Download Best Full Audiobooks in Fiction, Literary

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Title: Under the Greenwood Tree

Author: Thomas Hardy

Narrator: Margaret Hilton

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 35 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-16-99

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 10 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

Structured to mirror the seasons of the year, this bright, cheerful story recounts the adventures of the Mellstock rustics - Dick Dewy and Fancy Day, Leaf the simpleton, Penney the shoemaker, the lovers, and others - with an Arcadian, tranquil, timelessness. This was the author's second novel, and is the only Hardy novel whose story is not touched by tragedy.

Editorial Reviews:

Subtitled "A Rural Painting of the Dutch School", Under the Greenwood Tree is Thomas Hardys most lighthearted novel. Tastefully performed by Margaret Hilton, the tale is set around Mellstock Parish in Wessex, a fictionalized rural area in southern England that Hardy called "a merely realistic dream country".

Mellstock Parish is a genteel church and school whose members include a small group of eligible bachelors. Into this country scene arrives a beautiful new teacher named Fancy Day. When the bachelors catch a glimpse of Fancy, the comedy begins. Under the Greenwood Tree has been praised for its evocation of a fading English rural life, its sensitivity to its characters and sets, and Hardys ever-precise and poetic language.

Members Reviews:

Under the Greenwood Tree

Interesting story told in the Hardy writing style. The twists of fate for the character's deeds cumulated in an interesting end. I had read his other work and plan to read more.

â beautiful volume.

Lovely Hardy novel. A must read. One of Hardyâs âunder-sung.â beautiful volume.

good

good product and service

Wordy

Got a bit better half way through but was glad to be finished! Glad for the opportunity to read this book!

A Bit of Fluff

This is very undeveloped Hardy--pleasant, well conceived, but predictable and not much more than an extended character sketch. If you're in the mood for something light and atmospheric, this is a good fit. If you want complexity, drama, the transcendental--all of Life's biggies--choose Tess, Return of the Native, or Far From the Madding Crowd.

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Title: Bagombo Snuff Box

Author: Kurt Vonnegut

Narrator: Alexander Marshall

Format: Abridged

Length: 5 hrs and 37 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-08-99

Publisher: HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 101 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

In the 1950s and early 1960s, before television reigned preeminent, Kurt Vonnegut's short stories appeared frequently in popular magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post, Collier's, and Argosy. Filled with unforgettable characters, humor, and satire, these stories offer a rare glimpse into a developing master of fiction. Vonnegut himself selected the very best of his early stories for this audio release, and he reads the preface and the afterword. Collection includes: "Thanasphere," "Souvenir," "Bagombo Snuff Box," "The Boy Who Hated Girls," "Lovers Anonymous," and eight other miniature masterpieces.

Original Material ©1999 Kurt Vonnegut; (P) and ©1999 HighBridge Company

Critic Reviews:

"One of the most able living writers." (Graham Greene)

Contact me for any questions: [email protected]

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Titel: Das Parfum

Autor:: Patrick Süskind

Erzähler: Hans Korte

Format: Unabridged

Spieldauer: 9 hrs and 45 mins

Sprache: Deutsch

Veröffentlichungsdatum: 10-01-07

Herausgeber: Diogenes Verlag AG

Bewertung: 4.5 von 5 von 12 Stimmen

Kategorien: Fiction, Literary

Zusammenfassung des Herausgebers:

Im achtzehnten Jahrhundert lebte in Frankreich ein Mann, der zu den genialsten und abscheulichsten Gestalten dieser an genialen und abscheulichen Gestalten nicht armen Epoche gehörte. Seine Geschichte soll hier erzählt werden.

(c)+(p) 2007 Diogenes Verlag AG

Kritik Bewertungen:

Hans Korte schafft es, Duft wie Gestank ins Ohr zu schmuggeln. Nuancenreich liest er die packende Geschichte des Parfumeurs Jean-Baptiste Grenouille.

--Nordbayerischer Kurier

Mitglieder Bewertungen:

grausame Schauergeschichte

Erzähler war gut aber die Geschichte ist graus8g. ch hätte sie nicht ausgescht,wenn ich das gewusst hätte. aber trotzdem fesselnd

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Title: Beautiful Daughters, The

Author: Nicole Baart

Narrator: Meredith Orlow

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 32 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-03-15

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 6 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

From the author of Sleeping in Eden, described as "intense and absorbing from the very first page" (Heather Gudenkauf, author of The Weight of Silence), comes a gripping new novel about two former best friends and the secrets they can't escape.

