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

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Title: Oliver Twist

Author: Charles Dickens

Narrator: Flo Gibson

Format: Unabridged

Length: 15 hrs and 37 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-30-08

Publisher: Audio Book Contractors, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 8 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

An orphan, reared in a workhouse, runs away to London where he is captured by a gang of thieves. The leering Artful Dodger, the murderous Bill Sikes and the master thief Fagin are just some of the unforgettable characters in thsi heart-rendering tale.

(P)2008 Audio Book Contractors, Inc.

Members Reviews:

TV and Movies versions were good, but the book is better. . .

One of my co-workers encouraged me to read this since I have only seen the TV/Movie versions. It was a quick read and very enjoyable. Fortunately, the TV/Movie versions weren't too far off the mark. Regardless, there were facets of the story that you would only get through the book, which is why reading the book will always be my favorite option.

BAH! HUMBUG!! "God bless Us, Every One"

A Christmas Carol is a beloved Christmas favorite. Nothing says Christmas like favorite Christmas stories. This timeless tale has been told in many versions. Iâve seen the movie and play but Iâve never read the book. I thought it was about time to finally read this tale.

The illustrations throughout the book were fun to look at. Not common to find illustrations in books today unless they are children stories.

Lots of great quotes come from this story but the most famous is BAH! HUMBUG! followed by:

"God bless Us, Every One!"

Standalone

As great to read vs as to watch as a production.

We've enjoyed many kinds of productions of this classic Scrooge story. The original makes us 'rise to the occasion' - or at least gets us to mentally take the time to step back in that era. Life was so different, so the real factor is (I think) a little richer, than already assembled viewables. Emotional, and the older language adds some incentive to digging into the story.

A must read!

Dickens has always intimidated me. Somehow, I made my way through high school and college without having to read one of his novels. Finally, a few weeks before Christmas, I decided to give this a try when I learned it is relatively short. I figured if it took some work, at least it wouldn't take all that long. I'm sorry I waited so long. It was impossible for me to separate this from the many versions of A Christmas Carol I've seen over the years. I loved it. I enjoyed the glimpse into the time and place of the story. The story and theme are, of course, legendary.

Don't be intimidated. This is a book everyone should read at least once.

Classic I Know

I have tried this one before and was distracted within the first five chapters but with the advise of a colleague I am going to attempt this one again. I am late 30's and sometimes have a tough time focusing for long spans of time unless the story is captivating from the get go, you have to appreciate writing for the sake of verb-age and description to get into this. So, because it is a classic and I think the classics should be read - I'll give it another go but not looking forward to it despite the wonderful reviews. Hated Pride and Prejudice too - just depends on personal taste I suppose. Loved The Divine Comedy....

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Title: Pride and Prejudice

Author: Jane Austen

Narrator: Cathy Ritchie

Format: Abridged

Length: 54 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-14-08

Publisher: Listener's Digest Inc

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

When Charles Bingley, a rich, single man, moves to the Netherfield estate, the neighborhood residents are thrilled, especially Mrs. Bennet who intends to marry him to one of her girls. But who can anticipate the effect of his friend, Mr. Darcy, on Elizabeth Bennet, and how his pride and her prejudice are eventually overcome for the good of all.

©2007 Listener's Digest Inc; (P)2007 Listener's Digest Inc

Members Reviews:

Really good synopsis, but missing so much!!

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

This is a really good cliff notes type copy, but way too short. Would not recommend for a good read. For a good read, buy the whole version, not the abridgement.

Would you ever listen to anything by Jane Austen again?

LOVED the full version of the book! Love Jane Austen.

Have you listened to any of Cathy Ritchies other performances before? How does this one compare?

Never heard her before. She was ok.

Was Pride and Prejudice worth the listening time?

This version was way too short. Need to listen to the longer version, not the abridgement.

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Title: Silas Marner

Author: George Eliot

Narrator: Scott Diskin

Format: Abridged

Length: 53 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-31-08

Publisher: Listener's Digest Inc.

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

A village recluse, miserly and lonely, is robbed of all his worldly goods but discovers in a young orphan girl that love is more valuable than money.

©2007 Listener's Digest Inc; (P)2007 Listener's Digest Inc

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. Is there a moral here? Perhaps more of a reminder to us of where gold really lies.

An outstanding story.

This is a fabulous story. I have read it many times in a regular edition. This edition is very large with small print. It is like a large sheet of paper. I bought it for my granddaughter and she still has not read the book due to the size I imagine. Sad for her and for me.

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Title: Tom Jones

Author: Henry Fielding

Narrator: Nigel Davenport

Format: Abridged

Length: 2 hrs and 24 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-23-08

Publisher: CSA Word

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Tom is thrown out of his foster father's house for "crimes" that he didn't commit, and proceeds to have numerous bawdy adventures and fights, eventually finding that only his true love can save him from a life that could possibly end at the gallows.

Members Reviews:

Delightful and entertaining

314. The History of Tom Jones: a foundling by Henry Fielding (Novel-Audible/E Book-Fiction) 5* I read along with the Audible of the novel which I found a highly delightful and entertaining experience.

The narrator, Bill Homewood, who performed the audio version of the work was excellent doing the various characters as well as the invisible narrator (author) of the story. The Synopsis is as follows:

A foundling of mysterious parentage brought up by Mr. Allworthy on his country estate, Tom Jones is deeply in love with the seemingly unattainable Sophia Western, the beautiful daughter of the neighboring squireâthough he sometimes succumbs to the charms of the local girls. When Tom is banished to make his own fortune and Sophia follows him to London to escape an arranged marriage, the adventure begins. A vivid Hogarthian panorama of eighteenth-century life, spiced with danger and intrigue, bawdy exuberance and good-natured authorial interjections, Tom Jones is one of the greatest and most ambitious comic novels in English literature.

It is rather brilliant, and there is no lack of shenanigans as we follow Jones through his history and the reader never knows when and where the author will abruptly go off on a tangent, told in a most eloquent manner, end with a flourish and no doubt tossed his quill down and took a bow. I am either taken in by some farce or thoroughly enchanted by this author. As Fielding is rather the loquacious writer this read comes in Audible time at almost 38 hours or roughly 1,000 pages but worth every minute spent on it.

The book itself is five stars!

This is a review of the Oxford Classic Kindle edition.

The book itself is one of the greatest novels ever written; this is maybe the third time I've read it. Fielding is a master of irony, by which I mean genuine irony, not the mean sarcasm that often passes for irony these days. Fielding is never mean-spirited. His irony is generous and his humor is benevolent. His characters are three-dimensional, never all good or all bad. Before reading this, I had been re-reading several Dickens novels, and the contrast is enormous. A Dickens villain is a villain to the core, and his heroes (and especially his heroines) are saints. Tom instead is a young man with many faults, but a great heart. Sophia, his beloved, is a genuinely good person, but she's got a certain fiery spirit, and has her moments of doubt and remorse.

I advise you to read every word of this novel. It's divided into books, and the first chapter of each book is an address to the reader, expounding Fielding's theories on literature and on human nature. An impatient reader might be tempted to skip these, but that would mean missing a lot of worthwhile and enjoyable reading.

I have some quibbles with the Kindle edition. There were some mistakes in the passage from print to pixels, but they were not excessive. The biggest problem is that the excellent notes often have a reference to another note, with the page number, e.g., a note might be only "See note on page 85." As the book proceeds, more and more of the notes are references to earlier notes.

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Title: Frankenstein

Author: Mary Shelley

Narrator: David Rintoul

Format: Abridged

Length: 3 hrs

Language: English

Release date: 06-17-08

Publisher: The Copyright Group

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

In the pantheon of great fictional horrors, Frankenstein's monster perhaps stands the tallest. Mary Shelley's acclaimed masterpiece, about the creation of a monster pieced together from graves, the gallows, and medical school scraps, has lost none of its chilling power to arouse both horror and compassion.

