-
Moby Dick
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 25 hrs and 28 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $23.21
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
On a previous voyage, a mysterious white whale had ripped off the leg of a sea captain named Ahab. Now the crew of the Pequod, on a pursuit that features constant adventure and horrendous mishaps, must follow the mad Ahab into the abyss to satisfy his unslakeable thirst for vengeance. Narrated by the cunningly observant crew member Ishmael, Moby Dick is the tale of the hunt for the elusive, omnipotent, and ultimately mystifying white whale - Moby Dick.
On its surface, Moby Dick is a vivid documentary of life aboard a 19th-century whaler, a virtual encyclopedia of whales and whaling, replete with facts, legends, and trivia that Herman Melville had gleaned from personal experience and scores of sources. But as the quest for the whale becomes increasingly perilous, the tale works on allegorical levels, likening the whale to human greed, moral consequence, good, evil, and life itself. Who is good? The great white whale who, like Nature, asks nothing but to be left in peace? Or the bold Ahab who, like scientists, explorers, and philosophers, fearlessly probes the mysteries of the universe? Who is evil? The ferocious, man-killing sea monster? Or the revenge-obsessed madman who ignores his own better nature in his quest to kill the beast?
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Don Quixote
- Translated by Edith Grossman
- By: Edith Grossman - translator, Miguel de Cervantes
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 39 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sixteenth-century Spanish gentleman Don Quixote, fed by his own delusional fantasies, takes to the road in search of chivalrous adventures. But his quest leads to more trouble than triumph. At once humorous, romantic, and sad, Don Quixote is a literary landmark. This fresh edition, by award-winning translator Edith Grossman, brings the tale to life as never before.
-
-
My Fourth Try at an Audible Quixote
- By James on 12-24-12
By: Edith Grossman - translator, and others
-
The Old Man and the Sea
- By: Ernest Hemingway
- Narrated by: Donald Sutherland
- Length: 2 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Old Man and the Sea is one of Hemingway's most enduring works. Told in language of great simplicity and power, it is the story of an old Cuban fisherman, down on his luck, and his supreme ordeal, a relentless, agonizing battle with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream. Here Hemingway recasts, in strikingly contemporary style, the classic theme of courage in the face of defeat, of personal triumph won from loss.
-
-
Truly a Classic
- By Dave on 07-01-08
By: Ernest Hemingway
-
The Grapes of Wrath
- By: John Steinbeck, Robert DeMott
- Narrated by: Dylan Baker
- Length: 21 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Shocking and controversial when it was first published in 1939, Steinbeck's Pulitzer prize-winning epic The Grapes of Wrath remains his undisputed masterpiece. Set against the background of Dust Bowl Oklahoma and Californian migrant life, it tells of Tom Joad and his family, who, like thousands of others, are forced to travel west in search of the promised land. Their story is one of false hopes, thwarted desires, and broken dreams, yet out of their suffering Steinbeck created a drama that is intensely human, yet majestic in its scale and moral vision.
-
-
Wish I could give it 10 stars!
- By P. Minor on 07-18-14
By: John Steinbeck, and others
-
The Great Gatsby
- By: F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Narrated by: Jake Gyllenhaal
- Length: 4 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic American novel of the Roaring Twenties is beloved by generations of readers and stands as his crowning work. This new audio edition, authorized by the Fitzgerald estate, is narrated by Oscar-nominated actor Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain). Gyllenhaal's performance is a faithful delivery in the voice of Nick Carraway, the Midwesterner turned New York bond salesman, who rents a small house next door to the mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby....
-
-
Simple, Beautiful, and Exquisitely Textured
- By Darwin8u on 04-09-13
-
Alison Larkin Presents: Moby Dick and Two Poems by Herman Melville
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: Jonathan Epstein
- Length: 25 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Melville’s epic tale of one man versus a great white whale will delight Melville devotees as well as those who have yet to sail on this adventure in this mesmerizing new recording read by Jonathan Epstein. The mountain whose whale-like shape first gave Melville the idea of writing Moby Dick rests in the Berkshire Hills, Massachusetts, a short drive away from The Alison Larkin Presents recording studio. At the end of the recording, Larkin interviews Jonathan Epstein and recording engineer Galen Wade about the experience recording the great novel.
-
-
Absolutely outstanding
- By Mary Katherine Worth on 03-05-21
By: Herman Melville
-
Billy Budd
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: Peter Joyce
- Length: 3 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On one level...Melville’s tale is an historical adventure telling the story of life aboard ship shortly after the mutiny at Spithead in 1797. Billy is taken from a homeward bound merchantman to serve on the ‘Seventy Four’ HMS Indomitable. He falls foul of Claggart, the ‘Master at Arms’, and the final confrontation results in death. Billy becomes an unwilling martyr - what passes for justice must be implemented because of the rebellious climate of the time.
-
-
Well done, a pleasure to listen to!
- By Kindle Customer on 10-17-18
By: Herman Melville
-
Don Quixote
- Translated by Edith Grossman
- By: Edith Grossman - translator, Miguel de Cervantes
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 39 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Sixteenth-century Spanish gentleman Don Quixote, fed by his own delusional fantasies, takes to the road in search of chivalrous adventures. But his quest leads to more trouble than triumph. At once humorous, romantic, and sad, Don Quixote is a literary landmark. This fresh edition, by award-winning translator Edith Grossman, brings the tale to life as never before.
-
-
My Fourth Try at an Audible Quixote
- By James on 12-24-12
By: Edith Grossman - translator, and others
-
The Old Man and the Sea
- By: Ernest Hemingway
- Narrated by: Donald Sutherland
- Length: 2 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Old Man and the Sea is one of Hemingway's most enduring works. Told in language of great simplicity and power, it is the story of an old Cuban fisherman, down on his luck, and his supreme ordeal, a relentless, agonizing battle with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream. Here Hemingway recasts, in strikingly contemporary style, the classic theme of courage in the face of defeat, of personal triumph won from loss.
