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Title: In the Penal Colony

Author: Franz Kafka

Narrator: Peter Yearsley

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 5 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-27-16

Publisher: Paperless

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 8 votes

Genres: Classics, European Literature

Publisher's Summary:

"In the Penal Colony" ("In der Strafkolonie") (also translated as "In the Penal Settlement") is a short story by Franz Kafka written in German in October 1914, revised in November 1918, and first published in October 1919. The story is set in an unnamed penal colony. Internal clues and the setting on an island suggest Octave Mirbeau's "The Torture Garden" as an influence. As in some of Kafka's other writings, the narrator in this story seems detached from, or perhaps numbed by, events that one would normally expect to be registered with horror. "In the Penal Colony" describes the last use of an elaborate torture and execution device that carves the sentence of the condemned prisoner on his skin before letting him die, all in the course of 12 hours. As the plot unfolds, the listener learns more and more about the machine, including its origin and original justification.

Members Reviews:

Simply a brilliant description of cruelty

An amazing piece of literature. Kafka catches the cold hearted cruelty of the officer, the subservience of the soldier, the fear of the convicted man and the sympathy of the traveler without being sentimental, with a surprising but logical ending.

Great Kafka short story

Another crazy book by Kafka, always great at describing absurd situations in the most casual way. Excellent book (more of a short story)

Uncomfortable

In true Kafka fashion, a mesmerizing tale of the inhumanity of authority. A quick but enjoyable read. He is a favorite.

great book

It was a quick and entertaining read. I'd certainly recommend it to a friend. I look forward to reading more of Kafka's works soon!

A new look at old world writers which draw one ...

A new look at old world writers which draw one away from 21st century emotionalism.

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Titre: Discours sur la servitude volontaire

Auteur: Étienne de La Boétie

Narrateur: Denis Podalydès

Format: Unabridged

Durée: 1 hr and 13 mins

Langue: Français

Date de publication: 08-12-16

Éditeur: Éditions Thélème

Evaluation: 5 sur 5 sur 2 votes

Genres: Classics, European Literature

Résumé de l'éditeur:

Étienne de la Boétie écrit le Discours sur la servitude volontaire en 1549 alors qu'il n'a que 18 ans. Si la question est politique, l'auteur ne se contente pas de critiquer les régimes tyranniques, il questionne aussi l'agent politique, celui qui est gouverné : comment peut-il se faire que "tant d'hommes, tant de bourgs, tant de villes, tant de nations endurent quelquefois un tyran seul, qui n'a de puissance que celle qu'ils lui donnent ?"

© Domaine public (P)2010 Éditions Thélème

Avis des membres:

Five Stars

Très intéressant..

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Titre: La Chartreuse de Parme

Auteur: Stendhal

Narrateur: Guillaume Galliennne

Format: Abridged

Durée: 9 hrs and 2 mins

Langue: Français

Date de publication: 07-26-16

Éditeur: Éditions Thélème

Evaluation: 5 sur 5 sur 1 votes

Genres: Classics, European Literature

Résumé de l'éditeur:

Publié en 1839, La Chartreuse de Parme a été écrit en 53 jours par Stendhal. L'œuvre a pour décor l'Italie si chère à Stendhal. La Sanseverina possède toutes les dimensions de la femme amoureuse et objet d'amour passionné, tandis que le héros, Fabrice del Dongo, est un enfant béni des dieux. Mais leur fougue et leur sentimentalisme vont les mener à un destin tragique.

© Domaine public (P)2008 Éditions Thélème

Avis des membres:

Great litterary work, but bad edition

The story, with a number of picturesque characters and sceneries, is admirably told, with frequent nods from the author on various topics. It's no wonder this book is a classic, and it is a reminder that if one wants to know about human nature, one should read the classics; if one wants to express oneself well, one should read the classics.

However, this publication/edition does great injury to the work and to the author: How could there be so many typos and errors!? This book was written in the 19th century; surely there have been many editions since then so that all the typos would be corrected! How can Amazon and CreateSpace, in the 21st Century, the age of the Internet, still use such a mediocre edition!

