Ben
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The Book of the Dun Cow
- By: Walter Wangerin Jr.
- Narrated by: Paul Michael
- Length: 8 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 220
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 189
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 188
Walter Wangerin's profound fantasy concerns a time when the sun turned around the earth and the animals could speak, when Chauntecleer the Rooster ruled over a more or less peaceful kingdom. What the animals did not know was that they were the Keepers of Wyrm, monster of evil long imprisoned beneath the earth ... and Wyrm, sub terra, was breaking free.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The Barnyard Battles Heinous Evil
- By HopSez on 08-03-15
- The Book of the Dun Cow
- By: Walter Wangerin Jr.
- Narrated by: Paul Michael
Beautiful story, flawlessly read
Reviewed: 05-16-25
I impulse listened to this story, expecting a fun and not entirely bland childrens' book, because I saw another review praising its literary qualities. Deary me, it was GOOD. Narnia or Lord of the Rings good, I think. It'll definitly hold up to a second reading, and hopefully many more, and I expect it to be a classic in my library. I have already aquired physical copies of this and the sequel. I only wish the reader had read the sequel, because his reading of this volume was an absolute triumph.
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Ducks, Newburyport
- By: Lucy Ellmann
- Narrated by: Stephanie Ellyne
- Length: 45 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 114
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 101
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 101
Baking a multitude of tartes tatins for local restaurants, an Ohio housewife contemplates her four kids, husband, cats and chickens. Also, America's ignoble past, and her own regrets. She is surrounded by dead lakes, fake facts, open carry maniacs, and oodles of online advice about survivalism, veil toss duties, and how to be more like Jane Fonda. But what do you do when you keep stepping on your son's toy tractors, your life depends on stolen land and broken treaties, and nobody helps you when you get a flat tire on the interstate? When are you allowed to start swearing?
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5 out of 5 stars
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Stephanie Ellyne really brings the book to life
- By Shashank on 02-27-20
- Ducks, Newburyport
- By: Lucy Ellmann
- Narrated by: Stephanie Ellyne
Just listen to this book. Trust me.
Reviewed: 10-04-24
About fifteen minutes into this book, I nearly quit it, but soon decided to give it a second chance. And am I ever glad I did. This book ROCKS, and is compulsively engaging, and is a book I will most certainly be revisiting, along with David Copperfield and Infinite Jest and the Zhuangzi and the like. I see this book withistanding the test of time and becoming a classic, a monument to our era, with any luck. I could ramble about themes for quite a while here, but will not, as I believe this is a book you really want to experience blind, to really entre the experience, and not be on the lookout for things you have heard about it. So, I will merely say — the story rocks, the reader rocks, the entire experience is immensly positive, so *why are you still reading this‽ Just start listening already!*
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A Man in Love
- My Struggle, Book 2
- By: Karl Ove Knausgaard, Don Bartlett - translator
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 21 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 458
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 397
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 392
In the second installment of Karl Ove Knausgaard's monumental six-volume masterpiece, the character Karl Ove Knausgaard moves to Stockholm, where, having left his wife, he leads a solitary existence. He strikes up a deep friendship with another exiled Norwegian, a Nietzschean intellectual and boxing fanatic named Geir. He also tracks down Linda, whom he met at a writers' workshop a few years earlier and who fascinated him deeply.
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4 out of 5 stars
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White man's ego reviewing white man’s ennui?
- By Darwin8u on 11-10-15
- A Man in Love
- My Struggle, Book 2
- By: Karl Ove Knausgaard, Don Bartlett - translator
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
Beautiful writing about a very human human.
Reviewed: 06-20-24
It leaves you with a mix of feelings, like any good novel should. I abhor much of his character, and understand him at the same time. It is the complexity of a human, and the endless griding struggle of existance, and the vaguaries of life, and I am quite enjoying this experience, amd will certainly continue onward into his writings. Also, he's got me sold on wishing to move to Sweden.
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Death with Interruptions
- By: Margaret Jull Costa - translator, José Saramago
- Narrated by: Paul Baymer
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 424
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 373
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Story4 out of 5 stars 372
On the first day of the new year, no one dies. This of course causes consternation among politicians, religious leaders, morticians, and doctors. Among the general public, on the other hand, there is initially celebration - flags are hung out on balconies, people dance in the streets. They have achieved the great goal of humanity: eternal life. Then reality hits home....
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4 out of 5 stars
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It's actually two books...
- By Rebecca Garrison on 11-29-18
- Death with Interruptions
- By: Margaret Jull Costa - translator, José Saramago
- Narrated by: Paul Baymer
It only gets better as you go.
