Classics of British Literature
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Narrated by:
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John Sutherland
About this listen
For more than 1,500 years, the literature of Great Britain has taught, nurtured, thrilled, outraged, and humbled readers both inside and outside its borders.
Chaucer, Shakespeare, Dickens, Austen, Swift, Conrad, Wilde - the roster of powerful British writers is remarkable. More important, Britain's writers have long challenged readers with new ways of understanding an ever-changing world.
This series of 48 fascinating lectures by an award-winning professor provides you with a rare opportunity to step beyond the surface of Britain's grand literary masterpieces and experience the times and conditions they came from and the diverse issues with which their writers grappled.
The unique insights Professor Sutherland shares about how and why these works succeed as both literature and documents of Britain's social and political history can forever alter the way you experience a novel, poem, or play.
More than just a survey, these lectures reveal how Britain's cultural landscape acted upon its literature and how, in turn, literature affected the cultural landscape. Professor Sutherland takes a historical approach to the wealth of works explored in these lectures, grounding them in specific contexts and often connecting them with one another.
All the great writers that come to mind when you think of British literature are here, along with unique looks at their most popular and powerful works. You also enjoy the company of less-familiar voices and contemporary authors who continue to take literature into new territories.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.
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By: Kate Stewart
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He's Gone
- By: Rebecca Collomosse
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- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
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My fiancé brought me tea and scrambled eggs in bed that morning, and we snuggled together, talking about buying our rings, and about our perfect wedding next year. Then we headed into town. He held my hand and gazed at the ring I liked best, a smile spreading slowly over his face. Then a glass of bubbly to celebrate. I felt flushed, excited and ready for the rest of my life with the man I loved. We race to get on the train home. It screams to a halt and I run towards its open doors. Made it. I think he’s right behind me — but when I turn around, he’s gone.
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Disappointing plot
- By TerriSweeta on 12-04-24
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The Answer Is No
- A Short Story
- By: Fredrik Backman, Elizabeth DeNoma - translator
- Narrated by: Stacy Gonzalez
- Length: 1 hr and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Lucas knows the perfect night entails just three things: video games, wine, and pad thai. Peanuts are a must! Other people? Not so much. Why complicate things when he’s happy alone? Then one day the apartment board, a vexing trio of authority, rings his doorbell. And Lucas’s solitude takes a startling hike. They demand to see his frying pan. Someone left one next to the recycling room overnight, and instead of removing the errant object, as Lucas suggests, they insist on finding the guilty party. But their plan backfires. Colossally.
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Narrator doesn’t get Backman’s satire or rhythm
- By joey1603 on 12-01-24
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Starship Troopers
- By: Robert A. Heinlein
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
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Johnnie Rico never really intended to join up—and definitely not the infantry. But now that he’s in the thick of it, trying to get through combat training harder than anything he could have imagined, he knows everyone in his unit is one bad move away from buying the farm in the interstellar war the Terran Federation is waging against the Arachnids. Because everyone in the Mobile Infantry fights. And if the training doesn’t kill you, the Bugs are more than ready to finish the job.
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The definitive version!
- By Kristopher G. Hesson on 10-03-24
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Dead Med
- By: Freida McFadden
- Narrated by: Patricia Santomasso, Scott Merriman
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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When Heather McKinley dreamed of becoming a doctor, she imagined curing sick kids and sporting pink stethoscopes. She never anticipated the sleepless nights, grueling exams, and endless labs. And she certainly never knew that her medical school earned the nickname Dead Med thanks to the tragic history of students overdosing on illegal drugs. But Heather would never consider doing anything like that. That is, until her longtime boyfriend dumps her, she finds herself failing anatomy, and her world starts to crumble.
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Hmm
- By Morgan Meaux on 08-22-24
By: Freida McFadden
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What listeners say about Classics of British Literature
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Anne
- 03-08-16
Highly reccomend
The content of this series was rich, and enhanced by the wit and passion of Prof. Sutherland. The result is an enriching and extremely enjoyable experience.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Susan
- 03-24-22
Best course I’ve listened to!
I have listened to many Great Courses and I usually rate them 5 stars. I wish I could rate this course a 6 or 7! I also wish John Sutherland had other Great Course available!
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- Pat
- 06-19-17
The importance of a good narrator !!
Where does Classics of British Literature rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
This course is perhaps at the top quartile of my audiobooks ...infused to a great extent by the conviction and passion of the narrator
What does Professor John Sutherland bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
.. for sure it is Professors passion for his subject that brings this version of of Classic British Literature to life .... I lived through the centuries of development in literature with this passion as evoked and certainly leads me to delve far more into some of the books mentioned
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- T.J. Dowling
- 09-27-21
Masterful sweep of the mssterworks
An illuminating review of English literature that contextualizes the major movements and writers century by century that changed how Britons saw and experienced their world.
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- Alex Sànchez
- 10-22-23
Don't want to write
Requiring reviews is a simpleton decision of a manager that knows only flashy marketing.
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- Brazilgirl
- 10-25-17
Wonderful Overview of Classics and their Authors
Political correctness has made the study of classic literature a scary proposition. Now that all white male authors are taboo, what exactly are we supposed to read? Knowing the propensity of modern scholasticism to disparage traditional classics, I went into this series with some trepidation, but, happily, my fears were relieved.
Professor John Sutherland covers 600 years of British literature in witty, bite-sized chunks and he isn't afraid to give each author his due. It's true that he occasionally gives a nod to political correctness, but for the most part I found him to be even-handed. He doesn't ignore the Bible's impact on literature. Nor does he try to portray Jane Austen and Charlotte Brontë as ardent feminists. He describes sexual tawdriness in books (and in the lives of their authors) without a hint of crudeness, which is no easy feat.
These 48 lectures are a great intro to those wanting to learn about British literature and also a great review for those who are already immersed in it.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Mark
- 01-14-14
The Best of British
This audiobook was an enjoyable summary of British Literature from its inception with Beowulf in the dark ages up to the 21st century. As a general rule it was very entertaining, giving the background stories of the authors and describing how their lives and historical circumstances produced their writing. It was fascinating to hear the about the lives of Austen, the Brontes, Dickens and Hardy.
I found myself zoning out a few times when poetry was the topic. I don’t think this is the fault of the lecturer, poetry just doesn’t really do it for me, although I found the lives of Keats and Byron to be interesting and First World War poetry has always seemed more poignant to me than poetry about love or beauty. As for Milton and Paradise Lost, I still don’t get it even now, even after it has been explained to me.
My overall verdict is that this is an interesting audiobook and, at 25 hours duration, well worth the price of the credit.
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49 people found this helpful
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- PACMAC
- 01-24-17
Classics of British Literature
Fascinating and delivered with enthusiasm.
Chapter headings w hen selecting a particular course to repeat would be helpful.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 02-15-18
Excellent
I have listened to a lot of the Great Courses and this is the best, excellent content and presentation.
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- Robert Lyons
- 01-14-23
Good and in depth book. It’s very long though
Author clearly knows his subject matter v well… He is passionate about all forms of literature…
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