Classic Tales of Christmas
A Yuletide Collection of Stories, Poems, and Essays
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $6.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Daniel H. Vimont
About this listen
Classic Christmas Tales of the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Annotated for modern readers, including an interesting and informative editor's note preceding each work.
This Yuletide collection of stories, poems, and essays has been rescued from obscurity by the editor, who has also edited and annotated them to make these wonderful classics more easily accessible to modern listeners. While some of these authors may be unknown to you, their works have been included in this collection because of their capacity to instantly intrigue and delight.
Give them a try, and don't be surprised if a few of them make their way onto your list of all-time personal Christmas favorites!
Included in this collection:
- A latter-day Christmas "miracle" offers renewed meaning to the life of the beautiful matriarch of a small Spanish town.
- The revelation of a stunning Christmas secret opens up new horizons for a disillusioned farm wife.
- An unexpected Christmas-morning encounter proves the ultimate challenge to an enterprising ivory hunter venturing into the wild.
- Two stories chronicle the struggle for hope and meaning in Christmas celebrations during times of war.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Evangeline
- By: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Narrated by: Leonard Wilson
- Length: 2 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie" is an epic poem by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, published in 1847. The poem follows an Acadian girl named Evangeline and her search for her lost love Gabriel, set during the time of the expulsion of the Acadians. The idea for the poem came from Longfellow's friend, Nathaniel Hawthorne. Longfellow used dactylic hexameter, imitated from Greek and Latin classics, though the choice was criticized.
-
-
Excellent
- By Anonymous User on 05-23-23
-
The Courtship of Miles Standish
- By: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Narrated by: B. J. Harrison
- Length: 1 hr and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Complete and unabridged, and read with meticulous care, in this story Miles Standish and John Alden both seek the hand of the fair Priscilla. See the Mayflower abandon the first settlers as it returns to England. Feel the heated vision of the Indians, perpetually keeping their watch in the dark forest. Love and adventure collide in one of Longfellow's most famous works
-
-
Longfellow's poem
- By Jan on 12-04-12
-
Cloud Atlas
- A Novel
- By: David Mitchell
- Narrated by: Scott Brick, Cassandra Campbell, Kim Mai Guest, and others
- Length: 19 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cloud Atlas begins in 1850 with Adam Ewing, an American notary voyaging from the Chatham Isles to his home in California. Along the way, Ewing is befriended by a physician, Dr. Goose, who begins to treat him for a rare species of brain parasite.... Abruptly, the action jumps to Belgium in 1931, where Robert Frobisher, a disinherited bisexual composer, contrives his way into the household of an infirm maestro who has a beguiling wife and a nubile daughter....
-
-
thoroughly enjoyed
- By Elizabeth on 01-05-08
By: David Mitchell
-
The Complete Stories of Sherlock Holmes
- By: Arthur Conan Doyle
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 70 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here in one recording is every Sherlock Holmes story ever written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Originally appearing in serial form, these famous stories are here presented in the order in which they were first published beginning in 1887. Included in this definitive, award-winning collection are four novels and 56 short stories, a total of 60 titles. The 56 short stories are aggregated into five named collections, just as they were originally published in book form.
-
-
More collections like this, please!
- By Myusollo on 07-22-14
-
Beautiful Ruins
- By: Jess Walter
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The story begins in 1962. On a rocky patch of the sun-drenched Italian coastline, a young innkeeper, chest-deep in daydreams, looks out over the incandescent waters of the Ligurian Sea and spies an apparition: a tall, thin woman, a vision in white, approaching him on a boat. She is an actress, he soon learns, an American starlet, and she is dying. And the story begins again today, half a world away, when an elderly Italian man shows up on a movie studio's back lot - searching for the mysterious woman he last saw at his hotel decades earlier.
-
-
My mind wandered
- By Ella on 11-25-12
By: Jess Walter
-
Les Miserables
- By: Victor Hugo
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 57 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set in the Parisian underworld and plotted like a detective story, Les Miserables follows Jean Valjean, originally an honest peasant, who has been imprisoned for 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister's starving family. A hardened criminal upon his release, he eventually reforms, becoming a successful industrialist and town mayor. Despite this, he is haunted by an impulsive former crime and is pursued relentlessly by the police inspector Javert.
-
-
one happy insomniac
- By Kathryn on 01-27-05
By: Victor Hugo
-
Evangeline
- By: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Narrated by: Leonard Wilson
- Length: 2 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie" is an epic poem by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, published in 1847. The poem follows an Acadian girl named Evangeline and her search for her lost love Gabriel, set during the time of the expulsion of the Acadians. The idea for the poem came from Longfellow's friend, Nathaniel Hawthorne. Longfellow used dactylic hexameter, imitated from Greek and Latin classics, though the choice was criticized.
-
-
Excellent
- By Anonymous User on 05-23-23
-
The Courtship of Miles Standish
- By: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Narrated by: B. J. Harrison
- Length: 1 hr and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Complete and unabridged, and read with meticulous care, in this story Miles Standish and John Alden both seek the hand of the fair Priscilla. See the Mayflower abandon the first settlers as it returns to England. Feel the heated vision of the Indians, perpetually keeping their watch in the dark forest. Love and adventure collide in one of Longfellow's most famous works
-
-
Longfellow's poem
- By Jan on 12-04-12
-
Cloud Atlas
- A Novel
- By: David Mitchell
- Narrated by: Scott Brick, Cassandra Campbell, Kim Mai Guest, and others
- Length: 19 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cloud Atlas begins in 1850 with Adam Ewing, an American notary voyaging from the Chatham Isles to his home in California. Along the way, Ewing is befriended by a physician, Dr. Goose, who begins to treat him for a rare species of brain parasite.... Abruptly, the action jumps to Belgium in 1931, where Robert Frobisher, a disinherited bisexual composer, contrives his way into the household of an infirm maestro who has a beguiling wife and a nubile daughter....
-
-
thoroughly enjoyed
- By Elizabeth on 01-05-08
By: David Mitchell
-
The Complete Stories of Sherlock Holmes
- By: Arthur Conan Doyle
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 70 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here in one recording is every Sherlock Holmes story ever written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Originally appearing in serial form, these famous stories are here presented in the order in which they were first published beginning in 1887. Included in this definitive, award-winning collection are four novels and 56 short stories, a total of 60 titles. The 56 short stories are aggregated into five named collections, just as they were originally published in book form.
-
-
More collections like this, please!
- By Myusollo on 07-22-14
-
Beautiful Ruins
- By: Jess Walter
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The story begins in 1962. On a rocky patch of the sun-drenched Italian coastline, a young innkeeper, chest-deep in daydreams, looks out over the incandescent waters of the Ligurian Sea and spies an apparition: a tall, thin woman, a vision in white, approaching him on a boat. She is an actress, he soon learns, an American starlet, and she is dying. And the story begins again today, half a world away, when an elderly Italian man shows up on a movie studio's back lot - searching for the mysterious woman he last saw at his hotel decades earlier.
-
-
My mind wandered
- By Ella on 11-25-12
By: Jess Walter
-
Les Miserables
- By: Victor Hugo
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 57 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set in the Parisian underworld and plotted like a detective story, Les Miserables follows Jean Valjean, originally an honest peasant, who has been imprisoned for 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister's starving family. A hardened criminal upon his release, he eventually reforms, becoming a successful industrialist and town mayor. Despite this, he is haunted by an impulsive former crime and is pursued relentlessly by the police inspector Javert.
-
-
one happy insomniac
- By Kathryn on 01-27-05
By: Victor Hugo
-
Doctor Zhivago
- By: Boris Pasternak, Larissa Volokhonsky - translator, Richard Pevear - translator
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 23 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In celebration of the 40th anniversary of its original publication, here is a new translation of the classic story of the life and loves of a poet/physician during the turmoil of the Russian Revolution. Taking his family from Moscow to what he hopes will be shelter in the Ural Mountains, Zhivago finds himself instead embroiled in the battle between the Whites and the Reds. Set against this backdrop of cruelty and strife is Zhivago’s love for the tender and beautiful Lara.
