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Title: Imagining Minds

Subtitle: The Neuro-Aesthetics of Austen, Eliot, and Hardy: Theory Interpretation Narrative

Author: Kay Young

Narrator: Cynthia Wallace

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-28-12

Publisher: University Press Audiobooks

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Jane Austen, George Eliot, and Thomas Hardy-three great masters of the English novel-are three remarkable imagining minds. As readers of their novels, we feel ourselves to be in contact with their authorial minds and conjure the minds they create spread across the pages of their narrative worlds. In the way that we believe in and hold in mind the idea that other human beings have minds of their own do we as readers of the novel believe we are in the presence of these other minds. But how?

Imagining Minds explores how the novels of Austen, Eliot, and Hardy create the felt-quality of their authoring minds and of the minds they author by bringing their writing in relation to cognitive neuroscience accounts of the mind-brain, especially of William James and Antonio Damasio. It is in that relational space between the novels and theories of mind-brain that Kay Young works through her fundamental claim: the novel writes about the nature of mind, narrates it at work, and stimulates us to know deepened experiences of consciousness in its touching of our reading minds.

While, in addition to James and Damasio, Young draws on a range of theories of mind-brain generated by current research in philosophy, neuroscience, cognitive science, psychology, psychiatry, and psychoanalysis to help her understand the novel's imagining of mind, her claim is that those disciplines cannot themselves perform the more fully integrated because embodied and emotionally stimulating mind work of the novel-mind work that prompts us as their readers to better know our own minds.

Critic Reviews:

Books that manage to bridge two cultures remain a rare commodity, no doubt because authors who can fill the in-between void are hard to find. Imagining Minds is such a book and Kay Young is such an author; I recommend both without reservation. Kay Young is an original scholar, possessed of a fresh voice. (Antonio Damasio, author of Descartes' Error)

Members Reviews:

More narratology!

If you could sum up Imagining Minds in three words, what would they be?

It is great to see books on this subject being produced. I hope Audible will add more narratology titles

Who was your favorite character and why?

N/A

What does Cynthia Wallace bring to the story that you wouldnt experience if you just read the book?

It is nice to have someone read when my eyes are tired

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

N/A

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Title: Mansfield Park

Author: Jane Austen

Narrator: Harriet Walter

Format: Abridged

Length: 5 hrs and 16 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-10-12

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 9 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Penguin Classics presents Jane Austens Mansfield Park, adapted for listening and available as a digital audiobook as part of the Penguin English Library series. Read by Harriet Walter.

"We have all been more or less to blame...every one of us, excepting Fanny. Taken from the poverty of her parents; home in Portsmouth, Fanny Price is brought up with her rich cousins at Mansfield Park, acutely aware of her humble rank and with her cousin Edmund as her sole ally. During her uncles absence in Antigua, the Crawfords arrive in the neighbourhood bringing with them the glamour of London life and a reckless taste for flirtation."

Mansfield Park is considered Jane Austens first mature work, and with its quiet heroine and subtle examination of social position and moral integrity, one of her most profound. Part of a series of vintage recordings taken from the Penguin Archives. Affordable, collectable, quality productions - perfect for on-the-go listening.

Members Reviews:

Look Before You Leap

This book wasnt for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Someone who does not appreciate Jane Austen might enjoy this book. Perhaps someone who is cramming to pass an exam, not to enjoy the exquisite prose.

What was most disappointing about Jane Austens story?

My fault: i didnt notice that it was abridged. It just never occurred to me that anyone would even attempt such an insult to greatness.

Would you be willing to try another one of Harriet Walters performances?

I love Harriet Walter. She read beautifully as I would expect her to.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Mansfield Park?

Cut? Cut? That's what i am ranting on about!

Any additional comments?

I shall be very careful in future to check for that little syllable: UN

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Title: Tess of the D'Urbervilles

Author: Thomas Hardy

Narrator: Eleanor Bron

Format: Abridged

Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-10-12

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 6 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Penguin Classics presents Thomas Hardys Tess of the DUrbervilles, adapted for audio and available as a digital download as part of the Penguin English Library series. Read by Eleanor Bronte.

"I would be content, ay, glad, to live with you as your servant, if I may not as your wife; so that I could only be near you, and get glimpses of you, and think of you as mine.... I long for only one thing in heaven or earth or under the earth, to meet you, my own dear! Come to me - come to me, and save me from what threatens me!

When Tess Durbeyfield is driven by family poverty to claim kinship with the wealthy DUrbervilles and seek a portion of their family fortune, meeting her "cousin" Alec proves to be her downfall. A very different man, Angel Clare, seems to offer her love and salvation, but Tess must choose whether to reveal her past or remain silent in the hope of a peaceful future.

