Listen to Most Popular Audiobooks in Classics, American Literature

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Title: The Sea Wolf

Author: Jack London

Narrator: Arthur Addison

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-26-13

Publisher: Audio Book Contractors

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 8 votes

Genres: Classics, American Literature

Publisher's Summary:

At the center of this exciting sea adventure lies the epic battle between Humphrey Van Weyden, "civilized man" and the tyrannical captain Wolf Larson. It is a battle for the survival of the fittest. It is a battle for life, love, and for one man's soul.

Members Reviews:

Stay with it

After reading The Call of the Wild and White Fang, I dove into The Sea Wolf. Wait! This one is different..slogging through character development and philosophy that seemed to go nowhere, I almost gave up. Don't. Stick with Mr. London through the story and you'll be rewarded with a satisfying story, character insight and thought-provoking outcomes. True to form, his beautiful use of language and structure is challenging but delicious. Jack doesn't spare the drama in his depiction of life at sea. For literature fans who eschew pop novels, this one's a treat.

One great work of fiction

One great work of fiction, The Sea Wolf, tells and incredible tale based, I understand, partly on a character the London knew. The other, The Cruise of the Snark, gives London's account of his experience of having a boat built to sail around the world and his voyage from San Francisco to the Solomon Islands. I was glad to have previously read Melville's Typee, the book that inspired the cruise of the Snark, when I read about London's visit to the island.

Good Version by Flying Fish Publishers

Thought I'd go shopping for an alternative book of "Sea Wolf" with illustrations after having purchased the Xist version around the same time and found this one to be better. I always find illustrations help to bring the story more to life and was pleased with the purchase overall, tho I would have enjoyed it more were there more illustrations and less duplication. A good book of a well-crafted sea story!

so that it could be easily understood by a child

Buyer Beware! The Townsend Library Edition of The Sea Wolf is HEAVILY edited, or rather, paraphrased. Each paragraph has been rewritten using much simpler words and ideas, so that it could be easily understood by a child. If you want the experience of Jack London's wonderful writing, DO NOT buy this edition! It is worse than Sparknotes for just summing up what the book actually says. Even though there is a note from the publisher that the book has been "carefully edited," the extent to which the book is different from the original is not clearly conveyed.

An Excellent Read

Simply, an excellent read. Interesting story, quality writing, and deep character development. For me, this is one of those books [another is Old Man And the Sea, perhaps The Great Gatsby] I will read again and again over the decades. There are precious few books I would re-read, but re-reading this one and others is like listening to an old friend re-tell a story of his or her while we share a particularly pleasing libation and pick at some warmed cashews. Tangentially, as I read this, I could see Gregory Peck in the role of Wolf Larsen.

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Title: Billy Budd

Author: Herman Melville

Narrator: Michael Lackey

Format: Unabridged

Length: 3 hrs and 59 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-15-13

Publisher: Dreamscape Media, LLC

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 31 votes

Genres: Classics, American Literature

Publisher's Summary:

In 1797, young Billy Budd is impressed into naval service. It is a perilous time for a British Royal Navy still reeling from mutinies and marauding French ships. When Billy is forcibly transferred to HMS Bellipotent, he evokes the wrath of John Claggart, the ship's master-at-arms. Claggart falsely accuses Billy of conspiracy to mutiny, a charge that will have a profound effect on the fates of both seamen.

Members Reviews:

H2O here isn't wide, but deep w/ strong currents

Reading 'Billy Budd' left me thinking of David Foster Wallace and his unfinished novel The Pale King. Both are unfinished literary works that -- despite their roughness (and yes incompleteness) -- seem to suggest or hint that if given time/space/temperament, etc., Melville and Wallace could have produced works equalling their respective magna opera. Both are full of a confident stillness that hint at a genius between the words and a soul and art floating just under the text.

Is Billy Budd a greater work than Moby-Dick? Pshaw! Of course not, because perfection. But it shows that that damn book about an enigmatic, amelanist whale was not a fluke. Billy Budd's simplicity and shortness is deceptive -- the water here isn't wide, but it is deep with strong currents.

At the end of reading this I was left with a dreamy visual of a giant wave which looks destined to break in a tremendous fashion against the ship I am sitting in. At the very last moment, however, the swell rolls under my lonely craft. While the ship survives, there is that one full-stop second; that heavy moment as the wave passes UNDER the portside where your bodymindandsoul recognizes the strength of the ocean and the power of that one beautiful wave that barely missed destroying you.

TraFALgaaar

The narrator pronounces Nelson's great battle TraFALgaaar. He also pronounces forecastle just like it is spelled in contradiction to the pronunciation used by every sailor ever. Kind of hard to get past this in a book about sailing....by Melville.

Could be better

It has long sentences and many diversions which makes us difficult to understand but I enjoyed this book

Ugh

Hated this book from start to finish. Sure glad we weren't assigned Moby Dick. the performance was adequate. So many hours I can't get back.

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Title: Ragged Dick

Author: Horatio Alger Jr.

Narrator: Don Hagen

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 12 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-05-13

Publisher: Harmonic Wave

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 28 votes

Genres: Classics, American Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Ragged Dick is the story of a young bootblack living and working in the streets of a post-Civil War New York City. It follows his rise from a street kid to the respectable middle class. The original publication, released as a six volume series, came to depict a time of post-war struggle through the eyes of its young victims, vagabond children. Originally written as young-adult moral tales using the classic rags-to-riches theme, Ragged Dick is also Algers' timeless snapshot into an all but forgotten period in American history, and the ever relevant struggle for economic and social status.

Horatio Alger was born on January 13, 1834 in Chelsea, Massachusettes. Alger began writing in earnest and being a published author at the age of 17. After graduating from Harvard, Alger obtained a position in ministry in a Unitarian Church, but was dismissed on scandalous and incriminating charges. Around 1866, Alger moved to New York, a time that marked the beginning of a very successful writing career. Around this time, the Ragged Dick series was being published as a serial, and in 1868 it was published as a complete novel. In New York City, Alger took a special and personal interest in the street children and became a frequent visitor to their popular haunts. Perhaps this is what gave him a clear insight into their trials and tribulations and aided in creating the simple yet timeless story of Ragged Dick. Eventually, Alger took two street children into his home and informally adopted them.

Members Reviews:

A good story about a time the is long past.

What made the experience of listening to Ragged Dick the most enjoyable?

I enjoyed the spoken word of the time.

What did you like best about this story?

This was a good example of how people could and should treat each other.

Have you listened to any of Don Hagens other performances before? How does this one compare?

This was my first time I listening to Don Hagen and I look forward to finding something of interest with that has him performing.

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Title: The Most Dangerous Game

Author: Richard Connell

Narrator: Peter Husmann

Format: Unabridged

Length: 58 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-02-13

Publisher: Trout Lake Media

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 67 votes

Genres: Classics, American Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Widely anthologized and the author's best-known work, The Most Dangerous Game features as its main character a big-game hunter from New York who falls off a yacht and swims to an isolated island in the Caribbean. There he is hunted by a Cossack aristocrat. The story is an inversion of the big-game hunting safaris in Africa and South America that were fashionable among wealthy Americans in the 1920s. Adapted many times to stage and screen. A thrilling listen!

Members Reviews:

Excellent.

Great short story with a performance to match. This was for a project but I honestly have listened to it several more times just because.

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Title: The Pastures of Heaven

Author: John Steinbeck

Narrator: Sean Runnette

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 13 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-01-13

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 96 votes

Genres: Classics, American Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Today, nearly 40 years after his death, Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck remains one of America's greatest writers and cultural figures. We have begun publishing his many works for the first time as Penguin Classics. This season we continue with the seven spectacular and influential books East of Eden, Cannery Row, In Dubious Battle, The Long Valley, The Moon Is Down, The Pastures of Heaven, and Tortilla Flat. Penguin Classics is proud to present these seminal works to a new generation of listeners and to the many who revisit them again and again.

Members Reviews:

Golden, mythical America

Any additional comments?

A funny thing happened to me as I was reading this book - I forgot that Steinbeck wasn't quite being literal. Yet the characters fell so alive, the valley seems like such a real place that you fall into its spell almost immediately. Not until the end when the tourists are looking down into the valley (much like how the book begins) do we feel how Las Pasturas del Cielo is a promised land and we are all still wandering around the dry California scrag like so many little American Moses'.

I wonder how someone who has never lived in America would feel about this book? I've been reading a lot of novels from Russia and I always wonder what it is I'm missing because I am, in fact, unaware of all the nuance that a Russian author would take for granted of his Russian reader. And would a Russian not quite feel everything that an American would feel reading Steinbeck? The distance that separate us socially as a culture, our yearning for something new and to always be on the move, the easy calm mixed with religious firmness ... are these things unique to America?

I don't know.

I do know that Steinbeck writes about the inner yearning and nostalgia and dreams of Americans with an ease as gentle as the calm breeze of the valley of this book. He's writing about ideals, about something much more firm than a place in the ground - he's writing about us as a people in all our varied eccentricities, our hopes and our failures and above all, our idea of what we want our lives (and our country) to be about. Here in this book is a place where harsh politics and extremist religions are tempered with hard work, good neighbors and family. People are good, and though they may not always see eye to eye, they know how to work out their differences honorably.

