Bernard O'Donoghue has 2 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 2 narrators, with an average listener rating of 3.5★ across 2 ratings. The most-rated is Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Summary
Brought to you by Penguin. Composed during the 14th century in the English Midlands, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight describes the events that follow when a mysterious green-coloured knight rides into King Arthur's Camelot in deep mid-winter. The mighty knight presents a challenge to the court: he will allow himself to be struck by one blow, on the condition that he will be allowed to return the strike on the following New Year's Eve. Sir Gawain takes up the challenge, decapitating the stranger - only to see the Green Knight seize up his own severed head and ride away, leaving Gawain to seek him out and honour their pact. Blending Celtic myth and Christian faith, Gawain is among the greatest Middle English poems: a tale of magic, chivalry and seduction.
Public Domain (P)2020 Penguin Audio
Poetry
Summary
Poetry, arguably, has a greater range of conceptual meaning than perhaps any other term in English. At the most basic level everyone can recognize it - it is a kind of literature that uses special linguistic devices of organization and expression for aesthetic effect. However, far grander claims have been made for poetry than this - such as Shelley's that the poets "are the unacknowledged legislators of the world," and that poetry is "a higher truth." In this Very Short Introduction, Bernard O'Donoghue provides a fascinating look at the many different forms of writing which have been called "poetry" - from the Greeks to the present day. As well as questioning what poetry is, he asks what poetry is for, and considers contemporary debates on its value. Is there a universality to poetry? And does it have a duty of public utility and responsibility?
©2019 Bernard O'Donoghue (P)2020 Tantor