Adrienne Vogt and Harper Penny were closer than sisters until the day a tragedy blew their seemingly idyllic world apart. Afraid that they got away with murder and unable to accept who they had lost - and what they had done - Harper and Adri exiled themselves from small-town Blackhawk, Iowa, and from each other. Adri ran thousands of miles away to Africa while Harper ventured down a more destructive path closer to home.

Now, five years later, both are convinced that nothing could ever coax them out of the worlds in which they've been living. But unexpected news from home soon pulls Adri and Harper back together, and the two cannot avoid facing their memories and guilt head-on. As they are pulled back into the tangle of their fractured relationships and the mystery of Piperhall, the sprawling estate where their lives first began to unravel, secrets and lies behind the tragic accident are laid bare. The former best friends are forced to come to terms with their shared past and search for the beauty in each other while mending the brokenness in themselves.

Nicole Baart's lush and lyrical writing has been called "sparkling" (Publishers Weekly), "taut and engrossing" (Booklist), and "evocative and beautiful" (Romantic Times). The Beautiful Daughters is another exquisitely rendered, haunting story that will stay with listeners long after the last word.

Members Reviews:

Powerful tale of love and Memory

I have been a Nicole Baart fan ever since her debut novel, "After the Leaves Fall", and have followed her journey as a writer ever since, loving all of her books save one. After being seriously disappointed in "Far from here", I looked forward with anticipation for another emotional journey, where I loved the characters, got into their heads, and felt sorry to say goodbye at the end of the book.

The Beautiful Daughters did not disappoint. This is Harper and Adri's story, but it is also the story of love and disappointment, of running away and feeling trapped, of friends who are enemies, and how memory and hope can be the worst enemies of all.

Meredith Orlow is a good narrator; she is emotive in many of the right places. Thankfully, she does not try too hard to perform men's voices, which makes her dialogue weaker than it otherwise could be, but is less grating than trying too hard.

Well worth your time and credit.

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Title: North of Here

Author: Laurel Saville

Narrator: Pete Simonelli

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-01-16

Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 64 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

The sounds of unexpected tragedies - a roll of thunder, the crash of metal on metal - leave Miranda in shock amid the ruins of her broken family.

As she searches for new meaning in her life, Miranda finds quiet refuge with her family's handyman, Dix, in his cabin in the dark forests of the Adirondack Mountains. Dix is kind, dependable, and good with an ax - the right man to help the sheltered Miranda heal - but ultimately, her sadness creates a void even Dix can't fill.

When a man from her distant past turns up, the handsome idealist now known as Darius, he offers Miranda a chance to do meaningful work at The Source, a secluded property filled with his nature worshipers. Miranda feels this charismatic guru is the key to remaking her life, but her grief and desire for love also create an opportunity for his deception. And in her desperate quest to find herself after losing almost everything, Miranda and Dix could pay a higher price than they ever imagined.

Members Reviews:

in my Top Ten

When you find a book this good, life is just great! I'm looking for more by M Saville.

Slow building to a fairly good ending

Struggled to finish this one... definitely not one I would read again, really don't know how to classify this book?

Leaves you with lingering thoughts about choices

Would you listen to North of Here again? Why?

Yes... maybe. Right now, I am thinking about the characters and why they made the choices they did

What did you like best about this story?

I have seen the choices in real life and wonder why they did that.

Have you listened to any of Pete Simonellis other performances before? How does this one compare?

no

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes... but I tend to listen to it in the car and do not have a long commute.

Yawn....

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I would have limited the experience with Miranda . Her character was so tiring, whiny, and shallow,and largely unnecessary. I was happy for her immediate exit from the story and the uplifting ending to an otherwise dire story.

Would you ever listen to anything by Laurel Saville again?

Most likely not...this isn't my style...

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

I thought the narrator did a fine job.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No...it would be a Lifetime movie and I have better things to do with my time. I listened to this book at work, while doing a lot of data processing, so it filled up the quiet while I worked.

Any additional comments?