With its sensitive depiction of the wronged Tess and powerful criticism of social convention, Tess of the DUrbervilles is one of the most moving and poetic of Hardys novels. Part of a series of vintage recordings taken from the Penguin Archives.

Affordable, collectable, quality productions - perfect for on-the-go listening.

Members Reviews:

Tragic Tess

This is one of the great English novels, probably among the first five in distinction among the novels of the late 19th century. It is certainly Hardy's most accomplished novel. "Tess" is set in Hardy's version of the Wessex region of England, where, for example, the city of Dorchester becomes Casterbridge. This is the story of Tess Durbeyfield. The Durbeyfields used to be known as the d'Urberviiles, centuries before, when they were rich and powerful. As with almost all of Hardy's novels, the evocation of the boggy hill country of southern England is so closely intertwined with nature, that one begins to smell the heady aromas of the countryside. Coincidentally, Roman Polanski's finest film is "Tess", Nastassia Kinski is the perfect Tess, Polanski shows us

the innocence of the girl, how its purity is the reason for her downfall. The scene in which she bites into a strawberry is the ultimate seduction scene for PG audiences.

Eye-opening, tragic story told in an engaging style. No wonder it's a classic!

This is the first Thomas Hardy novel I've read and I think I'm hooked. Will definitely read his others. Excellent writing which really draws you into the story. Loved it. The entire time you're reading it, you feel compelled to rescue Tess from her situation and to scream to the whole hypocritical Victorian world, "It's not her fault!" Near the end of the book, Hardy builds up to such suspense that I found myself holding my breath and praying that things turn out well for Tess. Hardy gives the reader a view of England in 1800's that, in my opinion, is probably a lot more accurate than we would like to believe. And I also think his style is easier to read than Charles Dickens. I highly recommend this book. I have ordered the 1998 DVD from Amazon as it had rave reviews as being true to the book. Can't wait to watch it.

Tragic classic!

Thomas Hardy is a contemporary of Charles Dickens, and his writing is similar. The themes are quite modern for that time, as the protagonist is an atheist or at least agnostic.

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Title: Lorna Doone

Author: Richard D. Blackmore

Narrator: Ray Brooks

Format: Abridged

Length: 2 hrs and 24 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-01-12

Publisher: The Copyright Group Net

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Lorna Doone, a Romance of Exmoor is an historical novel of high adventure set in the South West of England during the turbulent time of Monmouth's rebellion (1685). It is also a moving love story told through the life of the young farmer John Ridd, as he grows to manhood determined to right the wrongs in his land, and to win the heart and hand of the beautiful Lorna Doone. Continuously in print since its first publication in 1869, Lorna Doone has remained perennially popular with a wide readership ever since.

Members Reviews:

Don't buy it

It is hard to sit and read words and more words with little or no substance. It was like being caught in a void

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Title: Sons and Lovers

Author: D. H. Lawrence

Narrator: Paul Copley

Format: Abridged

Length: 5 hrs and 59 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-27-12

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Penguin Classics presents D. H. Lawrences Sons and Lovers, adapted for audio and available as a digital download as part of the Penguin English Library series. Read by Paul Copley.

"She was a brazen hussy."

"She wasnt. - And she was pretty, wasnt she?"

"I didnt look..."

"And tell your girls, my son, that when theyre running after you, theyre not to come and ask your mother for you - tell them that - brazen baggages you meet at dancing classes."

The marriage of Gertrude and Walter Morel has become a battleground. Repelled by her uneducated and sometimes violent husband, delicate Gertrude devotes her life to her children, especially to her sons, William and Paul - determined they will not follow their father into working down the coal mines. But conflict is evitable when Paul seeks to escape his mothers suffocating grasp through relationships with women his own age. Set in Lawrences native Nottinghamshire, Sons and Lovers is a highly autobiographical and compelling portrayal of childhood, adolescence and the clash of generations.

Part of a series of vintage recordings taken from the Penguin Archives. Affordable, collectable, quality productions - perfect for on-the-go listening.

Members Reviews:

Unsettling relationships ......

This Kindle version is not the unexpurgated test first published by Cambridge University Press in 1992, It is the version extensively edited by Edward Garnett and first published in 1913, and omits approximately 100 pages of Lawrence's original manuscript. Garnett also made several editorial changes to make the text less controversial for the times. This was the only version available to readers for almost 80 years after it was written.

