laurel
- 8
- reviews
- 14
- helpful votes
- 16
- ratings
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The Sea, the Sea
- By: Iris Murdoch, Mary Kinzie - introduction
- Narrated by: Simon Vance, Kimberly Farr
- Length: 21 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 357
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 304
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 305
Charles Arrowby, leading light of England's theatrical set, retires from glittering London to an isolated home by the sea. He plans to write a memoir about his great love affair with Clement Makin, his mentor, both professionally and personally, and amuse himself with Lizzie, an actress he has strung along for many years.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Murdoch Amazes
- By Sara on 08-30-17
- The Sea, the Sea
- By: Iris Murdoch, Mary Kinzie - introduction
- Narrated by: Simon Vance, Kimberly Farr
Pure pleasure
Reviewed: 06-07-17
Any additional comments?
Simon Vance's reading is exquisite. I'd read this long ago, and listening to it was reminded again of how brilliant and often hilarious Murdoch's writing is. Vance captures the protagonist so perfectly I wish he'd narrate all of Murdoch.
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14 people found this helpful
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Keep the Aspidistra Flying
- By: George Orwell
- Narrated by: Richard E. Grant
- Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 219
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 196
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 192
Gordon Comstock loathes dull, middle-class respectability and worship of money. He gives up a 'good job' in advertising to work part-time in a bookshop, giving him more time to write. But he slides instead into a self-induced poverty that destroys his creativity and his spirit. Only Rosemary, ever-faithful Rosemary, has the strength to challenge his commitment to his chosen way of life.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Gordon's Grey World is Colored with Grant
- By Timothy on 09-25-11
- Keep the Aspidistra Flying
- By: George Orwell
- Narrated by: Richard E. Grant
fantastically sarcastic performance
Reviewed: 08-25-12
What a pleasure to listen to Richard Grant capture every nuance and drop of sarcasm in Orwell's great prose masterpiece, The book feels very modern in sensibility; the narrator is exceptionally brilliant and funny. It was really a delight.
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4 people found this helpful
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Brideshead Revisited
- By: Evelyn Waugh
- Narrated by: Jeremy Northam
- Length: 5 hrs and 15 mins
- Abridged
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 31
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 11
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Story4 out of 5 stars 11
The inspiration for a major film releasing 2008 starring Emma Thompson and Michael Gambon. A study of faith and disillusionment in a glamorous upper-class world, Waugh’s most famous novel is partly autobiographical and is a gripping multi-character-study.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Evelyn Waugh read by a truly great actor...
- By Chip Atkinson on 05-15-12
- Brideshead Revisited
- By: Evelyn Waugh
- Narrated by: Jeremy Northam
awful reading
Reviewed: 08-24-12
Northam is a good actor but he reads this in such a quivering portentous voice I had to stop listening.
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1 person found this helpful
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Henderson the Rain King
- By: Saul Bellow
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: Not Yet Known
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 29
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 1
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Story4 out of 5 stars 1
Bellow evokes all the rich colour and exotic customs of a highly imaginary Africa in this comic novel about a middle-aged American millionaire who, seeking a new, more rewarding life, descends upon an African tribe. Henderson's awesome feats of strength and his unbridled passion for life earns him the admiration of the tribe - but it is his gift for making rain that turns him from mere hero into messiah.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great book, great audiobook
- By Amazon Customer on 03-08-10
- Henderson the Rain King
- By: Saul Bellow
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
Fantastic narrator
Reviewed: 10-12-10
A pure pleasure to listen to; Barrett does a pitch perfect job with the title character and the multiple voices. It's a wildly strange and funny book, and Barrett captures every nuance.
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3 people found this helpful
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Solar
- By: Ian McEwan
- Narrated by: Roger Allam, Ian McEwan
- Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 485
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 278
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Story4 out of 5 stars 277
Nobel Prize-winning physicist Michael Beard is fast approaching 60, a mere shell of the academic titan he once was. While his fifth marriage falls apart, Michael suddenly finds himself with an unexpected opportunity to reinvigorate his career and possibly save humankind from the growing threat of global warming.
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1 out of 5 stars
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What a disappointment
- By SharkHunterSFO on 04-02-10
- Solar
- By: Ian McEwan
- Narrated by: Roger Allam, Ian McEwan
Often hilarious
Reviewed: 04-14-10
Narrator does a great job with it, frequently laugh out loud funny. The protagonist is fairly despicable--you have to be willing to spend a lot of time with a raving egotist (but eventually everything catches up with him). McEwan can get bogged down in the science, which is the novel's main fault.
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5 people found this helpful
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How It Ended
- New and Collected Stories
- By: Jay McInerney
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 12 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 20
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 8
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Story4 out of 5 stars 8
This story collection by one of the preeminent writers of this generation traces the arc of an entire career and - in this manifold exploration of delusion, fame, and experience - displays anew McInerney's rare ability to unveil and recreate the manic flux of our society.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Pretty Good, but not quite there
- By J on 11-30-09
- How It Ended
- New and Collected Stories
- By: Jay McInerney
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
Fantastic narrator, delicious writing
Reviewed: 04-02-10
I loved these stories--masterful writing, and the narrator is perfect: captures every irony and nuance, does a particularly good--often hilarious--job with the female characters.
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1 person found this helpful
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Indignation
- By: Philip Roth
- Narrated by: Dick Hill
- Length: 5 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 151
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 50
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Story4 out of 5 stars 53
It is 1951 in America, the second year of the Korean War. Marcus Messner of Newark, New Jersey, is beginning his sophomore year at the pastoral, conservative Winesburg College in Ohio. Why is he here? Because his father, a hard-working neighborhood butcher, seems to have gone mad.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Brilliant
- By JOHN on 10-03-08
- Indignation
- By: Philip Roth
- Narrated by: Dick Hill
narrator thinks he's Henny Youngman
Reviewed: 08-09-09
I'm a big Roth fan, and George Guidall does great readings of the other books. This guy reads it like he's a Borscht Belt comedian, manages to miss every nuance, doesn't understand the character.
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3 people found this helpful
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Hit Parade
- By: Lawrence Block
- Narrated by: Lawrence Block
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 399
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 206
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 208
The New York Times best-selling author and master of the modern mystery returns with a fierce and poignant new novel featuring his acclaimed killer-for-hire, Keller. John Keller is everyone's favorite hit man. He's cool. Reliable. A real pro: the hit man's hit man. The inconvenient wife, the business partner, the retiree with a substantial legacy. He's taken care of them all, quietly and efficiently.
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1 out of 5 stars
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The narrator makes all the difference
- By Chris on 05-16-08
- Hit Parade
- By: Lawrence Block
- Narrated by: Lawrence Block
Terrible!
Reviewed: 07-25-06
I was a great fan of the previous two Keller books (and the fantastic readings by--I believe it was--Robert Forster) but in this one Block has basically phoned it in--in the writing AND the reading. It's rambling, boring and pointless. Listen to the previous 2 and skip this one. A major disappointment.
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2 people found this helpful