-
-
Russian Philosophical Feast
- By Syd Young on 02-16-13
By: Boris Pasternak, and others
-
A Christmas Carol: The Unabridged Classic Narrated by Chandler Craig
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Chandler Craig
- Length: 2 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An illuminating reading of the greatest Christmas classic ever written: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Narrated by Chandler Craig.
-
-
A true classic treated perfectly
- By James Lee Walker on 12-24-14
By: Charles Dickens
-
Dissolution
- Forgotten Realms: War of the Spider Queen, Book 1
- By: Richard Lee Byers
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
- Length: 14 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The War of the Spider Queen begins here. While their whole world is changing around them, four dark elves struggle against different enemies. Yet their paths will lead them all to the most terrifying discovery in the long history of the drow and set them on a quest to save not only Menzoberranzan but the entire dark elf race from Dissolution....
-
-
A Dark Elf Series That Will Consume You...
- By Michael on 01-12-13
-
Four and a Half Shades of Fantasy
- A Young Adult Anthology
- By: W.J. May
- Narrated by: Andrea Emmes
- Length: 15 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From best-selling author W.J. May - each shade is a different genre of the fantasy, paranormal and romance - all from different series!
-
-
Incomplete stories
- By CRAZY4PEANUTBUTTER on 10-14-15
By: W.J. May
-
Orlando
- By: Virginia Woolf
- Narrated by: Clare Higgins
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fantasy, love and an exuberant celebration of English life and literature, Orlando is a uniquely entertaining story. Originally conceived by Virginia Woolf as a playful tribute to the family of her friend and lover, Vita Sackville-West, Orlando's central character, a fictional embodiment of Sackville-West, changes sex from a man to a woman and lives throughout the centuries, whilst meeting historical figures of English literature.
-
-
Magical
- By Mayca on 05-31-05
By: Virginia Woolf
-
Collected Stories
- By: Oscar Wilde
- Narrated by: Frank Muller
- Length: 4 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Whether it's a 300-year-old ghost who's scared out of his wits, a tenderhearted statue with a mission of mercy, or the suave Lord Savile who cannot commit a crime, the characters in these stories by witty Oscar Wilde make the tales priceless delights. Absurd, ironic, poignant, or scathing, these small gems of the storyteller's art are sure to become favorites. This collection, narrated by Frank Muller, includes "Lord Arthur Savile's Crime," "The Model Millionaire," "The Nightingale and the Rose," and more.
-
-
Very Poor Recording
- By Anne in State College on 09-09-07
By: Oscar Wilde
-
Time and Again
- By: Jack Finney
- Narrated by: Campbell Scott
- Length: 4 hrs and 19 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Frequency is all the buzz at the box office, so now's the time to revisit one of the best time-travel books ever written. Step back in time with Simon Morley to the New York that once was, as he is transported from the mid-1900s to the year 1882. Morley solves a mystery of the 20th century by discovering its 19th-century roots, and falls desperately in love with a beautiful young woman in the process. He ultimately finds himself forced to choose between his lives in the present and the past.
-
-
Seriously over abridged
- By Windy on 07-22-07
By: Jack Finney
-
Narcissus and Goldmund
- By: Hermann Hesse
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Narcissus and Goldmund is the story of a passionate yet uneasy friendship between two men of opposite character. Narcissus, an ascetic instructor at a cloister school, has devoted himself solely to scholarly and spiritual pursuits. One of his students is the sensual, restless Goldmund, who is immediately drawn to his teacher's fierce intellect and sense of discipline.
-
-
My favorite of Hesse's novels, wonderfully read.