(P)2006 Horse's Mouth

Members Reviews:

and one of the best, and best-written horror stories in literature

If you're reading this review, you only have one question. You're not looking for a book review, you already know it's a classic. You already know this is the most original, and one of the best, and best-written horror stories in literature. You may or may not like the story, but that's a matter of personal taste. A lot of people don't like Shakespeare, but no one questions whether he was a good writer or not. If you don't like the writing style, it's because you aren't familiar with the English of this period. Nearly eighty years before Stoker's "Dracula" ( an idea stolen from Polidori's "The Vampyre", which was an idea stolen from LeFanu's "Carmilla"), this most-original horror masterpiece was born. So, your only question is, "Is this really the uncensored 1818 version? Because I've only seen one other verified version, and it's over twenty dollars in paperback. All the others claiming to be the 1818 version have been disproved." YES, as far as I can tell, it is. The only preface is Shelley's own original. There is no introduction, no commentary or editorial credits whatsoever. There are no illustrations, and the spelling and language have not been edited. Have a good thesaurus handy. So, here it is, the author's original script, no frills, for a bargain price. Which is exactly what I was looking for.

Not what the movies would have you believe...

I never saw an entire Frankenstein film, only fragments here and there, but those left me with an impression that is far from the essence of Mary Shelley's book, Frankenstein. For one, Frankenstein is not even the name of the monster; it is the name of the man, Victor Frankenstein, who created the monster. But that is minor. The true surprise was how many issues relevant to today this book brings up--obligation to family; personal responsibility; fate; how far can science ethically go; does man have a right to create life; what is our responsibility for life we've created--these are a few intriguing questions raised. I enjoyed the book, but better than the book was the discussion I participated in with a group of friends; it was definitely one of the best I've ever been involved in. This is a great book to read with a friend or two who will discuss it with you. I think society would be well served if this novel were required reading, especially in every medical school and science and ethics class. We need to think deeply about these issues, and Frankenstein helps us to do so.

Another classic worth your time

Early into Frankenstein, I might have given it 3 stars because of its old-fashioned language and letter-writing format. I was not interested in Walton's whining to his sister Margaret about loneliness and friendship. And I found this part of Shelley's writing stiff and uninteresting.

That all changed once Walton rescued Victor Frankenstein from the icy sea near the North Pole.

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Title: Lady Chatterley's Lover

Author: D. H. Lawrence

Narrator: Pamela Brown

Format: Abridged

Length: 1 hr and 8 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-11-08

Publisher: Saland Publishing

Ratings: 2.5 of 5 out of 5 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

A superb abridged reading of D. H. Lawrence's classic lustful tale.

©2008 Saland Publishing; (P)2008 Saland Publishing

Members Reviews:

Choose another version

This audiobook was very poorly performed: buzzy, background noise, impossible to understand low or soft sections. Recommend you listen to another version.

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Title: Another Trio of Saki

Subtitle: 'The Elk', 'A Holiday Task', and 'The Schartz-Metterklume Method'

Author: Saki

Narrator: Joy Gelardi

Format: Unabridged

Length: 34 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-20-08

Publisher: Matrix Digital Publishing

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 7 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

"The Elk" - The grandmother of Bertie Thropplestance is intent on making sure he marries the right woman, and it would seem that their tame elk would have a large part to play in the charade!

"A Holiday Task" - a lady has lost her memory and acquires the help of Kenelm Jerton to help her eliminate all the possibilities from her inquiries. A bout of mischievous methods lead to a surprising conclusion.

"The Schartz-Metterklume Method" - At a railway station, an arrogant and overbearing woman mistakes the mischievous Lady Carlotta for the governess she expected. Lady Carlotta, deciding not to correct the mistake, presents herself as a proponent of "the Schartz-Metterklume method" of making children understand history by acting it out themselves. She chooses a rather unsuitable historical episode for her first lesson.

Members Reviews:

Can't hear the brilliance for the godawful voice

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

People who despise nuance and wit

Would you recommend Another Trio of Saki to your friends? Why or why not?

