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Death in Venice and Other Tales
- Narrated by: Paul Hecht
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
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Publisher's summary
Joachim Neugroschel’s brilliant new translation lets you enjoy the work of Nobel-Laureate Thomas Mann as never before. By using creative, contemporary language, Neugroschel reinterprets Mann for modern English-speaking readers. The author’s superb literary craftsmanship, his psychological insight, and the deeply erotic content of his work shine forth in this definitive English-language version of some of his most celebrated short works. This collection features the world masterpiece Death in Venice, with its controversial passages now restored. You will find fresh relevance in the story of an aging writer’s uncontrollable and humiliating passion, and the other poignant tales included here. These works subtly explore the great themes of Mann’s fiction - his mythic fascination with sexual inhibition and artistic creativity. This translation, with its recreation of the intricate rhythms of the author’s language, virtually sings in an audio format. Paul Hecht’s lyrical narration makes the music and meaning of Mann’s writing more accessible than ever to modern ears.
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One of the greatest prose writers and social commentators of the 20th century, Aldous Huxley here introduces us to a delightfully cynical, comic, and severe group of artists and intellectuals engaged in the most free-thinking and modern kind of talk imaginable. Poetry, occultism, ancestral history, and Italian primitive painting are just a few of the subjects competing for discussion among the amiable cast of eccentrics drawn together at Crome, an intensely English country manor.
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Bloomsbury in a blender, 1922
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By: Aldous Huxley
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Dombey and Son
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- Length: 39 hrs and 6 mins
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Dombey and Son is vintage Dickens and explores the classic themes of betrayal, cruelty and deceit. Dombey's dysfunctional relationships are painted against a backdrop of social unrest in industrialized London, which is populated by a host of fascinating and memorable secondary characters. The complete and unabridged novel is brought spectacularly to life by veteran reader David Timson.
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Utterly incredible!
- By Amazon Customer on 03-12-12
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Madame Bovary
- By: Gustave Flaubert
- Narrated by: Elaine Wise
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
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Though he embodies neither wealth nor a lavish persona, Charles Bovary - a somewhat established doctor - takes a chance in marrying the young, vibrant, and ambitious farm girl Emma Rouault. At first, Emma is delighted to be married and away from her father's farm, but her thirst for the rich and ornate lifestyle that she witnesses other people living soon drives her away from her husband and into the arms of various suitors.
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Madame Bovary doesn't disappoint
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Bel Ami
- By: Guy de Maupassant
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- Length: 14 hrs and 37 mins
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Guy de Maupassant is revered for his naturalistic fiction, which brilliantly captures flesh-and-blood characters as it evokes the most telling details of everyday life. Considered one of the finest French novels ever written, Bel Ami follows journalist Georges Duroy and his increasing stature among the Paris elite. With an immense thirst for power, Georges is not above an almost gleeful use of wealthy mistresses to achieve his ends.
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Bel Ami or how to socially climb in 1885 Paris
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Fifty-Two Stories
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- Narrated by: Jim Frangione
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From the celebrated, award-winning translators of Anna Karenina and War and Peace: a lavish, masterfully rendered volume of stories by one of the most influential short fiction writers of all time.
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Better alternatives for Chekhov
- By Carol V. Macvey on 03-04-21
By: Anton Chekhov, and others
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Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol: A Radio Dramatization
- By: Charles Dickens, Jerry Robbins - dramatization
- Narrated by: J. T. Turner, The Colonial Radio Players
- Length: 1 hr and 7 mins
- Original Recording
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The Colonial Radio Theatre pulls out all the stops in this magnificent production of the Charles Dickens classic Christmas story! This full cast dramatization features a powerful music score - from the magnificent, booming opening of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" to the frightening tones of "The Ghost of Christmas Future". It's a holiday treat both you and your family will enjoy for years to come.
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great performance
- By Paul Pedraza on 11-23-22
By: Charles Dickens, and others
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The Age of Innocence
- By: Edith Wharton
- Narrated by: David Horovitch
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Countess Ellen Olenska, separated from her European husband, returns to old New York society. She bears with her an independence and an awareness of life which stirs the educated sensitivity of the charming Newland Archer, engaged to be married to her cousin, May Welland. Though he accepts the society's standards and rules he is acutely aware of their limitations. He knows May will assure him a conventional future but Ellen, scandalously separated from her husband, forces Archer to question his values and beliefs.
