The Dream of a Ridiculous Man
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Narrated by:
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Walter Zimmerman
About this listen
The Dream of a Ridiculous Man is one of his best short pieces. No less a writer than Virginia Woolf says of Dostoevsky, "Out of Shakespeare there is no more exciting reading."
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Assembled from notes and jottings left unpublished at the time of the author’s death, The Book of Disquiet is a collection of aphoristic prose-poetry musings on dreams, solitude, time and memory. Credited to Pessoa’s alter ego, Bernardo Soares, who chronicles his contemplations in this so-called "factless" autobiography, the work is a journey of one man’s soul and, by extension, of all human souls that allow their minds and hearts to roam far and free.
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The book that saved my life
- By Hutchinson on 03-09-21
By: Fernando Pessoa
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Frankenstein
- The Modern Prometheus
- By: Mary Shelley
- Narrated by: Mark Nelson
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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During the rainy summer of 1816, the "Year Without a Summer", the world was locked in a long cold volcanic winter caused by the eruption of Mount Tambora in 1815. Mary Shelley, aged 18, and her lover (and later husband) Percy Bysshe Shelley, visited Lord Byron at the Villa Diodati by Lake Geneva in Switzerland. The weather was consistently too cold and dreary that summer to enjoy the outdoor holiday activities they had planned, so the group retired indoors until dawn.
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A must read/listen
- By R. Daly on 11-13-23
By: Mary Shelley
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A Woman of No Importance
- By: Oscar Wilde
- Narrated by: Miriam Margolyes, Samantha Mathis, Rosalind Ayres, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 34 mins
- Original Recording
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Devilishly attractive Lord Illingworth is notorious for his skill as a seducer. But he is still invited to all the "best" houses, while his female conquests must hide their shame in seclusion. In this devastating drawing-room comedy, Oscar Wilde uses his celebrated wit to expose English society's narrow view of everything from sexual mores to Americans.
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Pitch Perfect Performance
- By Cheryl on 08-26-12
By: Oscar Wilde
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Two Horror Classics: Frankenstein and Dracula
- By: Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker
- Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
- Length: 28 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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In Frankenstein, a classic tale of bio-engineering gone horribly wrong, Victor Frankenstein uses body parts of the dead to bring a creature to life. When Frankenstein abandons his experiment in horror, the Monster embarks on a quest that results in the ultimate revenge. In Dracula, a timeless gothic vampire romance, young solicitor Jonathan Harker must shield his fiancé, Mina, from the predations of the insatiable Count Dracula. Mysteriously drawn to the Count, Mina, however, struggles to break free from the psychic grip of the mysterious dark stranger from Transylvania.
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Wonderful rendition of two Gothic Horror classics!
- By Teela'Na on 10-03-19
By: Mary Shelley, and others
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Philosopher of the Heart
- The Restless Life of Søren Kierkegaard
- By: Clare Carlisle
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 10 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Søren Kierkegaard is one of the most passionate and challenging of all modern philosophers, and is often regarded as the founder of existentialism. Over about a decade in the 1840s and 1850s, writings poured from his pen pursuing the question of existence - how to be a human being in the world? - while exploring the possibilities of Christianity and confronting the failures of its institutional manifestation around him.
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Fatally flawed
- By Citizen M on 02-26-23
By: Clare Carlisle
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The Bridge of San Luis Rey
- By: Thornton Wilder
- Narrated by: Sam Waterston
- Length: 3 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Wilder's stories consistently explored the connections between the commonplace and cosmic dimensions of human experience, always returning to fundamental questions about the meaning of life. This Pulitzer Prize-winning tale concerns the lives of five people who fall to their deaths from a Peruvian rope bridge in 1714. A humble Franciscan, Brother Juniper, witnesses the accident and determines to learn about the lives of the victims in order to find out whether this accident happened by chance or by plan.
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Excellent Story, But Poor Audiobook Technically
- By RKL on 11-15-13
By: Thornton Wilder
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Secrets in the Dark
- A Life in Sermons
- By: Frederick Buechner, Brian D. McLaren - foreword
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 12 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Frederick Buechner has long been a kindred spirit to those who find elements of doubt as constant companions on their journey of faith. He is a passionate writer and preacher who can alter lives with a simple phrase. Reflecting Buechner's exquisite gift for storytelling and his compassionate pastor's heart, Secrets in the Dark will inspire laughter, hope, and bring great solace. Start listening and rediscover what it means to be thoughtful about faith.