-
-
Truly a Classic
- By Dave on 07-01-08
By: Ernest Hemingway
-
The Grapes of Wrath
- By: John Steinbeck, Robert DeMott
- Narrated by: Dylan Baker
- Length: 21 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Shocking and controversial when it was first published in 1939, Steinbeck's Pulitzer prize-winning epic The Grapes of Wrath remains his undisputed masterpiece. Set against the background of Dust Bowl Oklahoma and Californian migrant life, it tells of Tom Joad and his family, who, like thousands of others, are forced to travel west in search of the promised land. Their story is one of false hopes, thwarted desires, and broken dreams, yet out of their suffering Steinbeck created a drama that is intensely human, yet majestic in its scale and moral vision.
-
-
Wish I could give it 10 stars!
- By P. Minor on 07-18-14
By: John Steinbeck, and others
-
The Great Gatsby
- By: F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Narrated by: Jake Gyllenhaal
- Length: 4 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic American novel of the Roaring Twenties is beloved by generations of readers and stands as his crowning work. This new audio edition, authorized by the Fitzgerald estate, is narrated by Oscar-nominated actor Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain). Gyllenhaal's performance is a faithful delivery in the voice of Nick Carraway, the Midwesterner turned New York bond salesman, who rents a small house next door to the mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby....
-
-
Simple, Beautiful, and Exquisitely Textured
- By Darwin8u on 04-09-13
-
Alison Larkin Presents: Moby Dick and Two Poems by Herman Melville
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: Jonathan Epstein
- Length: 25 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Melville’s epic tale of one man versus a great white whale will delight Melville devotees as well as those who have yet to sail on this adventure in this mesmerizing new recording read by Jonathan Epstein. The mountain whose whale-like shape first gave Melville the idea of writing Moby Dick rests in the Berkshire Hills, Massachusetts, a short drive away from The Alison Larkin Presents recording studio. At the end of the recording, Larkin interviews Jonathan Epstein and recording engineer Galen Wade about the experience recording the great novel.
-
-
Absolutely outstanding
- By Mary Katherine Worth on 03-05-21
By: Herman Melville
-
Billy Budd
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: Peter Joyce
- Length: 3 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On one level...Melville’s tale is an historical adventure telling the story of life aboard ship shortly after the mutiny at Spithead in 1797. Billy is taken from a homeward bound merchantman to serve on the ‘Seventy Four’ HMS Indomitable. He falls foul of Claggart, the ‘Master at Arms’, and the final confrontation results in death. Billy becomes an unwilling martyr - what passes for justice must be implemented because of the rebellious climate of the time.
-
-
Well done, a pleasure to listen to!
- By Kindle Customer on 10-17-18
By: Herman Melville
-
Typee
- A Peep at Polynesian Life
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 11 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Herman Melville is one of the greatest figures in literary history. His classic Moby Dick is generally considered the finest novel ever written by an American. Yet in Melville’s day, Typee was a far more popular book. Largely autobiographical, this classic adventure story is set in the South Seas, where a runaway sailor is captured by the Typees. Described as “a fierce and unrelenting tribe of savages," the islanders have no intention of letting their captive go.
-
-
Peeping Typee is Tapu; Reading Typee is Noa!
- By Darwin8u on 04-21-14
By: Herman Melville
-
Omoo
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Following the commercial and critical success of Typee, Herman Melville continued his series of South Sea adventure-romances with Omoo. Named after the Polynesian term for a rover, or someone who roams from island to island, Omoo chronicles the tumultuous events aboard a South Sea whaling vessel and is based on Melville's personal experiences as a crew member on a ship sailing the Pacific.
-
-
See Melville's Fiction Genius Pushing Hard
- By Darwin8u on 05-16-14
By: Herman Melville
-
The Count of Monte Cristo
- By: Alexandre Dumas
- Narrated by: Philippe Duquenoy
- Length: 45 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Published in 1844, The Count of Monte Cristo would become one of the most popular works of literature of its time. In this story, the reader is taken on a wild adventure as they transverse the world of Edmond Dantes, a man that has been wrongfully imprisoned in the gloomy Château d’If. Dantes' time at the château has not been a complete waste. During his imprisonment, he hears of hidden treasure on the island of Monte Cristo. With grim determination, Edmond Dante plans to escape and find the treasure.
-
-
Wonderful story and performance!
- By Hannah on 05-09-20
By: Alexandre Dumas
-
To Kill a Mockingbird
- By: Harper Lee
- Narrated by: Sissy Spacek
- Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Harper Lee’s Pulitzer prize-winning masterwork of honor and injustice in the deep south - and the heroism of one man in the face of blind and violent hatred, available now for the first time as a digital audiobook. One of the best-loved stories of all time, To Kill a Mockingbird has been translated into more than 40 languages, sold more than 30 million copies worldwide, served as the basis for an enormously popular motion picture, and was voted one of the best novels of the 20th century by librarians across the country.
-
-
A gift to be treasured
- By David Shear on 07-09-14
By: Harper Lee
-
Great Expectations
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 18 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the most revered works in English literature, Great Expectations traces the coming of age of a young orphan, Pip, from a boy of shallow aspirations into a man of maturity. From the chilling opening confrontation with an escaped convict to the grand but eerily disheveled estate of bitter old Miss Havisham, all is not what it seems in Dickens’ dark tale of false illusions and thwarted desire.
-
-
The narrator!!
- By Dana on 06-13-13
By: Charles Dickens
-
Lord of the Flies
- By: William Golding
- Narrated by: William Golding
- Length: 6 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Marooned on a tropical island, alone in a world of uncharted possibilities, and devoid of adult supervision or rules, a group of British boys begins to forge a society with its own unique rules and rituals.
-
-
Great story - bad narration
- By A Mom on 03-05-08
By: William Golding
-
East of Eden
- By: John Steinbeck
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 25 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This sprawling and often brutal novel, set in the rich farmlands of California's Salinas Valley, follows the intertwined destinies of two families - the Trasks and the Hamiltons - whose generations helplessly reenact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel.
-
-
Why have I avoided this Beautiful Book???
