Farewell Waltz
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Richmond Hoxie
About this listen
In this dark farce of a novel, set in an old-fashioned Central European spa town, eight characters are swept up in an accelerating dance: a pretty nurse and her repairman boyfriend; an oddball gynecologist; a rich American (at once saint and Don Juan); a popular trumpeter and his beautiful, obsessively jealous wife; an disillusioned former political prisoner about to leave his country and his young woman ward.
Perhaps the most brilliantly plotted and sheerly entertaining of Milan Kundera's novels, Farewell Waltz poses the most serious questions with a blasphemous lightness that makes us see that the modern world has deprived us even of the right to tragedy.
Written in Bohemia in 1969-70, this book was first published (in 1976) in France under the title La valse aux adieux (Farewell Waltz), and later in 34 other countries. This beautiful translation, made from the French text prepared by the novelist himself, fully reflects his own tone and intentions. As such, it offers an opportunity for both the discovery and the rediscovery of one of the very best of a great writer's works.
©1973 Text copyright 1973 by Milan Kundera; new English translation copyright 1998 by Aaron Asher. (P)2012 HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Death in Venice
- By: Thomas Mann
- Narrated by: Peter Batchelor
- Length: 3 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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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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A problem with the narration
- By Erez on 03-19-12
By: Thomas Mann
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Anna Karenina
- By: Leo Tolstoy
- Narrated by: Maggie Gyllenhaal
- Length: 35 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Leo Tolstoy's classic story of doomed love is one of the most admired novels in world literature. Generations of readers have been enthralled by his magnificent heroine, the unhappily married Anna Karenina, and her tragic affair with dashing Count Vronsky.
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Need to Disclose and Highlight Name of Translator
- By Charles B on 08-27-18
By: Leo Tolstoy
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Crime and Punishment
- Penguin Classics
- By: Fyodor Dostoevsky, Oliver Ready
- Narrated by: Don Warrington
- Length: 25 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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This acclaimed new translation of Dostoyevsky's 'psychological record of a crime' gives his dark masterpiece of murder and pursuit a renewed vitality, expressing its jagged, staccato urgency and fevered atmosphere as never before. Raskolnikov, a destitute and desperate former student, wanders alone through the slums of St. Petersburg, deliriously imagining himself above society's laws. But when he commits a random murder, only suffering ensues.
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Best translation on audible – mediocre narrator
- By Fantod on 04-29-20
By: Fyodor Dostoevsky, and others
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The Insulted and the Injured
- By: Fyodor Dostoyevsky
- Narrated by: Alastair Cameron
- Length: 13 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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At its heart, The Insulted and the Injured is a story of human tragedy and suffering, but it is also a love story. Narrated by a fictitious young author, Vanya, this book tells the story of Natasha and her lover, Alyosha, who also happens to be the son of the cruel Prince Valkovsky.
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Excellent
- By Joel A. Griska on 07-26-17
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Siddhartha
- Booktrack Edition
- By: Hermann Hesse
- Narrated by: Paul Ansdell
- Length: 4 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Siddhartha, the ninth book written by Hermann Hesse, is about a young Indian boy who leaves his home in hopes of finding enlightenment with the wise "Goutama", which in this story is the Buddha. After learning what he can from Goutama, he decides to go off into the busy city and leads a life of greed and lust. When he realizes that the lifestyle is not fulfilling, and he reflects on his life, he goes to a river and contemplates suicide. However, it is here that Siddhartha meets a man who will change his life and help lead him to enlightenment.
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One of a Kind
- By Anonymous User on 04-04-20
By: Hermann Hesse
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Crime and Punishment
- Pevear & Volokhonsky Translation (Vintage Classics)
- By: Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Narrated by: Peter Batchelor
- Length: 25 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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With the same suppleness, energy, and range of voices that won their translation of The Brothers Karamazov the PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Prize, Pevear and Volokhonsky offer a brilliant translation of Dostoevsky's classic novel that presents a clear insight into this astounding psychological thriller. This audio edition of Crime and Punishment is expressively brought to life by Peter Batchelor.
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waited for this translation
- By L. Kerr on 12-22-20
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The Magic Mountain
- By: Thomas Mann
- Narrated by: David Rintoul
- Length: 37 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Hans Castorp is, on the face of it, an ordinary man in his early 20s, on course to start a career in ship engineering in his home town of Hamburg, when he decides to travel to the Berghof Santatorium in Davos. The year is 1912 and an oblivious world is on the brink of war. Castorp’s friend Joachim Ziemssen is taking the cure and a three-week visit seems a perfect break before work begins. But when Castorp arrives he is surprised to find an established community of patients, and little by little, he gets drawn into the closeted life and the individual personalities of the residents.
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A Magical Journey
- By Paul on 08-20-20
By: Thomas Mann
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The Setting Sun
- New Directions Book
- By: Osamu Dazai
- Narrated by: June Angela
- Length: 4 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Set in the early postwar years, it probes the destructive effects of war and the transition from a feudal Japan to an industrial society. Ozamu Dazai died, a suicide, in 1948. But the influence of his book has made "people of the setting sun" a permanent part of the Japanese language, and his heroine, Kazuko, a young aristocrat who deliberately abandons her class, a symbol of the anomie which pervades so much of the modern world.
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MORE OSAMU DAZAI TRANSLATIONS PLEASE!!!!!
- By Lucky on 10-19-22
By: Osamu Dazai
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Where Angels Fear to Tread
- Penguin English Library
- By: E. M. Forster
- Narrated by: Stephen Fry
- Length: 2 hrs and 51 mins
- Abridged
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E. M. Forster's first novel is a witty comedy of manners that is tinged with tragedy. It tells the story of Lilia Herriton, who proves to be an embarrassment to her late husband's family as, in the small Tuscan town of Monteriano, she begins a relationship with a much younger Italian man - classless, uncouth, and highly unsuitable. A subtle attack on Edwardian values and a humanely sympathetic portrayal of the clash of two cultures, Where Angels Fear to Tread is also a profound exploration of character and virtue.
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Stephen Fry + E.M. Forster = Audio Kismet
- By Megasaurus on 08-20-12
By: E. M. Forster
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The Belly of Paris
- By: Émile Zola, Ernest Alfred Vizetelly - translator
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Although it is little known in this country, The Belly of Paris is considered one of Émile Zola’s best novels. Set in the newly built food markets of Paris, it is a story of wealth and poverty set against a sumptuous banquet of food and commerce. Having just escaped from prison after being wrongfully accused, young Florent arrives at Paris’ food market, Les Halles, half starved, surrounded by all he can’t have, and indignant at his world, which he now knows to be unjust. He finds that the city’s working classes have been displaced to make way for bigger streets and bourgeois living quarters, so he settles in with his brother’s family.
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Not keen on Davidson’s voice
- By Jeff Lacy on 05-08-21
By: Émile Zola, and others
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Steppenwolf
- By: Hermann Hesse
- Narrated by: Peter Weller
- Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Harry Haller is a sad and lonely figure, a reclusive intellectual for whom life holds no joy. He struggles to reconcile the wild primeval wolf and the rational man within himself without surrendering to the bourgeois values he despises. His life changes dramatically when he meets a woman who is his opposite, the carefree and elusive Hermine.
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Save this Hesse novel for your midlife crisis.
- By Darwin8u on 03-02-14
By: Hermann Hesse
What listeners say about Farewell Waltz
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- bigawkwardgirl
- 02-08-15
Morality and Mortality
This story is infuriating and unpleasant at times--few of the characters are likable, but the translation and prose are beautiful and the story wrestles with some dense moral issues.
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- Jeff
- 03-06-13
Bleh
This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?
I haven't read Kundera in a long time, but I remember really loving his work. So perhaps when others said this wasn't a typical Kundera, I should have paid more attention. The story had just enough interesting reflections on life and love to keep me going, but I almost quit a few times. I feel like the reading was also a bit annoying, but it could be that it was simply a faithful rendering of a story I didn't enjoy that much.
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- Davygamm
- 09-26-21
didn't agree well.
I'm a huge Kundera fan, but the misogyny was - at times unbearable... I kept hoping it would dissipate, but the worst came at the end.
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