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Madame Bovary
- Narrated by: Davina Porter
- Length: 13 hrs and 5 mins
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Publisher's summary
Emma Bovary is not content to be the mere dutiful wife of a French country doctor. She yearns for excitement and a sense of romance that pulls at her so strongly she is powerless to resist, even though pursuing her dreams will exact a terrible price. Learn why Gustave Flaubert's compelling heroine has enchanted and puzzled readers for centuries.
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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.
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Great Book, Great Translation, 5 Great Narrators
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Tulip Fever
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Seventeenth-century Amsterdam is a city in the grip of tulip mania, basking in the wealth it has generated. Sophia’s husband Cornelis, an ageing merchant, is among those grown rich from this exotic new flower. To celebrate, he commissions a talented young artist to paint him with his young bride. But as the portrait grows, so does the passion between Sophia and the painter; and as ambitions, desires and dreams breed an intricate deception, their reckless gamble propels their lives towards a thrilling and tragic conclusion.
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Very interesting book
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With scars on his back and silver in his pocket, the huge figure of Jack Maggs strides across the rich landscape of 19th century London. As this enigmatic man moves through its streets and houses, his single-minded quest to find his son will engender love, deceit, and vengeance in the lives around him.
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Jack Maggs
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Invitation to a Beheading
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Like Kafka's The Castle, Invitation to a Beheading embodies a vision of a bizarre and irrational world. In an unnamed dream country, the young man Cincinnatus C. is condemned to death by beheading for "gnostical turpitude", an imaginary crime that defies definition.
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Nabokov's Strange Violin Playing in the Void
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Buddenbrooks
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First published in 1900, when Thomas Mann was 25, Buddenbrooks is a minutely imagined chronicle of four generations of a North German mercantile family - a work so true to life that it scandalized the author’s former neighbours in his native Lübeck.
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New York Times best-selling author Robin McKinley has won numerous awards for her writing, including the prestigious Newbery Medal. Though her two sisters are beautiful, Beauty, despite her name, is thin and awkward - but she's also courageous. So when her father makes a terrible promise to a Beast living in an enchanted castle, Beauty knows she must volunteer to be the Beast's prisoner.
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Best version of B&tB I've ever read, seen, heard.
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Spring, 1922. Tessa is a beautiful, tiny, dark-eyed princess who’s given up her duties to follow her heart and work backstage at the Viennese opera. She keeps her true identity a well-guarded secret, but when a wealthy, handsome Englishman discovers this bewitching urchin backstage, Tessa’s two lives collide - and in escaping her inheritance, she finds her destiny....
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delightful story spoiled by the reader
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The Master and Margarita
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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.
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Very vivid and amazing writing style
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The Essex Serpent
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When Cora Seaborne's brilliant, domineering husband dies, she steps into her new life as a widow with as much relief as sadness: her marriage was not a happy one. Wed at 19, this woman of exceptional intelligence and curiosity was ill-suited for the role of society wife. Seeking refuge in fresh air and open space in the wake of the funeral, Cora leaves London for a visit to coastal Essex, accompanied by her inquisitive and obsessive 11-year old son, Francis, and the boy's nanny, Martha.
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Unbearable Narrator
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Ghosts: Edith Wharton's Gothic Tales
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Beneath the brilliance that was behind The Age of Innocence and Ethan Frome was a dark side. A dark side which produced magnificent tales of the unseen influences in our lives, such as "Mr. Jones", "The Eyes", "Kerfol", "The Ladie's Maid's Bell", and "The Looking Glass".
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Ghastly Shadows of the Feminine Condition
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What listeners say about Madame Bovary
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- J. S.
- 06-06-21
A marvelous tragedy
I was unprepared for the horrific tragedy that this novel springs upon the reader in the final act. No doubt this book was influential to Tolstoy. Unbelievably passionate prose that practically hums with inspiration and meticulous craft. The rich character of Emma Bovary will live on in my mind forever.
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- Dan
- 07-25-15
Great read. Great story.
The narrator performance truly complimented such a captivating story. Would strongly recommend the purchase of this audio book.
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- MMK
- 12-21-22
Oh the descent.
It is a sad story of foolishness, vice and debauchery. I loved it. Read it and weep.
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Overall
- P. Giorgio
- 09-06-03
Now Here's a Story
Divina Porter gave so much life to Madame Bovary, and of course with no small contribution by its author, the book has a permanent position in my mental book shelf. Hours and hours of listening feeling like I was watching Emma coming apart and taking down the entire cast with her. So well written, you love and pity Emma, feel sorry for Charles and loathe the symbolic money lender for giving her the ability to do it all.
At the end all the tragic, tortured revelations, one glaring irony has a woman coming to collect a debt for Emma's lessons (lessons never taken but used as a cover up to her husband). The 'teacher' approaches poor Emma's suffering husband for a year of "lessons" not taken.
Ah the turn of the screw, the turn of the phrase. On the surface you can read a tale of a "Scarlet O'Hara" in reverse, a woman with everything who longs for a perfect love in a perfect and handsome man. She has all the "things" she needs, but belives she is without love. Her doting husband loves and trusts her, too simple a man to suspect her betrayals. In the end he drinks with one of her lovers proclaiming no bad feelings toward the man. Until the end, his love for her, the very love she sought in every wrong situation, honored her and maintained his belief in her perfection, even as her old love letters fell from his hands. The effect of her never finding what she wants costs him all that his small medical practice provided. (There's no place like home. She had the slippers on all the time!)
The side stories and political, religious and social commentary retell the trysts and errors that Emma commits on her road to ruin. The author uses Emma as the symbol of excess and the outcome as predictions of the future. Emma stands for the cost of immoral actions. Whether God or the taxman, someone gets paid. A compendium of archetypal characters we know and love, dressed in 3D emotion, vivid characterization; speaking words precise and poetic. Pretty near perfect!
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22 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Celia
- 06-29-05
Fantastic!
It has been over 30 years since I read Madame Bovary in High School French class. Back then she seemed inexplicalbly crazed. What an unbelievable difference revisiting the story as a 50+ year old with some world experience behind me. Fascinating story, wonderfully read. I enjoyed this very much.
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- Zoë
- 11-23-22
Well
Throughout I was never sure if I wanted to keep listening but for whatever reason I did and finished. Emma was depressed and I’m kinda just sad now.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Meg
- 11-07-20
Interesting book
Davina porter did her usual impeccable job.
I stayed with this story (primarily about a narcissistic woman) because I wondered why it was so famous and wanted to find out. I’m sure there’s a good reason but im not sure I would have listened to the whole thing if I had understood how It would unfold.
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- Tiana
- 10-26-20
Female protagonist, realism style
In a world of self help books and empowerment of women it is easy to read this book and see how Emma’s misery is a result of psychological effects of an unfulfilled life. But this book is relatable in the way that we have all felt powerless and unhappy. What really matters is how we deal with these unfulfilled desires and how lucky modern women are to have power to actually do something about their situations.
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- A. Bergman
- 12-09-15
A timeless classic!
I can now see why this was one of Hemingway's favorites. Though the recording may be older, Davina's reading was flawless.
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- Bruce L. Nelson
- 11-30-22
Terrible French Accent
Flaubert is brilliant. But the pronunciation by the reader was unforgivable. She makes “grande rue” sound like “grand roux” and “Bovary” sound like “Boveury.” For such a French language masterpiece, a reader competent in French is necessary!
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1 person found this helpful