- By Kelly on 03-25-17
By: John Steinbeck
-
The Three Musketeers (AmazonClassics Edition)
- By: Alexandre Dumas, William Robson - translator
- Narrated by: Guy Mott
- Length: 27 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Young nobleman d’Artagnan has arrived in Paris intent on joining the guardians of King Louis XIII. He befriends the regiment’s most formidable musketeers, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, and together they unite in their commitment to uphold justice. Soon, a royal indiscretion thrusts them into an audacious escapade of courtly intrigue, thwarted romance, and daring rescue. But it’s the Machiavellian schemes of a powerful enemy and the wicked seductions of an ingenious female spy that will be their greatest challenges.
-
-
terrible narrator. every comma is a 3 second pause
- By Anonymous User on 09-21-21
By: Alexandre Dumas, and others
-
Fahrenheit 451
- By: Ray Bradbury
- Narrated by: Tim Robbins
- Length: 5 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Guy Montag is a fireman. In his world, where television rules and literature is on the brink of extinction, firemen start fires rather than put them out. His job is to destroy the most illegal of commodities, the printed book, along with the houses in which they are hidden. Montag never questions the destruction and ruin his actions produce, returning each day to his bland life and wife, Mildred, who spends all day with her television "family."
-
-
Wish I Hadn't Cliff Noted This in High School
- By Joel on 03-27-17
By: Ray Bradbury
-
Catch-22
- By: Joseph Heller
- Narrated by: Jay O. Sanders
- Length: 19 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set in Italy during World War II, this is the story of the incomparable, malingering bombardier Yossarian, a hero who is furious because thousands of people he has never met are trying to kill him. But his real problem is not the enemy - it is his own army, which keeps increasing the number of missions the men must fly to complete their service. Yet if Yossarian makes any attempt to excuse himself from the perilous missions he's assigned, he'll be in violation of Catch-22.
-
-
Stop randomly adding music
- By Kenneth S. Clark on 08-31-18
By: Joseph Heller
-
Emma
- An Audible Original Drama
- By: Jane Austen, Anna Lea - adaptation
- Narrated by: Emma Thompson, Joanne Froggatt, Isabella Inchbald, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Austen wrote, 'I am going to take a heroine whom no-one but myself will much like' and thus introduces the handsome, clever, rich - and flawed, Emma Woodhouse. Emma is perfectly content with her life and sees no need for either love or marriage; nothing however delights her more than matchmaking her fellow residents of Highbury. But when she ignores the warnings of her good friend Mr. Knightley and attempts to arrange a suitable match for her protegee Harriet Smith, her carefully laid plans soon unravel and have consequences that she never expected.
-
-
Background sonds RUINED this
- By Sandra Dodd on 09-09-18
By: Jane Austen, and others
-
One Hundred Years of Solitude
- By: Gabriel García Márquez, Gregory Rabassa - translator
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 14 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the 20th century's enduring works, One Hundred Years of Solitude is a widely beloved and acclaimed novel known throughout the world and the ultimate achievement in a Nobel Prize-winning career. The novel tells the story of the rise and fall of the mythical town of Macondo through the history of the Buendía family. Rich and brilliant, it is a chronicle of life, death, and the tragicomedy of humankind. In the beautiful, ridiculous, and tawdry story of the Buendía family, one sees all of humanity, just as in the history, myths, growth, and decay of Macondo, one sees all of Latin America.
-
-
What in the heck happened?????
- By Melinda on 02-05-14
By: Gabriel García Márquez, and others
Related to this topic
-
Finnegans Wake
- By: James Joyce
- Narrated by: Barry McGovern, Marcella Riordan
- Length: 29 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Finnegans Wake is the greatest challenge in 20th-century literature. Who is Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker? And what did he get up to in Phoenix Park? And what did Anna Livia Plurabelle have to say about it? In the rich nighttime and the language of dreams, here are history, anecdote, myth, folk tale and, above all, a wondrous sense of humor, colored by a clear sense of humanity. In this exceptional reading by the Irish actor Barry McGovern, with Marcella Riordan, the world of the Wake is more accessible than ever before.
-
-
The keys to. Given!
- By hyand on 06-16-21
By: James Joyce
-
Gargantua and Pantagruel
- By: François Rabelais
- Narrated by: Bill Homewood
- Length: 34 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here is a grotesque and carnivalesque collection of exuberant, fantastical stories that takes us from the ancient world through to the European Renaissance. At the heart of these tall tales are the giant Gargantua and his equally seismic son, Pantagruel. Containing magical adventures, maniacal punning, slapstick humor, erudite allusions, and just about any bodily function one can think of, here is quite possibly the zaniest, most risqué book ever written.
-
-
The king of all the narrators
- By amazon on 02-13-20
-
Macbeth
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Stephen Dillane, Fiona Shaw, full cast
- Length: 2 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By the time Shakespeare came to write Macbeth - almost certainly in 1605/1606 - he had already completed three of the great tragedies with which modern audiences are so familiar: Hamlet (1601), Othello (1603), and King Lear (1605). Each of those plays gives us an eponymous hero who is in some significant way flawed, but for whom we also inevitably feel deep sympathy, whatever his errors or crimes. But in MacBeth, Shakespeare has chosen for his tragic hero a man guilty of the most terrible crime imaginable to a Jacobean audience, that of regicide - the murder of a king.
-
-
Fire burn and cauldron bubble - an excellent stew
- By Marius on 04-06-04
-
Cymbeline: The Arkangel Shakespeare
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Sophie Thompson, Ben Porter, Jack Shepherd, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 19 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Imogen, the daughter of King Cymbeline, is persecuted by her wicked stepmother, the Queen, and by Cloten, the Queen's doltish son. Disguised as a boy, she sets out to find her husband, the banished Posthumus. On her journey, she unwittingly meets her two brothers, stolen from the court as infants. Posthumus, meanwhile, has been convinced by the villainous Iachimo that Imogen is unchaste and agrees to a test of her faithfulness.
-
-
Has its moments but it has a lot less than I hoped
- By Darwin8u on 12-21-17
-
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
- By: J. R. R. Tolkien
- Narrated by: Terry Jones
- Length: 4 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A collection of three medieval English poems, translated by Tolkien for the modern-day reader and containing romance, tragedy, love, sex and honour.