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Food for Thinking People of Faith
- By GDF on 10-05-20
By: Frederick Buechner, and others
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The Forgotten Language
- An Introduction to the Understanding of Dreams, Fairy Tales, and Myths
- By: Erich Fromm
- Narrated by: Kevin Young
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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In this study, Fromm argues that man needs to analyze his unconscious thoughts, his dreams, and his conscious fantasies, as they reflect a universal and symbolic representation of himself.
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Fromm at full steam
- By Paul on 02-15-16
By: Erich Fromm
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The Beast in the Jungle and the Evolution of the Short Story
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Jonathan Epstein
- Length: 2 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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A gentleman, with the aid of a close female companion, investigates a hidden disturbance within his unconscious. This acclaimed classic short story is rendered in perfect Jamesian fashion by narrator Jonathan Epstein.
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Wonderful
- By Joyce on 10-15-16
By: Henry James
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Figures of Earth
- A Comedy of Appearances
- By: James Branch Cabell
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 7 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Figures of Earth, subtitled "A Comedy of Appearances", follows the vicissitudes of Dom Manuel the Redeemer from his lowly swineherd origins through his unlikely elevation to the Count of Poictesme, and beyond. Published in 1921, it was the second volume of “The Biography of Manuel”, Cabell’s great work about an imaginary land that also managed to skewer the world of his upbringing as a Southern Gentleman of Virginia, and nearly everything else, besides!
What listeners say about The Dream of a Ridiculous Man
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- Gambit
- 09-13-16
The story was great
The story was great the narrator not so
much... I suggest listening to the story but looking for a different narrator
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- Mark
- 07-04-14
Dostoyevsky Gem
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What a wonderful, challenging, philosophical, fantastical short story by Dostoyevsky. The narrator is very clear and well-paced. Audio quality is OK.
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- Rex Michael Dillon
- 05-10-19
Not the greatest telling
Although this is one of my favorite Dostoevsky short stories, this translation and the telling felt a bit stiff. This story is best read or told as one of those conversations you have on rare occasions when you are both trapped waiting. The reader doesn't share the urgency and conviction that Dostoevsky was trying to convey.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Jeb
- 03-19-12
Incredibly imaginative
Dostoevsky's gift as a story-teller is on display in "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man". Zimmerman is ideal for narrating FD.
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- Amazon Customer
- 12-07-24
One hour or a lifetime
This book felt me sitting on my couch just thinking about the deep meaning behind this story amazing that in one hour anyone who reads this book will be charged if they truly listen to the story and the deep theological truth behind it
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- Jeremy Devens
- 01-09-09
Inspiring
Not perfect, but well written and well thought out. If you like Dostoevsky, you'll like this.
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11 people found this helpful
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- James
- 08-27-12
An Alternative to This Narration
Any additional comments?
I'm sorry to say I couldn't enjoy Walter Zimmerman's narration. I've found this same story in a small, inexpensive collection of Dostoyevsky short stories called "A Disgraceful Affair." Since it isn't obvoius which stories that collection contains (odd to me, since Dream of a Ridiculous Man is pretty famous and I'd think the collection would sell better if they'd put it up front), I thought I'd come here and recommend that one as an alternative.The narrators for that collection are Michael Page and Kirby Heyborne, and I'm not sure which reads Dream of a Ridiculous Man. The performance there is a bit more manic than the voice I "hear" when I read Dostoyevsky, but it's a worthy intepretation.Anyway, if you want to give a different narrator a shot at this great story, punch "A Disgraceful Affair" into the search engine. I don't know the other stories it contains except the very early one called "White Nights," which is also lovely.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Marty
- 05-07-19
Expected to be Wowed.
An article I read had referenced this book and it sounded good. I was a bit disappointed with the lack of purpose and it reminded me of the 1960 movie "The Time Machine".
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- M. M.
- 03-16-10
great book but....
Walter Zimmerman is terrible...
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1 person found this helpful