Preview

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Country of the Blind

By: H. G. Wells
Narrated by: Walter Zimmerman
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $1.95

Buy for $1.95

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

Publisher's summary

In this famous fantasy story, a mountain climber falls into a strange and isolated society of non-seeing persons - claiming to have been in existence for 15 generations and cut off from the rest of the world by an earthquake. The interloper decides quickly that "In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king". However, things turn out very differently than he had planned. The experience of being an "other" - a seeing man in a world of blind persons - is the major theme of this story.
Public Domain (P)1980 Jimcin Recordings
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Editorial reviews

Desiderius Erasmus, Dutch theologian, and Bob Dylan, rock star, have both uttered versions of the maxim, "In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man is king." The sentiment, however, may find its fullest expression in The Country of the Blind, the short novel by the incomparable H. G. Wells, first published in 1904.

As performed in a clear and slightly uneasy tone by Walter Zimmerman, The Country of the Blind follows a mountain climber who falls down a precipice into a land where every human being is without the gift of sight. Part Twilight Zone, part adventure narrative, the traveler’s odyssey challenges the listener to place herself into a familiar - yet vastly altered - world.

What listeners say about The Country of the Blind

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    33
  • 4 Stars
    27
  • 3 Stars
    15
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    6
Performance
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    18
  • 4 Stars
    21
  • 3 Stars
    13
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    3
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    25
  • 4 Stars
    25
  • 3 Stars
    6
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    4

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Touching

A beautiful, touching story that makes you think twice about many things. The narration is wonderful and this has turned me into a genuine HG Wells fan!

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very much worth reading

If you could sum up The Country of the Blind in three words, what would they be?

Perception and reality

What did you like best about this story?

I t made me think about what i believe, how i percieve things, and how the problem of perception is very much present in today's world

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Decent story, sleepy narration

Not one of Wells's best, but an interesting social fable. Although it probably influenced some lost-civilization stories that followed, it's more of a self-contained piece than other works by Wells where he is more or less inventing a genre. I found the narration flatter and less energetic than the story called for.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good story - bad record.

Any additional comments?

The biggest downfall of this audiobook is the quality of the record: it is awful. Very much noise is coming together with narrator's words and it is very unpleasant to listen to. I had to stop it after 10 minutes and read it from a book. So far the other books I've listened to were good, so this was a surprise. Otherwise it is a good short story of H.G. Wells. Please note though that it is the first (1904) version of the story. Wells expanded how the story ends in 1939 revised edition.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Turns a Quote on its Head-Then is just Stale

Wells apparently doesn't like the quote "in the country of the blind the one eyed man is king". That's literally what this whole short story was about. Something to muse about but after about 15 mins it was old. The production was pretty low quality and the reader didn't help much. There are some exceptions, I can see a special education teacher finding this an interesting story but not something I would recommend to many people.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Narration somewhat unexciting

This story is not what I expected, and therefore very interesting, but the rating would have been higher if the narration could have more expression (e.g. less flat and unexciting).

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful