Discover New Releases Audiobooks in Classics, European Literature

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Titre: Candide, ou l'optimisme

Auteur: Voltaire

Narrateur: Lou Saintagne

Format: Unabridged

Durée: 4 hrs and 6 mins

Langue: Français

Date de publication: 08-19-16

Éditeur: Éditions Thélème

Genres: Classics, European Literature

Résumé de l'éditeur:

Tous les événements sont enchaînés dans le meilleur des mondes possibles : car enfin si vous n'aviez pas été chassé d'un beau château à grands coups de pied dans le derrière pour l'amour de mademoiselle Cunégonde, si vous n'aviez pas été mis à l'Inquisition, si vous n'aviez pas donné un bon coup d'épée au baron, si vous n'aviez pas perdu vos moutons du bon pays d'Eldorado, vous ne mangeriez pas ici des cédrats confits et des pistaches.

- Cela est bien dit, répondit Candide, mais il faut cultiver notre jardin.

© Domaine public (P)2008 Éditions Thélème

Avis des membres:

Great book but atypical format for hardcover disrupts reading flow

Candide is an excellent story, a concise yet conceptually soaring diatribe that unblinkingly lampoons the stigmas and realities of Voltaires time. The book is packed with scenarios that will make you laugh and cringe at once. I give four stars because the formatting on the hardcover book is a bit weird due to extra spaces in between paragraphs. This extra spacing disrupts the flow of reading and seems as if the publisher was trying to make the book more pages than it actually warranted with respect to the typical font and format of a novel or novella.

The best of all possible reviews

I decided to revisit this book after almost 40 years since my high school French class. It's amazing what reading it again after such a long time does for your perspective. Glad I picked it up again.

Satirical Genius

Voltaire is a satirical genius, he leaves few stones unturned in this short novel. The critical responses are useful resources if you have to write a report for the book or need further insight into Voltaires mind.

A quick witty romp!

What a fun read! I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is relatively short and moves quickly, so it's great if you want something witty without much commitment.

hilarious

This book is a combination of genius, logical argument and humor. It is definitely hilarious. I laughed so hard as I read this book that i had never before. I highly recommend this book. it makes you think about the world around you and the people and their sufferings yet you only laugh at it. It does not make you sad.

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Title: The Phantom of the Opera

Author: Gaston Leroux

Narrator: Christopher Cazenove

Format: Abridged

Length: 2 hrs and 33 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-09-16

Publisher: Phoenix Books

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Classics, European Literature

Publisher's Summary:

A baffling series of incidents at the majestic Paris Opera sparks frightening rumors about a mysterious opera ghost. A young and beautiful prima donna is visited by a masked "Angel of Music" who teaches her to sing and jealously demands her devotion. Is it a ghost, an angel or a man? And what does the mask conceal?

Members Reviews:

Absolutely, thrilling...

The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux is quite a tale. Dark, intense, and dramatic. Every page builds the momentum. Suspenseful and cleverly written. The Phantom Ghost is not a ghost at all. But a mere mortal. Yet he brings upon fear and darkness at the Opera. Love, jealous, and murder. This was an interesting piece of literature. I was in love. It had everything I expected and more. Gaston Leroux was a great writer. His words lured me deeper into his fictional world, The Phantom of the Opera. Music, death, and drama at the center. Absolutely, fascinating to read. I recommend this book to readers worldwide.

I bought this copy from my local bookstore.

A classic that never gets old

This is one of those stories that is such a classic that it gets periodic remakes in every medium. It's been retold in books (Susan Kay), masterfully parodied (Terry Pratchett), turned into a movie, a musical, you name it.

Despite his inhuman visage, Erik's tortured tale of love and suffering speaks to us all.

This is also one of the oldest books I know of to employ the "I am a researcher presenting my notes and interviews about events that really happened" plot device, and it carries that off well too, particularly as it helps to preserve some of the mystery surrounding Erik.

He was guilty of not a few horrors

I really struggled with this book in a lot of ways. The hero and heroine are both such ninnies that I really couldn't root for either of them. Christine is meant to be angelic, but the way she leads on the phantom seems quite contemptible. She does it to save her life, of course, but it still seems heartless and cruel (which reaction, I suppose, proves that Erik, the phantom, is the most sympathetic character in the story). Raoul, often described as a lad or boy or child, was hard to like also. His mercurial shifts from belief in Christine's innocence to accusing her of every possible betrayal were exhausting to read. And I have a hard time with a hero who, within the same scene, bursts into a "mad laugh" only to follow it by bursting into tears. Not that he's the only one who bursts into laughter or tears at every turn. All the characters did it. I was really hoping someone would just react by nodding occasionally, but alas, every scene involved extremes of some sort.

