The Book of the City of Ladies
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Narrated by:
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Georgina Sutton
About this listen
Shocked and distressed by a male writer's vilification of women, Christine de Pizan has a powerful dreamlike vision in which she is visited by three personified Virtues: Reason, Rectitude and Justice. They tell her she has been chosen to write a book which will be like a city, housing virtuous women and protecting them from feminist attack.
Heroines past and present form the foundations of this city - biblical and mythical heroines, ruling queens, Christian saints, and inventors are among them. Partly myth, partly fact, The Book of the City of Ladies is an extraordinary, pioneering and impassioned defense of women that set out to shatter medieval misogynist cliches, and serve to instill self-worth in its female listeners of the time.
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The vengeful King Schahriar agrees to stave off the execution of Queen Scheherazade until she finishes a particularly compelling story. Her plan? Bleed one tale into another. Through fanciful histories, romances, tragedies, comedies, poems, riddles, and songs, Scheherazade prolongs her life by holding the king’s rapt attention. With origins in Persian and Eastern Indian folklore, the stories of The Arabian Nights have been reworked, reshaped, revised, collected, and supplemented throughout the centuries by various authors and scholars.
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Very edited version
- By HDVE on 11-13-18
By: Andrew Lang
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Coriolanus
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Richard Burton, Jessica Tandy
- Length: 3 hrs and 20 mins
- Original Recording
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Story
A classic performance of one of the Bard's classics.
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Amazing
- By Fificat on 04-01-18
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Don Quixote (Adapted for Modern Listeners)
- By: Miguel de Cervantes
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 4 hrs and 39 mins
- Abridged
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Quixotic is a word that the dictionary defines as "extravagantly chivalrous or romantic; visionary...." and that is a fitting definition, indeed, for this charming retelling of Don Quixote, the 17t- century Spanish classic by Miguel de Cervantes, now updated for the modern listener. The gallant and fragile Quixote will touch listeners, as will his faithful squire Sancho Panza and the tragically beautiful heroine of the gentle Don’s chivalries, the fair Dulcinea.
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Great way in
- By pxriver on 07-12-18
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Don Quixote
- By: John Ormsby - translator, Miguel de Cervantes
- Narrated by: Roy McMillan
- Length: 36 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
The most influential work of the entire Spanish literary canon and a founding work of modern Western literature, Don Quixote is also one of the greatest works ever written. Hugely entertaining but also moving at times, this episodic novel is built on the fantasy life of one Alonso Quixano, who lives with his niece and housekeeper in La Mancha. Quixano, obsessed by tales of knight errantry, renames himself ‘Don Quixote’ and with his faithful servant Sancho Panza, goes on a series of quests.
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More than funny
- By Colin on 08-21-11
By: John Ormsby - translator, and others
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The Greek Way
- By: Edith Hamilton
- Narrated by: Nadia May
- Length: 8 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Based on a thorough study of Greek life and civilization, of Greek literature, philosophy, and art, The Greek Way interprets their meaning and brings a realization of the refuge and strength the past can be to us in the troubled present. Miss Hamilton's book must take its place with the few interpretative volumes which are permanently rooted and profoundly alive in our literature.
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...Not as Good as The Echo of Greece
- By The Masked Reviewer on 11-04-16
By: Edith Hamilton
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The Life and Times of Chaucer
- By: John Gardner
- Narrated by: Graeme Malcolm
- Length: 15 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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In this exquisite biography, John Gardner brings to life Geoffrey Chaucer, illuminating his writings and their inspiration like never before. Through exhaustive research and expert storytelling, Gardner takes readers through Chaucer’s varied career - from writing The Canterbury Tales to performing diplomatic work at the Parliament - and creates a fully realized portrait of an author whose work would remake the English language forever. Written with passion and insight, this a must-listen for those interested in Chaucer and the medieval time period.
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Good book, but quoted passages are in Old English
- By Kathi on 02-26-14
By: John Gardner
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Greek Mythology
- A Captivating Introduction to Greek Myths of Greek Gods, Goddesses, Heroes, and Monsters
- By: Matt Clayton
- Narrated by: Dryw McArthur
- Length: 3 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
This comprehensive collection introduces you to Greek mythology and will also captivate your attention and imagination, so you can relive the tales of the most fabulous Greek gods, goddesses, heroes, and monsters.