-
-
An absolute delight!
- By Shannon Slee on 07-15-18
By: J. R. R. Tolkien
-
Falstaff
- Give Me Life
- By: Harold Bloom
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 3 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Falstaff is both a comic and tragic central protagonist in Shakespeare's three Henry plays. He is companion to Prince Hal (the future Henry V), who loves him, goads him, teases him, indulges his vast appetites, and commits all sorts of mischief with him. Award-winning author and esteemed professor Harold Bloom examines Falstaff with the deepest compassion and sympathy and also with unerring wisdom. He uses the relationship between Falstaff and Hal to explore the devastation of severed bonds and the heartbreak of betrayal.
-
-
Falstaff brooks no rebuttal.
- By Darwin8u on 02-06-20
By: Harold Bloom
-
Finnegans Wake
- By: James Joyce
- Narrated by: Barry McGovern, Marcella Riordan
- Length: 29 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Finnegans Wake is the greatest challenge in 20th-century literature. Who is Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker? And what did he get up to in Phoenix Park? And what did Anna Livia Plurabelle have to say about it? In the rich nighttime and the language of dreams, here are history, anecdote, myth, folk tale and, above all, a wondrous sense of humor, colored by a clear sense of humanity. In this exceptional reading by the Irish actor Barry McGovern, with Marcella Riordan, the world of the Wake is more accessible than ever before.
-
-
The keys to. Given!
- By hyand on 06-16-21
By: James Joyce
-
Gargantua and Pantagruel
- By: François Rabelais
- Narrated by: Bill Homewood
- Length: 34 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here is a grotesque and carnivalesque collection of exuberant, fantastical stories that takes us from the ancient world through to the European Renaissance. At the heart of these tall tales are the giant Gargantua and his equally seismic son, Pantagruel. Containing magical adventures, maniacal punning, slapstick humor, erudite allusions, and just about any bodily function one can think of, here is quite possibly the zaniest, most risqué book ever written.
-
-
The king of all the narrators
- By amazon on 02-13-20
-
Macbeth
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Stephen Dillane, Fiona Shaw, full cast
- Length: 2 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
By the time Shakespeare came to write Macbeth - almost certainly in 1605/1606 - he had already completed three of the great tragedies with which modern audiences are so familiar: Hamlet (1601), Othello (1603), and King Lear (1605). Each of those plays gives us an eponymous hero who is in some significant way flawed, but for whom we also inevitably feel deep sympathy, whatever his errors or crimes. But in MacBeth, Shakespeare has chosen for his tragic hero a man guilty of the most terrible crime imaginable to a Jacobean audience, that of regicide - the murder of a king.
-
-
Fire burn and cauldron bubble - an excellent stew
- By Marius on 04-06-04
-
Cymbeline: The Arkangel Shakespeare
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Sophie Thompson, Ben Porter, Jack Shepherd, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 19 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Imogen, the daughter of King Cymbeline, is persecuted by her wicked stepmother, the Queen, and by Cloten, the Queen's doltish son. Disguised as a boy, she sets out to find her husband, the banished Posthumus. On her journey, she unwittingly meets her two brothers, stolen from the court as infants. Posthumus, meanwhile, has been convinced by the villainous Iachimo that Imogen is unchaste and agrees to a test of her faithfulness.
-
-
Has its moments but it has a lot less than I hoped
- By Darwin8u on 12-21-17
-
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
- By: J. R. R. Tolkien
- Narrated by: Terry Jones
- Length: 4 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A collection of three medieval English poems, translated by Tolkien for the modern-day reader and containing romance, tragedy, love, sex and honour.
-
-
An absolute delight!
- By Shannon Slee on 07-15-18
By: J. R. R. Tolkien
-
Falstaff
- Give Me Life
- By: Harold Bloom
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 3 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Falstaff is both a comic and tragic central protagonist in Shakespeare's three Henry plays. He is companion to Prince Hal (the future Henry V), who loves him, goads him, teases him, indulges his vast appetites, and commits all sorts of mischief with him. Award-winning author and esteemed professor Harold Bloom examines Falstaff with the deepest compassion and sympathy and also with unerring wisdom. He uses the relationship between Falstaff and Hal to explore the devastation of severed bonds and the heartbreak of betrayal.
-
-
Falstaff brooks no rebuttal.
- By Darwin8u on 02-06-20
By: Harold Bloom
-
Treasure Island
- By: Robert Louis Stevenson
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 7 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Young Jim Hawkins quiet life as the son of an innkeeper changes when an ancient sailor takes up lodging at the inn. When the old man dies without paying his bill, Jim must search the sailor's one possession, a large sea-chest, for payment. He finds a map that is the key to a fortune. This commences a Caribbean treasure hunt, with pirate Long John Silver only steps behind!
-
-
Truly a pleasure to listen too.
- By Richard on 09-04-03
-
Faust
- By: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- Narrated by: David McCallion
- Length: 5 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, is a poem, translated by Bayard Taylor, which tells the beautiful and emotional story of a man who has seen and done it all. However, despite all of his learning and education, his life still feels empty and unaccomplished. He believes wholeheartedly that there is something else out there. Faust, having exhausted all other fields of study, turns to magic for fulfillment. He summons the devil and makes a pact - that if the devil can show him something rewarding and fulfilling, he will give the devil his soul.
-
-
Misleading
- By Grant Pajak on 03-29-17
-
Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates
- By: Howard Pyle, Merle Johnson
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Merle Johnson has here gathered together in one volume all of the nineteenth-century author-artist's classic pirate stories that had been scattered through many magazines and books. Well researched and with richly drawn characters, Pyle's work will appeal to students of history and adventure lovers alike.
-
-
Fascinating and wonderfully read
- By Fletch on 09-08-06
By: Howard Pyle, and others
-
Flint & Silver
- A Prequel to Treasure Island
- By: John Drake
- Narrated by: Tim Gregory
- Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A swashbuckling triumph of storytelling, Flint and Silver provides a thrilling ride back to the rich and wondrous world of Long John Silver and his fiendish nemesis Joseph Flint in this prequel to the beloved classic Treasure Island.