The structure of the book was not something I enjoyed either. The conceit--that the narrator is reconstructing these events from diaries, reports, journals, etc.--made for a very uneven reading experience. Just when I would become caught up in the storyline, there would be another authorial intrusion as the narrator jumped in and mentioned where this particular information came from. Aside from interrupting the flow of the story, it also called into question whatever scene had just taken place.

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Title: Rosmersholm

Author: Henrik Ibsen

Narrator: John Burlinson, K. G. Cross, Alan Weyman, Peter Tucker, Ron Altman, Michele Eaton, Denis Daly

Format: Unabridged

Length: 2 hrs and 53 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-09-16

Publisher: Spoken Realms

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Classics, European Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Rosmersholm

By Henrik Ibsen

Translated by Charles Archer

Presented by the Online Stage

Rosmersholm is a play surrounding the deep and intense political and cultural change in Norway in the middle of the 1880s, a period during which the traditional ruling class were forced to relinquish their right to impose their ideals on the rest of society. We follow Johannes Rosmer, a pastor who has resigned from his position; Rebecca West, a woman who sees Rosmer's potential and believes she can help him to realize his dream of creating a world of "happy, noble people"; and Headmaster Kroll, Rosmer's former best friend, who takes it upon himself to deliver some home truths to the other two. Rosmer's view of life is seriously challenged by his interactions with Rebecca, which lead to a shattering conclusion.

This production is part of a project by The Online Stage to record all 26 plays by Ibsen.

Cast

John Rosmer - John Burlinson

Rebecca West - K. G. Cross

Headmaster Kroll - Alan Weyman

Ulrik Brendel - Peter Tucker

Peder Mortensgaard - Ron Altman

Madame Helseth - Michele Eaton

Stage directions read by Denis Daly

Afterword composed and read by K. G. Cross

Members Reviews:

An Ibsen treasure

It has been claimed by a few critics that Rosmersholm is Ibsen's masterpiece. I do not concur with this conclusion but do find it a valid and relatively satisfying play, worthy of far more productions than it receives. Like Hedda and Nora, there is a strong-willed woman in this work who manipulates weaker males into doing things that one might consider to be a bit over the top. In this instance, Rosmer, the protestant minister of a congregation in a small Norwegian town, has lost his faith. As a respected intellectual and clear-headed thinker, he is caught in an ageless battle between the extreme right, manifest in Kroll his brother-in-law, and the extreme left, the banner carried here being Morganstaal, a self-proclaimed reprobate, and Rosmer's live-in companion, Rebecca, a close friend of the family who has assisted our apostate minister in coping with the loss of his wife, Beata, a weak-willed woman who commits suicide. There is also a touch of mysticism in this play that bridges Ibsen out of his "problem play" mode and into his ethereal motifs found in Little Eyolf and other later works. All in all, Rosmersholm is a challenging play, but worth the time one might spend with it.

The best Henrik Ibsen play for free

This is one of a many excellent writings that people can acquire for free from sources such as amazon because their copyrights have expired. Many people consider this 1886 play, which still appears in theaters today, Ibsen's best play.

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Titre: La Tulipe noire

Auteur: Alexandre Dumas

Narrateur: Mathurin Voltz

Format: Unabridged

Durée: 8 hrs and 37 mins

Langue: Français

Date de publication: 07-12-16

Éditeur: Éditions Thélème

Evaluation: 5 sur 5 sur 1 votes

Genres: Classics, European Literature

Résumé de l'éditeur:

La Tulipe noire est un des romans les plus connus d'Alexandre Dumas. On y trouve tous les thèmes chers à l'auteur : l'aventure, le courage, la grande histoire qui se mêle à la petite... Pourtant ici, Cornélius van Baerle n'a pas d'ambition militaire ou sociale, il veut avant tout créer et faire pousser une tulipe noire. Hélas, ses projets seront contrariés car notre héros n'est autre que le neveu du chef de l'État hollandais, Corneille de Witt, qui vient d'être renversé. Cornélius se retrouve jeté en prison, mais il trouvera une rédemption à travers la fille de son geôlier, Rosa.

