A Mad Desire to Dance
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Narrated by:
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Mark Bramhall
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Kirsten Potter
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By:
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Elie Wiesel
About this listen
Doriel, a European expatriate living in New York, suffers from a profound sense of desperation and loss. His mother, a member of the Resistance, survived World War II only to die in an accident, together with his father, soon after. Doriel was a child during the war, and his knowledge of the Holocaust is largely limited to what he finds in movies, newsreels, and books - but it is enough. Doriel's parents and their secrets haunt him, leaving him filled with longing but unable to experience the most basic joys in life. He plunges into an intense study of Judaism, but instead of finding solace, he comes to believe that he is possessed by a dybbuk.
Surrounded by ghosts, spurred on by demons, Doriel finally turns to Dr. Therese Goldschmidt, a psychoanalyst who finds herself particularly intrigued by her patient. The two enter into an uneasy relationship based on exchange of dreams, histories, and secrets. Despite Doriel's initial resistance, Dr. Goldschmidt helps to bring him to a crossroads - and to a shocking denouement.
In Doriel's journey into the darkest regions of the soul, Elie Wiesel has written one of his most profoundly moving works of fiction, grounded always by his unparalleled moral compass.
©2008 Elie Wiesel (P)2009 Random HouseListeners also enjoyed...
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Different
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By: Paulo Coelho
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Demian
- By: Hermann Hesse
- Narrated by: Jason McCoy
- Length: 5 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Demian: The Story of Emil Sinclair's Youth is a Bildungsroman by Hermann Hesse, first published in 1919; a prologue was added in 1960. Demian was first published under the pseudonym "Emil Sinclair", the name of the narrator of the story, but Hesse was later revealed to be the author.
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A pre-Great War, gnostic, Jungian bildungsroman.
- By Darwin8u on 07-13-12
By: Hermann Hesse
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Things I've Been Silent About
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- Length: 13 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Azar Nafisi, author of the beloved international best seller Reading Lolita in Tehran, now gives us a stunning personal story of growing up in Iran, memories of her life lived in thrall to a powerful and complex mother, against the background of a country's political revolution.
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Family portrait in the frame of history
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By: Azar Nafisi
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The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas
- By: Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis
- Narrated by: Edoardo Camponeschi
- Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis (1839-1908) was the greatest writer ever to come from Brazil and one of the masters of nineteenth-century fiction. Susan Sontag calls him "the greatest writer ever produced in Latin America", surpassing even Borges. Harold Bloom says that Machado is "the supreme black literary artist to date". And Allen Ginsburg calls him "another Kafka". And The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas is his masterpiece, a dazzling, tragic, and profound novel that belongs next to the greatest works of his contemporaries Melville and Dostoevsky.
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A hidden masterpiece
- By C. Park on 08-09-18
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And There Was Light
- The Extraordinary Memoir of a Blind Hero of the French Resistance in World War II
- By: Jacques Lusseyran
- Narrated by: Andre Gregory
- Length: 4 hrs and 29 mins
- Abridged
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When Jacques Lusseyran was an eight-year-old Parisian schoolboy, he was blinded in an accident. He finished his schooling determined to participate in the world around him. In 1941, when he was seventeen, that world was Nazi-occupied France. Lusseyran formed a resistance group with fifty-two boys and used his heightened senses to recruit the best. Eventually, Lusseyran was arrested and sent to the Buchenwald concentration camp in a transport of two thousand resistance fighters.
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One of the three most important books in my life
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The Earth Will Shake
- The Historical Illuminatus Chronicles Vol. I
- By: Robert Anton Wilson
- Narrated by: Scot Crisp
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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They have been with us throughout the ages: the "Invisible College" of wisdom and their adversaries, the destroyers. Naples, Italy, circa 1764: A young aristocrat is about to stumble onto one piece of the great pattern. As witness to a vicious assassination and victim of his passion for the beautiful daughter of his enemy, young Sigismundo Celine is forced to begin a mystical odyssey amidst an ageless clash of Freemasons, Mafia, and the Illuminati.
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Hugely entertaining and informative.
- By Andrew on 07-13-07
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The Meursault Investigation
- By: Kamel Daoud, John Cullen - translator
- Narrated by: Fajer Al-Kaisi
- Length: 4 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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He was the brother of "the Arab" killed by the infamous Meursault, the antihero of Camus' classic novel. Seventy years after that event, Harun, who has lived since childhood in the shadow of his sibling's memory, refuses to let him remain anonymous: He gives his brother a story and a name - Musa - and describes the events that led to Musa's casual murder on a dazzlingly sunny beach.
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An enthralling double feature!
- By Kaui on 06-28-16
By: Kamel Daoud, and others
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The Betrothed
- A Novel
- By: Alessandro Manzoni, Michael F. Moore - translator, Jhumpa Lahiri - afterword
- Narrated by: Ari Fliakos, Susan Vinciotti Bonito
- Length: 22 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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The Betrothed is a cornerstone of Italian culture, language, and literature. Published in its final form in 1842, The Betrothed has inspired generations of Italian readers and writers. Giuseppe Verdi composed his majestic Requiem Mass in honor of Manzoni. Italo Calvino called the novel “a classic that has never ceased shaping reality in Italy” while Umberto Eco praised its author as a “most subtle critic and analyst of languages.”
