Savory & Strange--but Missing a Fit!!!

Boris Karloff has a grand time with Lewis Carroll's epic nonsense quest poem, reading the pointedly crazy lines with a cadaverously enthusiastic and engaging rhythm. It sounds at times as if he's not reading so much as inhabiting the poem, adventuring in an echoing and fantastic landscape of chasms and crags, always staying right between gravitas and camp.

My only complaint--and it's a big one--is that this version is NOT (I repeat, NOT) unabridged, because it's missing an entire Fit or chapter (the sixth one of eight, the one about the Barrister's Dream). I also caught Karloff skipping a stanza in an earlier fit... And the humorous preface in which Carroll "defends" himself from the charge of nonsense and explains how to pronounce "slithy toves" is missing.

In conclusion, if you get this expecting a fun romp with Karloff and Carroll rather than a 100% complete unabridged reading of The Hunting of the Snark, you will enjoy it.

You gotta love the Horror-B-Movie King declaiming from his sepulcher,

They sought it with thimbles, they sought it with care;
They pursued it with forks and hope;
They threatened its life with a railway-share;
They charmed it with smiles ands soap.

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Some parts were skipped

I was very disappointed that some of my favorite lined were skipped in this reading.

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A true classic

A true classic, much like a Bach sonata, short but perfect in form. I truly enjoyed it.

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Wonderful wacky poem

Boris Karloff is the perfect reader of this amusing and mysterious poetic work. Delightful, and beats several listens.

Missing the final words of the recording!

Carroll's poem is wonderful, Karloff's performance unsurpassable (even though abridged to fit on one side of an LP). But, here on Audible, the end of the poem's final sentence has been completely lopped off! Look for Karloff's "complete" (albeit abridged) recording elsewhere.

Great Story, Fabulous Performance!

Great Story, Fabulous Performance! I have loved this book since childhood! My siblings and I eventually each had our own because we all retread it numerous times, each trying to get the special clarity of Boris Karloff's tones and accent just right! Now I have the perform

If you haven't read this gem of a book, get it now! Get it as soon as possible. It could change your life! Love it you will,

Boris Karloff reads Lewis Carroll - perfect!

What made the experience of listening to The Hunting of the Snark the most enjoyable?

Boris Karloff! I mean, seriously, it's Boris freakin' Karloff! He's absolutely perfect for this material; I love his voice.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I don't really have a favorite character; I just love the poem as a whole. It's my favorite work of Lewis Carroll, and it's always been a goal of mine (one I fear I will never achieve) to memorize the whole thing.

What does Boris Karloff bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He's just the perfect voice, with emphasis in all the right places. There's no one else I could imagine to do a better job.