© Domaine public (P)2012 Éditions Thélème

Avis des membres:

I always enjoy the books of Dumas father and son

I always enjoy the books of Dumas father and son. English or Spanish. I bought this one , La Tulipe Noire as a Chrismas present for a French teacher. I hope she likes it as much I do! Thank you.

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Title: Voyna i mir

Subtitle: Roman-epopeya, Tom 1

Author: Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy

Narrator: Yevgeniy Ternovskiy

Format: Unabridged

Length: 16 hrs and 59 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-08-16

Publisher: Mul'timediynoye izdatel'stvo Strel'bitskogo

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Classics, European Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy - russkiy pisatel', klassik otechestvennoy i mirovoy literatury."Voyna i mir" - vsemirno izvestnyy roman-epopeya L. N. Tolstogo - ni po svoim masshtabam, ni po svoyey strukture ne pokhozh na klassicheskiy roman. V nem net traditsionnogo lyubovnogo treugol'nika, lyubovnogo ili sotsial'nogo konflikta kak osnovy syuzheta. V romane uravneny v svoyem znachenii istoricheskiye stseny i stseny chastnoy, semeynoy zhizni.Uzhe mnogiye gody kazhdyy iz chitateley nakhodit v tolshche tomov stranitsy, volnuyushchiye imenno yego serdtse. Tom 1: Priyem v salone u Anny Pavlovny Sherer i imeniny Natashi Rostovoy, Shengrabenskoye srazheniye i smotr pod Braunau, zhenit'ba Bezukhova P'yera, knyaz' Andrey na pole Austerlitsa.

Please note: This audiobook is in Russian.

Critic Reviews:

Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy - russkiy pisatel', klassik otechestvennoy i mirovoy literatury. "Voyna i mir" - vsemirno izvestnyy roman-epopeya L. N. Tolstogo - ni po svoim masshtabam, ni po svoyey strukture ne pokhozh na klassicheskiy roman. V nem net traditsionnogo lyubovnogo treugol'nika, lyubovnogo ili sotsial'nogo konflikta kak osnovy syuzheta. V romane uravneny v svoyem znachenii istoricheskiye stseny i stseny chastnoy, semeynoy zhizni.Uzhe mnogiye gody kazhdyy iz chitateley nakhodit v tolshche tomov stranitsy, volnuyushchiye imenno yego serdtse. Tom 1: Priyem v salone u Anny Pavlovny Sherer i imeniny Natashi Rostovoy, Shengrabenskoye srazheniye i smotr pod Braunau, zhenit'ba Bezukhova P'yera, knyaz' Andrey na pole Austerlitsa.

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Titre: La femme de trente ans

Auteur: Honoré de Balzac

Narrateur: Élodie Huber

Format: Unabridged

Durée: 7 hrs and 17 mins

Langue: Français

Date de publication: 07-07-16

Éditeur: Éditions Thélème

Evaluation: 5 sur 5 sur 2 votes

Genres: Classics, European Literature

Résumé de l'éditeur:

La femme de trente ans évoque la condition féminine au travers du récit d'un mariage qui échoue. Julie de Chastillon est une jeune femme poussée trop vite dans le mariage et en quête permanente d'une rencontre amoureuse digne d'être vécue, elle devient adultère.

Entre les déceptions dans l'intimité conjugale et le devoir de garder les apparences en société, Balzac nous fait le récit parfaitement réaliste d'une jeune femme "à qui le mariage ne [...] réussit point". Il est le peintre des femmes et révèle dans un décor brutal, ce que certaines n'osent pas avouer.

Parue en 1842, La femme de trente ans appartient aux Scènes de la vie privée de La comédie humaine.

© Domaine public (P)2012 Éditions Thélème

Avis des membres:

we enjoy wonderful descriptions of the outside world

As usual with Balzac, we enjoy wonderful descriptions of the outside world, such as the Loire Valley, and equally wonderful descriptions of the naivety, misfortunes and sufferings of the main character. However, these are constantly spoiled by layer upon layer of his preaching on all sorts of subjects : the condition of women, separations, village life, Parisian life, fashion, military mentality, etc. His analysis is often subtle, but remains irrelevant to the plot. We know how that woman feels : heâs described it masterfully. We are not dim-witted children. So, why does he persist in explaining what just happened and then, just in case we hadnât got it, explaining it again ?

In the days when the Readerâs Digest published shortened versions of classic novels and modern best-sellers, I had mixed feelings about that kind of approach. For Balzac, it would be entirely justified. The result would be stunning.

