Billy Budd, Sailor
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Narrated by:
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William Roberts
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By:
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Herman Melville
About this listen
Written some 40 years after Moby Dick, Melville's Billy Budd is a moving tale of good versus evil. Set aboard a British navy ship at the end of the eighteenth century, a young, innocent sailor's charm and good nature put the men around him at ease. Ship life agreed with Billy. He made friends quickly and was well liked, which infuriated John Claggart, the ship's cold-blooded superior officer.
Mutiny was a continual threat greatly feared by naval officers. Even minor offences were dealt with harshly to keep crews in their place, regardless of whether the accused was guilty or innocent.
The envious Master-at-Arms becomes obsessed with the destruction of the 'Handsome Sailor' and torments the young man until his false accusations lead to an eventual charge of treason against Billy.
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Based on a thorough study of Greek life and civilization, of Greek literature, philosophy, and art, The Greek Way interprets their meaning and brings a realization of the refuge and strength the past can be to us in the troubled present. Miss Hamilton's book must take its place with the few interpretative volumes which are permanently rooted and profoundly alive in our literature.
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...Not as Good as The Echo of Greece
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The Man Who Invented Fiction
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In the early 17th century, a crippled, graying, almost toothless veteran of Spain's wars against the Ottoman Empire published a novel. It was the story of a poor nobleman, his brain addled from studying too many novels of chivalry, who deludes himself that he is a knight errant and sets off on hilarious adventures. That story, Don Quixote, went on to sell more copies than any other book beside the Bible, making its author, Miguel de Cervantes, the single most-read author in human history.
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Very Interesting and Informative, but Poorly Read
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The Roman Way
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Edith Hamilton shows us Rome through the eyes of the Romans. Plautus and Terence, Cicero and Caesar, Catullus, Horace, Virgil, and Augustus come to life in their ambitions, their work, their loves and hates. In them we see reflected a picture of Roman life very different from that fixed in our minds through schoolroom days, and far livelier.
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Not so bad
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Word goes among the crew of the Pole Star that the captain is haunted by demons. And after the days turn into weeks in the frigid Arctic Ocean, stories begin to circulate of ghosts and midnight hauntings.
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Conan Doyle wrote more than Mr. Holmes.
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A Rage for Glory
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Acclaimed author James Tertius de Kay recounts the lifeof Commodore Stephen Decatur in the first new biography of the great naval hero in almost 70 years. De Kay draws on material unavailable to previous biographers to explore Decatur’s extraordinary life. From his burning of the Philadelphia to his capture of the HMS Macedonian, Decatur demonstrated his legendary bravery at every turn.
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Excellent writing and exciting story
- By mikey on 08-02-19
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The Tempest
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Sir Ian McKellen, fresh from his performance as Gandalf in Lord of the Rings, is Prospero, and heads a strong cast in Shakespeare’s last great play. The wronged duke raises a tempest to shipwreck his old opponents on his island so that he can ensure justice is done. With Emilia Fox as Miranda, Scott Handy in the pivotal role of the sprite Ariel, and Ben Owukwe as Caliban.
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Gandalf is great
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Acclaimed historian and best-selling author Paul Johnson’s books have been translated into dozens of languages. In Socrates: A Man for Our Times, Johnson draws from little-known resources to construct a fascinating account of one of history’s greatest thinkers. Socrates transcended class limitations in Athens during the fifth century B.C. to develop ideas that still shape the way we think about the human body and soul, including the workings of the human mind.
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Plat-Soc-Paul
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British maritime history in the age of sail is full of the deeds of officers like Nelson but has given little voice to plain, "illiterate" seamen. Now, Stephen Taylor draws on published and unpublished memoirs, letters, and naval records, including court-martials and petitions, to present these men in their own words. In this exhilarating account, ordinary seamen are far from the hapless sufferers of the press gangs.
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Navy Guy Recommends this Title
- By Lexcast on 06-17-20
By: Stephen Taylor
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What listeners say about Billy Budd, Sailor
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Johnny
- 06-11-07
A good reading of a classic story
I had to read "Billy Budd" for a senior seminar class in college, and this audiobook version worked great for me. The narration of this version is a little dry, but then there are other versions where the quality is simply dreadful to say the least.
As many may already know, there are various copies of Billy Budd (BB: Foretopman, BB: Sailor, etc.) because Melville never published the novella in his lifetime. However, I listened to this audiobook while reading along with the Norton Critical Edition of Billy Budd, and the changes were hardly distinct (except for the name of the ship Indomitable vs. Belipotent and an added paragraph towards the end of the novella).