-
-
where are the other two books in the series??
- By Scott Pruitt on 05-31-18
By: John Drake
-
Lorna Doone [Naxos]
- By: R. D. Blackmore
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 25 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Doones are a clan of murdering thieves, and among their victims is John Ridd's father. The strong, noble Ridd determines to avenge his father's death; but his plans are complicated when he falls in love with one of the hated family - the beautiful Lorna. Lorna is promised against her will to another; and that other will not let her go lightly. Set amid the political turmoils of the late 17th century, Lorna Doone brings West Country history and legends alive with wonderfully imaginative fiction.
-
-
I fell in love with this book
- By Linda on 11-20-12
By: R. D. Blackmore
-
Sten
- Sten Series, Book 1
- By: Chris Bunch, Allan Cole
- Narrated by: Jerry Sciarrio
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first book in an action–packed new SF adventure series. Vulcan is a factory planet, centuries old, Company run, ugly as sin, and unfeeling as death. Vulcan breeds just two types of native: complacent or tough. Sten is tough. When his family is killed in a mysterious accident, Sten rebels, harassing the Company from the metal world’s endless maze-like warrens. He could end up just another burnt–out Delinquent. But people like Sten never give up.
-
-
THE MASTERPIECE BY JERRY SCIARRIO
- By Professor on 10-31-12
By: Chris Bunch, and others
-
Blow Me Down
- By: Katie MacAlister
- Narrated by: Tanya Eby
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the Internet virtual reality game Buckling Swashes, Earless Erika and Black Corbin are two of the most deadly pirates to sail the online seas. And now they've met their matches: each other. But fearless Earless Erika is really just Amy - a financial analyst with little time in her life for anything but work. And Corbin is none other than the man behind the game - the programmer and owner of the company. He's intrigued by Amy, the only buccaneer to best him in this test of digital testosterone, while she just wants to take his arrogance down a peg. But soon the two find themselves comrades in arms against a merciless rival bent on Corbin's destruction....
-
-
Different and awesome!
- By SHANNON MILES on 02-10-16
By: Katie MacAlister
-
A Red Peace
- The Starfire Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Spencer Ellsworth
- Narrated by: John Keating, Mary Robinette Kowal
- Length: 6 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A Red Peace, first in Spencer Ellsworth's Starfire trilogy, is an action-packed space opera in a universe where the oppressed half-Jorian crosses have risen up to supplant humanity and dominate the galaxy. Half-breed human star navigator Jaqi, working the edges of human-settled space on contract to whoever will hire her, stumbles into possession of an artifact that the leader of the Rebellion wants desperately enough to send his personal guard after. An interstellar empire and the fate of the remnant of humanity hang in the balance.
-
-
Suits & Insects War & Technology
- By Midwestbonsai on 11-28-18
-
To the Stars
- By: L. Ron Hubbard
- Narrated by: Robert Caso, Jim Meskimen, R.F. Daley, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How far is too far? Alan Corday is about to find out. Corday is shanghaied aboard a craft bound for the stars...on a journey at the speed of light, the world he leaves behind fast vanishing into the past. And nothing in the dark, forbidding reaches of space can prepare him for the astounding discovery he will make upon his return from the stars.
-
-
To the Stars
- By John on 12-01-04
By: L. Ron Hubbard
-
Idylls of the King
- By: Alfred Tennyson
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 12 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Arthurian legend of Camelot has been told many times, but never better than by Alfred Tennyson. Employing some of the most stirring and beautiful blank verse ever written, Tennyson crafted his version of the Knights of the Round Table over the course of nearly fifty years, completing it in 1885. Despite the length of time, Tennyson managed to maintain a high level of style and continuity throughout.
-
-
Beautiful poetry
- By Roger on 01-15-08
By: Alfred Tennyson
-
Redwall
- Redwall, Book 1
- By: Brian Jacques
- Narrated by: Ariyon Bakare
- Length: 13 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Welcome to Mossflower Wood, where the gentle mice have gathered to celebrate a year of peace and abundance. All is well…until a sinister shadow falls across the ancient stone abbey of Redwall. It is rumored that Cluny is coming—Cluny, the terrible one-eyed rat and his savage horde—Cluny, who has vowed to conquer Redwall Abbey! The only hope for the besieged mice lies in the lost sword of the legendary Martin the Warrior. And so begins the epic quest of a bumbling young apprentice—a courageous mouse who would rise up, fight back…and become a legend himself.
-
-
Awesome!
- By Mr. Natural on 12-12-22
By: Brian Jacques
-
The Great Secret
- By: L. Ron Hubbard
- Narrated by: Bruce Boxleitner
- Length: 2 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
That is Fanner Marston’s mantra—his reason for being—and while he knows a little about the first and a lot about the second, he may well be on the verge of learning everything there is to know about the third. Power. He may, in fact, be about to uncover the key to gaining absolute control over the entire universe. The only problem is, Fanner is certifiably insane.... His starship has crash-landed, and he’s the sole survivor, which doesn’t matter to him.
-
-
Not up to Hubbard’s normal standard
- By Ron on 03-24-19
By: L. Ron Hubbard
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Moby-Dick
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: Frank Muller
- Length: 21 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Labeled variously a realistic story of whaling, a romance of unusual adventure and eccentric characters, a symbolic allegory, and a drama of heroic conflict, Moby Dick is first and foremost a great story. It has both the humor and poignancy of a simple sea ballad, as well as the depth and universality of a grand odyssey.
-
-
I Had No Idea Melville Was So Funny
- By Dave on 05-09-12
By: Herman Melville
-
Moby Dick
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: Anthony Heald
- Length: 23 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The outcast youth Ishmael, succumbing to wanderlust during a dreary New England autumn, signs up for passage aboard a whaling ship. The Pequod sails under the command of the one-legged Captain Ahab, who has set himself on a monomaniacal quest to capture the cunning white whale that robbed him of his leg: Moby-Dick. Capturing life on the sea with robust realism, Melville details the adventures of the colorful crew aboard the ship as Ahab pursues his crusade of revenge, heedless of all cost.