- By David on 10-21-11
By: Hermann Hesse
-
Les Misérables
- Penguin Classics
- By: Christine Donougher, Victor Hugo, Robert Tombs
- Narrated by: Adeel Akhtar, Natalie Simpson, Adrian Scarborough, and others
- Length: 65 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Victor Hugo's tale of injustice, heroism and love follows the fortunes of Jean Valjean, an escaped convict determined to put his criminal past behind him. But his attempts to become a respected member of the community are constantly put under threat: by his own conscience and by the relentless investigations of the dogged Policeman, Javert. It is not simply for himself that Valjean must stay free, however, for he has sworn to protect the baby daughter of Fantine, driven to prostitution by poverty.
-
-
Great Book, Great Translation, 5 Great Narrators
- By Rain Wiegartner on 06-07-20
By: Christine Donougher, and others
-
Beowulf
- By: Robert K. Gordon, translator
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 2 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Beowulf is considered the finest heroic poem in Old English. It celebrates the character and exploits of Beowulf, a young nobleman and warrior, as he proves his superhuman strength and endurance. He also represents the ideal lord and vassal, rewarding his men generously and accomplishing glorious deeds to honor his king.
-
-
Translator Preferred
- By JerryT on 05-10-05
By: Robert K. Gordon, and others
-
The Master and Margarita
- By: Mikhail Bulgakov
- Narrated by: Julian Rhind-Tutt
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Master and Margarita is one of the most famous and best-selling Russian novels of the 20th century, despite its surreal environment of talking cats, Satan and mysterious happenings. Naxos AudioBooks presents this careful abridgement of a new translation in an imaginative reading by the charismatic Julian Rhind-Tutt. With War and Peace and Crime and Punishment among the Naxos AudioBooks best-sellers, this too promises to be a front title.
-
-
Very vivid and amazing writing style
- By Sina Beni on 05-04-22
By: Mikhail Bulgakov
-
Star Trek, The Next Generation: Gulliver's Fugitives (Adapted)
- By: Keith Sharee
- Narrated by: Jonathan Frakes
- Length: 1 hr and 31 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The crew of the Enterprise find themselves plunged into the middle of a murderous civil war between a determined band of rebels and the planet's ruthless mind police - a civil war whose outcome will determine not only the future of the planet, but also the life of Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Read by Jonathan Frankes and enhanced with sound effects and an original score!
-
-
Just not really very good
- By Bookworm on 10-25-14
By: Keith Sharee
Related to this topic
-
Orlando
- By: Virginia Woolf
- Narrated by: Clare Higgins
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fantasy, love and an exuberant celebration of English life and literature, Orlando is a uniquely entertaining story. Originally conceived by Virginia Woolf as a playful tribute to the family of her friend and lover, Vita Sackville-West, Orlando's central character, a fictional embodiment of Sackville-West, changes sex from a man to a woman and lives throughout the centuries, whilst meeting historical figures of English literature.
-
-
Magical
- By Mayca on 05-31-05
By: Virginia Woolf
-
Collected Stories
- By: Oscar Wilde
- Narrated by: Frank Muller
- Length: 4 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Whether it's a 300-year-old ghost who's scared out of his wits, a tenderhearted statue with a mission of mercy, or the suave Lord Savile who cannot commit a crime, the characters in these stories by witty Oscar Wilde make the tales priceless delights. Absurd, ironic, poignant, or scathing, these small gems of the storyteller's art are sure to become favorites. This collection, narrated by Frank Muller, includes "Lord Arthur Savile's Crime," "The Model Millionaire," "The Nightingale and the Rose," and more.
-
-
Very Poor Recording
- By Anne in State College on 09-09-07
By: Oscar Wilde
-
The Fairy Tales of Herman Hesse
- By: Hermann Hesse, Jack Zipes - translator
- Narrated by: Donovan
- Length: 2 hrs and 53 mins
- Highlights
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Step into a world of visions, philosophy, and passion in which dreamers, seekers, princesses, and wandering poets dwell. The 6 wonderful, romantic tales in this collection are reminiscent of ancient Oriental and German fairy tales. The selections, "The Poet," "The Flute Dream," "The Dwarf," "Faldum," "Ziegler," and "Dream of the Gods" were hand-picked by the narrator, legendary folk and rock musician Donovan.
