Audio books: The Laying on of Hands by Alan Bennett<br></br>King Lear by John Tydeman<br></br>The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
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Your support makes all the difference.All this week's choices illustrate how much more there is to audiobooks than just reading aloud. Alan Bennett's The Laying On of Hands is one of his finest entertainments. Seen largely through the eyes of two churchmen, one harshly certain, one groping for deeper understanding, its setting is a memorial service thronged with the famous who, gathered together to "celebrate" the life of a bisexual masseur, are plunged into anxiety when someone mentions the A-word.
Naxos has established a reputation for excellent Shakespeare productions, and their latest, King Lear (c.3hrs, £9.99 tape, £13.99 CD), directed by John Tydeman, confirms it. Paul Schofield is 80 this year, so there could be no better time to revisit the part he played to such acclaim in Peter Brook's 1960s production. Petulantly powerful in the opening scenes, we hear Lear frayed into fury by his daughters' betrayal, then diminish through despair into madness. Add Kenneth Branagh as the Fool, Harriet Walter and Sara Kestelman as a chilling Goneril and barbarous Regan, and Emilia Fox as Cordelia, stir in some sturm und drang sound effects, and the whole becomes a masterpiece of audio theatre.
Philip Pullman's Whitbread win for the third novel in his Northern Lights trilogy is a timely moment to remind readers that The Amber Spyglass (Chivers, c.15 hrs, £16.95 mail order 0800136919) completes the recordings of his epic variation on the theme of Paradise Lost. Pullman narrates, his voice guiding a cast of 40 actors including Alec McCowen, Stephen Thorne and Liza Ross.
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