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Narrated to Perfection
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A Hero of Our Time
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Grigori Aleksandrovich Pechorin is an enigma: arrogant, cocky, melancholic, brave, cynic, romantic, loner, socialite, soldier, free soul, and yet, victim of the world, he eludes definition and remains a mystery to those who know him. Just who is he? And what does he hope to achieve? Evolving from first person to third person, and then into a diary, A Hero of Our Time takes on a variety of forms to interrogate Pechorin's cryptic character and his unusual philosophy, providing breathtaking descriptions of the Caucasus along the way.
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Sarcastic Title
- By SmartShopper on 04-23-24
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Swann's Way
- By: Marcel Proust
- Narrated by: Neville Jason
- Length: 21 hrs and 33 mins
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Swann’s Way is the first of seven volumes in Remembrance of Things Past. It sets the scene with the narrator’s memories being famously provoked by the taste of that little cake, the madeleine, accompanied by a cup of lime-flowered tea. It is an unmatched portrait of fin-de-siècle France.
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Not a book one reads but inhabits & floats through
- By Darwin8u on 02-24-13
By: Marcel Proust
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A stunningly beautiful youth and the city of Venice set the stage for Thomas Mann’s introspective examination of erotic love and philosophical wisdom.
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Well worth your credit!
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A book that will challenge you to think.
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Raymond Carver called Anton Chekhov "the greatest short story writer who has ever lived". This unequivocal verdict on Chekhov's genius has been echoed many times by writers as diverse as Katherine Mansfield, Somerset Maugham, John Cheever, and Tobias Wolf. While his popularity as a playwright has sometimes overshadowed his achievements in prose, the importance of Chekhov's stories is now recognized by readers as well as by fellow authors. Their themes - alienation, the absurdity and tragedy of human existence - have as much relevance today as when they were written.
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An unmatched intellectual epic
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Charles Mason (1728-1786) and Jeremiah Dixon (1733-1779) were the British surveyors best remembered for running the boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland that we know today as the Mason-Dixon Line. Here is their story as re-imagined by Thomas Pynchon, featuring Native Americans and frontier folk, ripped bodices, naval warfare, conspiracies erotic and political, and major caffeine abuse. We follow the mismatched pair - one rollicking, the other depressive; one Gothic, the other pre-Romantic.
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What the hell just happened?
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Ficciones [Fictions]
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One of William Faulkner’s finest novels, As I Lay Dying, originally published in 1930, remains a captivating and stylistically innovative work. The story revolves around a grim yet darkly humorous pilgrimage, as Addie Bundren’s family sets out to fulfill her last wish: to be buried in her native Jefferson, Mississippi, far from the miserable backwater surroundings of her married life.
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Faulkner's As I Lay Dying review
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September 1913. A young Pole suffering from tuberculosis arrives at Wilhelm Opitz’s Guesthouse for Gentlemen in the village of Görbersdorf, a health resort in the Silesian mountains. Every evening the residents gather to imbibe the hallucinogenic local liqueur and debate the great issues of the day: Monarchy or democracy? Do devils exist? Are women born inferior? War or peace? Meanwhile, disturbing things are happening in the guesthouse and the surrounding hills. Someone—or something—seems to be watching, attempting to infiltrate this cloistered world.
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Leo Tolstoy: The Complete Collection includes unabridged recordings of Leo Tolstoy's 3 timeless novels; all his major novellas and short stories; and 4 renowned works of non-fiction in one audiobook, all read by Audie Award-winning narrators.
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Legendary author, flawless narrations.
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What listeners say about Death in Venice and Other Tales
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- philly
- 08-05-14
Deep, Observative Writer Narrated Perfectly
Would you consider the audio edition of Death in Venice and Other Tales to be better than the print version?
I am extremely pleased with this purchase. The narrator did an amazing job with this. This was my first reading/listening of Mann and I want to read or hear more. Preferably listen. Though I don't see much more of Mann. I really wish Audible would do the Magic Mountain.
Any additional comments?
PLEASE make an audible book of The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann.
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9 people found this helpful
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- Teadrinker
- 04-26-13
Well Done
The book is read well and it always has been a classic, but due to its short length, I forget what happens. So then I can read it again. The other short stories included with it are very, very good. Now if someone could read Dr. Faustus to me to make it understandable . . . . . .