Reviewed: 03-02-24
NGL, I had a pretty negative feeling about the story at first, largely due to the irrational (albiet relatively accurate human behaviour,) however the second half was incredibly enjoyable, and now I have a completely positive view of it. Btw the fact that the reader is only showing to have read three books is a shame. One of the best readers I have heard in a while, along with the guy that reads Infinite Jest.
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Oathbringer
- By: Brandon Sanderson
- Narrated by: Kate Reading, Michael Kramer
- Length: 55 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 65,728
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 58,265
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Story5 out of 5 stars 58,166
Dalinar Kholin's Alethi armies won a fleeting victory at a terrible cost. The enemy Parshendi summoned the violent Everstorm, which now sweeps the world with destruction and in its passing awakens the once peaceful and subservient parshmen to the horror of their millennia-long enslavement by humans. While on a desperate flight to warn his family of the threat, Kaladin Stormblessed must come to grips with the fact that the newly kindled anger of the parshmen may be wholly justified.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A mixed bag of brilliance, marred by missteps
- By Leo on 11-24-17
- Oathbringer
- By: Brandon Sanderson
- Narrated by: Kate Reading, Michael Kramer
I don't generally listen to audiobooks
Reviewed: 01-29-21
cause I am a bit ADHD to maintain focus. However, both the story and the performance are capable of capturing my attention because they are both amazing. There's this moment with Dalinar toward the end of this book, and that alone is good enough to warrant a listen. but that is far far far from the only reason to listen. 5/5 stars in every category.
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The Godking's Legacy
- By: Virlyce
- Narrated by: Mare Trevathan
- Length: 16 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,302
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,135
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,131
A legendary sword is left behind by his master, the Godking. Trapped for millennia, the sword's spirit awaits the day he'll be set free. Will his new master be worthy of inheriting the Godking's legacy?
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4 out of 5 stars
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Most Implausible Idiocy You'll Ever Love
- By Dustin on 06-15-18
- The Godking's Legacy
- By: Virlyce
- Narrated by: Mare Trevathan
So very good.
Reviewed: 06-23-18
The story was hilarious, and the narrator was amazing. I am definitely looking forward to a sequel.
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A Rare Recording of J. R. R. Tolkien
- By: J. R. R. Tolkien
- Narrated by: J. R. R. Tolkien
- Length: 42 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 294
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 263
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 256
J. R. R. Tolkien was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor best known as the author of fantasy works like "The Hobbit" and "Lord of the Rings." Listen as Tolkien reads "The Adventures of Tom Bombadil," "The Hoard," "Perry-The-Winkle," and "The Man in the Moon Came Down Too Soon." Also included is a reading of "A Elbereth Gilthoniel" in Elvish and "The Road Goes Ever on," sung by William Elvin with music by Donald Swann.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Not all Tolkien - wish I'd noticed that
- By Tracet on 04-21-15
- A Rare Recording of J. R. R. Tolkien
- By: J. R. R. Tolkien
- Narrated by: J. R. R. Tolkien
Incredibly Beautiful
Reviewed: 12-20-17
Indubitably one of the most generally beautiful and ... that feeling felt by all at their first discover of Lord Tennyson's poetry? That, but at the wonder of how beautifully Tolkien reads. Moreover, the music at the end of the all too short experience was quite the equal of Der Earl-Konig as sung by Fischer-Diskau. To be truthful in all respects, this is indescribably, at least to my abilities, wonderful. Therefore I compare it to things, glints of pure joy and beauty I have felt at other times. This is one of the things that has given me that. If I were to number the times I have felt wonder at the beauty of something to a similar extent, with this and the other two instances mentioned, that number would be six. To conclude, this is beautiful, and I give it full marks in all respects, and without reservation recommend it.
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1 person found this helpful
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The Children of Hurin
- By: J. R. R. Tolkien
- Narrated by: Christopher Lee
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7,381
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 6,283
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 6,259
There are tales of Middle-earth from times long before The Lord of the Rings. The story told in this book is set in the great country that lay beyond the Grey Havens in the West: lands where Treebeard once walked, but which were drowned in the great cataclysm that ended the First Age of the World.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Powerful and Disturbing
- By Catherine Dalzell on 12-19-09
- The Children of Hurin
- By: J. R. R. Tolkien
- Narrated by: Christopher Lee
Amazing narrator for one of the best of fantasy.
Reviewed: 12-20-17
This story has been my favourite for years, and Sir Christopher Lee narrates it perfectly. Full marks in all respects.
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