I listened to this book through Kindle Unlimited, so I didn't pay to read or listen, beyond my monthly subscription. I would feel badly for someone who actually paid money for it. Most of the characters were very one-dimensional, unrealistic, and callow individuals. As a government employee, Sally would be investigated, fired, and likely jailed for her time knowing and not acting to report the Source and its activities. The whole break up of the Source and the quick release of Darius was pretty unrealistic. There's no way that Dix would have been single, as nice and handy of an individual he was portrayed to be.

poor story line

This was well enough written but a poor story line. There never was a climax to the story and I only finished it because I was stuck in a hospital room for a week and had already purchased the audible book.

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Title: The Mimic Men

Author: V. S. Naipaul

Narrator: Sam Dastor

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-02-17

Publisher: Naxos AudioBooks

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 7 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

Former government minister Ralph Singh is the perpetual outsider: displaced, disillusioned, and now living in exile, Ralph reflects on his earlier life and the searing effects of colonialism. Ralph's constant estrangement sees him ever attempting to fit into various communities, only to find home in more transient spaces. Born on the tropical island of Isabella, he is one of West India's many "Mimic Men".

Booker and Nobel Prize-winning author V. S. Naipaul's sixth novel is a brutal and perceptive commentary on the postcolonial condition of the colonial man.

Members Reviews:

Mixed Themes, no cohesion

I am a confirmed Naipaul fan, but I was not overly impressed with the "Mimic Men". There seems to be 3 separate themes here that are better expressed in other novels by Naipaul. All three themes are lightly treated, disjointed, and lack cohesion. The first topic is his uncanny ability to dissect an absurd culture and acquaint the reader with the mentality of the characters within that culture. A prime example of his brilliance can be found in "Miguel Street". The second theme is racial and political turmoil faced by the colonial islanders. Here again this issue is better handled in more depth in "Guerrillas". The third subject is the "rootlessness" themes of the narrator (Naipaul), a man without a nation if you will, trying to find himself in some other culture.

Naipaul's true genius can be found in his travel journalism and storytelling novels. Try reading "A Bend in the River", "A house for Mr. Biswis", and "An Area of Darkness". Oh, and by the way, he formulates incredibly juicy sex scenes in all of his novels!

Life Escapes Me.....I Escape Life

Perhaps colonial rule in much of the world did produce mimic men. They were those who modeled themselves or at least were modeled on patterns produced for others in the "mother country". They grew up divorced from their origins and could look forward to being put down forever as "not quite the real thing" if they tried to assimilate to metropolitan society. The sweep of literature written by V.S. Naipaul, his brother Shiva, and a host of other writers from the West Indies, Africa, Asia, the Pacific, and Latin America testifies to the truth of this. But wait, can we not find anything joyful in life? Is there no hope whatsoever, despite what hand Fate deals us? What about a sense of humor? In this tale of a colonial boyhood in an island country very like the author's native Trinidad, the strongest note is always distress and failure. A boy attends school, gets good marks and is able to go to England on scholarship. There he crumbles into permanent unease, drifts helplessly, has hopeless affairs, and marries an English woman who also reeks of dissatisfaction. He takes no joy or pleasure in anything, wallowing in disappointment and a feeling of unreality (which is no doubt part of being a "mimic man"). All his relationships are fraught with either pretension or despair. He cannot accept himself or others, fears warmth and friendship, and constantly looks for the plastic trash on the beach of life. Returning to his island, Ralph Singh becomes a real estate magnate, goes into politics, wins a national election, becomes a political force, and then is pushed out, exiled at last to England. There is no spoiler alert here.

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Title: Beyond the Black Stump

Author: Nevil Shute

Narrator: Davina Porter

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-14-11

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 78 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

When Stanton Laird, American geologist, goes prospecting for the Topeka Exploration Company in the savage Australian outback, he finds something a good deal more precious than oil.

Members Reviews:

Davina Porter is a wonderful narrator

I've gotten on a kick of listening to books I read when I was in college, in 1960 and there abouts. Nevil Shute was a wonderful author and "On the Beach" was a seminal book for me, as a young person raised in the "Drop and Cover" bomb raid trials every school in Los Angeles practiced. The atom bomb was very real to us..but that has nothing to do with "Beyond the Black Stump", does it?

I read this as a senior in high school and was fascinated by Australia when I did. The vastness of the continent amazed me, as did the primitive way people lived in 1955 in the outback..the frontier.