-
-
Gripping despite the minutiae
- By Sarah C on 06-06-08
By: Herman Melville
-
Moby Dick
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: William Hootkins
- Length: 24 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"Call me Ishmael." Thus starts the greatest American novel. Melville said himself that he wanted to write "a mighty book about a mighty theme" and so he did. It is a story of one man's obsessive revenge-journey against the white whale, Moby-Dick, who injured him in an earlier meeting. Woven into the story of the last journey of The Pequod is a mesh of philosophy, rumination, religion, history, and a mass of information about whaling through the ages.
-
-
Excellent, EXCELLENT reading!
- By Jessica on 02-18-09
By: Herman Melville
-
Alison Larkin Presents: Moby Dick and Two Poems by Herman Melville
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: Jonathan Epstein
- Length: 25 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Melville’s epic tale of one man versus a great white whale will delight Melville devotees as well as those who have yet to sail on this adventure in this mesmerizing new recording read by Jonathan Epstein. The mountain whose whale-like shape first gave Melville the idea of writing Moby Dick rests in the Berkshire Hills, Massachusetts, a short drive away from The Alison Larkin Presents recording studio. At the end of the recording, Larkin interviews Jonathan Epstein and recording engineer Galen Wade about the experience recording the great novel.
-
-
Absolutely outstanding
- By Mary Katherine Worth on 03-05-21
By: Herman Melville
-
Moby Dick (AmazonClassics Edition)
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: Tim Campbell
- Length: 21 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ignoring prophecies of doom, the seafarer Ishmael joins the crew of a whaling expedition that is an obsession for the ship's captain, Ahab. Once maimed by the White Whale, Moby Dick, Ahab has set out on a voyage of revenge. With godlike ferocity, he surges into dangerous waters - immune to the madness of his vision, refusing to be bested by the forces of nature.
-
-
This is the one!
- By Anonymous User on 11-14-18
By: Herman Melville
-
Moby Dick
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: Pete Cross
- Length: 23 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Widely considered one of the great American novels, Herman Melville's masterpiece went largely unread during his lifetime and was out of print at the time of his death in 1891. Called the greatest book about the sea ever written by D.H. Lawrence, Moby Dick features detailed descriptions of whale hunting and whale oil extraction as well as beautiful, incisive writing on race, class, religion, art, and society.
-
-
One of the best audiobooks ever made
- By John Mark P Foster on 02-05-19
By: Herman Melville
-
Moby-Dick
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: Frank Muller
- Length: 21 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Labeled variously a realistic story of whaling, a romance of unusual adventure and eccentric characters, a symbolic allegory, and a drama of heroic conflict, Moby Dick is first and foremost a great story. It has both the humor and poignancy of a simple sea ballad, as well as the depth and universality of a grand odyssey.
-
-
I Had No Idea Melville Was So Funny
- By Dave on 05-09-12
By: Herman Melville
-
Moby Dick
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: Anthony Heald
- Length: 23 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The outcast youth Ishmael, succumbing to wanderlust during a dreary New England autumn, signs up for passage aboard a whaling ship. The Pequod sails under the command of the one-legged Captain Ahab, who has set himself on a monomaniacal quest to capture the cunning white whale that robbed him of his leg: Moby-Dick. Capturing life on the sea with robust realism, Melville details the adventures of the colorful crew aboard the ship as Ahab pursues his crusade of revenge, heedless of all cost.
-
-
Gripping despite the minutiae
- By Sarah C on 06-06-08
By: Herman Melville
-
Moby Dick
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: William Hootkins
- Length: 24 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"Call me Ishmael." Thus starts the greatest American novel. Melville said himself that he wanted to write "a mighty book about a mighty theme" and so he did. It is a story of one man's obsessive revenge-journey against the white whale, Moby-Dick, who injured him in an earlier meeting. Woven into the story of the last journey of The Pequod is a mesh of philosophy, rumination, religion, history, and a mass of information about whaling through the ages.
-
-
Excellent, EXCELLENT reading!
- By Jessica on 02-18-09
By: Herman Melville
-
Alison Larkin Presents: Moby Dick and Two Poems by Herman Melville
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: Jonathan Epstein
- Length: 25 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Melville’s epic tale of one man versus a great white whale will delight Melville devotees as well as those who have yet to sail on this adventure in this mesmerizing new recording read by Jonathan Epstein. The mountain whose whale-like shape first gave Melville the idea of writing Moby Dick rests in the Berkshire Hills, Massachusetts, a short drive away from The Alison Larkin Presents recording studio. At the end of the recording, Larkin interviews Jonathan Epstein and recording engineer Galen Wade about the experience recording the great novel.
-
-
Absolutely outstanding
- By Mary Katherine Worth on 03-05-21
By: Herman Melville
-
Moby Dick (AmazonClassics Edition)
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: Tim Campbell
- Length: 21 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ignoring prophecies of doom, the seafarer Ishmael joins the crew of a whaling expedition that is an obsession for the ship's captain, Ahab. Once maimed by the White Whale, Moby Dick, Ahab has set out on a voyage of revenge. With godlike ferocity, he surges into dangerous waters - immune to the madness of his vision, refusing to be bested by the forces of nature.
-
-
This is the one!
- By Anonymous User on 11-14-18
By: Herman Melville
-
Moby Dick
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: Pete Cross
- Length: 23 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Widely considered one of the great American novels, Herman Melville's masterpiece went largely unread during his lifetime and was out of print at the time of his death in 1891. Called the greatest book about the sea ever written by D.H. Lawrence, Moby Dick features detailed descriptions of whale hunting and whale oil extraction as well as beautiful, incisive writing on race, class, religion, art, and society.
-
-
One of the best audiobooks ever made
- By John Mark P Foster on 02-05-19
By: Herman Melville
-
Moby Dick
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: B. J. Harrison
- Length: 24 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the dark depths of the bottomless sea dwells a white demon, taking shape as the Leviathan known as Moby Dick. One year ago, the malefic brute crunched off the leg of the ungodly Captain Ahab, who now swears revenge. So runs the epic tale of Moby Dick, the supernal work of Herman Melville. In this unabridged production, you will walk with the young sailor Ishmael through the fires of life on a whaling vessel.
