Get the Most Popular Audiobooks in Classics, British Literature Top Rated

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Title: The Poetry of Lord Byron, Volume XI: Don Juan

Author: Lord Byron

Narrator: Robert Bethune

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-10-11

Publisher: Freshwater Seas

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

The best way to appreciate this long and fascinating poem, really a novel in verse, is to just let it wash over you. Don't try to get caught up in the story, for Byron won't let you do that; don't try to figure it out, for Byron doesn't want you to do that either. Just listen to the man converse with you and enjoy his playful talk - that's why he wrote it, and that's what it's for.

For those who are otherwise unfamiliar with the work: Don Juan is a young Spanish nobleman who falls into a love affair at 16 with a married woman. To avoid being killed by her husband, he flees the country. Traveling by ship, he is shipwrecked and rescued by the beautiful daughter of a pirate. Her father finds out about their affair and sells Juan into slavery at Constantinople. Purchased by the Sultan's wife, he is expected to serve as her boy-toy, but again escapes. He is then caught up in war, and then makes his way to England, where he finds himself amid high society with three different women interested in him. At the point where Byron's incomplete text ends, he has yet again fallen into another love affair.

Where would Byron have taken him after that? Who knows? All we can be sure of is that there would have been many affairs with many lovely women yet to come.

Members Reviews:

A jaw dropping masterpiece!

This is thirteen and a half hours of charismatic genius, brilliantly red by Robert Bethune. Turn off the radio, put this on your iPod dock and enjoy!

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Title: Under the Greenwood Tree

Author: Thomas Hardy

Narrator: Peter Joyce

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-21-11

Publisher: Assembled Stories

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 8 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

A wonderfully evocative tale of the courtship of Fancy Day, newly arrived schoolmistress, by Dick Dewy, carrier of goods, during the four seasons of one year in Wessex.

Most of Hardys work had tragedy woven into the narrative but Under the Greenwood Tree is full of whimsy and good humour. The story is not without its serious comment, however, as Hardy reflects on class division and the disappearance of heritage in the rural community.

Parson Maybold, a rival for Fancys hand, has plans to install a mechanical organ in his church thereby replacing the services of the choir. The village rustics, who resent this intrusion, bring much comedy to the tale and were such a successful addition that the author used the idea in several of his later works.

The book is Hardys most appealing statement - revealing his respect and reverence for musical tradition, the countryside, and the simple nature of the people who inhabited its fragile communities.

Members Reviews:

Beautiful story

Peter Joyce does a marvelous job bringing this old story to life. I have read most of Hardy's novels and this is his brightest, joyous and most humorous tale. No dark Jude or hopeless Tess here; just wonderful characters, delightful story of an age long gone and brilliant refections of rural southern England. Here is a 'must read' for Hardy fans and a worthwhile listen for those unfamiliar with the world of Thomas Hardy.

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Título: Cumbres Borrascosas [Wuthering Heights]

Autor: Emily Brontë

Narrador: Sonolibro

Formato: Abridged

Duración: 3 hrs and 55 mins

Idioma: Español

Fecha de publicación: 01-14-11

Editor: Sonolibro

Calificaciones: 4 de 5 de 5 votos

Categorías: Classics, British Literature

Resumen del editor:

Hay relaciones que desde el inicio paracen estar destinadas a ser apasionadas y complejas, pero pocas como la que se crea entre Catherine y Heathcliffe, personajes fundamentales de "Cumbres Borrascosas", a los que los deseos "del cruel destino".....Cumbra Borrascosas difícil hacer una breve introducción de lo que puede ser considerada como una de las obras maestras de la literatura universal. El título de la novela es el nombre de la casa de campo en los páramos de Yorkshire donde se centra toda la acción de la historia. La historia tiene dos narradores:Lockwood, viajero que alquila del señor Heathcliffe la casa "La granja de los tordos, muy cercana a Cumbres borrascosasNelly Dean, ama de llaves que lo ha sido durante muchos años de "Cumbres borrascosas". Nelly limpieza contando su historia 30 años antes, cuando el dueño original de la casa el señor Earnshaw, trajo a casa un huérfano que se había encontrado en las calles de Liverpool, de nombre Heathcliff y decide criarlo con sus hijos Catherine y Hindley.Con el paso del tiempo surge una apasionada historia de amor entre Heathcliffe y Catherine, pero el desarrollo de los acontecimientos, muertes, matrimonios.. van impedir esa relación convirtiendose en todo lo contrario, en una pasión que acabará destruyendo ambos y a muchos a su alrededor.El personaje de Heathcliffs en sí mismo es uno de los personajes más interesantes de la literatura inglesa y universal: su carácter indomable, su pasión, sus constantes batallas internas y su forma de sobrellevar los acontecimientos que le rodean, van hacer de él el personaje central de la obra, por méritos propios.