It is hardly worthy of Balzac and I do not recommend it.

This book starts out as very promising, dealing with Paris, minor aristocrats, and the era of Napoleon. It quickly diminishes into a plot that has very little action . The descriptions of nature and the analyses of sentiment go on ad nauseam. About two-thirds of the way through the book, it appears that the author has run out of ideas to move the plot forward, and he resorts to incredible twists in the action such as a mysterious stranger knocking on the door in the middle of a blustery winter night--with whom his daughter runs off, and pirates seizing ships off the coast of France. This book was so disjointed that I had trouble finishing it. It is hardly worthy of Balzac and I do not recommend it.

Interesting book

I thought really good but I think I like the Maitres Sonore a bit better by George Sand which I'm reading right now - as really keeps you up in the air and tends to keep the interest a bit better - this was really good though no doubt -

Speechless

This was my first book by Balzac and I enormously enjoyed it.

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Titre: Eugénie Grandet

Auteur: Honoré de Balzac

Narrateur: Françoise Gillard

Format: Unabridged

Durée: 5 hrs and 4 mins

Langue: Français

Date de publication: 06-17-16

Éditeur: Éditions Thélème

Evaluation: 4.5 sur 5 sur 5 votes

Genres: Classics, European Literature

Résumé de l'éditeur:

Le père d'Eugénie Grandet a été tonnelier. Grâce à un sens aigu des affaires et une grande avarice, il a réussi à faire fortune en profitant des événements de cette époque instable. Autrefois maire de Saumur, il fait maintenant fructifier sa grande fortune tout en faisant croire à sa femme et à sa fille qu'ils ne sont pas bien riches. Les habitants de Saumur, plus au courant de la fortune du père Grandet, voient en sa fille Eugénie le plus beau parti de la ville et la courtisent donc ardemment.

© Domaine public (P)2005 Éditions Thélème

Avis des membres:

At Daggers Drawn

Perfect. Or as close to perfection as Balzac gets. The opening 22-page section is a master class for any aspiring novelist in how to set the scene, introduce the characters, suggest the conflicts, reveal the theme, set a whole fictional world spinning on its axis, all with an economy of means as present here as it is absent from the exasperating PERE GORIOT.

Characters are distinct individuals and thus an unsolvable mystery to others as well as themselves. Yet each gets his or her due - even the miser whose avarice is a logical alternative to the religious fanaticism of wife and daughter. When he sings and dances a jig after cornering gold, we happily join in! Novel stands or falls, of course, with the characterization of Eugenie: it is flawless. A portrayal of a young woman besieged by passion for the first time - how it consumes her, elates her, debases her, destroys her - is rendered with such psychological accuracy, such telling detail, such delicacy of touch and subtlety of shading, even at times with such humor, that the encomiums about Balzac that sometimes puzzle us finally ring true:

"In Balzac, every living soul is a weapon loaded to the very muzzle with will."

Baudelaire

"Balzac's great glory is that he pretended hardest."

James

"The nineteenth century, as we know it, is largely an invention of Balzac's."

Wilde

A good read

This is the second novel by Balzac I have read (Old Goriot the first) and I am quickly becoming a fan. I am looking forward to reading Cousin Bette. I agree with another reviewer who found it difficult to believe that Eugenie could fall so deeply in love with her cousin after one meeting. One might also wonder why the book was titled after Eugenie since the majority of the novel focused on her disgustingly greedy father. Eugnie did not become the main character until the last fourth of the novel. That aside, this is a good story and I enthusiastically recommend it.

One of Balzaz's best

I don't know how many folks read Balzac these days. If one wanted to try one of his novels, this would be the one to try. It is not difficult to read and is not long. I have read a number of his novels and this was one of the best. If you do not care for this book, there is probably little point in trying the others.

Well, It's Balzac

If you didn't dig anything else Balzac penned, you won't like this either.

Good setting, a little like a travel brochure in a couple of places, but overall..I like it.

Extraordinary teller of its time

What a detailed account of the vices and virtues, the places and the social architecture of the time.

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Title: Lolita

Author: Vladimir Nabokov

Narrator: Oded Teomi

Format: Abridged

Length: 3 hrs and 19 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-15-16

Publisher: SonicBooks

Genres: Classics, European Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Lolita is the best-known book by Russian writer Vladimir Nabokov.

Abridged version.

Lolita is a book from the beloved works of the most esteemed literary world, thanks to the virtuoso style of Nabokov's great daring subject, which deals with the love of a grown man and a little girl of 12.

