The Classics category has 3,859 audiobooks on Listento.it, with an average listener rating of 4.5★ across 36,161 ratings. The most-rated is The Fellowship of the Ring.
The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge
Summary
This remarkable book is the only novel by Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926), the greatest German-language poet of his time. It is, in a sense, a true curiosity - dark and intense - and possesses, not surprisingly, strong elements of autobiography. The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge (Die Aufzeichnungen des Malte Laurids Brigge) has even been described as an anti-novel. It is set in Paris in the period just before the First World War, but it presents a bleaker milieu than that described by Proust. The language is terse, the atmosphere painful, the images uncompromising. Rilke drew on the short period he spent in Paris in 1903 where, in contrast to the rural circumstances in which he had lived before, he found the underbelly of urban life distressing. He saw the sick, the vagrants, the beggars and those descending into mental and emotional confusion and despair. And he worried that he, too, might become like them. This is the theme he explores in The Notebooks in a first-person torrent of observation and reflection. Malte, a young Dane with little money but with the aspiration to be a poet, expresses a continuing uncertainty and unease, in the form of a diary, without obvious timeline or direction, except for its increasing intensity. Published in 1910, The Notebooks is a striking contrast to the crafted, polished poetry for which Rilke was better known. It has affected and been admired by many writers since, including Jean-Paul Sartre. Jamie Parker’s reading underpins the fear and the tension of the work. Translation William Needham.
Public Domain (P)2020 Ukemi Productions Ltd
Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper
Summary
Mackenzie Menter performs Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s famous 1892 tale of a woman’s decent into madness. The unnamed narrator secretly keeps a journal and chronicles her decent into madness while subjected to her doctor-husband’s severe postpartum rest cure. She begins to see that a woman is trapped in the suffocating wallpaper that envelops her room, and she becomes determined - at all costs - to free her. Rediscovered and celebrated by feminists and humanists in the 1970s, its powerful atmosphere of mystery and underlying message retains its strength to this day. Original Music and Sound Design by Jennifer Rouse.
Public Domain (P)2019 Oasis Audio
Le Papa de Simon
Summary
Le Papa de Simon raconte l'histoire d'un garçon qui n'a plus de père, et est la risée de ses camarades. "Il avait sept ou huit ans. Il était un peu pâlot, très propre, avec l'air timide, presque gauche. Il s'en retournait chez sa mère quand les groupes de ses camarades, chuchotant toujours et le regardant avec les yeux malins et cruels des enfants qui méditent un mauvais coup, l'entourèrent peu à peu et finirent par l'enfermer tout à fait. Il restait là, planté au milieu d'eux, surpris et embarrassé, sans comprendre ce qu'on allait lui faire. Mais le gars qui avait apporté la nouvelle, enorgueilli du succès obtenu déjà, lui demanda : - Comment t'appelles-tu, toi ? Il répondit : - Simon."
©domaine public (P)2019 Audiolude
Leutnant Gustl
Summary
Eine Nacht lang streift Leutnant Gustl durch Wien. Seine Selbstgespräche enthüllen auf tragisch-komische Weise die Beschränktheit und Oberflächlichkeit seiner Existenz.
© 2003 Argon Verlag
Gulliver's Travels
Summary
Through the eyes of Lemuel Gulliver, Swift’s unforgettable satire takes listeners into worlds formerly unimagined. Visit four strange and remarkable lands: Lilliput, where Gulliver seems a giant among a race of tiny people; Brobdingnag, the opposite, where the natives are giants and Gulliver puny; the ruined yet magical country of Laputa; and the home of the Houyhnhnms, gentle horses far superior to the ugly humanoid Yahoos who share their universe. PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2019 Jonathan Swift and Martin Woodside (P)2019 Oasis Audio
The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov
Summary
From Vladimir Nabokov, the writer who shocked and delighted the world with his novels Lolita, Pale Fire, and Ada, or Ardor, comes a magnificent collection of stories. Written between the 1920s and the 1950s, these 68 tales — 14 of which have been translated into English for the first time - display all the shades of Nabokov’s imagination. They range from sprightly fables to bittersweet tales of loss, from claustrophobic exercises in horror to a connoisseur’s samplings of the table of human folly. Read as a whole, The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov offers an intoxicating draft of the master’s genius, his devious wit, and his ability to turn language into an instrument of ecstasy. This edition includes the newly discovered story “Natasha.”
