'The Cloister and the Hearth', by Charles Reade, was published in 1861. It's a long and winding picaresque novel set in 15th century Europe, telling the story of the love between Gerard Eliason, an artist turned priest, and Margaret Brandt, the daughter of a poor scholar, and reflects the conflict between family and church which overshadowed the lives of so many in medieval times.
Its uniqueness lies in the way Reade, having meticulously researched his subject and the period, gives us insights more detailed than any other writer of fiction into medieval lifestyles and morals, combined with vivid descriptions of his characters – many based on real historical figures – and locations. He deliberately strays towards a medieval writing style, with many an archaic word to tantalise the reader or listener (an education in itself).
Until well into the twentieth century, ‘The Cloister and the Hearth’ was considered one of the greatest novels in the English language. Its popularity may have faded, but those who have read it will tell you of the enduring power of Reade’s tour de force. A revival is long overdue, and is deserved: it’s an exceptional book.
( Tom Denholm)
Type of proof-listening required (Note: please read the PL FAQ): standard
IMPORTANT - soloist, please note: in order to limit the amount of languishing projects (and hence the amount of files on our hard-pressed server), we ask that you post an update at least once a month in your project thread, even if you haven't managed to record anything. If we don't hear from you for three months, your project may be opened up to a group project if a Book Coordinator is found. Files you have completed will be used in this project. If you haven't recorded anything yet, your project will be removed from the forum (contact any admin to see if it can be re-instated). Please don't download or listen to files belonging to projects in process (unless you are the BC or PL). Our servers are not set up to handle the greater volume of traffic. Please wait until the project has been completed. Thanks!
Magic Window:
BC Admin
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Genres for the project:
Keywords that describe the book: romance, Catholicism, Italy, Erasmus, Netherlands, plague, picaresque, celibacy, medieval Europe, Burgundy
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The reader will record the following at the beginning and end of each file:
No more than 0.5 to 1 second of silence at the beginning of the recording! START of recording (Intro):
"Chapter [number] of The Cloister and the Hearth. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit: librivox DOT org"
If you wish, say:
"Recording by [your name], [city, your blog, podcast, web address]"
Say: "The Cloister and the Hearth, by Charles Reade. [Chapter]"
For the second and all subsequent sections, you may optionally use the shortened form of this intro disclaimer:
"Chapter [number] of The Cloister and the Hearth by Charles Reade. This LibriVox recording is in the Public Domain."
If you wish, say:
"Recording by [your name], [city, your blog, podcast, web address]"
Only if applicable, say: "[Chapter title]"
END of recording:
At the end of the section, say: "End of [Chapter]"
If you wish, say: "Recording by [your name], [city, your blog, podcast, web address]"
At the end of the book, say (in addition): "End of The Cloister and the Hearth, by Charles Reade. "
There should be ~5 seconds silence at the end of the recording.
Example filename cloisterandthehearth_###_reade_128kb.mp3 (all lower-case) where ### is the section number (e.g. cloisterandthehearth_001_reade_128kb.mp3)
Transfer of files (completed recordings) Please always post in this forum thread when you've sent a file. Also, post the length of the recording (file duration: mm:ss) together with the link.
Upload your file with the LibriVox Uploader: https://librivox.org/login/uploader
(If you have trouble reading the image above, please message an admin)
You'll need to select the MC, which for this project is: craigdav1
When your upload is complete, you will receive a link - please post it in this thread.
Edit: Because there are 100 sections the section numbers in the file names will go from 001 to 100. I have added you to our BC list (Book Coordinator). In a solo recording the reader is their own BC. As a first time BC you will need to open the MW (Magic Window) and add titles, file times (in the notes column) and the file links. Instructions for new BC's are at the following link. You may need to change your password as part of this change in your status. Let me know if you have any problems. If I see data in the MW I'll assume everything is ok.
After you have successfully started updating the MW we can deal with the issue of who will be the DPL of your book. Let me know if you have offered this to someone. If not we will advertise for someone.
As this is a solo recording you don't have to add the word count to the MW though some choose to do so. After you upload a file, copy and paste the url into the "Listen Url" column of the MW and mark the row "Ready for PL" (as I just did). It also would be useful to delete the word count and replace it with the file duration (mm:ss) in the notes column. Many often add the link to the project thread as you have done. We'll stay in the New Projects forum to see if we can find a dpl. I've marked the thread with a ~ in the subject line to indicate we are looking for one.
The volume is a tad low (86.2dB) but within the range we accept (86-92dB). Clipping limits amplification above ~87dB. In Audacity Effect/Compressor helps lower peaks in the waveform allowing further amplification. I can post a "how to" link if you are unfamiliar with using the compressor function. Again though the file is pl ok as is. If someone doesn't offer to dpl this soon, I may as it's an interesting story (and very well read).
The Gutenberg text has so many errors that I am checking continually against an old print edition.
Conspicuous examples are: 'All the world must obey', which should read 'All the world must obey mamma', and 'He is a good birth, dear mamma' should read 'He is a good bigth' (a lovely archaic word, but the real one). If you hear something as different from the text as these, you can assume I've checked it.
By the way, the singing at the end of Chapter 2 follows (more or less) the lines of music set out in my Collins edition.
Tom
'Make use of time, let not advantage slip'
(Shakespeare, Venus and Adonis)