-
-
Can't argue with a classic
- By MARK on 09-23-14
By: Herman Melville
-
Moby Dick
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: Chris Ciulla
- Length: 24 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Moby Dick, by Herman Melville, was first published in 1851. Known for its famous opening line, "Call me Ishmael," and for its epic narrative, complex characters, and rich symbolism, it is considered one of the greatest works of American literature.
By: Herman Melville
-
Moby Dick
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: William Hootkins
- Length: 6 hrs and 2 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Over a century and a half after its publication, Moby Dick still stands as an indisputable literary classic. It is the story of an eerily compelling madman pursuing an unholy war against a creature as vast and dangerous and unknowable as the sea itself.
-
-
Not bad at all!
- By S. Barrett on 07-20-06
By: Herman Melville
-
Moby Dick
- The Whale
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: Alan Munro
- Length: 26 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Moby-Dick is widely considered to be the Great American Novel and a treasure of world literature. The story details the adventures of the wandering sailor Ishmael and his voyage on the whale ship Pequod, commanded by Captain Ahab. Ishmael soon learns that Ahab seeks one specific whale: Moby Dick, a ferocious, enigmatic white sperm whale. In a previous encounter, the whale destroyed Ahab's boat and bit off his leg. And Ahab intends to take revenge.
-
-
Heed the advice
- By Agnes Crow on 08-17-14
By: Herman Melville
-
The Fountainhead
- By: Ayn Rand
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Fountainhead studies the conflict between artistic genius and social convention, a theme Ayn Rand later developed into the idealistic philosophy knows as Objectivism. Rand's hero is Howard Roark, a brilliant young architect who won't compromise his integrity, especially in the unconventional buildings he designs.
-
-
Be aware that this is an abridged version
- By Kindle Customer on 11-01-17
By: Ayn Rand
-
Moby Dick
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: Philippe Duquenoy
- Length: 21 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ishmael, a sailor looking for his next adventure, and his friend who happens to be a former prince, sign up to join a whaling ship in Nantucket. The morning before they set sail on their voyage, many ominous signs of what the pair's fate may be are seen and heard through sermon and prophecy as the two friends ignore the warnings and make their way to the docks. Soon into the trip, the one-legged Captain Ahab announces that the whaling adventure is really a hunt for one very specific large, white sperm whale.
-
-
Wow!
- By Bluestramp on 07-04-17
By: Herman Melville
-
Billy Budd, Foretopman
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: Frank Muller
- Length: 3 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's 1791. Friendly, handsome, and popular Billy Budd is a sailor on board the British warship HMS Indomitable. Britain is at war with France, and because of the famous Nore and Spithead mutinies that occurred earlier in the year, every captain is alert for signs of mutiny and rebellion. The master-at-arms, John Claggatt, a vicious bully, is insanely jealous of Billy's good looks and popularity.
-
-
Poor quality
- By Turner on 04-12-07
By: Herman Melville
-
Ulysses
- By: James Joyce
- Narrated by: Donal Donnelly
- Length: 42 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first authorized, unabridged release of this timeless classic and exclusively available from Recorded Books. Ulysses records the events of a single day, June 16, 1904, in Dublin, Ireland.
-
-
Ulysses is Life
- By Dan Harlow on 08-02-13
By: James Joyce
-
Moby Dick: or the Whale
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: Mark Nelson
- Length: 23 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Moby-Dick is widely considered to be the Great American Novel and a treasure of world literature. The story details the adventures of the wandering sailor Ishmael and his voyage on the whale ship Pequod, commanded by Captain Ahab. Ishmael soon learns that Ahab seeks one specific whale: Moby Dick, a ferocious, enigmatic white sperm whale. In a previous encounter, the whale destroyed Ahab's boat and bit off his leg. And Ahab intends to take revenge.
-
-
Solid narration of a timeless classic
- By G.T. on 05-20-12
By: Herman Melville
-
Moby Dick
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: Stewart Wills
- Length: 24 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A sailor called Ishmael narrates the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaler Pequod, for revenge on Moby Dick, a white whale which on a previous voyage destroyed Ahab’s ship and severed his leg at the knee. Although the novel was a commercial failure and out of print at the time of the author’s death in 1891, its reputation as a Great American Novel grew during the 20th century.
By: Herman Melville
-
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Nick Offerman
- Length: 13 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With his trademark mirth and boundless charisma, actor Nick Offerman brought the loveable shenanigans of Twain's adolescent hero to life in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Now, in yet another virtuosic performance, the actor proves that despite being separated by a span of over a century, his connection to the author and his work is undeniable and that theirs is a timeless collaboration that should not be missed.
-
-
Mark Twain and Nick Offerman are a perfect match
- By Philip M. Chute on 10-23-17
By: Mark Twain
-
Paradise Lost
- By: John Milton
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
John Milton's Paradise Lost is one of the greatest epic poems in the English language. It tells the story of the Fall of Man, a tale of immense drama and excitement, of rebellion and treachery, of innocence pitted against corruption, in which God and Satan fight a bitter battle for control of mankind's destiny.
-
-
The most accessible reading of Paradise Lost
- By Tony McClung on 02-21-10
By: John Milton
What listeners say about Moby Dick
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Mel
- 04-19-16
Cross one off the Literature Bucket List
I know people that lie about reading books: Ulysses, anything by Proust, Infinite Jest, Pride and Prejudice, even the very short Catcher in the Rye; the enjoyable Alice's Adventures in Wonderland; surprisingly the Harry Potter series; and understandably, the Russian tomes War and Peace and Crime and Punishment. Myself, I lied, by omission, about Moby Dick, having read the Cliffs Notes and passed the test in high school. It didn't bother my conscience that much since the Cliffs Notes were a whopping 100 plus pages, and I got an A. I did try to read the actual novel in college, then tried again with the book on cassette tapes, and finally downloaded this audio version when I joined Audible in 2009. Like Ahab soliciting the crew's support to hunt down and kill the white whale, I invited friends to bite the bullet and listen or read along with me to conquer Moby Dick. Misery loves company I thought, until about 1 hour into the recording while gardening or running, and bored near to death, I dismissed it into oblivion.
