Listen to Best Sellers Audiobooks in Classics, British Literature Best Sellers

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Title: Cranford

Author: Elizabeth Gaskell

Narrator: Wanda McCaddon

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 25 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-09-10

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Cranford, Elizabeth Gaskell's best-known work, is a humorous account of a nineteenth-century English village dominated by a group of genteel but modestly circumstanced women. This is a community that runs on cooperation and gossip, at the very heart of which are the daughters of the former rector: Miss Deborah Jenkyns and her sister, Miss Matty. But domestic peace is constantly threatened in the form of financial disaster, imagined burglaries, tragic accidents, and the reappearance of long-lost relatives.

By eschewing the conventional marriage plot with its nubile heroines and focusing instead on a group of middle-aged and elderly spinsters, Gaskell does something highly unusual within the novel genre. Through her masterful management of the novel's tone, she underscores the value and dignity of single women's lives even as she causes us to laugh at her characters' foibles. Charles Dickens was the first of many readers to extol its wit and charm, and it has consistently been Gaskell's most popular work.

Members Reviews:

Easy to forget how long ago it was written

The town of Cranford is filled with spinster women. They live their lives, they gossip, they attend magic shows, they bury their dead. But, most of all, they love and support each other through everything.

For a book written in the 1850s, Cranford can be pretty snarky. Aside from the Victorian style of writing, itâs easy to forget just how long ago Gaskell lived. It is sometimes excessively wordy (it was written originally as a serial after all). Some of the stories are funny. Some are dull. Itâs a pretty good book overall. Not my favorite, but still good to read.

I would recommend the DVD of Cranford if you want an easy ...

Am re reading this book for a book club. It describes the various social classes in a small village on the verge of the Industrial Revolution and how they interact. I would recommend the DVD of Cranford if you want an easy introduction to the book. I particularly like the well developed female characters who respond to social stresses in a realistic view. Many of the women are strong characters. Read it slowly with a pot of tea and immerse yourself in a world on the world of industrialization.

DON'T MISS MRS. McGASKELL'S NOVELS

I only recently, and to my surprise, discovered Mrs. McGaskell's novels. I love her writing.Cranston is the second book of hers that I have read: elegant, sweet, poignant. I recommend this and her other novels. I have just started North and South and already am enthralled. If ,like me you enjoy the elegant writing of days gone by and English 1800's settings, do yourself a favor and read her books.

Cranford

Love these old classics. I do wish that we still practiced these values and virtues in today's world. Wishful thinking.

Gentle English humor about life in a small town

It took a few pages and a bit of patience to appreciate the voice of the author- but once my modern mind slowed sufficiently to the pace of a small town, and the understated comedy of little quirks and eccentricities of character and custom, it was very enjoyable. Reads very much like a newsy letter from an old aunt whose daily life sees great drama in little things. I laughed out loud more than once- as the writing is both sincere and gently parodying itself at the same time. I finished the book with a smile and a few times was quite touched by the goings on in Cranford.

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Title: Wives and Daughters

Author: Elizabeth Gaskell

Narrator: Patience Tomlinson

Format: Abridged

Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-27-10

Publisher: Naxos Audiobooks

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

When her father remarries, the honest, innocent Molly Gibson suddenly finds herself with a new stepsister, Cynthia, who is beautiful, worldly, and impetuous. This would be more than enough to deal with, but the new wife is the deeply snobbish (and darkly secretive) Hyacinth.

Thwarted love, scheming ambition and small-town gossip underlie the warmth, irony, and brilliant social observation that link the relationships and the inevitable conflicts as profound change comes to rural England. The most mature and rewarding of her novels, Wives and Daughters placed Elizabeth Gaskell in the first rank of English authors.

Editorial Reviews:

The last work Elizabeth Gaskell produced before her death, Wives and Daughters is a sweeping and affective work set in the mid-19th century in a tiny rural town in England, where young Molly Gibson struggles to adjust to a new life after her father remarries, gifting her with a gorgeous but mysterious stepsister and a haughty, withholding stepmother. Gaskell follows her characters through gossip and tragedy, hatred and love, alongside all the inescapable mundaneness of small-town life.

Voice actor Patience Tomlinson's dignified narration emphasizes the strict social observances that ruled the day, while her keen attention to emotional ebb and flow invites listeners into the world of this keen social commentary.

Members Reviews:

Mrs. Gaskell's Best...

"Wives and Daughters" was Elizabeth Gaskell's last, longest, and perhaps best novel. Set in an 1830's rural English village, it deftly mixes domestic drama and comedy with some rather subversive social commentary.

