Discover Best Audiobooks in Classics, American Literature Most Popular

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Title: Reflections in a Golden Eye

Author: Carson McCuller

Narrator: Christopher Kipiniak

Format: Unabridged

Length: 3 hrs and 59 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-31-16

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Classics, American Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Set on a Southern army base in the 1930s, Reflections in a Golden Eye tells the story of Captain Penderton, a bisexual whose life is upset by the arrival of Major Langdon, a charming womanizer who has an affair with Penderton's tempestuous and flirtatious wife, Leonora. Upon the novel's publication in 1941, reviewers were unsure of what to make of its relatively scandalous subject matter. A critic for Time Magazine wrote, "In almost any hands, such material would yield a rank fruitcake of mere arty melodrama. But Carson McCullers tells her tale with simplicity, insight, and a rare gift of phrase." Written during a time when McCullers's own marriage to Reeves was on the brink of collapse, her second novel deals with her trademark themes of alienation and unfulfilled loves.

Members Reviews:

Repress your sexuality and all sorts of horrible Southern Gothic things can happen (and it's pretty interesting)

The book discussion group discussed this short kinky novel in October 2015. We all liked this book and thought that it has plenty to recommend itself but it isn't the best McCullers novel (or the best first McCullers novel to read). And the movie sort of ruins it.

Some of us had the old paperback edition of the novel that has an essay from Tennessee Williams about Southern Gothic novels and noting that this McCullers's "sophomore novel" after a wildly successful first novel (which was "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter," published when she was 23). This is clearly a Gothic novel that falls into a genre category. While Tennessee doesn't mention him, I thought of Faulkner while reading "Reflections...."

A number of readers pointed out the beautiful and unexpected language that McCullers uses throughout the novel. In addition to the heightened emotions, we were constantly knocked out by the word choices. Some of the descriptions of nature on the military base were especially rich and unexpected.

All of the characters are severely damaged in some way. It's hard to believe, but Leonora Penderton is probably the most "normal" of the limited cast. Yes, she might be a bit dim but she's a force of nature. She takes lovers easily and loves ferociously, especially her horse that is often treated like one of her lovers (raising the issue of bestiality among all the other sexual obsessions in the novel).

"Reflections..." is a novel of spectacular failure of communication. All of the characters are unable to connect to their partners or others around them. They seem to be sleepwalking through their lives, searching for something they can't find. Private Williams is always lying around about ready to doze off; Alison Langdon is constantly repairing to her bed; and a quarter of the action of the novel takes place in Leonora's bedroom while she's sleeping. She barely wakes up for the final terrible action.

Their searching points to the voyeuristic theme of the novel.

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Title: Sky Island

Author: L. Frank Baum

Narrator: Flo Gibson

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 18 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-22-16

Publisher: Audio Book Contractors, LLC

Genres: Classics, American Literature

Publisher's Summary:

L. Frank Baum called this and The Wizard of Oz his two best books! A magic umbrella transports Trot, Buttonbright, and Cap'n Bill to an island in the sky inhabited by the Blues, the Pinks, and the evil Boolooroo.

Members Reviews:

So Much Fun!

Sky Island is a book that I first read back in the late 50âs/early 60âs and it is a story that has stayed with me over the years. I, of course, lost my copy (probably thrown away by mom for being so dog-eared and ragged) so it wasnât until I was an adult that I decided to replace my beloved book.

The story is pretty much as I remembered reading as a child. The Pinks and the Blues are creatures that live in a world above ours. They are constantly at war, with the Blues being the more aggressive race.

The story begins with a young girl named Trot who meets a boy called Button-Bright. Button-Bright has a magic umbrella that can transport you anywhere in minutes. After taking Trot out on a few trial runs, she wants to take old Capân Bill, a family friend along for a ride. So, the three companions decide to be transported to an island for a picnic. The only problem is that they donât actually know the name of said island, and Trot just uses the nickname sheâs given it which is Sky Island.

Oh my, the things that can go wrong when you donât know where youâre going. Turns out there really is a Sky Island and you guessed it, it is in the sky! They land right in the realm of the Blue meanies. Here their adventures or should I say misadventures begin!

This is such a rip-roaring fun read and I so hope in our modern times that kids, as well as adults, can appreciate the sly humor found within the story. Yep, I still love this book as much as I did when I first read it so many years ago!

It shows Baum's typical imagination for building amazing, silly characters and delightful plot situations

This book is about adventures in a fairyland that is not Oz. It shows Baum's typical imagination for building amazing, silly characters and delightful plot situations. Four of the characters in this book also appear in some of the Oz books, Button Bright, Polychrome, Trot and Captain Bill. But Button Bright appears like a much older child in this book than he is in Oz. In Oz, he barely says anything other than "Don't know," whereas in this book he is quite talkative and intelligent. I am not sure why this book did not achieve the popularity of the Oz books.