The idea of passing off Nathaniel Philbrick's "In the Heart of the Sea" as, "Yes, I've read Moby Dick," crossed my mind, again, in that first hour, looking ahead at still nearly 25 more hours dedicated. I'd seen the movie too--hell yes! I'd even seen Gregory Peck as Capt. Ahab, the man that seemed to be "carrying all the rage and hate of the entire human race." But that book taunted me from the depths of my library...it became a madness I was determined to conquer.
To all those determined, to those that have put in an hour or two and failed, to those ashamed of the lie...take heart: (and in extreme cases of resistance, as a last motivational resort, see the movie "In the Heart of the Sea" to whet your appetite)
It takes some perseverance to acclimate to Ishmael's lavishly embellished and detailed story-telling style. And having persisted beyond my previous attempts, I finally found myself somewhere passed the 1 hour mark slowly taking a liking to Mr. Melville's whale of a whale tale, likely when Queequeg entered the scene. Melville's magic, that has remained strong for over 160 yrs., was casting its spell on me. The stony Ishmael, whom lends very little of his own character to this story, is a slow sell, but a powerful and reliable narrator that tells this story better than any camera could record it. He yearns for the open sea (as do I), like Thoreau yearned for the wilderness and "all things wild." At one point (probably just few minutes passed that first hour I could never get beyond before), unwilling to share a room with even the most credible whaler in the Spouter-Inn (no vacancy) -- after finding no comfort in a wooden bench quickly shaved down by the inn-keeper to form a makeshift resting place -- Ishmael agrees to share a bed with a "cannibal heathen" returning after a night of peddling shrunken heads to morbidly curious townspeople. He then observes the not-so-savage-savage with pure wonder and innocent curiosity, forming a benevolent bond that seems the only refuge as they sail across oceans in this timeless tale.
The promise of the voyage, the intrigue and mystery started to congeal for me. Within my second hour, I pursued the story of the Pequod's final voyage with an obsession aggregated from "Jonah and the Whale" to "Jaws," and every high-seas pursuit of the aquatic leviathan in between. There are details: Holy seacow, there are details! Encyclopedic, meticulous details that I'm sure are not gathered together in any other single compendium. I pictured myself on a cross country road trip with Faulkner in the back seat of a big boat-like car, churning out tirelessly, non-stop from coast to coast, a stream of the philosophy, psychology, biology, and literature of all things whaling -- I'd suggest stops for popcorn, beef jerky, Diet Coke, sunflower seeds, and bathroom breaks along this fascinating journey.
Eventually, obviously, I honestly crossed Moby Dick off my TBR list with rows of gold stars. I was truly amazed by the quality of writing, the information, the atmosphere, the humanity and the nature, the symbology. It is a quest of a lifetime and the read of a lifetime that one day, I hope to read again. *You know...that Nike swoosh kind of looks like a whale...I think they had Moby Dick in mind when they came up with the logo. Just do it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
27 people found this helpful
-
Overall
- Thomas
- 02-09-11
Good News/Bad News
The good news about this particular edition of Moby Dick is that it is genuinely unabridged, that is to say it includes the Etymology and Extracts which form the introduction to the novel. These take up about an hour of reading time missing from all the other editions, so far as I can tell. They may not be central to the plot of the story, but, if you are a purist, you will want them. If the first line of your edition begins, "Call me Ishmael," it is not truly unabridged. (This explains, partially, the widely varying time differences in the various recordings).
The bad news about this edition is the narrator. There's something grating about his homespun tone and inflections. I couldn't listen to him for long and ended up buying the Anthony Heald narration, which, though it doesn't include the introductory material, is much more gracefully narrated. So, if you must have an audio edition that is truly unabridged, buy this version because there's no other choice, but if you're looking for a well-narrated novel, I'd advise against it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- wolfeman
- 12-05-20
it's a long haul!
Though a Herman Melville classic, it's a little long winded for an audio book! The chapters on classification of whales, while incredibly detailed for it's day, are a slog. A great adventure story, wonderful character development, an allegorical tale for all of us.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kindle Customer
- 06-19-24
Great Performance
Great characters as performed, creates almost a new novel.
with no slight fifteen word minimum.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lori Sue Buda
- 06-20-15
Phenomenal! Well Done!
Finally finished this great classic. Voice was perfect fit to the story and t he story is amazing. Highly recommended to all.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Tad Davis
- 04-14-10
A different but compelling reading
James Joyce once said that if Dublin were blown off the map, it could be rebuilt, brick by brick, from "Ulysses." Herman Melville tried to do something similar here: if the Nantucket whaling industry disappeared from history, it could be reconstructed in all its particulars from "Moby Dick".
It's an incredible novel. In fact, calling it just a novel is misleading: it's part documentary, part theater, part incantation, part philosophy; partly Biblical and partly Shakespearean. The riven Ahab towers over the action, his single-minded obsession occasionally giving way to a more mundane kindness; but leading him on inexorably for all that, to the smashing, chilling, crunching, annihilating climax.
Anthony Heald has given a brilliant and well-received reading of the novel. Dietz's version isn't better (or worse), just different. He is clearly reading it, where Heald sometimes sounds like he's making it up as he goes along; but there's a beautiful rhythm to Dietz's reading, a relentless pace, one phrase after another pouring out, rising and falling until the final gasp. The only thing marring it are Dietz's idiosyncratic pronunciations of some of the words: "mariner," for example, always comes out as "mah-riner," and "Ishmael" sounds more like "Ish-me-all." (Attempts to sound New Englandish?) Both readings illuminate a different aspect of the novel. I plan to keep both and listen to both again.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
28 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Secondadonna
- 10-04-15
Can't Imagine a Better Narrator
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
I really enjoyed listening to Norman Dietz. It was the perfect blend of "reading" and "performance." I had read the book myself years ago, but feel I got more out of it by listening to his narration.
Any additional comments?
I sampled all the versions of Moby Dick available on Audible before purchasing, and feel I chose the right one for my taste. I recommend all listeners do the same, as preferences vary greatly.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful