The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon, Esq.: Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon, Esq., credited to William Makepeace Thackeray, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon, Esq. by William Makepeace Thackeray. Read in English by mb First published as a serial in Fraser's Magazine in 1844 as The Luck of Barry Lyndon, The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon, Esq is a picaresque novel, narrated (occasionally charmingly, always unreliably) by a member of the 18th-century Irish gentry. Redmond Barry, later Barry Lyndon, describes his rise to - and inevitable fall from - the top of the English aristocracy. Romantic, military and political intrigue, as well as satire and pathos, follow. Editorial notes, courtesy of Thackeray's fictitious alter ego, G. S. FitzBoodle, interject further levels of irony, humour and detachment. Thackeray, who based the novel in part on the life and exploits of the Anglo-Irish rake and fortune-hunter Andrew Robinson Stoney, among other historical sources, significantly revised and reissued the book in 1856 under its current title. Its unreliable, morally dubious narrator, metafictional editor, and multiple layers of interpretive possibility make it a fascinating precursor to the modern novel, while Thackeray's characteristic interest in the specifics of 18th-century life ensures a rich and engaging backdrop. In 1975, Stanley Kubrick adapted the book for his film Barry Lyndon, since widely regarded as one of the finest films ever made. This audiobook was read from a 1902 edition edited by Walter Jerrold, who provides a brief introduction. - Summary by mb

Recording facts

• Recording title: The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon, Esq.
• Author credits: William Makepeace Thackeray
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 22
• Listed recording duration: 13:49:07

Catalogue topics

• unreliable narrator
• Ireland
• picaresque
• seven years' war
• stanley kubrick

Track guide

1. 00 - A Bibliographical Note by Walter Jerrold (1865 - 1929) — 8:38
2. 01 - Chapter 1, part 1 — 36:29
3. 02 - Chapter 1, part 2 — 31:17
4. 03 - Chapter 2 — 38:00
5. 04 - Chapter 3 — 35:01
6. 05 - Chapter 4 — 25:41
7. 06 - Chapter 5 — 39:07
8. 07 - Chapter 6 — 44:03
9. 08 - Chapter 7 — 30:10
10. 09 - Chapter 8 — 19:32
11. 10 - Chapter 9 — 34:07
12. 11 - Chapter 10 — 44:30
13. 12 - Chapter 11 — 22:56
14. 13 - Chapter 12 — 51:25
15. 14 - Chapter 13 — 46:05
16. 15 - Chapter 14 — 30:50
17. 16 - Chapter 15 — 36:02
18. 17 - Chapter 16 — 42:55
19. 18 - Chapter 17 — 55:37
20. 19 - Chapter 18 — 1:07:22
21. 20 - Chapter 19, part 1 — 32:41
22. 21 - Chapter 19, part 2 — 56:38

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Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.