Download the Best Full Audiobooks in Classics, American Literature

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Title: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Author: Mark Twain

Narrator: Curtis Sisco

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 20 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-27-13

Publisher: Trout Lake Media

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 438 votes

Genres: Classics, American Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Twain called this story a "hymn to boyhood". Loved by all ages in countless renditions in all media. A classic piece of American literature.

Members Reviews:

Great story

The narrator did a good job... Spoke clearly and all. I was just spoiled because I listened to Elijah Wood's Huck Finn first and it can't be compared.

Fun story but the reading felt a little mechanical

What aspect of Curtis Siscos performance would you have changed?

As an adult I enjoyed listening to this classic. Sisco is really good with the characters' voices, but in the general narration he reads quickly and somewhat mechanically. This version is at least an hour shorter than the next shortest Tom Sawyer audiobook because of Sisco's fast pace. I'd hoped to have the illusion that Twain himself was reading to me, with a languid sly drawl. But this narration was a little bit stiff.

Recommended but not a must

Any additional comments?

THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER, by Mark Twain

Unlike Adventures of Alice in Wonderland, I dont consider Tom Sawyer essential adult reading particularly if you have not read your own fundamentals (in my case, the Classics, Vargas Vila, Thomas Hardy, Hugo, Wilde, Dickens, Stendhal, Flaubert, and others). The narrator, Curtis Sisco, was fantastic in keeping pace and recreating the regional accents thereby making the experience more enjoyable. The book is entertaining, funny, and it is not entirely devoid of social message. Recommended (3 stars) but not Highly Recommended or a Must Read (4 stars), let alone a Masterpiece (5 stars).

The following is a book summary: dont read unless you are not reading the book.

Tom Sawyer is a clever orphan boy who lives in St. Petersburg, a poor village by the Mississippi around 1840 with his Aunt Polly and his half-brother Sid. He is mischievous, smart, unafraid, and willing to do anything for a thrill. We first meet him in the pantry eating jam and hiding from his aunt Polly. The book narrates a series of adventures that famously include not only conniving his fellow friends to white wash (i.e. paint) a fence, a chore he must do as a punishment for a bad deed, but even more ignominiously, making his friends pay for it. He then uses the collection of assets gathered from the deal to exchange for tickets at church in order to get a bible. Obviously, he is not interested in bible study; he wants to use it to impress a girl named Becky Thatcher whom he eventually kisses and falls for him.

We soon meet Huckleberry Finn, a badass outcast boy whose latest acquisition is a dead cat which he plans to use to cure warts. Thing is though that It will only work if they witness The Devil take the soul of a wicked man buried at the cemetery at midnight. Sure enough, when they are there, they get to witness a bad guy, -Indian, of course- or at least half-breed, named Injun Joe to kill an accompanying doctor and blame his drunken partner Muff Potter. Fearing for their life Tom and Huck run away, swear and sign with blood never to tell what they just witnessed. Soon after though, knowing that an innocent man will surely be hanged, Tom gets depressed, feels remorse and escapes with his friend Joe Harper to a desolate island on the Mississippi to lead a life of pirates. Of course Huck Finn soon joins them and they hang out together for a few days. In the village meanwhile everybody mourns as they think theyve drowned.

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Title: The Horror at Red Hook

Author: H. P. Lovecraft

Narrator: Jim Donaldson

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 11 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-17-13

Publisher: Trout Lake Media

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 424 votes

Genres: Classics, American Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Lovecrafts gothic horror masterpiece. During an investigation in Red Hook, Detective Thomas F. Malone, and discovers horrors that he never imagined. A horror classic.

Members Reviews:

Just a Bit of a Warning

I had no idea when I bought this that some genius had made the decision to add a background sound every few minutes to the narration. I could just picture some college kid they had paid in burritos in the sound booth, pressing various sound effect buttons and high fiving himself for his totally righteous editing skills.

But still! It's cheap and you could do worse.

Worth a listen, but not one of Lovecraft's best.

Would you consider the audio edition of The Horror at Red Hook to be better than the print version?

I feel for any narrator who has to read Lovecraft's wonderful but archaic prose. Jim Donaldson did a great job with it, though! I enjoyed his reading, and appreciated the addition of some musical touches and sound effects of moans and shrieks during dramatic moments. It really made listening to the story a better experience than reading it would have been. I will be looking for other horror works done by Mr. Donaldson.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

From what I've read, this was one of Lovecraft's early works, and I think that shows. The story seemed to go on longer than needed. I thought that HPL's xenophobia was showcased more than usual in this tale, which was off-putting.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

There are some good creepy scenes in the story, which I enjoyed.