Second in the series

I have said this in one of my other reviews...L. Frank Baum has written more than I had realized and I have learned to love him as an author. I always loved The Wizard Of OZ however I did not realize that was just the first in a series of many.

This book two is the second in the series of Trot and Cap'n Bill which I also loved you do not necessarily have to read them in order but if you are like me that is the way I prefer to read series the sad thing is that sometimes with how old they are is trying to find the correct order....but there are only these two in this series.

The imagination that Mr. Baum allows you to use and how he brings things you would never thought of too mind...In this book you will find a bit of Mary Poppins meets the land of Oz.

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Title: Zov predkov [Call of the Wild]

Author: Dzhek London

Narrator: Stanislav Fedosov

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 31 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-11-16

Publisher: Mul'timediynoye izdatel'stvo Strel'bitskogo

Genres: Classics, American Literature

Publisher's Summary:

V 1903 godu, posle opublikovaniya povesti "Zov predkov", amerikanskiy pisatel' Dzhek London prosnulsya znamenitym - pervyy tirazh knigi razoshelsya za odin den'."Zov predkov" - rasskaz ob udivitel'noy sud'be sobaki po klichke Bak. Bak byl pokhishchen, uvezen na Alyasku i prodan zolotoiskatelyam. Neprosto bylo domashnemu psu prisposobit'sya k zhizni v surovykh krayakh dikogo Severa. No, vyderzhav vse ispytaniya, on stal sil'nym, vynoslivym i besstrashnym zverem.V dushe sobaki boryutsya dva nachala: lyubov' i predannost' khozyainu i golos prirody, zov khishchnika, zov dikosti i pervobytnoy zhestokosti.

Please note: This audiobook is in Russian.

Critic Reviews:

"Zov predkov" - rasskaz ob udivitel'noy sud'be sobaki po klichke Bak. Bak byl pokhishchen, uvezen na Alyasku i prodan zolotoiskatelyam. Neprosto bylo domashnemu psu prisposobit'sya k zhizni v surovykh krayakh dikogo Severa. No, vyderzhav vse ispytaniya, on stal sil'nym, vynoslivym i besstrashnym zverem.V dushe sobaki boryutsya dva nachala: lyubov' i predannost' khozyainu i golos prirody, zov khishchnika, zov dikosti i pervobytnoy zhestokosti.

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Title: The Unpardonable Sin

Author: Gladys Vilsack

Narrator: Joe Nagle

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 17 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-23-16

Publisher: StoryBrancher.com

Genres: Classics, American Literature

Publisher's Summary:

The Unpardonable Sin is a book first published in 1915 by Gladys Brace Vilsack, a great-grandmother of singer Katy Perry. This work is made available on audio for the first time by StoryBrancher.com, a website that helps users tell the stories of the people, places, and things important to them. Learn more about this author and her work on StoryBrancher.

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Title: The Edgar Allan Poe Collection

Author: Edgar Allan Poe

Narrator: Yossi Graber

Format: Abridged

Length: 2 hrs and 26 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-15-16

Publisher: SonicBooks

Genres: Classics, American Literature

Publisher's Summary:

The Edgar Allan Poe Collection (abridged version)

The Edgar Allan Poe Collection contains some of Edgar Allan Poe's best tales and poetry: "The Tell-Tale Heart", "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", "The Masque of the Red Death", "The Cask of Amontillado", "The Raven", "The Pit and the Pendulum", "Annabel Lee".

The audiobook version of The Edgar Allan Poe Collection was translated and produced by Talking Books.

Music: Ran Bagno.

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Title: Barker's Luck [Russian Edition]

Author: Francis Bret Harte

Narrator: Leonid Kharitonov, Vladimir Troshin, Yury Sazonov, Liliya Ryazantseva, Vasily Toporkov, Yury Leonidov

Format: Abridged

Length: 57 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-07-16

Publisher: IDDK

Genres: Classics, American Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Radiospektakl' "Schastlivec Barker" po odnoimennomu rasskazu Breta Garta, amerikanskogo prozaika, kotoryj proslavilsja realisticheskimi opisanijami zhizni zolotoiskatelej v Kalifornii.

Please note: This audiobook is in Russian.

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Title: Hangman

Author: Mike Murphy

Narrator: full cast

Format: Unabridged

Length: 24 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-26-16

Publisher: Spoken Realms

Genres: Classics, American Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Grieving for a loved one can be a dangerous business, especially when the Devil offers to help soothe the pain. In this quirky radio drama, the Prince of Darkness gives his hapless victim rather more than he wants.

