Candide
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Narrated by:
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Donal Donnelly
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By:
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Voltaire
About this listen
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Voltaire’s pioneering work of dark humor is at turns mordant and fantastic, dystopian yet comedic. Candide has staked its spot at the intersection of philosophy and folklore. Raised on the altruism that "all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds", the antihero Candide endures war, natural disaster, and forced servitude along his heedless journey. Actor Donal Donnelly’s silky baritone provides a fitting suitor for this fast-paced, satirical allegory. As Donnelly built a reputable film career with roles in The Godfather trilogy and The Dead, he quietly put together an impressive résumé in the emergent field of audiobook performance. Recorded in 1981, Donnelly’s Candide stands the test of time: The Irishman’s wry but eloquent delivery befits the baroque fatalism of Voltaire’s misadventure.
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Starring Orson Welles, Anges Moorehead, and Ray Collins, The Count of Monte Cristo is a tale of revenge and retribution. Edmond Dantès, a young, energetic sailor, is falsely accused of treason on his wedding day and incarcerated in the forbidding Château d'If. His escape and ultimate revenge on those who wronged him makes this one of the most thrilling stories in French literature, as compelling now as when it was first published in 1846.
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Excellent
- By Stefanie on 05-19-14
By: Orson Welles
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The Story of My Life, Volume 1
- By: Giacomo Casanova
- Narrated by: Peter Wickham
- Length: 47 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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The Story of My Life is the explosive and exhilarating autobiography by the infamous libertine Giacomo Casanova. Intense and scandalous, Casanova's extraordinary adventures take the listener on an incredible voyage across 18th-century Europe - from France to Russia, Poland to Spain and Turkey to Germany, with Venice at their heart. He falls madly in love, has wild flings and delirious orgies, and encounters some of the most brilliant figures of his time, including Catherine the Great, Louis XV and Benjamin Franklin. He holds a verbal dual with Voltaire and finds himself hauled before the court multiple times.
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Extraordinarily interesting
- By Ed Pegg Jr on 10-19-19
By: Giacomo Casanova
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The Betrothed
- By: Alessandro Manzoni
- Narrated by: Nicholas Boulton
- Length: 24 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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After the jealous tyrant Don Rodrigo foils their wedding, young Lombardian peasants Lucia and Lorenzo must separate and flee for their safety. Their difficult path to matrimony takes place against the turbulent backdrop of the Thirty Years War, where lawlessness and exploitation are at their height. Lucia takes refuge in a convent, where she is later abducted and taken on a nightmarish journey to a sinister castle, while Lorenzo goes to Milan, where he witnesses famine, riots, and plague - all evoked through meticulous description and with stunning immediacy.
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Fantastic reading of a great work of literature
- By Pia Crosby on 03-25-19
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The Three Musketeers (AmazonClassics Edition)
- By: Alexandre Dumas, William Robson - translator
- Narrated by: Guy Mott
- Length: 27 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Young nobleman d’Artagnan has arrived in Paris intent on joining the guardians of King Louis XIII. He befriends the regiment’s most formidable musketeers, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, and together they unite in their commitment to uphold justice. Soon, a royal indiscretion thrusts them into an audacious escapade of courtly intrigue, thwarted romance, and daring rescue. But it’s the Machiavellian schemes of a powerful enemy and the wicked seductions of an ingenious female spy that will be their greatest challenges.
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terrible narrator. every comma is a 3 second pause
- By Anonymous User on 09-21-21
By: Alexandre Dumas, and others
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The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini
- By: Benvenuto Cellini
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
- Length: 15 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Master Italian sculptor, goldsmith, and writer Benvenuto Cellini is best remembered for his magnificent autobiography. In this work, which was actually begun in 1558 but not published until 1730, Cellini beautifully chronicles his flamboyant times. He tells of his adventures in Italy and France, and his relations with popes, kings, and fellow artists.
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The problem is with Cellini himself.
- By Leslie Ross on 06-07-10
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Four Arthurian Romances
- By: Chrétien de Troyes
- Narrated by: Nicholas Boulton
- Length: 16 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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The Arthurian Romances by Chrétien de Troyes form the wellspring of the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Stories of knightly valour in the Welsh Marches had existed before the 12th century, but it was the magnificent poetry and imagination of Chrétien, the 12th century French poet and trouvère, which brought alive the great characters of Arthur, his wife Guinevere, Lancelot and others.
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Ukemi Audio: Doing the Lord’s Work
- By John on 09-29-17
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Father Goriot
- By: Honoré de Balzac
- Narrated by: Bill Homewood
- Length: 12 hrs
- Unabridged
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Story
Impoverished young aristocrat Eugene de Rastignac is determined to climb the social ladder and impress himself on Parisian high society. While staying at the Maison Vauquer, a boarding house in Paris's rue Neuve-Sainte-Genevieve, he encounters Jean-Joachim Goriot, a retired vermicelli maker who has spent his entire fortune supporting his two daughters. The boarders strike up a friendship and Goriot learns of Rastignac's feelings for his daughter Delphine. He begins to see Rastignac as the ideal son-in-law, and the perfect substitute for Delphine's domineering husband. But Rastignac has other opportunities too....