Some devices won't allow you to hear the audio sample. Beware! Don't buy it if you can't hear the narration first. Even very popular readers might not be to your taste. A grating voice ruins a book.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Joy Gelardi?

A foppish Englishman. An actor with a fine ear.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Another Trio of Saki?

The writing is fine. The narration leaves much to be desired.

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Title: Adam Bede

Author: George Eliot

Narrator: Hannah Gordon

Format: Abridged

Length: 2 hrs and 21 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-06-08

Publisher: CSA Word

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

An absorbing, semi-philosphical tale of love and people driven to extremes. Our hero, a carpenter, loves Hetty Sorel, but she loves Arthur Donnington, a local squire. The story soon progresses onto powerful themes, such as: who has the right to determine who lives and who dies? A non-judgemental examination of human relationships and nature, Adam Bede has been highly praised for achieving something "beyond" realism.

©1995 CSA Word; (P)2007 CSA Word

Members Reviews:

Her first Novel and possibly the best

I never was a re-reader. Until I met George Eliot (aka Mary Ann Evans). I have loved all her works but I keep returning to this one. Takes place in the late 1700âs in âHayslopeâ,a fictional village probably resembling something she lived in or near, in England. The story is about farm life, class distinctions, and the trauma of thoughtless acts and the prose throughout is beyond beautiful. Youâll want to be like Diana, youâll hope you arenât more like Hetty, and then upon yet another re-read, you may be concerned that you have some traits rather like Arthur D. Beautiful story, sad story, impossible story, resolved at the end, in the only possible solution; will leave you contented and wanting to read more of what she wrote.

Mary Ann Nods

The dud among Eliot's novels, bound to fail because not the product of her lived experience but an attempt to write a "historical" novel a la Walter Scott.

I love George Eliot but the possibility that I'd ever reread this petrified "web of [wo]men" is absolute zero.

Adam Bede

One of the most amazing books I have ever read. Way to long tho in my opinion. But kept me on my toes the whole time.

This is my least favorite Eliot so far and I think there are only ...

This is my least favorite Eliot so far and I think there are only a few I haven't read. It didn't seem to go anywhere and the characters's action were frustrating. I've never grown bored with Eliot's philosophizing but it was heavy handed in Romola.

A good read!

This is an amazing first novel. The writer's position in rural English society enabled close observation of the various social strata and of the individual characters in the story. So, readers are offered acute and detailed insights into a wide range of people and places, with touches of humour, and a gripping central plot with several fascinating sub-plots too - though perhaps the final outcomes may be rather unbelievable in some ways. The reader needs time! - the book was written in 1859, before TV etc, when copious time was available. And in the necessity of the time the female author used a male pseudonym, especially perhaps because of the subject matter, very controversial for the time - and despite her own perilous social status at the time.

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Title: Poems by John Donne

Author: John Donne

Narrator: Christopher Hassall

Format: Abridged

Length: 24 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-22-08

Publisher: Saland Publishing

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 4 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Christopher Hassall narrates a selection of Donne's finest work, including "The Good Morrow", "The Funeral", "The Sun Rising", and "Twickenham Gardens".

©2008 Saland Publishing; (P)2008 Saland Publishing

Members Reviews:

Superb Donne recital, with Comparisons

An author search for "John Donne" yields 13 albums on Audible.com, most of them multi-poet anthologies. I own 4 John Donne audiobooks, including this one ??? "Poems by John Donne" (narrated by Christopher Hassall, 24 minutes) ??? plus "Richard Burton Reads the Poetry of John Donne" (35 minutes); "Love Poems" (Edward Herrmann; 2 hours 27 minutes); and "John Donne: Selected Poems" (Frederick Davidson; 3 hours).

In my opinion, the two shorter JD albums are far and away the best. You just cannot find better Donne interpreters than Hassall and Burton. These late great British actors are, alas, ill-served by three factors: the recordings are abridged (leaving the listener wanting SO much more), there's no TOC, and the poem titles are not announced. However, the audio quality of both albums is fine.

