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.
Persuasion
Summary
Do you want to listen to Persuasion? If so, then keep reading.... Seven years ago, Anne Elliot broke off her engagement to Captain Frederick Wentworth, convinced that marrying a man without money or status would be a grave mistake. Now, she is past her prime and single at 27. But when the estranged paramours reconnect through a couple renting the Elliot family estate, Anne discovers she may have another shot at romance - this time, on her terms. What are you waiting for? Persuasion is one click away. Start listening now!
Public Domain (P)2020 Native Publishing House
Black Beauty
Summary
Black Beauty is an 1877 novel by English author Anna Sewell. It was composed in the last years of her life, during which she remained in her house as an invalid. The novel became an immediate best seller, with Sewell dying just five months after its publication, but having lived long enough to see her only novel become a success. With 50 million copies sold, Black Beauty is one of the best-selling books of all time. While forthrightly teaching animal welfare, it also teaches how to treat people with kindness, sympathy, and respect. In 2003, the novel was listed at number 58 on the BBC's survey The Big Read.
Public Domain (P)2017 Paperless
Le Crime de Lord Arthur Savile et autres nouvelles
Summary
Dans la première nouvelle, Le Crime de Lord Arthur Savile, on entre d'emblée dans une soirée mondaine. Septimus R. Podgers, chiromancien, prédit à Lord Arthur Savile qu'il sera l'auteur d'un crime. Le jeune homme, désespéré, croit ses plans de mariage contrariés et va tenter de forcer le destin... Le sphinx sans secret raconte l'histoire d'un jeune homme amoureux d'une femme très mystérieuse dont il va tenter de percer le secret... Le modèle millionnaire est une courte nouvelle également publiée en 1887. Le personnage du récit, Hughie Erskine, est un jeune homme amoureux d'une jeune femme qu'il ne peut épouser faute de fortune. En rendant visite à son ami le peintre Alan Trevor, il voit un vieux en haillons qui pose comme modèle. Ayant pitié, il lui donne une livre... Mais ce modèle n'est pas celui qu'il croit... A travers ces trois nouvelles, traitées non sans humour, Oscar Wilde nous offre une satire de la noblesse victorienne, de sa morale et de ses codes.
©Domaine public (P)Les Mots en soie
![Cover art for Kids of the Dungeon [Russian Edition]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51XYEpVfnkL._SL500_.jpg)
Kids of the Dungeon [Russian Edition]
Summary
The book contains the story of the great Russian writer and social activist Vladimir Korolenko (1853 - 1921) "Kids of the Dungeon". Please note: This audiobook is in Russian.
Public Domain (P)2012 Agentstvo Publishing
Big Sur
Summary
A poignant masterpiece of wrenching personal expression from the author of On the Road and The Dharma Bums. In this 1962 novel, Kerouac's alter ego, Jack Duluoz, overwhelmed by success and excess, gravitates back and forth between wild binges in San Francisco and an isolated cabin on the California coast where he attempts to renew his spirit and clear his head of madness and alcohol. Only nature seems to restore him to a sense of balance. In the words of Allen Ginsberg, Big Sur "reveals consciousness in all its syntactic elaboration, detailing the luminous emptiness of his own paranoiac confusion".
©1962 Jack Kerouac (P)2020 Penguin Audio
The Wind in the Willows
Summary
Experience the classic tale of The Wind in the Willows as you’ve never heard it before. Meet Lady Toad, Mistress Badger, Miss Water Rat and Mrs Mole as they go about their adventures, messing around on the river, gallivanting in Lady Toad’s shiny new toy and fighting valiantly to save Toad Hall from unruly squatters. In this retelling by Dina Gregory, The Wind in the Willows becomes a story about a group of female animals to be admired for their close sisterhood and fierce independence. Featuring original music and songs by Rosabella Gregory and sound effects captured on location, put your headphones on, sit back and lose yourself in the British countryside. Cover artwork and illustrations: Melissa Castrillon.
Public Domain (P)2020 Audible, Ltd
![Cover art for L'isola del dottor Moreau [The Island of Dr. Moreau]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51gxf1z+aZL._SL500_.jpg)
L'isola del dottor Moreau [The Island of Dr. Moreau]
Summary
L'isola del dottor Moreau (The Island of Dr. Moreau) è un romanzo di fantascienza di H.G. Wells, scritto nel 1895 e pubblicato l'anno successivo. È stato pubblicato in italiano per la prima volta nel 1900 dalla Società Editrice Nazionale col titolo L'isola delle Bestie ed edito in seguito anche come L'isola del terrore e L'isola del Dr. Moreau. Please note: This audiobook is in Italian.
©2017 Paperless (P)2018 Paperless
Barchester Towers
Summary
Barchester Towers, Trollope's most popular novel, is the second of the six Chronicles of Barsetshire. Trollope continues the story, begun in The Warden, of Mr Harding and his daughter Eleanor.
(P)2014 Audible, Inc.
The Road Back
Summary
The sequel to the masterpiece All Quiet on the Western Front, The Road Back is a classic novel of the slow return of peace to Europe in the years following World War I. After four grueling years, the Great War has finally ended. Now Ernst and the few men left from his company cannot help wondering what will become of them. The town they departed as eager young men seems colder, their homes smaller, the reasons their comrades had to die even more inexplicable. For Ernst and his friends, the road back to peace is more treacherous than they ever imagined. Suffering food shortages, political unrest, and a broken heart, Ernst undergoes a crisis that teaches him what there is to live for - and what he has that no one can ever take away.
©1958 Erich Maria Remarque (P)2018 Recorded Books
The Best Poems of All Time, Volume 2
Summary
This poetry companion puts favorite poetry and poets from around the world at your fingertips, enabling you to revisit the classics, encounter unfamiliar masterworks and rediscover old favorites.
©2001 by Warner Books, Inc., All Rights Reserved (P)2001 Time Warner AudioBooks
Shakespeare's Timon of Athens
Summary
This production is abridged and in plain English. Timon of Athens (The Life of Tymon of Athens) is perhaps Shakespeare's sharpest satire on wealth, greed, and betrayal. Scholars generally classify Timon either as a tragedy or a problem play. Timon is wealthy and generous, but his is a spendthrift throwing lavish parties for his guests and offering financial support on a whim. This means everyone loves him, until the money abruptly runs out as Timon finds creditors at his door. Timon's friends are no longer as welcoming. Timon departs Athens, where despite being destitute, he still has an influential role to play. It is believed that Shakespeare wrote the play with Thomas Middleton in the early 1600s. The play is believed to draw on earlier works from William Painter, Plutarch, and Lucian. Timon is among Shakespeare's less popular works and has been criticized by some scholars, though others view Timon himself as among some of Shakespeare's deepest characters. This adaptation by Hazel Jeffs presents an abridged version of Shakespeare's work in plain English. It is a full cast theatrical production lasting around 20 minutes.
©2021 Hazel Jeffs (P)2021 Historical Audiobooks
The Canterbury Tales II
Summary
Four more delightful tales from one of the most entertaining storytellers of all time. Though writing in the thirteenth century, Chaucer’s wit and observation comes down undiminished through the ages, especially in this accessible modern verse translation. The stories vary considerably from the uproarious Wife of Bath’s Tale, promoting the power of women to the sober account of patient Griselda in the Clerk’s Tale.
Public Domain (P)2002 Naxos AudioBooks
The Somerset Maugham BBC Radio Collection
Summary
BBC Radio 4 dramatisations and readings of Somerset Maugham’s fiction - plus bonus programme Replay: Somerset Maugham. William Somerset Maugham was one of the most successful English writers of the 20th century and remains the most adapted for film and TV. This collection includes eight of his novels, plays and short stories, as heard on BBC radio, as well as an illuminating interview with the author himself. The Moon and Sixpence - respectable stockbroker Charles Strickland abandons his wife and children to live as a painter in Paris and Tahiti. Starring Ronald Pickup and Patrick Allen. The Painted Veil - first published in 1925 to a storm of protest, this is a haunting, poignant tale of one woman’s spiritual awakening. Starring Sarah Smart and Nicholas Farrell. The Sacred Flame - invalided following an air crash, Maurice is determined to remain cheerful. But his condition affects all those who are close to him. Starring Julian Glover, Wendy Hiller, Hannah Gordon and Janet Maw. Ashenden, Gentleman Spy - Ashenden, a writer by profession, returns from the First World War and is offered a position in the Secret Service. Five short stories based on Maugham’s own wartime experiences, read by Alex Jennings. For Services Rendered - in this incisive state-of-the nation play, it is 1932 and the progressive Ardsley family seem to be managing their lives very well. But in reality, each of them is fighting for survival. Starring David Calder, Sian Thomas and Louise Brealey. The Narrow Corner - sailing home from the East Indies, a doctor and his two companions are forced to seek shelter on the island of Kanda - where they encounter the beautiful, sultry Louise.... Starring Garard Green, Owen Scott, Douglas Blackwell and Cara Kelly. Christmas Holiday - 1938, and Charley is looking forward to spending Christmas in Paris with his old school friend Simon. But they are both ignorant of the storm clouds lowering over Europe.... Starring Peter Rumney and Anthony Daniels. The Razor’s Edge - after the First World War, Larry Darrell returns to Chicago but finds it difficult to fit back into society. To the dismay of his fiancée, Isabel, he heads for Paris and embarks on a spiritual quest. Starring Nicholas Le Prevost, John Light and Megan Dodds. Replay: Somerset Maugham - Philip French presents an archive interview with Somerset Maugham, recorded in 1954 on the occasion of his 80th birthday.