-
-
The reading is quiet and heavenly
- By Atalante Lemuria on 11-12-20
By: Hermann Hesse, and others
-
Phantastes
- By: George MacDonald
- Narrated by: Brad Powers
- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A young man named Anodos experiences dream like adventures in Fairy Land, where he meets tree spirits, endures the presence of the overwhelming shadow, journeys to the palace of the fairy queen, and searches for the spirit of the earth. The story conveys a profound sadness and a poignant longing for death.
-
-
THIS IS LIBRIVOX'S FREE RECORDING
- By C. M. W. on 12-24-18
By: George MacDonald
-
The Courtship of Miles Standish
- By: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Narrated by: B. J. Harrison
- Length: 1 hr and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Complete and unabridged, and read with meticulous care, in this story Miles Standish and John Alden both seek the hand of the fair Priscilla. See the Mayflower abandon the first settlers as it returns to England. Feel the heated vision of the Indians, perpetually keeping their watch in the dark forest. Love and adventure collide in one of Longfellow's most famous works
-
-
Longfellow's poem
- By Jan on 12-04-12
-
Andersen's Fairy Tales, Volume 1
- By: Hans Christian Andersen
- Narrated by: Emma Fenney, Phil Gigante, Erin Yuen
- Length: 6 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales, which have been translated into more than 125 languages, have become culturally embedded in the West's collective consciousness. Readily accessible by children, they present lessons of virtue and resilience in the face of adversity that appeal to mature listeners as well. This collection of 18 tales includes "The Emperor's New Clothes", "The Princess and the Pea", and "The Snow Queen".
-
Orlando
- By: Virginia Woolf
- Narrated by: Clare Higgins
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fantasy, love and an exuberant celebration of English life and literature, Orlando is a uniquely entertaining story. Originally conceived by Virginia Woolf as a playful tribute to the family of her friend and lover, Vita Sackville-West, Orlando's central character, a fictional embodiment of Sackville-West, changes sex from a man to a woman and lives throughout the centuries, whilst meeting historical figures of English literature.
-
-
Magical
- By Mayca on 05-31-05
By: Virginia Woolf
-
Collected Stories
- By: Oscar Wilde
- Narrated by: Frank Muller
- Length: 4 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Whether it's a 300-year-old ghost who's scared out of his wits, a tenderhearted statue with a mission of mercy, or the suave Lord Savile who cannot commit a crime, the characters in these stories by witty Oscar Wilde make the tales priceless delights. Absurd, ironic, poignant, or scathing, these small gems of the storyteller's art are sure to become favorites. This collection, narrated by Frank Muller, includes "Lord Arthur Savile's Crime," "The Model Millionaire," "The Nightingale and the Rose," and more.
-
-
Very Poor Recording
- By Anne in State College on 09-09-07
By: Oscar Wilde
-
The Fairy Tales of Herman Hesse
- By: Hermann Hesse, Jack Zipes - translator
- Narrated by: Donovan
- Length: 2 hrs and 53 mins
- Highlights
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Step into a world of visions, philosophy, and passion in which dreamers, seekers, princesses, and wandering poets dwell. The 6 wonderful, romantic tales in this collection are reminiscent of ancient Oriental and German fairy tales. The selections, "The Poet," "The Flute Dream," "The Dwarf," "Faldum," "Ziegler," and "Dream of the Gods" were hand-picked by the narrator, legendary folk and rock musician Donovan.
-
-
The reading is quiet and heavenly
- By Atalante Lemuria on 11-12-20
By: Hermann Hesse, and others
-
Phantastes
- By: George MacDonald
- Narrated by: Brad Powers
- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A young man named Anodos experiences dream like adventures in Fairy Land, where he meets tree spirits, endures the presence of the overwhelming shadow, journeys to the palace of the fairy queen, and searches for the spirit of the earth. The story conveys a profound sadness and a poignant longing for death.