The aforementioned three problems do not plague the 5-to-6-times-longer recordings by Herrmann and Davidson: all poem titles are announced. Herrmann, an American actor, is a decent reader of John Donne, though not in Burton or Hassall's league. Unfortunately the audio fidelity of Herrmann's album is mediocre at best.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with the audio quality of Davidson's album. This distinguished British voice actor is well represented on Audible.com, but ??? and this is one BIG but ??? I cannot stand his voice. To say anything more (as I attempted to, in a past review of his "Don Juan"), would probably get this review expunged. Since the qualities that contribute to our enjoyment (or detestation) of a given narrator are mostly subjective ??? e.g., some listeners will complain about a reader's impenetrable English accent whereas others will detect no such "problem"! ??? I will simply urge you make sure you enjoy Davidson before committing to listening to him for ??? 3 hours.

But back to this page and "Poems by John Donne" (n. Christopher Hassall). It's hard to do better ??? unless you prefer Richard Burton ??? than these legendary recordings. I highly recommend this album!

No titles for the poems

Would you consider the audio edition of Poems by John Donne to be better than the print version?

only because i can listen again and again with less effort, and in a voice other than my internal voice

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

Yes

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Title: Treasure Island

Author: Robert Louis Stevenson

Narrator: Roger Blake

Format: Abridged

Length: 2 hrs and 25 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-11-08

Publisher: CSA Word

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 8 votes

Genres: Classics, British Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Treasure Island has a very stable place in the literary classics cannon, and has inspired countless imitations, including the smash-hit Pirates of the Carribbean films.

Members Reviews:

The entire point of the book, lost in abridgement.

I don't envy those whose job it is to condense an eight-hour read down to almost a quarter of it's original length. It must be nearly impossible to decide what to trim while attempting to maintain the elements that make the full-length version what it is. That being said, the person who cut this book down to size managed to remove the very thing that set this classic apart from its contemporaries, namely the morality tale of trust and friendship woven throughout the adventure.

I purchased this audiobook for my nephew. I loved the condensed version I owned on cassette as a child, and knew he would love it too. I decided to give it a listen in order to assess whether or not the vocabulary would be too advanced or the violence too graphic for a five-year-old. Obviously he won't be as familiar with some of the more antiquated language used, but he's a smart kid. He should be able to follow this story, and won't be any more lost than I was with all the nautical terms either.

(The following two paragraphs contains spoilers) All this was fine, but what struck me almost from the beginning was the complete lack of any relationship established between the main character and narrator, Jim Hawkins, and the character of the pirate, Long John Silver. In this version they hardly interact at all until after the pirates mutiny a third of the way through the book, and even then only as fair-handed foes. In the original (and other condensed versions), Hawkins and Silver (initially posing as a ship's cook) are fast friends. From there, both the pirate's and the boy's actions and motivations, especially after the pivotal mutiny, are colored by that initial affinity toward each other. At one point, Silver saves Jim from the rest of the pirates, and later switches sides entirely. This decision is made in part to save himself from hanging, of course, but is also made in a conscious effort to align himself with his good and trustworthy friend over the murderous band of pirates, among whom he no longer wishes to count himself. In the end, Silver escapes with a portion of the treasure instead of sailing back to England to face trial, and it is Jim who convinces the other survivors not to pursue him.

This particular abridgement strips away every story element I've just mentions, painting Long John Silver as a sneaky, self-serving pragmatist whose only motivations are fortune-seeking and self-preservation. The character is utterly ruined. Jim Hawkins, in turn, is portrayed as a stalwart believer in nonviolence and fair play, who only saves silver to avoid further bloodshed while delivering him to the proper authorities to answer for his crimes.

For his part, Roger Blake's oration was well-performed. He was easy to follow, his character voices were diverse and engaging and his changes in pace and tone appropriately matched the moods of each scene. In fact, his reading style made the adventure all the more exciting. In stark contrast however, the abridgement was abysmal. If you want a better abridged version of Treasure Island with an equally engaging performance, look for the one narrated by Jasper Britton.