor of Casterbridge cover art
The Return of the Native cover art
The Thomas Hardy BBC Radio Drama Collection cover art
Under the Greenwood Tree cover art
Richard Burton Reads the Poetry of Thomas Hardy cover art
Sons and Lovers cover art
A Pair of Blue Eyes cover art
Wessex Tales cover art
David Copperfield cover art
Wuthering Heights cover art
The Woodlanders cover art
The Light Years cover art
North and South cover art
An American Marriage (Oprah’s Book Club) cover art

What listeners say about Jude the Obscure

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    9
  • 4 Stars
    9
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    15
  • 4 Stars
    4
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    9
  • 4 Stars
    6
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    2

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Samuel West made for Hardy

This isn't my favourite Thomas Hardy story but Samuel West makes it come alive. this audio book is abridged but the heart of the book is intact.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

One of my favorites

Phenomenal story & narration! However, the Abridgement doesn’t do the book justice. Get the full audiobook instead. You’ll do yourself a favor.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Jude the Obscure

There is no happiness in this tale, bleak with no hope. Love, betrayal, lies and stupidity.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A reading worthy of Hardy's gravitas

Samuel West reads the tragedy with calm fluency. The novel itself is captivating as it captures the everyday living of Jude's tragic life.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Miserable dirge

I do not recommend this tedious story. The author never misses an opportunity to depress you. That's the second one of Hardy's heroes I've read, that dies of the common cold. 🤧

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!