That's why Las Pasturas del Cielo isn't a real place, and that's why the tourists at the end can't seem to figure out that living in heaven is as simple as just walking out of the desert and into the valley. Life is complicated, life moves quickly, we grasp onto things that aren't really firm in hopes of finding happiness in things. And yet Las Pasturas del Cielo is still there, waiting, and hoping we will all get our acts together, put aside the things in life that aren't really that important, and just 'go home'.

Steinbeck is writing about a very conservative ideal, but it's the American ideal. It's quaint, it's hard work, but it's full of a joy and a simplicity we wish we had more of.

Anyway, this is a wonderful book but it's easy to forget what an artistic masterpiece this is because of its simple, idealist subject matter.

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Title: A Rose in Bloom

Author: Louisa May Alcott

Narrator: Barbara Caruso

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-31-13

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 47 votes

Genres: Classics, American Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Returning to the "Aunt Hill" from a two-year trip around the world, 20-year-old Rose Campbell suddenly finds herself surrounded by male admirers, all expecting her to marry them! Rose is rich and pretty, and she suspects many of these suitors are more interested in her wealth than her dreams. But she is determined to live her own life and find her own love, despite the many plans of aunts, uncles, and cousins. Louisa May Alcott wrote this delightful sequel to Eight Cousins at the request of her many fans.

Members Reviews:

Still a good book

Where does A Rose in Bloom rank among all the audiobooks youve listened to so far?

In the middle of the pack.

What did you like best about this story?

It is a clean and inspiring story where family relationships are very important.

Which character as performed by Barbara Caruso was your favorite?

Mac was the best. I must say that I did not like most of the male characters - the worst one being uncle Alec who sounded like a woman. Rose's voice made her sound childish which made me dislike her at times.

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

The book is quite moving.

Any additional comments?

This is an old fashioned book that may sound preachy to younger audiences. I read this book when I was 7 or 8 years old and loved it. This time I felt it was a bit wordy. I still recommend it highly.

Enjoyable

This was an enjoyable to listen to, the reader kept my interest. Very fun and light.

A follow up to Eight Cousins

Any additional comments?

Good innocent entertaining book. Rose was introduced in Eight Cousins. At the end of that book she and her friend/maid left for a continental tour with her uncle. In this book Rose and her friend return and they and most of the cousins are now grown up. The families are very close and Rose is particularly close to two of her male cousins. Her friend/maid is very close to another one of Rose's cousins. The book is entertaining but I must admit it is a little too much goody goody preaching toward the end. I know that being good is admirable, but it can be a little tedious too. It is also very class conscious, which was typical of the times in which the story is set but difficult to understand in today's world.

Barbara Caruso is a wonderful talent and she narrates this book perfectly.

Charming reminiscent of gentler times

I adore Barbara Caruso as a narrator and she truly does this beautiful piece justice. I don't think Alcott ever wrote a bad book and this is another wonderful read in her excellent repertoire.

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Title: Cane

Author: Jean Toomer

Narrator: Sean Crisden

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-14-13

Publisher: Dreamscape Media, LLC

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 24 votes

Genres: Classics, American Literature

Publisher's Summary:

First published in 1923, Jean Toomer's Cane is an innovative literary work powerfully evoking black life in the South. Rich in imagery, Toomer's impressionistic, sometimes surrealistic sketches of Southern rural and urban life are permeated by visions of smoke, sugarcane, dusk, and fire; the northern world is pictured as a harsher reality of asphalt streets. This iconic work of American literature is published with a new afterword by Rudolph Byrd of Emory University and Henry Louis Gates Jr. of Harvard University, who provide groundbreaking biographical information on Toomer, place his writing within the context of American modernism and the Harlem Renaissance, and examine his shifting claims about his own race and his pioneering critique of race as a scientific or biological concept.

Critic Reviews:

"This book should be on all readers' and writers' desks and in their minds." (Maya Angelou)

"By far the most impressive product of the Negro Renaissance, Cane ranks with Richard Wright's

Native Son and Ralph Ellison's

Invisible Man as a measure of the Negro novelist's highest achievement. Jean Toomer belongs to that first rank of writers who use words almost as a plastic medium, shaping new meanings from an original and highly personal style." (Robert A. Bone,

The Negro Novel in America)

Members Reviews:

Well-Executed Classic

This audiobook is a perfect example of how to artfully narrate a classic, and I was delighted to see it offered on audio. The reader gets the accents right, can pronounce everything he has to, and more importantly hits the perfect tone, not overacting the dialogue or injecting pathos, which lesser readers would be tempted to do. Instead, there's a restraint to the narration, which makes the few places where he does indulge a character voice, such as the super-bad King Barlo in the "Esther" story, all the more impactful. I found myself easily slipping into Toomer's imagistic trance, not pulled out by any affectations of delivery. Bravo Sean Crisden!