-
-
THIS IS LIBRIVOX'S FREE RECORDING
- By C. M. W. on 12-24-18
By: George MacDonald
-
The Courtship of Miles Standish
- By: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Narrated by: B. J. Harrison
- Length: 1 hr and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Complete and unabridged, and read with meticulous care, in this story Miles Standish and John Alden both seek the hand of the fair Priscilla. See the Mayflower abandon the first settlers as it returns to England. Feel the heated vision of the Indians, perpetually keeping their watch in the dark forest. Love and adventure collide in one of Longfellow's most famous works
-
-
Longfellow's poem
- By Jan on 12-04-12
-
Andersen's Fairy Tales, Volume 1
- By: Hans Christian Andersen
- Narrated by: Emma Fenney, Phil Gigante, Erin Yuen
- Length: 6 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales, which have been translated into more than 125 languages, have become culturally embedded in the West's collective consciousness. Readily accessible by children, they present lessons of virtue and resilience in the face of adversity that appeal to mature listeners as well. This collection of 18 tales includes "The Emperor's New Clothes", "The Princess and the Pea", and "The Snow Queen".
-
Les Miserables
- By: Victor Hugo
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 57 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set in the Parisian underworld and plotted like a detective story, Les Miserables follows Jean Valjean, originally an honest peasant, who has been imprisoned for 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister's starving family. A hardened criminal upon his release, he eventually reforms, becoming a successful industrialist and town mayor. Despite this, he is haunted by an impulsive former crime and is pursued relentlessly by the police inspector Javert.
-
-
one happy insomniac
- By Kathryn on 01-27-05
By: Victor Hugo
-
Les Misérables
- Penguin Classics
- By: Christine Donougher, Victor Hugo, Robert Tombs
- Narrated by: Adeel Akhtar, Natalie Simpson, Adrian Scarborough, and others
- Length: 65 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Victor Hugo's tale of injustice, heroism and love follows the fortunes of Jean Valjean, an escaped convict determined to put his criminal past behind him. But his attempts to become a respected member of the community are constantly put under threat: by his own conscience and by the relentless investigations of the dogged Policeman, Javert. It is not simply for himself that Valjean must stay free, however, for he has sworn to protect the baby daughter of Fantine, driven to prostitution by poverty.
-
-
Great Book, Great Translation, 5 Great Narrators
- By Rain Wiegartner on 06-07-20
By: Christine Donougher, and others
-
Eugene Onegin
- A Novel in Verse
- By: Alexander Pushkin, James E. Falen - translator
- Narrated by: Raphael Corkhill
- Length: 4 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eugene Onegin is the master work of the poet whom Russians regard as the fountainhead of their literature. Set in 1820s imperial Russia, Pushkin's novel in verse follows the emotions and destiny of three men - Onegin the bored fop, Lensky the minor elegiast, and a stylized Pushkin himself - and the fates and affections of three women - Tatyana the provincial beauty, her sister Olga, and Pushkin's mercurial Muse.
-
-
Pushkin and Falen are brilliant, Corkhill not bad
- By Jabba on 05-17-15
By: Alexander Pushkin, and others
-
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
- By: Victor Hugo
- Narrated by: Bill Homewood
- Length: 22 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the grotesque bell-ringer Quasimodo, Victor Hugo created one of the most vivid characters in classic fiction. Quasimodo's doomed love for the beautiful gypsy girl Esmeralda is an example of the traditional love theme of beauty and the beast. Yet, set against the massive background of Notre Dame de Paris and interwoven with the sacred and secular life of medieval France, it takes on a larger perspective.
-
-
More than I bargained for...
- By 1DrummingAddict on 07-18-15
By: Victor Hugo
-
Hans Brinker or The Silver Skates
- By: Mary Mapes Dodge
- Narrated by: John McDonough
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Can young Hans Brinker win the silver skates that are the only hope of saving his family from ruin? Hans and his little sister Gretel live in Holland, a colorful and exciting country of windmills and great canals. Unfortunately, the Brinkers are very poor and their father is ill, and Hans wonders whether they'll survive the long, harsh winter. Then he finds out about an ice skating race, and the prize - a pair of shiny silver skates - that might help his family survive.