Please note: This audiobook is in Spanish.

Opiniones de los miembros:

Una novela espléndida de romances al estilo Shakespeare

Sin lugar a duda es una historia entretenida y un poco melodramática. Las continuas muertes de personajes resultan absurdas pero me imagino que en el siglo dieciocho era bastante común perecer bajo designios oscuros, dado a la carencia de uña medicina moderna. Le daría cinco estrellas pero no hallo satisfacción en su conclusión. Le doy cuatro estrellas porque logró mantenerme en hito y avivar mi imaginación y hacerme olvidar de mí alrededor.

su portada se ve fea es una imagen bastante pixeleada ...

su portada se ve fea es una imagen bastante pixeleada, no lo he podido leer pero comparándolo con el original se puede decir que esta versión es un resumen de la historia, es bastante delgado y simple. Llegó en muy buenas condiciones.

Un gran clásico con una excelente traducción al castellano

Es un clásico del que no puedo añadir más de lo que ya se escribió sobre él, quizás puedo añadir que la traducción está muy bien lograda y la calidad del texto para Kindle es muy buena.

Es un buen libro

Está edición me parece buena a pesar que tiene algunas faltas ortográficas no influye en la lectura. El libro me pareció bueno sin ser extraordinario, la historia diferente con protagonistas fuera de lo común con personalidades muy fuertes.

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Title: Agnes Grey

Author: Anne Bronte

Narrator: Anne Flosnik

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 53 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-27-10

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Written when women---and workers generally---had few rights in England, Agnes Grey exposes the brutal inequities of the rigid class system in mid-19th-century Britain. Agnes comes from a respectable middle-class family, but their financial reverses have forced her to seek work as a governess. Pampered and protected at home, she is unprepared for the harsh reality of a governess's life. At the Bloomfields and, later, the Murrays, she suffers under the snobbery and sadism of the selfish, self-indulgent upper-class adults and the shrieking insolence of their spoiled children. Worse, the unique social and economic position of a governess---"beneath" her employers but "above" their servants---condemns her to a life of loneliness. Less celebrated than her older sisters, Charlotte and Emily, Anne Brontë was also less interested in spinning wildly symbolic, romantic tales and more determined to draw realistic images of conditions in Victorian England that needed changing. While Charlotte's Jane Eyre features a governess who eventually and improbably marries her employer, Agnes Grey deals with the actual experiences of middle-class working women, experiences Anne had herself endured during her hateful tenure as a governess.

Members Reviews:

Disappointing reading

Read this book many years ago and thought to revisit it by audio. The performance by the speaker is so carefully enunciated as to make it robotic - really spoilt the 'read'.

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Título: El retrato de Dorian Gray II [The Picture of Dorian Gray II]

Autor: Oscar Wilde

Narrador: Víctor Prieto

Formato: Unabridged

Duración: 4 hrs and 8 mins

Idioma: Español

Fecha de publicación: 12-06-10

Editor: NEAR,S.A.

Calificaciones: 5 de 5 de 1 votos

Categorías: Classics, British Literature

Resumen del editor:

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)Oscar Wilde nació en 1854, en Dublín. Hijo del cirujano William Wills-Wilde y de la escritora Joana Elgee. Oscar Wilde combinó sus estudios universitarios con viajes por Italia, Grecia, Estados Unidos y Francia, al tiempo que publicaba en varios periódicos y revistas sus primeros poemas. Fue excepcionalmente bien recibido en las universidades y centros culturales británicos y franceses. El éxito de Wilde se basaba en el ingenio punzante que derrochaba en sus obras, dedicadas casi siempre a fustigar las hipocresías de sus contemporáneos. Tuvo una enorme popularidad como dramaturgo, con obras como Salomé, o La importancia de llamarse Ernesto. Su éxito, sin embargo, se vio truncado en 1895 cuando el marqués de Queenberry inició una campaña de difamación en periódicos y revistas acusándole de homosexual. El 27 de mayo de 1895 Oscar Wilde fue condenado a dos años de prisión y trabajos forzados. A pesar de las numerosas peticiones de clemencia de toda Europa, el escritor fue obligado a cumplir por entero la pena. La sentencia supuso la pérdida de todo lo conseguido durante sus años de gloria. Cumplida la condena, emigró a París, donde vivió sus últimos años de vida, con nombre falso, entre penurias económicas y problemas de salud, hasta su muerte, el 30 de noviembre de 1900. El retrato de Dorian GrayEl retrato de Dorian Gray, es la única novela de Wilde, y su autoría le reportó feroces críticas desde sectores puritanos y conservadores debido a su tergiversación del tema de Fausto. En esta novela, Oscar Wilde indaga sobre el mito de la eterna juventud, al recrear el tema de un pacto diabólico para conservar la belleza y permanecer eternamente joven. Un pintor queda fascinado por la extraordinaria hermosura de Dorian, su joven modelo, que vive en plena era victoriana satisfaciendo todos sus deseos, sin límites ni prejuicios. El pintor declara que sería dichoso si Dorian pudiese permanecer para siempre exactamente como es. Este deseo se traduce en un pacto que lleva a Dorian a cometer todo tipo de atrocidades, hasta llegar al crimen. A medida que se desarrolla la novela y que el protagonista se sumerge en el vicio en contraposición con el desesperado anhelo de eterna juventud, se presiente un final terrible. El retrato de Dorian Gray es una extensa alegoría que sondea las profundidades del ser humano y cuya vigencia sorprende en cada nueva lectura de esta magistral obra.

Please note: This audiobook is in Spanish.

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Title: The Second Thoughts of an Idle Fellow

Author: Jerome K. Jerome

Narrator: Peter Joyce

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 25 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-08-10

Publisher: Assembled Stories

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

The aptly titled sequel to Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow which is also recorded by Assembled Stories and proved immensely popular.

In this succeeding outburst of whimsy Jerome reflects on a variety of subjects such as 'the art of making up one's mind', 'the care and management of women' and 'the minding of other peoples business'.

A childhood of poverty and being parent less from the age of fourteen ensured that Jerome was always in touch with his own humanity and beneath the humour there is the benevolent wisdom of the author - a shrewd but sympathetic observer of human nature and its folly.

About Assembled Stories: Over the years the national press have reviewed Assembled Stories titles as "excellent", "remarkable", "entrancing", "superb", "magic for sure", "masterly", "wonderful", "a class act" and "a splendid example of audio at its best".

Critic Reviews:

"Peter Joyce is the most remarkable one-man band in audiobook publishing. Joyce, an experienced actor, reads them all himself." (The Independent)

Members Reviews:

extremely funny

What did you love best about The Second Thoughts of an Idle Fellow?

This is classic British humor. As the story was written written in 1886 I never imagined it would appeal to my modern sense of humor. I was wrong. Any fan of Monty Python, Dilbert or The Far Side will find themselves rolling on the ground laughing. I have been surprised by the interest from my 8 year old son. He makes a point of taking this audio book to bed with him. I dont have to worry about foul language that soils modern commedians, Jerome uses delightfully descriptive launguage which everyone in the house appreciates and understands.

What other book might you compare The Second Thoughts of an Idle Fellow to and why?

Three men in a boat, by the same author. It follows the same format of being a collection of short stories. If you are not quite satisfied with one story then there will be a dozen others that appeal.

Which character as performed by Peter Joyce was your favorite?

I enjoyed them all.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

I like work: it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours.

Any additional comments?

Listen to all Jerome's books read by this narrator. I am!

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Title: The Diary of a Pilgrimage

Author: Jerome K. Jerome

Narrator: Peter Joyce

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 39 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-26-10

Publisher: Assembled Stories

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

"This is a sensible book. I want you to understand that. This is a book to improve your mind. In this book, I tell you all about Germany at all events all I know about Germany and the Ober-Ammorgau Passion Play. I also tell you about other things. I do not tell you all I know about all these other things because I do not want to swamp you with knowledge. I wish to teach you gradually. I should only be defeating my own object that I, by making you think too much at first, give you a perhaps lasting dislike to the exercise. I have purposely put the matter in a light and attractive form so that I may secure the alteration of the young and frivolous. I do not want them to notice as they go on, that they are being instructed; and I have therefore endeavoured to disguise from them, so far as practicable, that this is to either an exceptionally clever or an exceptionally useful work. I want to do them good without their knowing it. I want to do you all good to improve your minds and to make you think, if I can.