"Sons and Lovers" is a semi-autobiographical novel in which the story's main protagonist, Paul Morel, struggles to maintain relationships with two female characters (Miriam and Clara) despite an almost Oedipian relationship with his mother, whose own disastrous marriage drives her to focus an abnormal amount of affection on her sons. Paradoxically he ends up killing his mother (out of kindness) rather than his father. Paul is a frustratingly complex individual and, for me, less than authentic. If this were not so evidently autobiographical I would be more skeptical. Lawrence himself, while the son of an essentially illiterate coal miner and a school teacher, attended Nottingham Grammar School and the University of Nottingham before becoming a teacher himself. His alter ego in the novel, Paul Morel, leaves school at the age of thirteen and becomes employed one year later, taking night school lessons and studying art. Despite his father and presumably his boyhood friends speaking in a thick East Midlands accent (although his mother does not) he seems to develop an almost unbelievably artiiculate manner of speech. Where does something like âOh. You make me knit the brows of my very soul and cogitateâ come from? It doesnât ring true to me, although Lawrence himself was obviously very intelligent. Paul Morel lacks his education however.

The seeming oversuse of the word "hate" throughout the text also puzzles me. As an example: "And why did he hate Miriam, and feel so cruel towards her, at the thought of his mother. If Miriam caused his mother suffering then he hated her - and he easily hated her." And this is the girl he is supposedly falling in love with.

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Title: The Return of the Native

Author: Thomas Hardy

Narrator: Steven Pacey

Format: Abridged

Length: 6 hrs and 16 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-30-12

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Penguin Classics presents Thomas Hardys The Return of the Native, adapted for audio and available as a digital download as part of the Penguin English Library series. Read by the actor Steven Pacey. Do I desire unreasonably much in wanting what is called life - music, poetry, passion, war, and all the beating and pulsing that is going on in the great arteries of the world? Tempestuous Eustacia Vye passes her days dreaming of passionate love and the escape it may bring from the small community of Egdon Heath. Hearing that Clym Yeobright is to return from Paris, she sets her heart on marrying him, believing that through him she can leave rural life and find fulfilment elsewhere. But she is to be disappointed, for Clym has dreams of his own, and they have little in common with Eustacias.

Their unhappy marriage causes havoc in the lives of those close to them, in particular Damon Wildeve, Eustacias former lover, Clyms mother and his cousin Thomasin. The Return of the Native illustrates the tragic potential of romantic illusion and how its protagonists fail to recognize their opportunities to control their own destinies. Part of a series of vintage recordings taken from the Penguin Archives. Affordable, collectable, quality productions - perfect for on-the-go listening.

Members Reviews:

Lengthy classic.

This is very stylized for the period and way too long but it grows on me as I read it. I sure did learn a lot of vocabulary in the process and am grateful for my Kindle FIre to look up all the weird words. It was for a book group so I would not have read it otherwise, but I am glad I did. Not an easy read but nonetheless interesting.

Thomas Hardy never disappoints.

I love how Thomas Hardy makes the natural environment like another character in his books. This is no exception. The story is both tragic and triumphant. The characters are really well developed. After "Tess of the D'Urbervilles", this is my favorite Hardy novel.

âPersons with any weight of character carry, like planets, their atmospheres along with them in their orbits.â Don't buy alone..

...but purchase as part of a collection like Thomas Hardy: The Complete Novels ASIN: B01EQPBOX6 or Thomas Hardy: The Complete Novels ASIN: B01ICHYMYC to better your bargain.

A well-written story with some powerful messages. Hard for this version to stand out in such a crowded field including those both illustrated and as made part of compilations like , but does have an active table of contents going for it. Give it a read!

Five Stars

it is a pleasure to read this classic everytime

Great Book by an Iconic Writer: Read it!!

Thomas Harding is an incredible writer: not easy to read, but a true genius. Read it for the beauty of the words, the flow of the story, the glorious description of the English countryside. Well worth your time.

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Title: Barchester Towers

Author: Anthony Trollope

Narrator: David Timson

Format: Abridged

Length: 5 hrs and 37 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-31-12

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Penguin Classics presents Anthony Trollopes Barchester Towers, adapted for listening and now available as a digital audiobook as part of the Penguin English Library series. The text is expertly read by the actor David Timson.

"What to come here a stranger, a young, unknown, and unfriended stranger, and tell us, in the name of the bishop his master, that we are ignorant of our duties, old-fashioned, and useless!"

Trollope's comic masterpiece of plotting and backstabbing opens as the Bishop of Barchester lies on his deathbed. Soon a pitched battle breaks out over who will take power, involving, among others, the zealous reformer Dr Proudie, his fiendish wife, and the unctuous schemer Obadiah Slope.