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How to ruin a masterpiece
- By McMurrab on 10-31-22
By: Alessandro Manzoni, and others
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The Schooldays of Jesus
- By: J. M. Coetzee
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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David is the small boy who is always asking questions. Simon and Ines take care of him in their new town, Estrella. He is learning the language; he has begun to make friends. He has the big dog, Bolivar, to watch over him. But he'll be seven soon, and he should be at school. And so, with the guidance of the three sisters who own the farm where Simon and Ines work, David is enrolled in the Academy of Dance. It's here, in his new golden dancing slippers, that he learns how to call down the numbers from the sky.
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SEXUAL PERVERSION PRESENTED AS BRILLIANT
- By Amazon Customer on 09-29-18
By: J. M. Coetzee
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The Cater Street Hangman
- By: Anne Perry
- Narrated by: Davina Porter
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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When a maid in the upper class Ellison household is strangled, Inspector Pitt is called in to investigate. He finds a world ruled by strict manners and social customs, where the inhabitants of the Ellison's neighborhood appear to be more outraged by the thought of scandal than they are by murder. Inspector Pitt finds a most unlikely ally in Charlotte, the Ellison's spirited daughter. But as the murders continue, Charlotte and Pitt find themselves drawn together by more than the investigation.
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I really like this book but it's not for everone
- By Ancient Warrior on 03-14-11
By: Anne Perry
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Shalimar the Clown
- By: Salman Rushdie
- Narrated by: Aasif Mandvi
- Length: 18 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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When Maximilian Ophuls is murdered outside his daughter's home by his Kashmiri Muslim driver, it appears to be a political killing. Ophuls is the former U.S. ambassador to India and America's leading figure in counter-terrorism. But there is much more to Ophuls and his assassin, a mysterious man calling himself "Shalimar the Clown", than meets the eye. One woman is at the center of their shared history, a history of betrayal and deception.
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Incredible
- By Barry on 12-07-05
By: Salman Rushdie
What listeners say about A Mad Desire to Dance
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Ella
- 01-17-11
A deep fascinating reading
Beautiful and deep thoughts where only Elie Wiesel is able to bring the reader. His poetry in prose form is so profound and touching that he makes dance your mind when you read his books. I found sadly ironic the way the therapist, who studied and knows everything about psycology and humans' mind, is actually so far away from understanding the deep obscurity wrapping the main character, as if the whole human beings can't really understand how other human beings have been capable of what they did and, more importantly, what the victims have gone through, during and after the darkness. I love the bittersweet taste of Elie Wiesel's book, the way he make you smile you a heavy deep sadness in your heart and mind. I believe it is really representative of the history of Jewish people.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
- Patti W.
- 03-26-17
Slow to Start but worth pursuing.
Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?
I had difficulty getting involved in the story and found it required constant attention in order to keep the characters and action flowing.
Would you be willing to try another book from Elie Wiesel? Why or why not?
I tried this book after reading NIGHT, DAY, and DAWN. I had to put it away after I started it the first time because I just couldn't give it the attention it deserved. When I finally had time to devote myself just to the story line I found it was a good story and I was glad I took the time to finish it.
What do you think the narrator could have done better?
The narration was good but there were times when I wasn't sure which character was speaking.
If this book were a movie would you go see it?
No
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Overall
- Roy
- 12-14-09
Disturbing
Elie Wiessel once again passes to us remembrance of the Nazi concentration camps. Here, in a fictional work, Wiessel tells the story of Doriel Waldman a Jewish New Yorker and Holocaust survivor who seeks help from a psychoanlyst who is also a surviver. Doriel is wonderfully articulate, introspective and self aware. Wiesel allows the reader to enter his mind and understand to some limited degree his experience.
The narrative is easily followed. The prose takes more effort because of the Judaic images and wordplay. Elie Wiesel is troubling, but essential to our understanding of this dark period in human history.
A Mad Desire to Dance is well worth every listener's time. The narration of Mark Bramhal and Kirsten Potter is excellent.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Barbara
- 04-08-09
My capacity for angst over time was sorely tested
If you listen to the beginning, figure out the protagonist and his navel, sleep several hours then listen to the end you're more likely to find the patience to start over and listen to the whole thing. Yes, he's a good writer but all the more reason to fault the times he strays into tedium. Alas, abridgment is always an abomination while a demanding editor is not.
My capacity for angst over time was sorely tested. Is New York the haven for old men so crippled early in life they grow old gnawing at their embedded shrapnel and failing to thrive? I'm convinced that humans can be profoundly damaged and never recover. I'd like some variation on the theme but I didn't find it here.
My browser gives me question marks, not stars. I give it 3 and I'll listen again with more sympathy if I ever recover from raising 4 reasonably pampered children with the survivors clamoring to be nominated for the Newberry Award for the "Worst Childhood, Ever".
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Amazon Customer
- 06-15-11
Different
The books starts a little slow--I had my doubts at the beginning--but slowly Wiesel paints a capturing psychological portrait. After listening to the first quarter of the book, I couldn't stop listening. The writing is so...different. So Wiesel. Mystical and dramatic, yet cynical and direct; theological and grotesque, yet academic and insightful. I found myself connecting with the main character a lot.
Oh, and Mark Bramhall's narration is--well--it's one of the few times I would say a book is improved by the narrator. Bramhall is remarkably talented. And Kirsten Potter does an excellent job too.
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2 people found this helpful