At the center of the story is Molly Gibson, the daughter of the village doctor, who has been motherless from a young age and raised by her father. She is modest, considerate, and honest, if a little unworldly. When one of the doctor's trainees takes in a romantic interest in the seventeen year-old Molly, the panicked Mr. Gibson packs her off to Hambley Hall, where Squire Hambley, his invalid wife, and their sons Osborne and Roger treat her as a member of the family. Mr. Gibson rather precipitously proposes to a widowed school teacher, Mrs. Kirkpatrick, who has her own daughter, Cynthia, about Molly's age.

Her new family will be a challenge for Molly. The new Mrs. Gibson is vain, shallow, and manipulative, while Cynthia is a pretty and talented flirt who attracts the attention of many young men, including a marriage proposal from Molly's favored friend Roger Hambley. Molly becomes a keeper of confidences and painful secrets; her loyalty to her new sister will involuntarily involve her in Cynthia's indiscretions, which threaten to ruin both their reputations.

The novel was written for magazine serialization, with episodic chapters. The characters are well-developed and very human; even the ostensible villains are fully rounded and often sympathetic. The social behavior of men and women is repeatedly constrasted, often for humor but also to highlight contradictions. Mrs. Gaskell takes her time telling the story, but readers won't notice the length. The author died just before finishing the novel; a final note sketches the ending toward which she was plainly heading.

"Wives and Daughters" is very highly recommended to fans of Elizabeth Gaskell and her excellent novels.

Deliightful

I was advised to read Mrs Gaskell as a teenager studying history.

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Title: Silas Marner

Author: George Eliot

Narrator: Rosalyn Landor

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 17 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-28-10

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 13 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Silas Marner, which first appeared in 1861, is a tale about life, love, and the need to belong. Accused of a crime he didn't commit and unjustly forced from his home town, Silas the weaver lives a reclusive and godless life, finding love and companionship only in material objects. It takes the theft of his gold and the discovery of an abandoned infant to remind him of the importance of human relationships and faith.

Author George Eliot carefully weaves the interaction of plot and character, and, in so doing, depicts Silas Marner's redemption and rebirth through his love and protection of the orphaned girl and the possibility of losing her. Throughout the book, Eliot also takes the opportunity to voice her feelings about industrialization, religion, and social-class distinctions.

Members Reviews:

"Hope for the Hopeless . . ."

This was a fine story and novel, almost a novella as it is not lengthy. This is a story about a weaver and the weaving trade in days gone by.

It is a story about a steady personality (the protagonist) who overcomes devastating adversity and personal cruelty under small favourable circumstances which are both unpredictable for the reader and could be true to life. This novel, could be based on a true story for its detail and convincing authenticity of trade and character development. The storyline lent itself well to being dramatized with Sir Ben Kingsley playing "Silas"

in the 1980's BBC production which adheres well to the intention expressed in the novel by George Eliot

The paperback by George Elliot makes a fine gift for a young person starting life.

not just for high school students

Most of my friends read Silas Marner in high school English and still shudder, but my high school marched to a different drummer (or none) and I had never read it. No one would pretend that it is one of George Eilot's masterpieces -- it's no Middlemarch, not by a long shot. But even in its much smaller way, it has all the germs of her intelligence, literary style, and human compassion, even when tainted by a certain predictability and triteness of plot. It also has Eliot's greatest weakness, which is that she seems to lose interest in the central situation she creates once it has been fully developed, and as in many of her (greater) books, rushes to the end once it is in sight.

Still, no person who wishes to be thought literate in English literature should not have read Silas Marner. For whatever shortcomings it may have, it's a page turner by a literary master.

It's a classic!

I very much enjoyed this classic book. I was never required to read it in school, so had no preconceived opinion about it. It was a sad tale with a happy ending of the "and they lived happily ever after type." The only reasoning I rated it 4 stars instead of 5 is because of all the detail. Like a lot of classics, there was so much detail that I neither wanted nor understood. For the most part, I just skimmed over it. Nevertheless, I found it a good story, well worth the time to read.

Sorry I didn't read it earlier

I was supposed to read this book in 9th grade but didn't. Fudged my way through. Now, fifty-four years later, I regret not doing my assignments. Eliot accurately captures the lifestyle and culture of 19th century rural England. She also clearly demonstrates the unconscious loss a hoarder and a loner sustains.

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Title: The Very Best of Thomas Hardy

Author: Thomas Hardy

Narrator: Richard Burton, Michael Redgrave

Format: Abridged

Length: 2 hrs and 20 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-24-10

Publisher: Saland Publishing

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

A collection of Thomas Hardy's poetry and fiction.

(P)2010 Saland Publishing

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Title: The Very Best of Oscar Wilde

Author: Oscar Wilde

Narrator: Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud

Format: Abridged

Length: 2 hrs and 44 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-18-10

Publisher: Saland Publishing

Ratings: 1 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

A selection of Oscar Wilde's finest work including The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Happy Prince, and The Importance of Being Earnest.