©2020 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2020 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd
Born to be Wilde
Summary
A BBC radio celebration of the works of Oscar Wilde, including energetic adaptations of his best-known plays, short stories and original dramas about the man himself. Long before he'd produced any of his great works, Oscar Wilde was already famous for being famous. Armed only with some witty epigrams, a carefully crafted persona and his genius for self-promotion, he had conquered America and transformed himself from nobody to star. This radio collection opens with four plays from Radio 4's Born to be Wilde season, offering a 21st-century perspective on the making of one of the first true celebrities. First up are two sparkling and surprising productions of his two most popular comedies, marking the peak of his theatrical career. The Importance of Being Earnest and An Ideal Husband feature stellar casts including Mathew Baynton, Jeany Spark, John Heffernan and Miranda Raison, with the latter also featuring music by Steppenwolf, Taylor Swift and Amy Winehouse. Next, two plays by Marcy Kahan and Lavinia Murray explore aspects of Wilde's life. The Warhol Years charts his astonishing rise, as he embarks on his US tour determined to be famous for 15 minutes - and then some. Oscar and Constancy portrays a celebrity marriage in crisis, as Wilde's domestic and creative lives vie for supremacy. Both dramas star Max Bennett as the young Wilde, with Dervla Kirwan as his mother, Speranza. Also included in this collection are nine of Wilde's classic short stories. The deliciously satirical 'Lord Arthur Savile's Crime', his humorous supernatural story 'The Canterville Ghost', read by Alistair McGowan, and Joseph Ayre narrates two delightful stories with a twist: 'The Sphinx Without a Secret' and 'The Model Millionaire'. Wilde's dazzling fairytales - 'The Selfish Giant', 'The Happy Prince', 'The Nightingale and the Rose', 'The Remarkable Rocket' and 'The Birthday of the Infanta' - are read by Joseph Fiennes, Joseph Ayre, John Moffatt and Paul McGann. Track listing: The Importance of Being Earnest An Ideal Husband The Warhol Years Oscar and Constancy Lord Arthur Savile's Crime 'The Canterville Ghost' 'The Selfish Giant' 'The Happy Prince' 'The Model Millionaire' 'The Sphinx Without a Secret' 'The Nightingale and the Rose' 'The Remarkable Rocket' 'The Birthday of the Infanta'
©2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd
George Orwell: A BBC Radio Collection
Summary
A radio anthology of George Orwell's finest novels, memoirs and essays, plus four biographical dramas and a bonus documentary, The Road to Nineteen Eighty-Four. Visionary author and journalist George Orwell was the man behind two of the best loved and most influential novels of the 20th century, Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm. This collection celebrating his life and work features dramatisations of both these classic books, with stellar casts including Christopher Eccleston, Pippa Nixon, Tim Pigott-Smith, Tamsin Greig and Nicky Henson. Also included is a drama based on his autobiographical account of the Spanish Civil War, Homage to Catalonia, starring Joseph Millson and Lyndsey Marshal. Four biographical radio plays by Mike Walker and Jonathan Holloway - Burma, Dreaming, Loving and Jura - explore further episodes in Orwell's fascinating life, showing the disconnection between the man who was Eric Blair and the writer who was George Orwell. Timeless examples of his essays and journalism are showcased here, including 'A Hanging', 'Confessions of a Book Reviewer', 'My Country Right or Left', 'Pleasure Spots' and 'As I Please' (all read by Clive Merrison), while Joseph Millson narrates Down and Out in Paris and London, Orwell's vivid memoir of his time living among the poor in Europe's two great cities. Finally, in The Road to Nineteen Eighty-Four, David Aaronovitch examines what led avowed socialist George Orwell to write a book beloved of the Right, revealing how the novel grew from a forgotten political world shaped by the atom bomb. George Orwell worked for BBC Radio from August 1941 to November 1943, and even went on air himself. Sadly, none of the programmes in which he took part survive - in those days, radio was essentially a live medium and broadcasts were not recorded for posterity. But Orwell's connection to the BBC remains a fascinating part of its wartime history.