Lolita is a detective novel in reverse. From the beginning of the Lolita story, we know that the protagonist is sitting in detention prior to a trial for murder, and the listener has to try to discover the identity of the victim. Vladimir Nabokov claims that "Lolita does not teach any lesson" because fiction, for him, is "aesthetic pleasure" only.

Lolita is "confessions of a white male" - the memoirs of Humbert Humbert, a murder suspect who died of a blood clot in the heart a few days before trial.

The audiobook version of Lolita was translated and produced by Talking Books LTD.

Music: Ran Bagno.

Members Reviews:

Five Stars

Explicit even by today's standards!

How's your Francais? Just google it!

I would hate to ruin this otherwise mundane travel log and diary by expressing my thoughts about the book.

Lolita begins very convincingly and maintains a kind of sexual tension throughout. It is not pornographic at all. Nor is it harmful. It is a very funny study of humans. I believe that the appreciation of beauty and intricacy of humans is clearly demonstrated.

The author wisely chose subject matter that would place him in a position of sensation and it reads as such.

A tendency to exclude lazy and uneducated readers persists throughout.

excellent writing, questionable content but the quality of the ...

It's a classic, excellent writing, questionable content but the quality of the writing is well worth the discomfort.

definitely recommended

I read this book out of curiosity. why is it considered a classic if it's so controversial? why would a story about a pedophile ever be anyone's favorite book??? i now get it. my overall feeling was one of guilt. this man was clearly a deviant and i should have called the cops on him, but kept on reading because i wanted to know what happened! amazing how a book can do that to you.

Timeless

Very familiar with the story. Mainly, I wanted a First Edition copy of this revolutionary book. Nabokov did an excellent job of weaving the details of this story together. It's a shame that both movies made Lolita older and more sultry than Nabokov's Dolores, as they minimized how she was initially a victim of a predator, and evolved in order to survive.

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Title: The Tolstoy Collection [Hebrew Edition]

Author: Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy

Narrator: Yossi Graber

Format: Abridged

Length: 2 hrs and 48 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-15-16

Publisher: SonicBooks

Genres: Classics, European Literature

Publisher's Summary:

The Kreutzer Sonata and The Death of Ivan Ilyich, by Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy (abriged versions).

The Kreutzer Sonata was published in 1889 and promptly censored by the Russian authorities. The work is an argument for the ideal of sexual abstinence and an in-depth first-person description of jealous rage. The main character, Pozdnyshev, relates the events leading up to his killing his wife; in his analysis, the root cause for the deed were the "animal excesses" and "swinish connection" governing relations between the sexes.

The Death of Ivan Ilyich is a novella by Leo Tolstoy, one of the masterpieces of his late fiction, written shortly after his conversion to Christianity.

The Death of Ivan Ilyich tells the story of the life and death, at the age of 45, of a high court judge in 19th-century Russia - a miserable husband, proud father, and upwardly mobile member of Russia's professional class, the object of Tolstoy's unremitting satire. Living what seems to be a good life, his dreadful relationship with his wife notwithstanding, Ivan Ilyich Golovin bangs his side while putting up curtains in a new apartment intended to reflect his family's superior status in society. Within weeks he has developed a strange taste in his mouth and a pain that will not go away. Numerous expensive doctors, friends of friends of friends, are visited in their surgeries or called to the judge's bedside, but beyond muttering about blind gut and floating kidneys, they can neither explain nor treat his condition, and it soon becomes clear that Ivan Ilyich is dying.

The Tolstoy Collection audiobook was translated and produced by Talking Books LTD.

Music: Ran Bagno

Please note: This audiobook is in Hebrew.

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Title: The Kiss. Tales [Russian Edition]

Author: Anton Chekhov

Narrator: Arina Lanskaya

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-07-16

Publisher: IDDK

Genres: Classics, European Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Izdanie soderzhit rasskazy velikogo russkogo pisatelja Antona Pavlovicha Chehova, napisannye 1886g. Chehov sozdal novye hody v literature, sil'no povlijav na razvitie sovremennogo rasskaza. Original'nost' ego tvorcheskogo metoda zakljuchaetsja v ispol'zovanii prijoma pod nazvaniem potok soznanija. Chehov ne stremilsja dat' otvety chitajushhej publike, a schital, chto rol' avtora zakljuchaetsja v tom, chtoby zadavat' voprosy, a ne otvechat' na nih.

Please note: This audiobook is in Russian.