Any additional comments?

After the end of the story, there is a short piece giving some background on Lovecraft and his influence on modern-day writers. I thought this was nicely done and appreciate the effort to show the significance of HPL's works.

Decent Recording

The sound effects added to the story, but were sometimes louder than the narrator. Otherwise, a good story, well read.

Not great.

I actually listened twice. It just didn't stick. I tried to concentrate on the story. Just wouldn't grab me at any point in time. Therefore I can neither agree it's a horror story nor can I recommend it.

very good very interesting enjoy the story

very very very good the voice kept me interested the voice was nice and smooth everything went very well and it sounds in the background keep you into the story I really enjoyed the book

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Title: A Girl of the Limberlost

Author: Gene Stratton-Porter

Narrator: Christina Moore

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-16-13

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 59 votes

Genres: Classics, American Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Elnora Comstock lives with her widowed mother at the edge of Limberlost Swamp. Her mother is harsh and critical of her daughter, but Elnora is a loving girl who befriends all creatures. She is especially drawn to the beautiful moths that flutter through the trees in Limberlost. Although Elnora longs to go to high school, she has no money to pay for tuition and books. When her cruel mother refuses to help, all seems lost, until Elnora learns she can sell the rare insects she collects. Still, her journey through high school and college will be full of challenges - and surprises. First published in 1909, Gene Stratton-Porters classic tale is a marvelous lesson in the powers of compassion and determination. Whether you remember this book from your childhood, or are meeting it for the first time, Elnoras shining personality will capture your heart. Her gentle spirit is conveyed in each sentence by narrator Christina Moore.

Members Reviews:

A story of forgiveness, restoration and redemption

Any additional comments?

This is one of my favourite Gene Stratton-Porter books from way back and I enjoyed listening to this audio version of it, alongside my then 13 & 11 yr old children as a summer time audio book.

It pays to note the mother is awful at the beginning of this book (nasty, embittered, and abusive!! ) and then a series of events happen that change her life, her attitude, and the way she treats her daughter, Elnora.

The Girl of the Limberlost, in my opinion, is one of those timeless stories of forgiveness, restoration, and redemption. If you appreciate the character development, and story line, in such books as: A Little Princess ~ Burnett, Understood Betsy ~ Canfield, Old Fashioned Girl ~ Alcott, then you'll appreciate this book... well, after you get past the awful mother portion!

There is romance in the book, the wholesome kind that is not sensuality based.

Christina Moore does a sterling job of bringing this book to "read aloud" life.

great story

a wonderful book for young and older girls. tells of a young girl who is confident and finds happiness is what life has given her.

Living the book

Everyone should be able to read this book and I really want to know what happens next because it was so interesting.

Where have I been that I didn't know about this superb book!!!

Superb narration. Character development was fantastic. Loved it! I can check this classic off my list now as read and thoroughly understand why it's a classic.

A story from my teen years.

Read this book in my young teen years. It was always a favorite! Enjoyed the the way it was written so long ago...Christina Moore was a fabulous narrator!

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Title: Go Tell It On the Mountain

Author: James Baldwin

Narrator: Adam Lazarre-White

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-01-13

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 893 votes

Genres: Classics, American Literature

Publisher's Summary:

James Baldwins stunning first novel is now an American classic. With startling realism that brings Harlem and the black experience vividly to life, this is a work that touches the heart with emotion while it stimulates the mind with its narrative style, symbolism, and excoriating vision of racism in America. Moving through time from the rural South to the northern ghetto, Baldwin chronicles a 14-year-old boys discovery of the terms of his identity as the stepson of the minister of a storefront Pentecostal church in Harlem one Saturday in March of 1935. Go Tell it on the Mountain is an unsurpassed portrayal of human beings caught up in a dramatic struggle and of a society confronting inevitable change.

Members Reviews:

Masterful First Novel

What made the experience of listening to Go Tell It On the Mountain the most enjoyable?

What made my experience of listening to Go Tell It On the Mountain the most enjoyable was Baldwin's writing. It was deep and eloquent, reflecting Baldwin's experience as a storefront preacher.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Go Tell It On the Mountain?