Cast:

John Burlinson as Mr Scratch; Ed Humpal as Cunningham; additional voices supplied by Charlotte Duckett, Eileen Tipping, and Denis Daly

Music and Sound Design by Ed Humpal and Eileen Tipping

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Title: A Dark Brown Dog

Author: Stephen Crane

Narrator: Michael Pearl

Format: Unabridged

Length: 16 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-26-16

Publisher: Brook Forest Voices

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Classics, American Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Stephen Crane writes a tragic story depicting the cycle of abuse and the impact it has on those involved.

A young boy finds a homeless dog desperate for love and brings him into his home. What is frightening about Crane's take on this typical relationship, a boy and his dog, are the parallels between the young boy's treatment of the dog and his abusive, alcoholic father's treatment of those around him.

The amount of symbolism used throughout this essay is staggering and is the main literary element used in this piece of work. Written in 1890, this story reflects the period of time that began shortly before, known as Jim Crow.

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Title: The Oval Portrait

Author: Edgar Allan Poe

Narrator: Phillip J. Mather

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-10-16

Publisher: Spoken Realms

Genres: Classics, American Literature

Publisher's Summary:

"The book describes a tragic story involving a young maiden of 'the rarest beauty'. She loved and wedded an eccentric painter who cared more about his work than anything else in the world, including his wife. The painter eventually asked his wife to sit for him, and she obediently consented, sitting "meekly for many weeks" in his turret chamber. The painter worked so diligently at his task that he did not recognize his wife's fading health, as she, being a loving wife, continually 'smiled on and still on, uncomplainingly'. As the painter neared the end of his work, he let no one enter the turret chamber and rarely took his eyes off the canvas, even to watch his wife. After 'many weeks had passed', he finally finished his work. As he looked on the completed image, however, he felt appalled, as he exclaimed...." - (Wikipedia)

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Title: Ethan Frome [Danish Edition]

Author: Edith Wharton

Narrator: Bent Otto Hansen

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 9 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-15-16

Publisher: Viatone

Genres: Classics, American Literature

Publisher's Summary:

P en ensom grd i et koldt, snedkket New England arbejder Ethan Frome hrdt for at kunne forsrge sig selv og sin svagelige kone Zeena, som han har giftet sig med af frygt for at blive ensom efter sine forldres dd. Deres gteskab er ikke lykkeligt, og Zeena er bde beregnende og manipulerende. Da Zeenas livlige, unge kusine, Mattie Silver, flytter ind hos dem for at hjlpe med husholdningen, knyttes et strkt bnd mellem hende og Ethan. I takt med at deres forhold udvikler sig, vokser Zeenas bitterhed, og da de alle tre er afhngige af hinanden, ender dette trekantsdrama i en hrdknude, der kulminerer i en overraskende og ironisk slutning.

Please note: This audiobook is in Danish.

Members Reviews:

Oh, Edith, you've done it again!

I love the emotions she evokes in her writings, but it's just so darn depressing. Ethan Frome isn't nearly as endearing as House of Mirth, but it still pulls at your heart. Somehow, despite his actions, you sympathize with Ethan to a point, lining for him to find peace even though you know it's hopeless. I think the reason I enjoyed House of Mirth more is because I didn't know the outcome of the story, so there was always some piece of me that held onto hope. In Ethan Frome, however, Wharton introduces Ethan as a depressed, disfigured man with secrets, then takes you back in time to how he came to that point. You begin the story knowing he ends up unhappy, so there isn't any room for hope. You're simply edged on by your curiosity to find out what exactly brought about his doomed existence in life.

Despite not really caring for the story itself, I feel I must give Wharton her dues by rating at least 3 stars; her writing is just so beautiful! Like I said, I was curious from the get-go of how Ethan Frome got to where he was. I wanted to know what came of each character, even though I don't think I deeply cared for any of them. It's a strange kind of detached curiosity, almost like reading a bad gossip column (though written about 10x better lol). You must know what happens to the characters even though you'll probably discard the information shortly after finding it out.

If you enjoyed Ethan Frome just a little, you must go on to read House of Mirth. I'm sure you'll enjoy it just as much, if not more.

Ethan Frome and Summer

Surprising character, not what I expected. He did not improve his life by falling in love with another woman. It was a sad book, about a dissatisfied man. His wife was sour and tried to get sympathy and attention by her ailments, but just succeeded in alienating her husband. He and his paramour tried to leave by committing suicide, and failed, and then had to suffer the consequences of this failure, for the rest of their lives.

Summer was about a silly listless girl that took up with a newcomer. It was kind of creepy that the man who adopted and raised her wanted her for a lover and married her when the man who got her pregnant left her for his original fiance.

Tragic but enjoyable

81. One of the most tragic characters in literature is Ethan Frome. I really enjoyed this work, the author uses wonderful words to describe her scenes of the country side. I also found that her discourses of the characters hold to the dialect of the area. The beginning and ending of the story are told as a narrative by a visitor to the village, the middle section is the story of Ethan and the history of his relationships.