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1 person found this helpful
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- coco
- 09-18-16
A thin line
This is a cautionary tale warning us about desire for what can not be and living too much in our own heads.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Marc Krovetz
- 10-19-18
I bought a copy of the book
A wonderful performance of some great literature that inspires. It must be well translated, because it flows and sounds lyrical. The imagery is poignant and tangible. I bought a copy of the book so I can revisit in print. Thanks!
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3 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 10-22-22
Great translation
The translation is superb. The prose flows in a way that is both native and exotic. My only complain is the Chapter names. It would be great if they can be named after the antual story instead of just chpater xx.
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- Mel
- 02-21-12
The Beautiful Pain of it All...
I'll spare the Comparative Literature review by saying this is a complex read, which I enjoyed very much most of the time, but I would not recommend to everyone.
Mann wasn't awarded the Nobel Prize for literature because he was a bad writer; you can rightly assume this is masterful writing, that the prose is absolutely beautiful--and at the same time often threatens to take over parts of the already elaborate stories, especially some of the soul-tortured characters' philosophical reflections/rantings. The stories themselves are bitingly haunting, full of symbolism, and read like decadent, excessive operas.
I don't mean to drop the name...but a basic knowledge of Nietzche, his philosophies, especially some familiarity with his The Birth of a Tragedy, would be very helpful in understanding the most often misunderstood, and controversial, elements of some of the stories in this small Thomas Mann collection (as would a brief acquaintance [Hello-Wikipedia] with the author's own life history). Enough said... I leave you, the reader and listener, to grapple with the decision of whether or not this might be up your alley.
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23 people found this helpful
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- HIYBRID
- 02-06-12
The translation made the book
What made the experience of listening to Death in Venice and Other Tales the most enjoyable?
The first paragraph explains how this classic writer is not often translated into contemporary english by a non academic. So here we have a telling of classic stories that convey in todays words what the essence of Mann meant when writing in an older Germany
Who was your favorite character and why?
So many of his characters are fllawed. That is what most of this is about, how an individual unravels... Classical excellence in writing, a necessary read for anyone who truthfully tries to understand their own thoughts.
Have you listened to any of Paul Hecht’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
This is his first performance I've heard. He did well with all the Germanic names and titles.
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5 people found this helpful
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- lujofi
- 04-07-17
Maybe I am Just not Educated
The narrator's dreary voice made listening hard. I kept wondering if a print version would have been a better choice for me. I kept getting distracted and then I would hear "this concludes...' I would have little recall of the story. Some of the writing was quite good but all in all it was not an enjoyable read. But hey he did win a Nobel Prize so am guessing the fault lies in my education.
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- shannon woollett
- 05-26-24
The theme is timeless
Mann at his best in this sad, gripping tale… I highly recommend this listen especially relevant …
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- Adeliese Baumann
- 02-05-13
Beautifully done
Having done German to English and English to German translations myself, I particularly appreciated the late Joachim Neugroschel's brief explanation of the challenges he faced in translating Mann. As he said, "Each author has his melodies, and each style, each language, its own music." (Those who are not interested in this can easily chapter-skip to the first story!)
The collection includes: The Will for Happiness, Tristan, Little Herr Friedemann, Tobias Mindernickel, Little Lizzie, Gladius Dei, The Starvelings, The Wunderkind, The Harsh Hour, Tonio Kroeger, The Blood of the Walsungs, and Death in Venice.
Mann is not an easy author to read, and these stories and two novellas are not the light entertainment provided by some collections of short pieces. However, whether or not one likes what he has to say, he is a thought-provoking writer and rarely leaves one unmoved.
His characters are unlikely to be forgotten. Since I first read the stories many years ago, I have never forgotten the tragic figure of Friedemann , the incestuous twins Sieglinde and Siegmund Aarenhold, the religious zealot Hieronymous, or Kroeger, the "artist who must die to everyday life."
Paul Hecht's narration is wonderful, both in his characterizations and pronunciation of German. He was a joy to listen to from start to finish.
Mann in translation on audio is not easy to find, so if you've been curious about his writing, make this collection your introduction. Don't be put off by the reams of literary interpretations and speculations out there. Listen to the stories for yourself. You may be surprised at what you find.
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