Public Domain (P)2010 Brilliance Audio
Ship of Fools
Summary
In the summer of 1931, a cruise ship sails for Bremerhaven, Germany. Among its many diverse passengers are a Spanish noblewoman, a drunken German lawyer, an American divorcee, a pair of Mexican Catholic priests, a number of Germans returning to their homeland from Mexico, and a corrupt, avaricious company of Spanish singers and dancers who scheme to defraud the other passengers of their money. In the mingling and meeting of these varied personalities on board the ship of fools, a drama of good and evil takes place, from which no one will emerge unchanged. Rich in incident, passion, and treachery, the novel’s themes of nationalism, cultural and ethnic pride, and basic human frailty are as relevant today as they were when the novel first appeared in 1945.
©1945 Katherine Anne Porter (P)1995 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
If
Summary
This short poem should be required listening between father and son. Here are profound bits of wisdom and common sense that can help any young boy strive to be more of a man. Reimagined here as something akin to cowboy poetry, the poem is performed by Glenn Hascall.
Public Domain (P)2014 Glenn Hascall
Faery Lands of the South Seas
Summary
Faery Lands of the South Seas, by James Norman Hall and Charles Nordhoff, read by award-winning narrator Mike Vendetti. Returning from the horrors of World War I, James Hall and Charles Nordhoff follow a dream to tour the South Pacific. They later coauthored Mutiny on the Bounty. This is a love story. A travelogue and an adventure rolled into one. This story just went into the public domain, so enjoy an early 20th-century look at paradise.
Public Domain (P)2018 Mike Vendetti
Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde
Summary
Here is a collection of the Oscar Wilde's famous fairy tales, read by a cast of leading British actors. Additional narrators include Geoffrey Palmer O.B.E., Sir Donald Sinden, and Elaine Stritch. Music: 'Reverie De Sebastian' by Steve Davies.
©2010 WHITEROOM MUSIC LTD (P)2010 WHITEROOM MUSIC LTD
The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844
Summary
Friedrich Engels spent two years (from 1842 to 1844) in Manchester, England, working at his father's factory. During that period he observed and recorded the effect of the industrial revolution on the labor market and the subsequent condition of what became the working class of England. While it is widely argued that the industrial revolution improved the standard of living for the general population, Engels' observations, corroborated by his considerable research into official reports by various government-appointed commissions, reveal that in 1845, the working class was still paying a heavy toll for England's industrial rise.
Public Domain (P)2017 Cate Barratt
A Tale of Two Cities
Summary
A BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of Dickens' heart-stopping historical adventure set in the French Revolution and featuring the gentle Charles Darnay and the dissolute Sydney Carton. The action switches between London and Paris during the nightmare of The Terror - and in the shadow of Madame Guillotine - in this Sony award-winning drama that captures the joy and anguish of those corrupt and turbulent times. Starring Charles Dance as Syndey Carton, with John Duttine, Charlotte Attenborough, Barbara Leigh-Hunt, John Moffatt, Richard Pasco and Maurice Denham. Dramatised by Nick McCarty. Directed by Ian Cotterell.
©2012 Charles Dickens (P)2012 AudioGO Ltd
Les tribulations d'un chinois en Chine
Summary
Kin-Fo est un jeune chinois riche, qui est indifférent à tout et ne connaît pas le bonheur. Un jour, il se retrouve ruiné. Ne voulant pas imposer à sa future épouse une vie misérable, il préfère mourir. Au moment de se donner la mort, il se rend compte qu'il ne ressent rien, et décide qu'il ne peut mourir sans connaître d'émotions au moins une fois dans sa vie. Il demande donc à son maître et ami, le philosophe Wang, de le tuer dans un délai imparti, ce qui, il l'espère, lui fera redouter la mort et éprouver quelques émotions. Wang accepte, puis disparaît. Plus tard, Kin-Fo apprend qu'il n'est pas ruiné. Il veut alors vivre et épouser Lé-Ou. Cependant, Wang reste introuvable et Kin-Fo le pourchassera dans toute la Chine pour lui dire qu'il ne veut plus mourir. Kin-Fo comprend la valeur de la vie en étant sous la menace constante d'être assassiné par Wang. Récit alerte à l'intrigue parfaitement menée, Les Tribulations d'un Chinois en Chine est un des joyaux des Voyages extraordinaires du grand Jules Verne.