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Title: Jane Eyre

Author: Charlotte Brontë

Narrator: Deborah Carr

Format: Abridged

Length: 50 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-18-10

Publisher: Saland Publishing

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

An abridged, dramatic version of Brontë's classic novel starring Deborah Carr.

Public Domain (P)2010 Saland Publishing

Members Reviews:

Note quite what I was expecting

I was wanting to listen to a quick, easy version of the story, with which to familiarise myself before going to see a comedy play based on the characters. This did the job, although I was not expecting a dramatised version (I should have read the synopsis I suppose). Furthermore I was not expecting such an old recording! It is a bit distorted at times, sounding like a wobbly record player, but it has the charm of an English black and white film from the 1930's or 40's.

If you like old films and don't mind a quaint simplistic dialogue, then you will probably enjoy this. I found myself smiling almost all of the way through.

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Title: The History of Henry Esmond

Author: William Makepeace Thackeray

Narrator: Edmond O'Brien

Format: Abridged

Length: 53 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-18-10

Publisher: Saland Publishing

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

The History of Henry Esmond tells the story of the early life of Henry Esmond, a colonel in the service of Queen Anne of England. A typical example of Victorian historical novels, Thackeray's work of historical fiction tells its tale against the backdrop of late 17th- and early 18th-century England specifically, major events surrounding the English Restoration and utilizes characters both real (but dramatized) and imagined.

Members Reviews:

Most confusing

This would be about the most confusing book I've ever read. It reads like a first draft. It was difficult to figure out who the narrator actually was as it kept jumping from different points of view without warning - even in mid paragraph! Great long explanations of battles had me completely mystified. I appreciated the Kindle's button that let me flick through endless pages of explanation about who was the villain of the piece and why. I was previously unclear on this period of English history (early 18th century) and will remain so. I've read other Thackeray novels and thought them quite charming, but this one has to be a thumb's down.

Recommended

Henry Esmond is among my favorite novels. Thackery brings major historical issues into his plot -- and deep psycholgical insight into his characters. Recommend

A beautiful story I had never heard of

My imagination was captured from the first page. A book in a beautiful old style, with depth of feeling, and an exciting plot; and with a refreshing honesty and blunt style that I did not expect. Thackeray is now one of my favorites. For anyone who has read and enjoyed Oscar Wilde, I recommend Henry Esmond! And for anyone who hasn't, I recommend Henry Esmond!

Henry Esmond is a great story.

Thackeray is one of my favorite authors of historical fiction. He has great humorous insights into life. Vanity Fair is my favorite but Henry Esmond comes close.

Thackeray at his best

Excellent Book, it has encouraged me to read more about the reign of Queen Anne. It has given me an understanding of the Jacobite cause.

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Title: A Tale of Two Cities

Author: Charles Dickens

Narrator: Orson Welles

Format: Abridged

Length: 56 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-12-10

Publisher: Saland Publishing

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution, A Tale of Two Cities depicts the plight of the French peasantry under the demoralization of the French aristocracy in the years leading up to the revolution, the corresponding brutality demonstrated by the revolutionaries toward the former aristocrats in the early years of the revolution, and a number of unflattering social parallels with life in London during the same time period.

It follows the lives of several protagonists through these events, most notably Charles Darnay, a French once-aristocrat who falls victim to the indiscriminate wrath of the revolution despite his virtuous nature, and Sydney Carton, a dissipated British barrister who endeavours to redeem his ill-spent life out of love for Darnay's wife, Lucie Manette.

Members Reviews:

Surprisingly bad soundtrack.

Very disappointing.

I assumed it would be of good quality

and last quit a bit longer.

Wasn't complete book, very disappointed.

other cheaper complete versions available so frustrated at my purchase, wasn't clear in product description.

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Title: The Good Soldier

Subtitle: A Tale of Passion

Author: Ford Madox Ford

Narrator: John Michaels

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-05-10

Publisher: Spoken Realms

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 6 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

The Good Soldier: A Tale of Passion has been called the perfect novel, and "one of the 15 or 20 best novels produced in English in our [20th] century". Ford contrasts perception verses reality masterfully as he portrays two perfect couples through the narrative of the cuckold American husband, Dowell, a classic unreliable narrator.

The Ashburnhams, a perfect upper middle class English couple, haven't spoken to each other in private for years. Teddy Ashburnham, the "Perfect Soldier", and seducer of Florence, eases the frustration of a sexless marriage through a series of affairs, which the wife, Leonora, overlooks until his dalliance with Florence, whom she can't stand. Dowell assumes the position of nursemaid to Florence, who convinced him on their wedding night that her heart is too weak for sexual excitement.