"What you will think after you have read the book, I do not want to know. Indeed, I would rather not know. It will be sufficient reward for me to feel that I have done my duty and to receive a percentage on the gross sales!"

Extract from the Preface About Assembled Stories: Over the years the national press have reviewed Assembled Stories titles as excellent,remarkable, entrancing, superb, magic for sure, masterly, wonderful, a class act and a splendid example of audio at its best.

Critic Reviews:

"Peter Joyce is the most remarkable one-man band in audiobook publishing. Joyce, an experienced actor, reads them all himself." (The Independent)

Members Reviews:

fun read

This book by Jerome K. Jerome, best known for his 'Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog', was first published in 1891, the printed edition has 120 pages, the Kindle-edition has 1580 locations. This book is in the public domain and can be downloaded for free from several sites on the web.

In this book 'I' and his friend 'B' go on a journey from London to Oberammergau in Germany to see the Passion Play there. Jerome tells of the trip and of some of the touristic sightseeing they do. There are a few 'problems' on the way with a German bed, trying to get an omelette, seesickness, fellow travellers and more. It is written in a very funny way and I advise this book to anyone who likes to read humor. If you enjoyed Jerome's 'Three Men in a Boat' or books by Wodehouse, then you should really give this book a try. The pace of this over a 120 years old book is slower than in modern books, but it does not take more then a few pages to get used to this. As a sample I copy a few lines from the second chapter of this book below:

[...]

I have been a good deal worried to-day about the question of what luggage

to take with me. I met a man this morning, and he said:

"Oh, if you are going to Ober-Ammergau, mind you take plenty of warm

clothing with you. You'll need all your winter things up there."

He said that a friend of his had gone up there some years ago, and had

not taken enough warm things with him, and had caught a chill there, and

had come home and died. He said:

"You be guided by me, and take plenty of warm things with you."

I met another man later on, and he said:

"I hear you are going abroad.

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Título: Canción de Navidad [A Christmas Carol]

Autor: Charles Dickens

Narrador: María Pilar Ferrero

Formato: Unabridged

Duración: 3 hrs and 28 mins

Idioma: Español

Fecha de publicación: 10-22-10

Editor: NEAR, S.A.

Calificaciones: 4 de 5 de 5 votos

Categorías: Classics, British Literature

Resumen del editor:

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) - Novelista inglés y uno de los escritores más conocidos de la literatura universal. Con gran maestría combinó narración, humor, sentimiento trágico e ironía, con una ácida crítica social y una aguda descripción de gentes y lugares, tanto reales como imaginarios. Nació el 7 de febrero de 1812, en Portsmouth, y pasó la mayor parte de su infancia en Londres y Kent, escenarios frecuentes de sus obras. Entre sus novelistas favoritos del siglo XVIII, se encontraban Henry Fielding y Tobias Smollet, cuya influencia se puede percibir con claridad en sus propios escritos. Murió el 9 de junio de 1870 y fue enterrado en la abadía de Westminster. Hasta principios del siglo XX, los lectores preferían las primeras obras del autor, por su sentido del humor y su trasfondo trágico. Los críticos literarios de hoy en día dan más valor a las obras de su madurez, por su coherencia formal y su aguda percepción de la condición humana.

CANCIÓN DE NAVIDAD - Ebenezer Scrooge, es una persona avara y tacaña que no celebra la fiesta de Navidad a causa de su solitaria vida y su adicción al trabajo. Un día, en su casa, Scrooge recibe la visita de un espíritu misterioso que resulta ser el de su mejor amigo y socio Jacob Marley, que al iniciar el relato muere y posteriormente, le anuncia una tenebrosa profecía acerca del futuro del avaro y la llegada de los tres espíritus de la Navidad. Scrooge, no se asusta y desafía la predicción. Con el tiempo aparecen los tres espíritus navideños: el del Pasado, que le hace recordar a Scrooge su vida infantil y juvenil, el del Presente que hace ver al avaro la actual situación de la familia de su empleado Bob Cratchit, y el espíritu del Futuro, mudo y de carácter sombrío, que le muestra lo más desgarrador: el destino de los avaros. El cambio finalmente lo vive el propio Scrooge cuando finalmente celebra la navidad.