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Astounding performance
- By Laurence Grey on 04-05-21
By: Honoré de Balzac
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The Arabian Nights (AmazonClassics Edition)
- By: Andrew Lang
- Narrated by: Neil Shah
- Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Story
The vengeful King Schahriar agrees to stave off the execution of Queen Scheherazade until she finishes a particularly compelling story. Her plan? Bleed one tale into another. Through fanciful histories, romances, tragedies, comedies, poems, riddles, and songs, Scheherazade prolongs her life by holding the king’s rapt attention. With origins in Persian and Eastern Indian folklore, the stories of The Arabian Nights have been reworked, reshaped, revised, collected, and supplemented throughout the centuries by various authors and scholars.
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Very edited version
- By HDVE on 11-13-18
By: Andrew Lang
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Narrator turned me around on this story
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Good for historical value only...
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Composed in four parts between 1883 and 1885, Thus Spoke Zarathustra is the most famous and influential work of German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. The work is a philosophical novel in which the character of Zarathustra, a religious prophet-like figure, delivers a series of lessons and sermons in a Biblical style that articulate the central ideas of Nietzsche's mature thought.
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Great book, poor audio performance
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"Call me Ishmael." Thus starts the greatest American novel. Melville said himself that he wanted to write "a mighty book about a mighty theme" and so he did. It is a story of one man's obsessive revenge-journey against the white whale, Moby-Dick, who injured him in an earlier meeting. Woven into the story of the last journey of The Pequod is a mesh of philosophy, rumination, religion, history, and a mass of information about whaling through the ages.
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Excellent, EXCELLENT reading!
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What listeners say about Candide
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Stanley
- 03-07-05
an absolute hoot
If you've not read this already, run (don't walk) to get yourself a copy. Voltaire wrote it 250 years ago and it doesn't appear to have aged much since (I was laughing out loud on the subway). Although it may offend the sensibilities of some (lots of body language; lots of anti-clericalism; lots of blood and guts and rape and pillaging; satirical and hilarious. No wonder they didn't have us read him in my suburban High School.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Mark J Mickey
- 05-23-24
Much funnier than I ever expected it to be!
Another one of those books that was required reading in most of the English programs in my high school - except the ones I took. Never thought I missed much by not being required to read it when I was in school, I waited until I was 65 before I picked it as a choice in Audible. I'm so glad that I did! It was actually funny throughout and I couldn't have enjoyed it more. It's actually hard to remember as one is listening to this book, that it was written in 1759 - 200 years before I was born! It's also difficult to remember that Voltaire was, although not excommunicated for his writings, his works were banned and he was officially labeled a heretic by the Roman Catholic church. Today, I think he would be lauded as one of the brightest minds on the writing staff of any modern day syndicated comedy on TV. Well worth the read. I enjoyed it and am pretty sure most modern day open-minded readers would too. 2 thumbs up!
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Overall
- Tobin
- 09-09-04
Voltaire's Classic
This classic by Voltaire is wonderful satire. Candide, the young illegitimate nephew of a German baron, is taught by his teacher/philosopher Pangloss that this world is ?the best of all possible worlds.? Candide falls in love with Cunegonde, the baron?s young daughter. When their love is discovered, Candide is expelled from his home, and the fun starts. The entire novel is then consumed with tongue-in-cheek melodrama of Candide?s worldwide attempt to find and marry Cunegonde, who is, of course, constantly on the move.
Early on in the story we realize that the important aspects of Voltaire?s novel are not the plot?s details but the higher themes: the ?real-world? tragedy which disproves Pangloss? initial optimistic teachings, the hypocrisy of the day?s religious theologians, and the inability of money to solve problems. Voltaire?s wit shines in his masterpiece, and while this book is not for young children, it does have broad appeal, especially due to its short length.
Reader Donal Donnelly does a good job of characterizing the voices, especially the sleazy and decrepit characters. Donnelly?s British accent proves to be very entertaining and a joy to listen to.
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Susan
- 05-22-03
Fresh and funny
The reader is very good. The story is wonderful. One of my favorite audible books. Candide takes readers half way around the world and back while cheerfully suffering one misadventure after another.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Kandis
- 02-06-16
I wish I had read this years ago
I bought this book on a whim long ago and quickly forgot about it. I saw it on audible and decided to listen to it. Yes, the story started off ridiculous, and as I wondered where it was going I found myself laughing out loud and getting swept up in the ridiculousness of it all. All is for the best in this story.
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Overall
- Music nerd
- 04-10-10
No stars is my real rating!
Worst "classic" I ever read. I tried to rate it "no stars" but the program demands at least one. Those who think this is a satiric, intelligent or important book probably also love the cut and color of the emporer's new clothes. Would any of you like to buy a bridge?
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall
- Ames
- 09-20-04
Candid
Excellent reader. Refreshingly written.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Mark
- 08-30-09
Candide is too dated
Humor generally does not do well across the ages,
and this book is a perfect example.
It does have some good fun poking dark humor at
the Catholic church and the Jesuits in paticular.
It also has some funny 'Pythonesque" moments in
revolt against the right of Kings.
Over all though, much of the humor falls flat,
and it was a struggle to finish.
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