John W McLellan
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The Stand
- By: Stephen King
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 47 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 79,035
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 70,566
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 70,436
This is the way the world ends: with a nanosecond of computer error in a Defense Department laboratory and a million casual contacts that form the links in a chain letter of death. And here is the bleak new world of the day after: a world stripped of its institutions and emptied of 99 percent of its people. A world in which a handful of panicky survivors choose sides - or are chosen.
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5 out of 5 stars
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My First Completed Stephen King Novel
- By Meaghan Bynum on 02-20-12
- The Stand
- By: Stephen King
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
Fantastic performance of a truly great novel
Reviewed: 09-10-16
Okay, this is a LONG book. Not quite "War and Peace" long, but not too far from it. That being said, the storylines (for the most part) are so compelling that you become totally immersed into this bleak, haunted, dead, and (somehow) hopeful world that King has created.
Plenty of allegory here. I'm a sucker for the whole good vs. evil narrative, when done right, and it is done masterfully in this novel. The idea of spiritual warfare is front and center, presented in neither an overtly sentimental fashion nor a condescending one, as often is the case with this type of subject matter.
To top it all off, the narration is probably the best I've heard of the dozens of audiobooks I've listened to. The narrator creates unique voices for each of the characters and adds so much pizzazz that one cannot help but be sucked into the story even more. A wonderful job.
The last time I read this book was well over twenty years ago, and I remember being enthralled with the story, but being disappointed with the ending. However, this time, I was actually quite satisfied with it. I don't know if it's because of the additional 400 or so pages that were added back to the novel in this edition, or if it was the power of the narration that clarified things I may have missed, or if it's just me. I'm not sure, but I really loved this one.
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![The Idiot [Blackstone] Audiobook By Fyodor Dostoevsky cover art](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41jJ26f5RWL._SL320_.jpg)
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The Idiot [Blackstone]
- By: Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
- Length: 22 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,096
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 815
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Story4 out of 5 stars 823
Prince Myshkin, is thrust into the heart of a society more concerned with wealth, power, and sexual conquest than the ideals of Christianity. Myshkin soon finds himself at the center of a violent love triangle in which a notorious woman and a beautiful young girl become rivals for his affections. Extortion, scandal, and murder follow, testing the wreckage left by human misery to find "man in man."
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5 out of 5 stars
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Intense and painfully sad
- By Tad on 04-27-12
- The Idiot [Blackstone]
- By: Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
An outstanding presentation of a truly great novel
Reviewed: 04-16-16
I've read The Idiot twice before, the last time about three years ago. The thing with Russian literature (note: I'm a huge fan of Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Bulgakov), is that it's super easy getting confused with various plot lines, character arcs, and the lack of clarity (at least for me) with where the overall narrative is going. The Idiot is in my "top 5" list of favorite novels, so I was curious whether listening to it versus reading it might bring the narrative a little more to life for me.
Well, not really. Though I don't blame this version for it. The narrator did an outstanding job with the various characters and with the overall storytelling. He has a nice voice that just kinda sucks you in.
The story is wonderful though - I'm not going into the plot, because the novel is less about the particulars of the story than it is about the ideas conveyed. Can a truly good man (or woman) exist in the world without becoming corrupted? Are we cursed to a life of sorrow and suffering because of our past sins? Are we evil people who do good things or the other way around? Etc, etc. Some of the ruminations about the existence of God, the Catholic Church, and the
Nature of evil are incredibly deep and profound, and as ever applicable to our day and age as the were in Dostoevsky's time.
This book demands engagement, in order to fully appreciate it. I would recommend listening to the audiobook while following along with the written text in order to grasp the full weight of this masterpiece.
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