This book is dated, but fully shows the bigotry that was rampant back then, before the civil rights movement here in the States. If you can get by that, and not want to re-write the way things were, it's a great story about two people who fall in love. About Australia in its time of just starting to be civilized. About the excitement of the oil speculator and the misery of an arid land with no water.

As for the narrator, Davina Porter is a favorite..she narrates all Diana Galbendon's "Outlander" series and does a credible job of an Australian accent.if you enjoy Bruce Courtenay's books about that land you'll like this slightly different outlook on it.

Recommended-Highly

NE Oregon to NW Australia ...

The little town of Hazel, OR for those familiar with the North Western US is without a doubt La Grande with it's beautiful Blue Mountain vista's the Grande Ronde River which flows into the Snake and as Shute describes is located between Pendleton and Enterprise, Oregon.

Shute has this area of NE Oregon during the mid 1950's wired right down to 2nd Ave and the Safeway supermarket. Having never been to Australia myself the lesson in this for me is to trust the author's descriptions of the Outback which are most likely great snapshots of that period in Western Queensland.

This is an inquiring look into human values from the perspective of two different English speaking sub-cultures. We get a good look at an Australian Frontier mindset as well as a Puritanical post war American outlook on issues of personal responsibility and how quickly we sometimes judge others in our day-to-day lives. Ego-centrism and ethnocentrism give a solid framework by which to consider this plot and set of characters.

A timeless book as relevant today in the 2010's as it was in the 1950's. The narration is done by a well spoken female and was easy to listen to.

Australia is defined.

Where does Beyond the Black Stump rank among all the audiobooks you???ve listened to so far?

Good story, not Shute's best but even that is still worth the read.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

No surprises here.

What three words best describe Davina Porter???s voice?

Limited, Clear, Experienced

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No.

Interesting view of US-Australia differences 1955

A young Oregon geologist with recent experience in "Arabia" is assigned to assess oil potential in the northwestern Australian outback circa 1955.

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Title: The Blind Assassin

Author: Margaret Atwood

Narrator: Margot Dionne

Format: Unabridged

Length: 18 hrs and 26 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-11-17

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

Man Booker Prize, Fiction, 2000

For the past 25 years, Margaret Atwood has written works of striking originality and imagination. In The Blind Assassin, she stretches the limits of her accomplishment as never before, creating a novel that is both entertaining and profoundly serious.

The novel opens with these simple resonant words: "Ten days after the war ended, my sister Laura drove a car off a bridge." They are spoken by Iris, whose terse account of her sister's death in 1945 is followed by an inquest report proclaiming the death accidental. But just as you expect to settle into Laura's story, Atwood introduces a novel within a novel. Entitled The Blind Assassin, it is a science fiction story told by two unnamed lovers who meet in dingy backstreet rooms. When you return to Iris, it is through a 1947 newspaper article announcing the discovery of a sailboat carrying the dead body of her husband, a distinguished industrialist.

Told in a style that magnificently captures the colloquialisms of the 1930s and 1940s, The Blind Assassin is a richly layered and uniquely rewarding experience. The novel has many threads and a series of events that follow one another at a breathtaking pace. As everything comes together, you will discover that the story Atwood is telling is not only what it seems to be - but is, in fact, much more.

Critic Reviews:

Book Sense Book of the Year Award Finalist, Adult Fiction, 2001

"Listeners will find themselves piecing together the clues, guessing at truths, but the rewards are to be found in the layering of details and the skill of the storytelling." (AudioFile)

Members Reviews:

Typical themes with an atypical delivery

This book is rather strange even for Margaret Atwood who is' s known for being an unconventional writer. As always the prose is impeccable. The narrative portion of the story (as told by Iris) is captivating. The Blind Assassin or the "story within a story" is odd, even for Atwood. I'm not entirely clear on its purpose as part of the story. True to form Atwood paints a picture of two women who make the very best of less than ideal circumstances in very different ways. The story, on the whole, is rather bleak, but then Ms. Atwood is known for feminist allagories not happy endings and this book delivers.

At first I didn't think I would be able to ...

At first I didn't think I would be able to keep the story straight but as I read on it became more and more cohesive. The main story line is believable and the characters well shaped and interestingly portrayed.

Totally Absorbing

I easily fell into the rhythm of the three through lines as it were. Very vivid characters. Stayed with me for a couple of weeks - I kept mulling it over.

It's not my favorite kind of Atwood (I prefer Handmaid's Tale and Oryx ...