The spiritual conversion of the main character was one of the most memorable moments of Go Tell It On the Mountain. It was dreamlike and based upon Biblical visions.

Have you listened to any of Adam Lazarre-Whites other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not listened to any of Adam Lazarre-White's other performances before, but he captured the heart of this book, performing it as a preacher, a prophet, and a poet.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

An extreme reaction I had to this book is that it is a dense, multilayered read. I am unaccustomed to reading such complex writing on faith. I will have to listen to this book a second time to catch what I missed the first time.

Any additional comments?

Be prepared for an eloquent, moving story.

A 5 Star Listen!

This book is a gem! The characters are rich and deep. It's an intriguing story about the lives of three people caught between temptation and salvation. I also have to say the narrator is excellent. His voice is perfect and adds soul to the story.

Knotted Around Some Raw Edge of My Soul

This was a slow read. In terms of pages and words it was a small book, but the river was deep and fierce. Baldwin is throwing out big themes on family, religion, race, sex. This isn't a beach read, it is a hard pew read in an unconditioned, hellfire and damnation church. I would read 40 pages and have to take a day to recover emotionally.

THIS book is why I read fiction. Look. I am white on white, again and again. Seriously, I took the Twenty-Three&Me DNA spit test and I am pretty deep into the white gene hole. How else, besides brilliant narrative fiction, am I going to understand anything about being black or being a black pentecostal WITHOUT reading Baldwin?

Baldwin's use of repetition was amazing. I haven't read recently (other than Moby-Dick) a novel that appears to be made, brick-by-brick, with more King James Bible pieces than Go Tell It on the Mountain. There are some novels where writer ties off every narrative thread. Baldwin wasn't satisfied with that. Each sad string in this novel seemed to end up threaded through some part of my heart and knotted around some raw edge of my soul.

GOD IS NOT THERE

"Go Tell It on the Mountain" because God is not there.

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Title: The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man

Author: James Weldon Johnson

Narrator: Richard Allen

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-11-12

Publisher: Dreamscape Media, LLC

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 30 votes

Genres: Classics, American Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Originally published anonymously in 1912, The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man revealed as never before the color line dividing America, and the price it exacted on those souls who could traverse the two worlds. The book presents the fictional account of "an ex-colored man" - an African-American who could pass for white - as he attempts to choose which side of the line will better suit his life, and his psyche. Later republished, properly, as the work of James Weldon Johnson, The Autobiography has gone on to become a classic novel of the early twentieth century, and Dreamscape is proud to present this new recording to coincide with the 100th anniversary of this great book.

Members Reviews:

New favorite

This book was exceptional and I enjoyed it wholeheartedly. I would recommend it for anyone.

heady

I can't imagine being in his situation. The end of the book was a little lack luster.

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Title: Little Women

Author: Louisa May Alcott

Narrator: Victoria Mcgee

Format: Unabridged

Length: 20 hrs and 10 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-01-12

Publisher: Trout Lake Media

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 219 votes

Genres: Classics, American Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Little Women follows the lives of four sisters - Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March - and is loosely based on the author's childhood experiences with her three sisters. The book was an immediate commercial and critical success. Little Women has three major themes: domesticity, work, and true love. It has been made into innumerable adaptations for stage and screen and is an American classic.

Members Reviews:

Journeying into the past..

What did you love best about Little Women?

I love this book more than some others as this is the book I used to read A LOT during my early teens, even though I didn't understand some things as clearly as I do now. I remember making warm bread and tea to read this book, and both of these are linked in my mind so much that every time I pick up this book I yearn for a cup of warmth that I felt in the past. The narrator has a motherly voice, and you get a warm feeling listening to the book in her voice.

What did you like best about this story?

The best is the links it has got with the history of mankind, how good things used to be in the past, and hope that I can bring up my daughters as well as the ones in this book.

Which character as performed by Victoria Mcgee was your favorite?

Her narration was superb overall. The manly voice doesn't suit her when she reads out their dialogues though.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

None at all.

Any additional comments?

I can listen to this book again and again! And I will!

Lovely classic!

Beautiful story! Enjoyed the readers voice. She does a nice job. I have listened to several of her books. Love reading the classics with my two young daughters.

Timeless story, terrible narration

My children think SIRI is the narrator of this book. Will be trying another audio version.

