Doctor Faustus Audiobook By Thomas Mann cover art

Doctor Faustus

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for $0.00
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.

Doctor Faustus

By: Thomas Mann
Narrated by: David Rintoul
Try for $0.00

$0.00/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $18.30

Buy for $18.30

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
Switch payment method
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use, License, and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

Thomas Mann's last great novel, first published in 1947 and now newly rendered into English by acclaimed translator John E. Woods, is a modern reworking of the Faust legend, in which Germany sells its soul to the Devil. Mann's protagonist, the composer Adrian Leverkühn, is the flower of German culture, a brilliant, isolated, overreaching figure, his radical new music a breakneck game played by art at the very edge of impossibility. In return for twenty-four years of unparalleled musical accomplishment, he bargains away his soul—and the ability to love his fellow man.

Leverkühn's life story is a brilliant allegory of the rise of the Third Reich, of Germany's renunciation of its own humanity and its embrace of ambition and nihilism. It is also Mann's most profound meditation on the German genius—both national and individual—and the terrible responsibilities of the truly great artist.

"John E. Woods is revising our impression of Thomas Mann, masterpiece by masterpiece."—The New Yorker

"Doctor Faustus is Mann's deepest artistic gesture. . . . Finely translated by John E. Woods."—The New Republic

Public Domain (P)2024 Ukemi Audiobooks Christian Fiction Classics Classics & Allegories Genre Fiction Psychological World Literature

Critic reviews

'Arguably the great German novel'—New York Times
All stars
Most relevant  
Highly recommend. David Rintoul does a masterful job bringing this very complicated material to life.

Wonderful Narration of a Great Translation

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The reader is as good as it gets for the English translation. His superb understanding of the novel gives a this performance so much depth and lots of nuance. His voice has a resonance that very sensitive and train ears will welcom. I am very happy this rendition finally came to audio books. Well worth the waiting. ♡

A performance well mach for such a master piece.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
An excellent audio recording. The Rintoul keeps the story telling lively, embodying the story’s narrator, Serenus Zeitblom, as he tells of the life of Adrian Leverkühn. The only difficulty of this recording is the one that all translated audiobooks face—namely, that one never quite knows how the foreign names read on paper, just the way they sound when read aloud. That said, I highly recommend both the book and this version.

Worth it

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
While this might not have been my favorite of Thomas Manns works, it might be his most important and personal. The connections between Germany and the sins of the third Reich are ones that we all must learn from, and take an honest look at our own lives in this new technological age.

Extraordinarily written and voiced.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Another masterpiece, read beautifully by an excellent actor. Thank you for making this audiobook possible!

Beautiful book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Finally we have a first-rate audiobook of Mann's late-period masterpiece. Rintoul provides a fine reading and John E. Woods' translation is excellent. For many years, we have not had this essential title available on audio — Ukemi's release is cause for celebration. Don't miss out on this one!

At long last! Absolutely essential

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
To those not familiar with the works of Thomas Mann, his works, much like those of Dostoyevsky, are replete with ideas. Thus, his novels are interesting not only for plot and character development, but for the ideas which are discussed. Doctor Faustus is not a quick read. This particular novel might hold especial interest for those interested in music theory, theology, and early 20th century german history.
The translation is superb. Parts of the original german text are written in early modern German. The translator provides a very satisfying rendition in English, imparting the same "feel" for the text.
The narration is outstanding, clearly differentiating between the various interlocutors, and spot on when conveying irony, mania, etc.
I had read Doctor Faustus twice in the past and doubted that an audio version would appear (due to difficulty in narration). I was very pleasantly surprised. The narrator did not disappoint.

Thought provoking novel, skillful narration

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I can’t think of another novel that I’ve disliked as much as Doctor Faustus. I listened to all but three hours at the time of this writing. I’ll be finishing merely out of principle since I’ve already come thus far.

The Good: The narrator’s performance. He’s gifted with an incredible voice and gives an outstanding oration.

The Bad:

1. The faux-classic writing style. Doctor Faustus reads like a book written hundreds of years before its time. Hell, Von Goethe’s Faust is less antiquated at times!

2. NOTHING HAPPENS FOR FAR TOO LONG. The promise of the book is a lie - the single chapter that I enjoyed, in retrospect, seems like it was inserted into the novel at the 55% mark when the editor reminded Mann that his intention was to write a Faustian tale.

3. The digressions into obscure musical theory are tedious, self indulgent and… perhaps insecure? It almost seems like he writes those sections with an agenda. They don’t serve the story! It’s as though the author feels he has something to prove regarding his musical knowledge and is writing for an audience of one. They’re so woefully unnecessary, I label their inclusion as obscene. Where was the editor?!?

4. Horrendous dialogue. Awful chunks of long winded, irritating dialogue. There’s one monologue (not a lecture) that must’ve gone on for ten or more pages. Furthermore - every character sounds the same - as if they’re the same personality exchanging words back and forth.

5. I despise every character. I didn’t find redeeming qualities in any of the personalities on display. The main character lacks any motivation. And lastly, nobody does anything! Things kind of happen to them occasionally but your own life is more exciting and less mundane than most of the occurrences in this novel (with a few rare exceptions).

I’ve wasted too much damn time with this book. I hate it. I’m going to finish it, but I hate it.

Literary self flagellation

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.