©Domaine public (P)1958 Domaine public
The King in Yellow
Summary
This collection by Robert W. Chambers was first published in 1895 and features stories loosely tied together with one theme, the supernatural. Many of the stories in The King in Yellow were not received well by the critics of the time due to their supernatural undertones.
Some of the stories mention a play by the same name that had been outlawed in some regions of the world. It was thought that the play could induce madness in those who viewed it. Two of the stories in this book take place in a fictional world of the future 1920s and are macabre in tone. Eventually, The King in Yellow would go on to become a sensation, partly due to its forbidden tone and subject matter. Today, this book of short stories is as popular as ever, especially with those who like a little supernatural mixed in with their literature.
©2017 A.R.N. Publications (P)2017 A.R.N. Publications
The Last Exploit of Harry the Actor
Summary
Ernest Bramah (1868-1942) was an English author of 21 novels and numerous short stories and features. His humorous works have been ranked with Jerome K. Jerome and W. W. Jacobs, his detective stories with Conan Doyle, his politico-science fiction with H. G. Wells, and his supernatural stories with Algernon Blackwood. In his stories of detection, Bramah hit on the idea of a blind detective, Max Carrados, whose triumphs are all the more amazing because of his disability. In this story, Max Carrados becomes suspicious when he visits a safe-deposit company in Piccadilly with his friend, Louis Carlyle, and becomes aware of an odd scene unfolding. He immediately suspects that a major heist is being planned....and begins to gather clues about what is about to happen.
Public Domain (P)2015 Red Door Audiobooks
WB Yeats
Summary
WB Yeats. The name alone is synonymous with Ireland and its rich traditions of words used well. As well as being considered one of the greatest of the 20th Century English language poets he was elected to the Irish Senate and won the Nobel Prize for Literature.
©2009 Portable Poetry (P)2009 Copyright Group
The Machine Stops
Summary
E. M. Forster’s tale of the future sounds frightening today due to its elements of prescience. Individuals live isolated lives below ground where they communicate through video conferencing and their physical and spiritual needs are met by a sinister global Machine. Things start to fall apart when it becomes virtually impossible to visit the surface world and the religion of Technopoly is re-established.
Public Domain (P)2019 Museum Audiobooks
How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents
Summary
Hailed by the Los Angeles Times as "simply wonderful", How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents captures the vivid lives of the Garcia sisters, four privileged and rebellious Dominican girls adapting to their new lives in America. In the 1960s, political tension forces the Garcia family away from Santo Domingo and toward the Bronx. The sisters all hit their strides in America, adapting and thriving despite cultural differences, language barriers, and prejudice. But Mami and Papi are more traditional, and they have far more difficulty adjusting to their new country. Making matters worse, the girls, frequently embarrassed by their parents, find ways to rebel against them. A touching coming-of-age tale, this enthralling book perfectly illuminates the intergenerational struggles and multicultural clashes so common to the American immigrant family.
©1991 Julia Alvarez (P)2006 Recorded Books
The Poetry of the Romantics
Summary
Audie Award Winning Audio Here is the quintessence of romance that spans not only the ages but the full range of passionate expression of love in all of its forms and stages. Authors include John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, George Gordon Byron, Baron Byron, William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and William Blake.
Public Domain (P)1997, 2019 Dove Audio, Phoenix Books
Antigone
Summary
Antigone is a famous Greek tragedy attributed to the ancient playwright Sophocles at around 440 BCE. The play expands on the Theban legend of Oedipus that predates it, dealing with Antigone’s burial of her brother Polyneices in defiance of the law and the tragic results of her act. On another level, the play exposes the dangers of the absolute ruler or tyrant in the character of Creon. No one speaks freely to him, so he makes a series of mistakes, illustrating the folly of tyranny.
Public Domain (P)2019 Museum Audiobooks