Revisit an old friend

I read La Certosa di Parma first in Italian, then in English and I realized I missed to read it in French. Doine now, and I still read it with interest (I am old and I had forgotten some of the passages). I read it the way it should be read, like a thriller, and with my sympathy to Napoleon, who, pace Inghilterra, brought the French revolution to Europe. The description of Waterloo is perfect: if you have been in a battle, that is the way you come out, not really knowing if you were in a battle. And the description of the petty, ridiculous Parma court is also very well done. The women are nice, perhaps too nice, what's wrong with it?

Five Stars

Exactly what I wanted.

One of the great novels of all times

I ordered it so as to have it and re-read it from time to time. One of the great novels of all times.

The story is wonderful and well written

The story is wonderful and well written, but the edition of the book is terrible, full of spelling and typos. I wouldn't recommend!

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Titre: Le père Goriot

Auteur: Honoré de Balzac

Narrateur: Michel Vuillermoz

Format: Unabridged

Durée: 5 hrs and 58 mins

Langue: Français

Date de publication: 07-25-16

Éditeur: Éditions Thélème

Genres: Classics, European Literature

Résumé de l'éditeur:

Rastignac, resté seul, fit quelques pas vers le haut du cimetière et vit Paris tortueusement couché le long des deux rives de la Seine où commençaient à briller les lumières. Ses yeux s'attachèrent presque avidement entre la colonne Vendôme et le dôme des Invalides, là où vivait ce beau monde dans lequel il avait voulu pénétrer. Il lança sur cette ruche bourdonnante un regard qui semblait par avance pomper le miel, et dit ces mots grandioses : "À nous deux maintenant !"

© Domaine public (P)2011 Éditions Thélème

Avis des membres:

Kindle has opened the world of the classics.

As only an intermediate student of French, I had thought the world of classic literature in the original language was closed to me. Not any more. With a downloaded French-English dictionary, one has only to hover over an unknown word for the English definition to appear. To make things even easier, the same book can be downloaded in English so one can re-read the same pages in English as a double-check. At last, the tone and flavour of the original comes alive, and poor old Père Goriot with money-grubbing daughters (think Goneril and Reagan from Shakespeare) appears in all his original pathos. It is a classic, so you know more than one person has found it a worthwhile reading experience. That experience is now open to anyone who has achieved even a modest level of French.

Total absorption

We live in a new world. A great classic like this, and totally free. Balzac writes in the deep romantic and realistic style of Dickens. The book opens with several pages describing the rooming house in Paris where most of the action takes place. This may not suit some modern readers used to immediate plot development, but the total immersion in place really helped me get into it. And when things get moving, the yarn is quite gripping, and in character with its time, it's filled with meticulous psychological detail and social analysis, juiced up with sex and social climbing. Like Stendhal's "Le Rouge et le Noir," Balzac is interested in the fate of a parvenu, an energetic guy from the edges of society who makes his way to the glittering center using every trick in the book. Jump into the intriguing world of Paris in 1819 - and keep your head above water!

Toucant

J'ai lu ce roman obligatoirement pendant mes cours de littérature à l'université,sans beaucoup de compréhension,ni d'appréciation. J'ai choisi de le reprendre par curiosité et soin intellectuel personnel. Je pense que le style aussi bien que l'intért de l'histoire soient hors de la portée de la majorité des étudiants universitaires surtout américains inscrits dans des programmes d'études du franais.plus nous avanons dans le temps moins les jeunes ont de la sensibilité pour saisir les grandes classiques de la littérature. Comme Bazac n'y a pas mis d'explosions ni de descriptions grotesques de la mort,il y a peu qui peut attirer l'attention des jeunes gens d'aujourd'hui.

Balzac and then George Sand

Just say Balzac. Not too be missed. But for the younger generation very very 19th century. However one of the best in the world literature.

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Titre: Le cousin Pons

Auteur: Honoré de Balzac

Narrateur: Jean-Benoît L'Héritier

Format: Unabridged

Durée: 11 hrs and 59 mins

Langue: Français

Date de publication: 06-24-16

Éditeur: Éditions Thélème

Evaluation: 5 sur 5 sur 3 votes

Genres: Classics, European Literature

Résumé de l'éditeur:

Ce roman fait partie des Scènes de la vie parisienne dans la section Les Parents pauvres,tout comme La Cousine Bette.

Pons, musicien sans fortune, bon et naïf, est traité en parent pauvre par sa riche famille, les Camusot de Marville. Le jour où ils découvrent que la collection d'objets d'art qu'il a accumulée est d'une immense valeur, ils le dépouillent et le font mourir. Le mal triomphe en toute beauté.

Ce roman sonne comme une réflexion sur le statut de l'art-marchandise dans la société bourgeoise.

© Domaine public (P)2010 Éditions Thélème

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Title: Madame Bovary [Hebrew Edition]

Author: Gustave Flaubert

Narrator: Koby Meidan

Format: Abridged

Length: 3 hrs and 10 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-15-16

Publisher: SonicBooks

Genres: Classics, European Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Madame Bovary, by Gustave Flaubert. Abridged version.

Madame Bovary is Gustave Flaubert's first published novel and considered his masterpiece. The story focuses on a doctor's wife, Emma Bovary, who has adulterous affairs and lives beyond her means in order to escape the banalities and emptiness of provincial life.

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

Music: Ran Bagno.

Please note: This audiobook is in Hebrew.

Members Reviews:

A classic.

Madame Bovary is a classic. Flaubert is an artist renowned for his poetic descriptions. I first read this book in French and will always remember certain passages for their rhythm, almost music. I read in in English the second time and felt that some of the poetry was lost in translation. Still, if one cannot read a book in the language in which it was written, reading it in the language that you can is better than not reading it at all.

This is a book one reads for the beauty of the language, the slow but incisive character developments. It's a romantic novel that lets you penetrate deep into the psyche of the main characters and their motivations. It provides complex insights into how people fall in love and what happens when romance gives way to monotony.

A perfect novel in a perfect translation

A perfect novel in a perfect translation. Incredibly moving. The last twenty pages are nearly unbearable. Flaubert's novel is genius, and Davis's translation does it full credit.

What can I say about Mme Bovary? Super translation.

This is of course a famous book. No need for me to add to everything that has been said about it. This translation seems to be superb. And the physical book is well done.

Transport yourself

To a time that is no longer reality. Flaubert paints such a vivid story of a specific time in history with such captivating characters. Reading it on ereader is so helpful with the vocabulary!!!

Well written and depressing.

A very well written and depressing book.

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Title: Black Monk. Tales and Novels [Russian Edition]

Author: Anton Chekhov

Narrator: Denis Nekrasov

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-07-16

Publisher: IDDK

Genres: Classics, European Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Izdanie soderzhit povesti i rasskazy velikogo russkogo pisatelja Antona Pavlovicha Chehova, napisannye 1892-1894 gg. Chehov byl odnim iz pervyh pisatelej-klassikov, kto vsecelo oblichal poshlost', nezhelanie zhit' polnoj, nasyshhennoj zhizn'ju.

Please note: This audiobook is in Russian.

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Titre: Boule de Suif

Auteur: Guy de Maupassant

Narrateur: Alain Couchot

Format: Unabridged

Durée: 1 hr and 41 mins

Langue: Français

Date de publication: 05-24-16

Éditeur: Audiolude

Evaluation: 5 sur 5 sur 1 votes

Genres: Classics, European Literature

Résumé de l'éditeur:

Écrite en 1879, Boule de Suif est la nouvelle qui a imposé Guy de Maupassant comme un maître. L'action se situe durant la guerre de 1870 : dix personnes fuient Rouen, occupée par les soldats prussiens, pour gagner Dieppe en diligence. Parmi ces dix personnes, se trouvent des bourgeois, des commerçants, des nobles, et une prostituée, surnommée Boule de Suif, à cause de son embonpoint.

"La femme, une de celles appelées galantes, était célèbre par son embonpoint précoce qui lui avait valu le surnom de Boule de Suif. Petite, ronde de partout, grasse à lard, avec des doigts bouffis, étranglés aux phalanges, pareils à des chapelets de courtes saucisses ; avec une peau luisante et tendue, une gorge énorme qui saillait sous sa robe, elle restait cependant appétissante et courue, tant sa fraîcheur faisait plaisir à voir. Sa figure était une pomme rouge, un bouton de pivoine prêt à fleurir ; et là-dedans s'ouvraient, en haut, deux yeux noirs magnifiques, ombragés de grands cils épais qui mettaient une ombre dedans ; en bas, une bouche charmante, étroite, humide pour le baiser, meublée de quenottes luisantes et microscopiques. Elle était de plus, disait-on, pleine de qualités inappréciables."

© Domaine public (P)2016 Audiolude

Avis des membres:

It is badly incomplete!

The central part of the story (almost one half) is missing, and this part is essential to understand the final message.

In it, Maupassant makes a scathing satire of the French petite bourgeoisie and its lack of values.

In sum, the most important part of the little book has been eliminated.

Someone who wants to improve his/her french and does not know, might be interested in this free booklet.

Typical Maupassant, a classic

I read this one several times in the past but had to reread it because it was not on my shelf at home. It is a great story and shows true to life human charcters, some very unlikeable and others with unexpected qualities. A very good story.

Well worth reading. Hypocrisy á la fin de siécle ...

Well worth reading. Hypocrisy á la fin de siécle. We have enough in the 21st century though to identify with it.

Great!

Arrived in a timely manner - as advertised! Great!

Excellent book

Un tres bon classique de Maupassant

An excellent Maupassant classic book.. I highly recommend it to french speakers and french learners

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Title: Moskva Krasnokamennaya

Subtitle: Ocherki i rasskazy

Author: M. A. Bulgakov

Narrator: Vladimir Samoylov

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 14 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-21-16

Publisher: Mul'timediynoye izdatel'stvo Strel'bitskogo

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Classics, European Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Ne vsem poklonnikam yego talanta izvestno, chto Bulgakov, tak velikolepno i metko opisavshiy Moskvu v romane "Master i Margarita" i drugikh svoikh proizvedeniyakh, ne byl korennym moskvichom. No gorod, v kotoryy on priyekhal v kontse sentyabrya 1921 goda, i gde prozhil bez malogo dva desyatiletiya - do poslednego svoyego chasa, Mikhail Afanas'yevich lyubil vsem serdtsem.SODERZHANIYE: - Torgovyy renessans- Moskva krasnokamennaya- Stolitsa v bloknote- V shkole gorodka III Internatsionala- 1-aya detskaya kommuna- Sorok sorokov- Pod steklyannym nebom- Moskovskiye stseny- Benefis Kerzona lorda- Shanson d'ete- Den' nashey zhizni- Zolotistyy gorod- Chasy zhizni i smerti- Vospominaniye- Moskva 20-kh godov

Please note: This audiobook is in Russian.

Critic Reviews:

Ne vsem poklonnikam yego talanta izvestno, chto Bulgakov, tak velikolepno i metko opisavshiy Moskvu v romane "Master i Margarita" i drugikh svoikh proizvedeniyakh, ne byl korennym moskvichom. No gorod, v kotoryy on priyekhal v kontse sentyabrya 1921 goda, i gde prozhil bez malogo dva desyatiletiya - do poslednego svoyego chasa, Mikhail Afanas'yevich lyubil vsem serdtsem.

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Title: Anekdoticheskoye vremya

Subtitle: Yumoristicheskiye rasskazy korolya fel'yetonov

Author: Vlas Doroshevich

Narrator: Vladimir Samoylov

Format: Unabridged

Length: 3 hrs and 50 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-20-16

Publisher: Mul'timediynoye izdatel'stvo Strel'bitskogo

Genres: Classics, European Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Vlas Doroshevich - "korol' fel'yetonistov", master gazetnoy zhurnalistiki, odin iz samykh populyarnykh zhurnalistov dorevolyutsionnoy Rossii.Buduchi redaktorom "Russkogo slova", on prizval v komandu Vladimira Gilyarovskogo - "korolya moskovskikh reporterov". Vmeste oni delali gazetu, populyarnosti i massovosti kotoroy ne bylo ravnykh v Moskve.Doroshevich znamenit yarkimi, khlestkimi, ostroumnymi rasskazami, zametkami, stat'yami, fel'yetonami i pamfletami, kotoryye otlichayet legkost', obraznost', zhivost' pera, iskrometnyy yumor. Slavnoye bylo vremya!V sbornik voshli rasskazy:- Reporter- Dvadtsatyy vek- Anekdoticheskoye vremya- Viziter- Chuzhiye zheny- Voyna budushchego, ili Shtuka kontory Kuka- Lecheniye zemlyanikoy, klubnikoy, sadovoy krasnoy smorodinoy- Russkiy yazyk- Posetitel'- Cherez mesyats- Ottsy i deti- Intelligentsiya- Pervaya gimnaziya

Please note: This audiobook is in Russian.