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Listen before reading the actual works
- By Paul on 07-11-18
By: Matt Clayton
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The Arabian Nights Entertainments
- By: Louis Rhead
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 14 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The central core of the stories concerns a Persian king and his new bride. The king has a brother who is a vizier in faraway Samarcand, and he invites him to come to the palace for a visit. Just before his departure, the vizier is shocked to discover his wife's infidelity. Enraged, he kills her. Full of pain and grief, the vizier continues on to the court of his brother, the king. But, once arrived at his brother's palace, the vizier soon discovers the king's wife is also involved in an even more flagrant infidelity.
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A PLEASURE NOT TO BE HURRIED
- By Marvin Brown on 09-21-16
By: Louis Rhead
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Father Ambrosio, the most pious and venerated monk in all of Madrid, is held as a paragon of virtue. But after 30 years of study and prayer, evil thoughts begin to permeate his mind. As two plots cleverly converge, torture, murder, incest, rape, poison, and magic prevail, sustained by an elegance in the writing of the 19-year-old Matthew Lewis.
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A Wonder Whose Origin is Unknown
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Piers Plowman
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Soul Awakening
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The Song of Roland
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Modern language retained rhyme structure.
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The Monk
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Interesting story
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The Canterbury Tales [Blackstone]
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
In this edition, we hear, translated into modern English, 20-some tales, told in the voices of knight and merchant, wife and miller, squire and nun, and many more. Some are bawdy, some spiritual, some romantic, some mysterious, some chivalrous. Between the stories, the travelers converse, joke, and argue, revealing much about their individual outlooks upon life as well as what life was like in late 14th-century England.
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A helpful index
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The Imitation of Christ
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Overall
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First published in 1471, the year of the author’s death, The Imitation of Christ is a highly influential Christian text. A celebration of God’s mercy, holiness, and love, The Imitation is a devotional guide in which Christians are urged to trust fully in God and submit to the circumstances of the life that we are given by God. Although Thomas à Kempis spent 70 years of his life in the confines of a monastery, this work shows a complete comprehension of human nature.
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Excellent: great book to be listened.
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By: Thomas à Kempis
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Parzival
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The greatest of all the medieval romances about the Holy Grail, Parzival was written in the early 13th century. The narrative describes the quest of the Arthurian knight Parzival for the Holy Grail. His journey is filled with incident, from tournaments and sieges to chivalrous deeds and displays of true love.
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This one didn’t work for me
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The Decameron
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The Decameron is one of the greatest literary works of the Middle Ages. Ten young people have fled the terrible effects of the Black Death in Florence and, in an idyllic setting, tell a series of brilliant stories, by turns humorous, bawdy, tragic and provocative. This celebration of physical and sexual vitality is Boccaccio's answer to the sublime other-worldliness of Dante's Divine Comedy.
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Not Up to the Usual Naxos Standard
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The Second Sex
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Simone de Beauvoir’s essential masterwork is a powerful analysis of the Western notion of "woman", and a revolutionary exploration of inequality and otherness. This unabridged edition of the text reinstates significant portions of the original French text that were cut in the first English translation, and is now available on audio for the very first time. Vital and groundbreaking, Beauvoir’s pioneering and impressive text remains as pertinent today as when it was first published, and will continue to provoke and inspire generations of men and women to come.
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Great book, performance lacking
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What listeners say about The Book of the City of Ladies
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- JoAnn
- 03-09-22
The audio really illuminated the ideas for me
I have had a secondhand copy of Christine de Pizan's "The Book of the City of Ladies" for years, but was always intimidated to get started on it, because of the medieval language. The subject matter just felt so daunting and archaic.
This translation, as well as Georgina Sutton's energetic and crisp performance of it, really illuminated the modernity of this 15th century text for me, which include tackling the popular misogynist ideas of the time period in which they were written. Each chapter is a profile of a woman (mythical or real) who illustrates a particular strength (virtue, courage, etc) that serves not only as a foundational brick in building the mythical City of Ladies, but as a counterpoint to the anti-woman bias that pervaded medieval philosophy and culture. It cannot be held to the standard of 21st century feminism standards, but for its 15th century time, it is a radical work. It should be taught in schools!
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