-
-
Entertaining except for the digressions
- By Ellen Spertus on 03-13-03
By: Mary Mapes Dodge
-
The Great God Pan
- Esoteric Classics: Occult Fiction
- By: Arthur Machen
- Narrated by: Shea Taylor
- Length: 2 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Machen's novella The Great God Pan is often cited as one of Lovecraft's most notable influences. In it, Dr. Raymond's ultimate goal is to devise a way to open the mind of man so that he may experience all the world has to offer. He calls this "seeing the great god Pan". After much study of the human mind, he devises an experiment that involves minor brain surgery. He performs this experiment on a young woman named Mary, but when she awakens she is terrified and mentally crippled.
-
-
classic horror
- By Shantee on 05-04-16
By: Arthur Machen
-
Poems of Emily Dickinson: Series 1
- By: Emily Dickinson, Thomas W. Higginson - editor, Mabel Loomis Todd - editor
- Narrated by: Kendra Murray, Nancy Beard, Jennifer Fournier, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Emily Dickinson was one of the most reclusive of all poets. She spent much of her life in seclusion in her father’s house in Amherst, and only a handful of her 1800 poems were published in her lifetime. Credit for the posthumous publication of her work must be given to her editor and friend Thomas W. Higginson, who reported that, in spite of the voluminous correspondence which passed between himself and Dickinson, he only met her twice in person.
By: Emily Dickinson, and others
-
Narcissus and Goldmund
- By: Hermann Hesse
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Narcissus and Goldmund is the story of a passionate yet uneasy friendship between two men of opposite character. Narcissus, an ascetic instructor at a cloister school, has devoted himself solely to scholarly and spiritual pursuits. One of his students is the sensual, restless Goldmund, who is immediately drawn to his teacher's fierce intellect and sense of discipline.
-
-
My favorite of Hesse's novels, wonderfully read.
- By David on 10-21-11
By: Hermann Hesse
-
Evangeline
- By: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Narrated by: Leonard Wilson
- Length: 2 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie" is an epic poem by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, published in 1847. The poem follows an Acadian girl named Evangeline and her search for her lost love Gabriel, set during the time of the expulsion of the Acadians. The idea for the poem came from Longfellow's friend, Nathaniel Hawthorne. Longfellow used dactylic hexameter, imitated from Greek and Latin classics, though the choice was criticized.
-
-
Excellent
- By Anonymous User on 05-23-23
-
The Celtic Twilight
- By: William Butler Yeats
- Narrated by: Jack Chekijian
- Length: 4 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the best-known collections of W. B. Yeats' prose, The Celtic Twilight explores the old connection between the Irish people and the magical world of fairies. Yeats, by traveling the land in the early 20th century and talking to the common people about their experiences with the creatures, yielded a colorful overview of Celtic fairy folklore.
-
-
A compilation of Irish folklore in prose
- By MolllyT on 07-26-16
-
Night’s Master
- Tales from the Flat Earth, Book One
- By: Tanith Lee
- Narrated by: Susan Duerden
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Long ago when the Earth was flat, beautiful, indifferent Gods lived in the airy Upperearth realm above; curious, passionate demons lived in the exotic Underearth realm below; and mortals were relegated to exist in the middle. Azhrarn, Lord of the Demons and the Darkness, was the one who ruled the night, and many mortal lives were changed because of his cruel whimsy. And yet, Azhrarn held inside his demon heart a profound mystery which would change the very fabric of the Flat Earth forever.
-
-
A gothic fairytale
- By KH on 04-10-12
By: Tanith Lee
-
The Travel and Adventures of Little Baron Trump
- By: Ingersoll Lockwood
- Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
- Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ingersoll Lockwood invented the fictional character Baron Trump in 1890 for a two-part sci-fi/fantasy series about a privileged German heir who undertakes a sequence of fantastic voyages. The style of the Baron Trump series - a mix of fantasy and young-reader-oriented science fiction - anticipated and may have influenced L. Frank Baum's Oz series. The Travel and Adventures of Little Baron Trump describes Baron's trip around the world with his little dog, meeting new races like the Wind Eaters, Man Hoppers, and Melodious Sneezers.