It should be noted that this is a complex, experimental book that rewards rereading. I'm not sure if listening is the way to go if it's your first time through, but as someone who has read and reread this book over the years, I loved hearing this audio version. It took me deeper into the text that reading alone has. I found the reader especially good with the poetry, where again the reader resisted over-emoting. The last section, Kabnis is a bit plodding, as it is written like a play, and the narrative doesn't always flow. But this is no fault of the reader; it's the text as Toomer wrote it.

Too often, classic, challenging works are severely botched in their audio versions. I hope producers and actors will follow the example that this one sets.

When Robots Read, and I'm a Fan of Robots...

Toomer's CANE contains some of the most musical language in Black lit. So musical in fact that Gil Scott-Heron put it to music in the late seventies. This reader erases every trace of music from the text. It's virtually unlistenable. I don't imagine I'll buy anything else read by this narrator.

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Title: The Gift of the Magi

Author: O. Henry

Narrator: Sandy J. Hotchkiss, Lissa Lia, K. Anderson Yancy

Format: Unabridged

Length: 21 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-12-13

Publisher: SonicMovie.net, ChicagoWood Media, Wollcott & Sheridan

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 17 votes

Genres: Classics, American Literature

Publisher's Summary:

One of the greatest love stories ever!

A couple struggling to make ends meet finds themselves with nothing with which to buy the other a Christmas gift. Through extreme personal sacrifice, they manage to give one another the best gift they - or anyone - could ever receive.

Members Reviews:

The Gift of the Magi

This is a Christmas favorite from my childhood. While I enjoyed the performance, there was too much filler at the end of the recording.

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Title: The Circular Staircase

Author: Mary Roberts Rinehart

Narrator: Flo Gibson

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 32 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-10-13

Publisher: Audio Book Contractors

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 22 votes

Genres: Classics, American Literature

Publisher's Summary:

Rachel Innes rents a summer house that is full of hidden rooms and sinister happenings. Chilling horror, romance, and rollicking humor permeate this suspenseful mystery novel.

Members Reviews:

Publisher's fault for lower rating than this work deserves.

I read The Circlar Staircase years ago, and added to my Kindle just to re-read when I got bored. Unfortunately the publishers did not keep this in it's original format and in the conversion process, either inserted or left in countless errors.

This low star review is not for the author and this work, but for the publisher who should have deleted several in your face mistakes.

Technology is readily available, but I feel the publisher didn't want to add even that tiny expense to take away from their end profit on this one.

Excellent!

This is my first experience with Rinehart & I loved it! Sure, some things are dated & will make folks uncomfortable (namely, comments about "negroes" but the character is obviously well loved) but if you don't let that hang you up, the book is enjoyable. The start of the if-I-had-but-known! mystery genre. I loved the first hand telling of events as they chronologically occurred. Fans of Christie, Sayers, or anyone looking for a good mystery are sure to love this book.

Such fun!

The story is so lovely in it's nostalgic settings and narrative. A great read on a rainy lazy day! Mary Roberts Rinehart's books are s treasure.

Highly Disappointing

I am generally a mystery lover and have read virtually everything that Agatha Christie has ever written. When I learned that Mary Roberts Rhinehart has been called the "-American Agatha Christie," I ordered several of her books, including The Circular Staircase, and was I disappointed. There are so many characters that I found it difficult to distinguish one from the other. The mystery is nonsense and includes so absurdity as no one can recognize a character with whom she has had close contact after he disguises himself by merely changing his clothing and growing a mustache. There are basically no clues and, when the mystery is resolved, my reaction was "who cares?" In summary, all I can say tedious, dated, unnecessarily confusing, pointless and a waste of time.

Three Stars

Again, read this a very long time ago. It was a first attempt book and it shows

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Title: The Country of the Pointed Firs

Author: Sarah Orne Jewett

Narrator: Flo Gibson

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-10-13

Publisher: Audio Book Contractors

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 20 votes

Genres: Classics, American Literature

Publisher's Summary:

With humor and compassion we enter the world of a small seacoast village located in northern Maine, where courage and caring are beautifully exemplified.

Members Reviews:

The place is the story.

Simple and beautiful. You can see, feel, and smell the Maine coast. Although there is not much dialogue, the little the characters do speak brings them to vividly to life.

Elegant

Reading this book was like having tea with an elderly relative. Pleasant, but I was ready to leave. There was not really a story, but lovely descriptions of people and places in a very specific time and place.

Slow paced and enjoyable

It took me a while to get into this book but I was rewarded for my persistence. No big plot twists, just well written prose describing life and people in a Maine fishing village. A relaxing read.

Five Stars

Great book.

Beautiful book to read any time of the year

Beautiful book to read any time of the year. Jewett takes you to a time long forgotten. Elegant prose and far more complicated and technically masterful than it may seem on the surface.