full cast drama and analysisIf you are studying Hardy's Mayor of Casterbridge for any kind of examination, the first thing you need to do (this should go without saying) is read and re-read the text in a modern, preferably annotated, scholarly edition. But no £15 (or less, if you look) will be better spent than buying a copy of the SmartPass audio education study guide. A private tutor is going to charge twice this amount for an hour-long session, but the SmartPass CDs you can listen to for as little or as long as you have time for - and then over and over again. The packaging tough and well designed, and should see you through the year.
Combined with a stirring and memorable dramatisation of many of the key scenes from the novel is a detailed introduction to its themes - fate, love, ambition, morality, tragedy, social issues, sex and gender, class, the consequences of mechanisation on social mobility and class. And much, much more. Add some advice on essay-writing and coursework, on using quotations and preparing for exams, and this is an invaluable study aid - authoritative, challenging and unpatronising. If only all teachers were as good ...
Buy it. It may be the best investment you have made in your education to date.
* * * * *
© 2008 AudioBooksReview