-
-
A lot of fun, and a sensitive study of a boy and his dog
- By ReadToLive on 03-04-20
What listeners say about Classic Tales of Christmas
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jeff Warner
- 12-23-17
Another audiobook falls victim to bad narration
Lesson for authors: when it comes time to turn your literary work into an audiobook, please put aside your egos and ill-advised ambitions toward acting and hire people who ARE real actors to do the narration. This narrator’s style of delivery was so affected as to come off as not only odd but irritating and gave the impression of a sort of cartoonish pomposity. I would not be at all surprised to learn that he showed up at the recording studio wearing a tweed jacket with elbow-patches and hornrimmed half-spectacles, smoking a pipe, and lugging in his own antique leather wingback chair. At only a quarter of the way into the introduction I was already so put off by his delivery that I found it a bit hard to stay open-minded to the stories themselves. I intend to do myself the favor of looking for other versions of these stories so as not to miss a little-known gem of classical literature, but I suspect that, in a bit of a contradiction to the author’s own claimed goal of separating the rare and little-known “good“ from the overly-abundant and surplus “bad“, the adjective “little-known“ was the guiding criteria with which to put together a selection of stories meant to impress us more with their obscurity than their ability to captivate.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- the little hill
- 12-18-13
Grating performance and tired stories
It was hard for me to get beyond the grating quality of the narrator's voice and his characterizations which I just did not care for. The stories were odd. I don't typically have issues with 19th century or early 20th century writing, but this edition was painful to try to keep an open mind about. I purchased this audiobook as it was highly rated; in truth, not in high enough numbers to give it an objective review? I could not recommend this.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Vicki Mouse
- 12-13-18
Disappointed
I couldn’t even listen to all of this. Reader has a reading style suitable for reading to small children. It distracted me from the story so badly that after an hour I couldn’t listen to any more.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- P. Burdine
- 11-18-13
Cool for the season
This is a collection of essays and as such the content and style varies a bit. I really enjoyed some of them and others I was just meh on. That being said, the quality of the recording was very high and the narrator kept the pieces moving and have a very solid cadence and top notch enunciation which wasn't always easy given some of the dated expressions and writing style. I'll definitely be putting this on around the house as I decorate and get ready for the holiday season!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Micah
- 12-09-13
Daniel H. Vimont Does It Again
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Yes. The combination of Mr. Vimont's talent, clear passion for the material and the choice of stories can't be beat.
What other book might you compare Classic Tales of Christmas to and why?
Classic Tales of Horror, which is just as well done.
What about Daniel H. Vimont’s performance did you like?
His sincerity in bringing not-so-well known holiday tales to the public.
Who was the most memorable character of Classic Tales of Christmas and why?
Mr. Vimont. His talent and choice of material are always entertaining and surprising.
Any additional comments?
More! More! More!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Terry
- 11-22-13
The true beauty of Christmas
Would you listen to Classic Tales of Christmas again? Why?
Absolutely, antique tales that capture the true meaning and beauty of Christmas are so rare!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Joe Brady
- 11-13-13
A Yuletide Car Ride
Where does Classic Tales of Christmas rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
It's one of the better audio books I've listened to so far.
Who was your favorite character and why?
No particular favorite
Have you listened to any of Daniel H. Vimont’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
Yes. This collection is a nice companion to Daniel Vimont's "Classic Tales of Horror for Halloween". The delivery and quality of Daniel's narration is nicely consistent in both collections (without being overly repetitive in style), so the listener can move from one late-year holiday season to another with a cozy and familiar feeling one enjoys with multiple short stories.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No. Since it is a collection of short stories, it's perfect for my commute, to and from work.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Elizabeth Eickman
- 11-23-19
Pretentious
Could barely finish the first tale. The narrator was awful and pretentious in his delivery.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!