Two wealthy couples, one English and one American, meet at a spa in Germany and spend several years in comfortable friendship until it is revealed that the American wife and the English husband are carrying on an affair that the English wife knows about but the American husband does not. After the deaths of the adulterers, more and more is uncovered about both the conduct and emotional meaning of the affair.

The story, narrated by the American husband, is in some sense a detective story, but he is no investigator. The facts come to him unwillingly, since he would prefer not to know. The suspense depends not on what happened, but on the narrator's interpretation of the powerful emotions manifested in very small gestures and remarks.

Members Reviews:

Completing my English major education

Saw a reference to this in a New York Times article and realized I knew nothing about Ford Maddox Ford. So, for the first time in many years I read a novel with a yellow marker in hand. The concept of an "Unreliable narrator" allowed me to approach this story in a layered way. This is a short book but it's worth taking a longer time to read it.

Five Stars

Excellent read

Pretty decent short novel

I bought and read this book after telling my dad who is an English Teacher that I enjoyed Lolita by Nabokov. He said this is another unreliable narrator book and the descriptions seemed decent so I tried it out. It was a pretty decent read. With that being said, I feel it's pretty slow paced and not as much of a page turner as other things I've read. I would still recommend you check it out though.

Wonderful book

This is a wonderfully written and carefully structured novel. It is not a page turner, but you will enjoy it if you appreciate great writing, appreciate nuance and savor the experience of reading carefully. It is not an "easy" book. However, it deservedly ranks among the classics in literature. Anyone who appreciates well-written fiction must read this book.

Some love this novel and it is considered a classic

Some love this novel and it is considered a classic . I did not get really care for it. It is too rambling for me. The characters are not relatable.

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Title: The Light That Failed (Dramatised)

Author: Rudyard Kipling

Narrator: The NBC University Theater Group

Format: Abridged

Length: 54 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-18-10

Publisher: Saland Publishing

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Artist Dick Heldar returns to 1890's England from the war in the Sudan after sustaining eye injuries and turns to painting for a living. While his realistic paintings of scenes from the war in Sudan slowly achieve a certain popularity, he ekes a living painting romanticized portraits.

Eventually, the old war injury to his eyes starts getting worse and Heldar realizes he is going blind. Before he completely loses his sight, Dick resolves to paint his masterpiece, Melancholia, using a prostitute named Bessie as a model. He drinks heavily to keep his eyesight going.

Dick deliberately drives Bessie to hysteria to get the right expressions. Dick's eyesight fades just as he completes his masterpiece, and he collapses in exhaustion. Bessie returns and destroys the painting in revenge, smearing the still wet paint across the canvas. When Dick invites his friend, Maisie, to view his masterpiece (which he can no longer see), she cannot bring herself to tell Dick about his ruined canvas.

Bessie returns and reveals she has destroyed his masterpiece. In despair, Dick travels back to the Sudan and joins his old company. He persuades his friend Torpenhow to put him on a horse and joins the charge into enemy lines with the other soldiers, where he is quickly shot and killed.

Members Reviews:

This is a nicely done volume

This is a nicely done volume, and the price is right. Thanks to Amazon for making such world literature available at the click of a mouse.

I am impressed by the sheer volume of work that Kipling put out. It is very much tied to its time and place - Colonial England in the Victorian era. It emphasizes virtues that seem quaint by today's standards. It would be a wonderful source for assignments to high school or college students. It would assault their every notion about race, culture and gender - and might even educate a few in the process.

Some good material not usually seen

On one hand, this book had a number of short stories I had not read before. One thing I found interesting after reading several stories, was that some characters appear in more than one story. I enjoyed the stories, many of which were about life in India during the period that England ruled there.

On the other hand, it did not have some of Kipling's "standards," like The Jungle Book and Kim. It's not labelled as "The COMPLETE Works," just "The Works."

However, I did not find it difficult to navigate, because you simply click "Go to" and it lists the individual stories and chapters. I don't know if this is because I was reading on a Kindle Touch, but I did not have the problem that other reviewers did.

Not as advertised.

This may be ignorance on my part, but I was expecting 8 separate volumes as the same printed edition. Not one book with just a few of his select works. And some of you many be wonder what I expected for $34.59? All his works are in the public domain.

I returned it.

Wretchedly formatted. Choose the Delphi Press edition instead

This was an offering I was delighted to see, given my liking for Kipling. But the formatting--or lack thereof--was a profound disappointment. It was evidently scanned in from a print edition and computer formatted without human review. The poetry, especially, is all but unreadable, appearing as a series of paragraphs consisting of run-on sentences rather than quatrains.