Atwood is always an interesting read. It's not my favorite kind of Atwood (I prefer Handmaid's Tale and Oryx and Crake), but there's definitely a lot to think about after reading the book. There's a lot of symbolism to sift through, so if you're looking for something light, this is not the book for you.

like science fiction genre had a baby with kate morton

People have been telling me to read this book for years - I am a great fan of Margaret Atwood and had just never read this one, so I finally picked it up.

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Title: The Body

Subtitle: A Novel

Author: Hanif Kureishi

Narrator: Nicholas Guy Smith

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 53 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-04-17

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

"After a bit you realize there's only one invaluable commodity. Not gold or love, but time."

How far are we willing to go to stay young? Hanif Kureishi - acclaimed author of The Buddha of Suburbia and Intimacy - explores the possibilities in this provocative story of an older man whose brain is surgically placed in a younger man's body by a network of underground doctors.

Adam is offered the chance to trade in his sagging flesh for a much younger and more pleasing model. He tells his wife and son that he is going on an extended vacation. He immediately embarks on an odyssey of hedonism, but soon finds himself regretting what he left behind and feeling guilt over the responsibilities he has ignored. Sinister forces pursue him, wanting possession of "his" body, and he soon finds himself with nowhere to turn.

"A fluent, socially observant writer whose sentences move with intelligence and wit" (The New York Times Book Review), Kureishi presents us with both a fantastically vivid tale and hard-hitting questions about our own relationships with our minds and bodies - and with time that is running out.

Members Reviews:

"The Nightmare Of Eternal Life"

How often have we said, ourselves, or heard someone else say, "If only I could be twenty again and know what I know now?" That is precisely what happens in Hanif Kureishi's novel THE BODY. Adam, a successful writer on the wrong side of sixty describes himself as a man with hemorrhoids, an ulcer and cataracts, whose bed is his "boat across these final years." Fortunately he's a "cheap drunk" and still has sex occasionally with his wife. His two children are grown and have left home. Then he gets the chance to have his brain removed from his old body and put into a dead but preserved young body of his choice. Although he could even choose the body of a young woman or someone of another race, he selects a young humpy Alain Delon look-alike.

This is one of those novels where knowing too much of the plot spoils the story and what a story it is. While you may anticipate some of what happens to Adam, the author in his usual brilliance has a surprise or two for you. In the best science fiction tradition of Kafka's METAMORPHOSIS, Ishiguro's NEVER LET ME GO or even Joyce Carol Oates' recent macabre short story "Wild Nights"-- although like the works of these other world-class writers, Kureishi's fiction is certainly fine literature as well and rises above the genre of science fiction-- he raises questions about our obsession with youth, the dereliction of society of the aged, the loneliness and isolation of being different, the basic human need to be loved and in the circle of friends and finally what he calls the "nightmare of eternal life."

THE BODY is at once a horrific and fantastic gem of a novel.

Well .... a real masterpiece

I say it's a masterpeice because I wrote a story very similar to this one and then decided to put it in a drawer and forget it about 15 20 years ago ... I thought no one in their right mind would ever read, let alone buy such a tall tale ....

And now Kureishi has done such a good job with this subject, that I can only say "chapeau" and also another French word as i curse myself for not trying to publish my quite similar story long ago.

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Title: The Body

Subtitle: A Novel

Author: Hanif Kureishi

Narrator: Nicholas Guy Smith

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 53 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-04-17

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

"After a bit you realize there's only one invaluable commodity. Not gold or love, but time."

How far are we willing to go to stay young? Hanif Kureishi - acclaimed author of The Buddha of Suburbia and Intimacy - explores the possibilities in this provocative story of an older man whose brain is surgically placed in a younger man's body by a network of underground doctors.

Adam is offered the chance to trade in his sagging flesh for a much younger and more pleasing model. He tells his wife and son that he is going on an extended vacation. He immediately embarks on an odyssey of hedonism, but soon finds himself regretting what he left behind and feeling guilt over the responsibilities he has ignored. Sinister forces pursue him, wanting possession of "his" body, and he soon finds himself with nowhere to turn.

"A fluent, socially observant writer whose sentences move with intelligence and wit" (The New York Times Book Review), Kureishi presents us with both a fantastically vivid tale and hard-hitting questions about our own relationships with our minds and bodies - and with time that is running out.

Contact me for any questions: [email protected]