©2020 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2020 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd
The Last Days of Troy
Summary
Lily Cole stars as Helen of Troy, ‘the face that launched a thousand ships’, in Simon Armitage’s vivid, visceral adaptation of Homer’s Iliad and Virgil’s Aeneid.
For 10 years, the Greeks have been laying siege to Troy to win back their abducted queen, Helen. But as the war drags on and the battlefields run scarlet with blood, the opposing forces are entrenched in a bitter stalemate. As gods and mortals squabble amongst themselves for the spoils of war, the exhausted warriors go to extreme lengths in a desperate grab for victory....
Dramatised by multiaward-winning poet and playwright Simon Armitage, The Last Days of Troy was first produced as a stage play at the Manchester Royal Exchange and Shakespeare’s Globe, and this radio version features the original cast. Both a tense action adventure and a powerful commentary on the futility of war, it brings Homer’s ancient myth to dynamic life and explores themes that still resonate today, in a world locked in cycles of conflict and revenge, East versus West and with the same dangerous combination of pride, lies and self-deception that fuelled the Trojan War.
Cast and credits Agamemnon - David Achilles - Jake Fairbrother Zeus - Richard Bremmer Odysseus - Colin Tierney Hera - Gillian Bevan Andromache/Thetis - Claire Calbraith Hector - Simon Harrison Helen - Lily Cole Paris - Tom Stuart Athene/Briseis - Francesca Zoutewelle Priam - Garry Cooper Patroclus - Brendan O’Hea Astyanax - Luca Rawlinson
Original music by Alex Baranowski. Directed for radio by Susan Roberts. First directed for The Royal Exchange Theatre by Nick Bagnall.
©2018 BBC Worldwide Ltd (P)2018 BBC Worldwide Ltd
The Journey to the East
Summary
Hermann Hesse's Journey to the East (1932) is an account of a geographic and spiritual journey to the East. The narrator, H.H. accompanies the members of a secret society on a journey through both time and space in search of the “ultimate truth”. Fun and entertaining at first, the company falls apart in a deep mountain gorge called Morbio Inferiore when the servant Leo disappears, triggering anxiety and strife. The members each go their own way, and many years later when the narrator tries to write his story of the ill-fated trip, he is unable to put together a coherent account. Then, on the advice of a friend, he tracks down the servant Leo....
Public Domain (P)2020 Museum Audiobooks
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Summary
Huckleberry Finn may be the greater book, but Tom Sawyer has always been more widely read. Moreover, it is a book that can be enjoyed equally by both children and adults. Twain, who called it a "hymn" to boyhood.
Public Domain (P)2011 eChristian
The Persian Wars
Summary
Unquestionably, Herodotus has left mankind one of the world's greatest works of literature. The Persian Wars is part history, part geography, part anthropology...and completely entertaining. It possesses a charm that is legendary. But, over and above this, Herodotus has succeeded for all time in brilliantly expressing the conflict between the ideal of the free man defending his liberty within a state based on the rule of law, and that of the despot who bases his rule on brute force and whose subjects are considered slaves. In his writing we experience the impact of that great intellectual, moral, and ethical force that set the Greeks apart from the rest of the Ancient World. The Persian Wars is a magnificent epic of human triumph over the forces of tyranny, of the struggle over two diametrically opposed concepts of government...between which man must still choose today.
Public Domain (P)2013 Audio Connoisseur
Doctor Who
Summary
Civilisations rise and fall, time moves on, and species die out. Extinction is a fact of life in the universe. But extinction doesn't have to be forever. The
TARDIS arrives in the Museum of the Last Ones: a facility dedicated to preserving the final specimens of every species in the universe. But all is not well, and before long the Doctor and Martha are in deep trouble.
©2007 BBC Audiobooks Ltd. (P)2007 BBC Audiobooks Ltd.