Anyway, I've listened to this audiobook 4 times since I bought it, and it's a great version in my opinion.
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56 people found this helpful
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- Tom Scholl
- 07-19-24
A story of jealousy and innocence.
Melville is difficult to read, but after a while, it’s sometimes refreshing to listen to the sentence structure and verbiage. Thrilling descriptions almost paint a portrait of the story. I hadn’t read this book since the 70’s, I’m glad to “read” it again.
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- Jess
- 08-12-16
Awesome
I like the way Billy Budd was presented. I also like the way the story was fluent and not confusing. I did not like how long the chapters were.🙁
I would recommend this to my entire family, friends, my book club!
I chose this rating because of how cool, well written, amazing well read, and overall fantastic the book was!!!!
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16 people found this helpful
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- Scott Olson
- 03-05-15
Billy Budd
I had to read the book for school and using the audiobook was indefinitely helpful. Though at times it was hard to get though because of the nature of the writing, I enjoyed the book.
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11 people found this helpful
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- J.B.
- 07-03-17
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Billy Budd, Sailor, written by: Herman Melville, Narrated by: William Roberts. This is a magnificent story of a good wholesome and loved by many Billy Budd, and how his nature fuses with the drastic life on a sea ship at the end of the 18th millennium. Billy is an impressed sailor who faces off with a ship’s first officer, antagonistic to Billy because of Billy’s goodness and appreciation by others. This book tells the story of the debased ravaging the pure; because of incarnate evil, lodged herein, in the first officer, John Claggart. The presence of the devil is a strong force in this novella.
Billy is eventually put under false charges, and reacts violently. Thus, Billy becomes unfairly charged, but being properly prosecuted for his violent reaction when unfairly charged. Needless to say, the crew is in Billy’s favor, but the book next weights the need of the admiralty law to prevail and keep order and the crew’s demand for true and proper justice.
A short novel, with multitudes of character interactions, deep seated conflicts in right and wrong, justice and equity and the disregard of those in control for the common man. All that counts is keeping those in power in authority.
Great little story.
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8 people found this helpful
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- Craig Schorling
- 08-09-17
Short Piece of Classic Literature
There is something about classic literature that reminds you why words are so powerful. I found myself constantly referring to a dictionary during this one and that is not a bad thing. I typically tend to enjoy stories such as these in print form but this was a daily deal and the price was length was short. I have always enjoyed stories about the sea and this one delivered. While this is not up to the caliber of Moby Dick it is well told and employs a terrific use of language to create the world.
William Roberts was the perfect voice for this story and gave an authentic sound to this tale. If you enjoy classics, give this short story a listen. It did not disappoint.
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- Matt Ranlett
- 11-13-17
Metaphors for Days
I've got to say that I, personally, am not a fan of the way Herman Melville wrote this. Chalk full of extremely dense sentences, contemporary references I don't know, and entire sections of non-sequiturs which a modern editor would have made him chop.
Billy Budd is basically the perfect guy if a bit simple. He's beautiful and friendly and everyone likes him except for the guy that doesn't due to a genetic defect of character. That guy, also a good looking guy who, aside from his crappy police officer type of job and the aforementioned character defect, accuses our Christ figure in front of the captain. Billy reacts by getting so tongue-tied that he slugs the "cop". The cop naturally dies. Now we get to the meat of the story, in the post-trial monologue scene. Here the captain must convince the officers/jurists that regardless of how awesome Billy is and how sketchy that other guy may have been, Billy's got to go down for the crime he committed.
They hang him.
There's some light follow-up afterward but basically, the act of hanging Billy didn't earn anyone karmic credits.
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- Travis Hiland
- 03-15-17
Captivating
Such beautiful language. New respect for Melville, master of the complexities of the human heart.
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19 people found this helpful
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- LAG
- 07-12-17
An interesting story
I thought the story was sad
It was however, well executed
The narrator was excellent
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1 person found this helpful
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- David Bricker
- 06-09-18
Melville's Last Classic
As delightfully dense and poetic as Melville's other work, Billy Budd is a commentary on law and order, military command, the British policy of impressing merchant sailors into military service, and the human spirit. Unlike the 138 chapters of Moby Dick, this audiobook can be consumed in a little over 4 hours. Authentically Melville, it's Victorian in style, yet it lacks the extended tangents and long back story chapters that characterize Moby Dick. Perhaps as Melville aged he combined his dexterity with words with a certain efficiency born of experience or a need to finish the story before his time ran out. Predictably heavy work from one of the true masters of English prose.
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1 person found this helpful