Please note: This audiobook is in Spanish.

Opiniones de los miembros:

Mostly good.

The distortion on the voices of the ghosts makes them almost impossible to understand, and they left in the parts about "now beginning disk two".

There is lovely background music throughout, and I occasionally found myself listening to the music and missing the story.

That said, the translation and narration were top notch, and I still highly recommend the book.

Canción de Navidad en español

Would you consider the audio edition of Canción de Navidad [A Christmas Carol] to be better than the print version?

La verdad no.

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Title: An Ideal Husband

Author: Oscar Wilde

Narrator: Rex Harrison, Lilli Palmer

Format: Abridged

Length: 47 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-06-10

Publisher: Saland Publishing

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Sir Robert Chiltern seems to have the perfect life: he's a successful, well-paid government minister and he has a loving wife. But when Mrs Cheveley appears in London with damning evidence of a past misdeed, all of this is threatened.

Members Reviews:

Harrison shines in Wilde's delightful comedy

This was a hilarious swipe at English living, and Wilde provided many laughs and delightful twists. This is my second Wilde story, and I'm looking forward to reading more. He's so clever and witty!

Rex Harrison's performance was fantastic, and it was easy to lose myself within the story, listening to his dulcet tones deliver Wilde's wit and humor.

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Title: South Riding

Author: Winifred Holtby

Narrator: Charles Laughton

Format: Abridged

Length: 53 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-15-10

Publisher: Saland Publishing

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Charles Laughton presents the classic tale set in the fictional area of South Riding.

Members Reviews:

Haunted by the Menance of Another War

This is a fascinating glimpse into provincial English life in the years preceding WWII. It has a ring of truth to it and a mood of despair which made perfect sense when I found that it is based on the authors own experience of local government and that Winifred Holtby wrote it while dealing with her own impending death at the age of 37. She was also acutely aware of the approaching war.

"She was haunted by the menace of another war. Constantly, when she least expected it, that spectre threatened her, undermining her confidence in her work, her faith, her future. A joke, a picture, a tune, could trap her into a blinding waste of misery and helplessness."

Many of the characters in this book are doomed and the ones who survive have limited prospects, except for Sarah who will never give up on her dream to give underprivileged students the highest quality education possible and to teach them to think for themselves. Her thwarted romance with ruined gentleman farmer and arch conservative Robert Carne is truly poignant and I loved the Jane Eyre allusions. Sarah's suffering over Carne is life-changing, giving her a sense of humility and understanding she previously lacked, despite her high ideals.

South Riding is a tragic book in many ways, but it's not a depressing one. The large cast of characters from all social classes takes some getting used to, but they are all drawn with such compassion and insight that it's easy to care about them. This book has meat on its bones and it addresses bigger political questions which made it a very satisfying read for me and one I hope to enjoy again someday. Oh, and the writing is excellent. The only reason I'm not giving it 5 starts is because it dragged a bit at the end.

A novel of time and place

A novel about place, character and class, the time 1934. It starts with an election of alderman to the rural council in the fictional South Riding, Yorks (actually in East Riding). It is too long, irrelevant details are dealt with at length details such as such as what flowers blooming at what time, what bird species are chirping at any given moment, what colours are the clothes of characters: all of which helps to paint a visual picture but it is overdone. There are very touching moments and the use of language is at times brilliant. Emotions of key characters are overdone, swinging from elation to despair in a flash, especially Sarah later in the book. She is too perfect, canât do anything wrong for most of the book but turns to deep despair and self-loathing after the failed affair in Manchester. She loves Carne while Carne didnât love her, but Carne loved his wife: thus, love becomes the mediator Carne and Sarah so that Sarah can feel that his soul âinhabitsâ her. This is unconvincing claptrap which spoils the book and is not in Sarahâs character â but after a pep talk by Mrs Beddows Sarah jolly well pulls her socks up. The Epilogue spoils the book: it is a Forever England rhapsody that is dated and bombastic. Holtby uses an omniscient POV jumping from one characterâs head to anotherâs in a few lines, a dated rhetoric today. Detailed evocative descriptions, convincing dialogue and rural characters some excellent use of language.