Great Listen

This book will always be a classic. Written full of love and kindness, narrator was wonderful as well.

Don't know how she accomplished this

I have no idea how Victoria McGee accomplished this, but she ruined a book that I adored as a child. I think, perhaps, she tried too hard to dramatize the text rather than letting the words pull the story forward. She did not successfully (in my opinion) distinguish the voices of the characters, but she made them all sound insufferably stuffy. They all lacked vibrancy and character.

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Title: Self Reliance

Author: Ralph Waldo Emerson

Narrator: Alana Munro

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 20 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-30-12

Publisher: Trout Lake Media

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 430 votes

Genres: Classics, American Literature

Publisher's Summary:

The most thorough statement of one of Emerson's recurrent themes, the need for each individual to avoid conformity and false consistency, and follow his or her own instincts and ideas. It is the source of one of Emerson's most famous quotations, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." This essay is considered a watershed moment in which transcendentalism became a major cultural movement. An American classic.

Members Reviews:

Don't buy this

Audible should remove this narration. The performance is terrible, as if the narrator doesn't understand the meaning of words. Makes it almost impossible to understand the sentences. The most terrible cadence I've ever heard.

RWE is great, but the narration is lacking

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Emerson is certainly one of the great thinkers of the American experience, however the narration of this text makes it quite challenging to get at the heart of Emerson's point. The narrator seems to lack the feeling and flow that would have really brought Emerson's words alive from the page to the listener's ear.

narrator reads like William Shatner.

narrator reads like William Shatner. it was so hard to listen to, I couldn't finish.

Great essay destroyed

It is a pity that this essay is read by someone with such a bad voice. The reading is slow and very very low. I listen a lot in my car, but I need to cut out aal the bass, to listen to this without having popping sounds.

Highly recomended

Suupeeriinspiiriing foshooo!!! Elevated my soul as well as my intellectual brain synapses :) read it!!!!!!!

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Title: The Awakening

Author: Kate Chopin

Narrator: Jane Leclercq

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 5 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-09-12

Publisher: Trout Lake Media

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 140 votes

Genres: Classics, American Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Set in New Orleans and the Southern Louisiana coast at the end of the 19th century, the plot centers around Edna Pontellier and her struggle to reconcile her increasingly unorthodox views on femininity and motherhood with the prevailing social attitudes of the turn-of-the-century South. The Awakening is one of the earliest American novels that focuses on women's issues without condescension. It is also widely seen as a landmark work of early feminism.

The novel's blend of realistic narrative, incisive social commentary, and psychological complexity makes The Awakening a precursor of American modernism; it prefigures the works of American novelists such as William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway and echoes the works of contemporaries such as Edith Wharton and Henry James. It can also be considered among the first Southern works in a tradition that would culminate with the modern masterpieces of Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor, Eudora Welty, Katherine Anne Porter, and Tennessee Williams.

Members Reviews:

A bargain, but at a cost

Frightfully posh accent, which is fine though not really in sync with material, but the reader seems not to understand what she's reading, beyond enjoying the elegant sounds she herself is making; this manifests itself in actually getting the words wrong (e.g. "susceptibility" becomes a magical new word, "suspectibility," which makes no sense either in itself nor in context.) The end result is that it is impossible for the listener to become engaged in the story.

Leclercq does Chopin proud

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

A great feminist perspective on the search for identity.

What did you like best about this story?

Edna's realization that she would be willing to give her life for her children, but not her identity or her existence.

Which character as performed by Jane Leclercq was your favorite?

Edna of course!

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The novel makes you think, about how your own life is aligned and if you have your own identity independent of your relationships.

Any additional comments?

Unable to engage

I was unable to engage in this book. The reader speaks far too quickly and without distinction or interpretation of the characters. The story is lost because of this.

Shattering

Even though I was assigned and forced to read the book, I found myself captivated with its story and ideals, great book for thinkers

Not a Classic

The narrator does a good job, I just disliked the book. I don't understand why it's considered a classic. The other doesn't allow the reader to interpret anything, she tells the audience exactly what is going on and exactly what her characters feel.