Barchester Towers is the second (as well as the most loved) book in Trollopes Chronicles of Barsetshire series, which captures 19th century provincial England with wit, worldly wisdom, and an unparalleled gift for characterization.

Part of a series of vintage recordings taken from the Penguin archives, the Penguin English Library series offers affordable, collectable, quality productions that are perfect for on-the-go listening.

Members Reviews:

Always Do What is Right!

If you could sum up Barchester Towers in three words, what would they be?

It is Right and Just!

What other book might you compare Barchester Towers to and why?

Other Trollope books for sure. It is always about morals, ethics and doing what is right no matter the consciousness. Of course in his books there is always a good ending, but the ideas behind the decisions are good to read, good to ponder. Great ideas for discussion in a book group.

Have you listened to any of David Timsons other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, but I will. Enjoyed his read.

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

Oh, the endings of a Trollope novel are always the best moments. I love how they turn out, how doing "The Right Thing" is always the right decision.

Any additional comments?

Many summers ago I read 5 or 6 of Anthony Trollop's novels; this was one of them. But the reader was so entertaining, and the parts of the book that take place in America are so fun to listen to and visualize. I did enjoy every hour of this book.

Classic Trollope

Great bedtime listening - not too exciting or disturbing, so it won't keep you awake or give you nightmares! I enjoy Trollope's dry sense of humour and witty comments on society in general. You would be well advised to read/listen to The Warden before Barchester Towers, as it sets up this story.

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Title: The Mill on the Floss

Author: George Eliot

Narrator: Irene Sutcliffe

Format: Abridged

Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-26-12

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Penguin Classics presents George Eliot's The Mill on the Floss, adapted for audio and now available as a digital download as part of the Penguin English Library series. Read by the actress Irene Sutcliffe. If life had no love in it, what else was there for Maggie? Tragic and moving, The Mill on the Floss is a novel of grand passions and tormented lives. As the rebellious Maggie's fiery spirit and imaginative nature bring her into bitter conflict with her narrow provincial family, most painfully with her beloved brother Tom, their fates are played out on an epic scale. George Eliot drew on her own frustrated rural upbringing to create one of the great novels of childhood, and one of literature's most unforgettable heroines. Part of a series of vintage recordings taken from the Penguin Archives. Affordable, collectable, quality productions - perfect for on-the-go listening.

© Public Domain (P)2012 Penguin Books Ltd

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Title: Edward Lear: Stories & Rhymes

Author: Edward Lear

Narrator: James Taylor, Nigel Planer, Ghizela Rowe

Format: Original Recording

Length: 1 hr and 10 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-16-12

Publisher: The Copyright Group

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Ah, Nonsense! The English, it is often said, have a peculiar brand of humour. Along with copious cups of tea and a stiff upper lip it keeps life together in moments of difficulty and strife. One of our most-loved humourists is Edward Lear, famed throughout the world for his nonsense verse and limericks.

Born in Holloway, North London, Lear was the 21st child of Ann and Jeremiah Lear, and raised by his sister, Ann, who was, of course, 21 years older than Edward. His early life was unsettled, prone to illness, especially epileptic fits which gave him a character coloured with guilt and shame. However by his 30s he had published his first book of limericks in which his touching drawings were also displayed.

His early works as an artist are easily recognised, but his later works such as "The Owl and the Pussycat" and "The Jumblies" have established him first and foremost as a writer of humourous verse.

Lear travelled widely during his years and eventually settled in San Remo, in Italy, eventually succumbing to death in 1876. On his headstone are inscribed these lines from Tennyson's "To E.L. [Edward Lear], On His Travels in Greece": ...all things fair. With such a pencil, such a pen. You shadow forth to distant men, I read and felt that I was there."

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Title: Sense and Sensibility

Author: Jane Austen

Narrator: Flo Gibson

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-30-12

Publisher: Audio Book Contractors

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

The discreet Elinor (Sense) and the romantic and reckless Marianne (Sensibility) find the course of true love full of brambles and disillusionment. Their neighborhood is populated with characters cut in the unique Austen mold.

Members Reviews:

Sublime

Would you listen to Sense and Sensibility again? Why?

I could listen to this book over and over again for the beauty of the language, for the crisp storytelling and for the sound of Flo Gibson.

What does Flo Gibson bring to the story that you wouldnt experience if you had only read the book?

I absolutely love the cadence, rhythm, and warmth of Flo Gibson's reading and voice. She is ideal for reading the classics. So too bad she is no longer with us to record more!