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Title: Twelve Years a Slave

Author: Solomon Northup

Narrator: Sean Crisden

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-03-12

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 69 votes

Genres: Classics, American Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Twelve Years a Slave is the autobiographical account of Solomon Northup, an African American who was born free in New York in the early 1800s. In 1841, Solomon Northup was captured and forced into slavery for a period of twelve years. Northup's account is detailed in its account of life on a cotton and sugar plantation and the daily routine of slave life during the first part of the 19th century. The book describes the daily life of slaves in Bayou Beof, their diet, the relationship between master and slave, the means that slave catchers used to recapture them, and the ugly realities that slaves suffered. Comparable to the accounts of Frederick Douglass, Harriet Ann Jacobs, and William Wells Brown, Twelve Years a Slave is a captivating narrative of the life of freedom and slavery experienced by one African American man prior to the American Civil War.

Critic Reviews:

"A moving, vital testament." (

Saturday Review)

Members Reviews:

very great!

the book was amazing. gave a great detail into slavery in the 1850's and from a slaves point of view so the reader can connect with feelings of mr Solomon Northup. at times there was boring information but the book was great history and was overall a great book. i would recommend this book to anyone curious about how life was in the 1850's and a black man in the south. great piece of history.

Riveting story keeping you engaged

Great telling of the story that keeps you engaged the entire time. Language and telling keeps really paints a picture.

WOW!

This book was great! First off, the narration was good, but the story its self was amazing. I would recommended it to anyone who wishes to no the horrid history of America!

Heart wrenching truths

Middle of the story became a bit slower in writing. However necessary for the story.

Remarkable story. Listen with an open heart

I have long maintained that I know enough about Slavery and colonial exploitation of Africans but this reinforces my belief in putting an end to racism and all the discrimination that goes around us.

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Title: Walking

Author: Henry David Thoreau

Narrator: Deaver Brown

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 28 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-21-12

Publisher: Simply Media

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 110 votes

Genres: Classics, American Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Walking is not as well known as Thoreau's other works Walden, The Maine Woods, and Civil Disobedience. But it is a good place to start exploring his writing because it was his last book, in 1862, published by the Atlantic Monthly shortly after his death. It is less well known because it is general, as opposed to singular, in focus. It is his summing up of his thoughts on life: One should saunter through life and take notice; one need not go far (as Thoreau rarely left the 25 square miles of Concord and its population of 1,784, according to the 1840 census.)

This is not a political or ecological book as many advocates have stated; it does support nature, but in a small subtle way. He was a man of his age who possessed a variety of talents and abilities, similar to Jefferson and Franklin. He sought to encourage people to notice and saunter, but did not rail against anyone who chose not to. This was a favorite work of Justice William Douglas, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mohandas Gandhi. As the liberal jurist Douglas said, This book displays how Thoreau could have been transplanted to any American century and prospered. Jefferson, Franklin, Douglas, King, and Gandhi would be five men who could join him in his appreciation for sauntering and noticing.

Members Reviews:

Brief transcendental ditty; amateurish narration

Would you try another book from Henry David Thoreau and/or Deaver Brown?

This is a great little work by Thoreau, and Id recommend it to anyone who is interested in his catalog, be they a fan of his more popular books (Walden, Civil Disobedience, etc.) or new to the authors unique and influential prose. The lecture is full of quotable and transcendental nuggets, and Thoreau manages to pull together many diverse topics into a very concise and flowing text; he moves seamlessly from observations about 19th century New England life to transcendental analysis of ancient Romes attitudes of nature to commentary on the human anatomy. A brief, insightful listen!

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The lecture is full of quotable and transcendental nuggets, and Thoreau manages to pull together many diverse topics into a very concise and flowing text; he moves seamlessly from observations about 19th century New England life to transcendental analysis of ancient Romes attitudes of nature to commentary on the human anatomy. A brief, insightful listen!

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Deaver Brown?

Content aside, my biggest complaint is with the awful and amateurish quality of the narration. The sound file was never professionally recorded or edited; it is full of constant static, noise interruptions, and clicking sounds every time the narrator pauses or restarts his tape deck. The sound is not balanced, and it is obvious that the narrator did not use professional grade microphones or soundproofing; every time he moves close to or further away from the microphone, the noise level jumps.

Was Walking worth the listening time?

Worst of all, the narrator is just plain bad at reading. He speaks with a thick accent and struggles over simple words and sentence structure; what was, Im sure, originally a flowing and smoothly-given lecture by Thoreau has been turned into a choppy, befuddled listen.

Any additional comments?

How this ever got approved to sell on this website, I will never know.