
The Life of Samuel Johnson
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Narrated by:
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David Timson
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By:
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James Boswell
About this listen
Charming, vibrant, witty and edifying, The Life of Samuel Johnson is a work of great obsession and boundless reverence. The literary critic Samuel Johnson was 54 when he first encountered Boswell; the friendship that developed spawned one of the greatest biographies in the history of world literature.
The book is full of humorous anecdote and rich characterization, and paints a vivid picture of 18th-century London, peopled by prominent personalities of the time such as Sir Joshua Reynolds, John Wilkes, Oliver Goldsmith and David Garrick, while also giving a compelling insight into Johnson's complex humanity - his depression, fear of death, intellectual brilliance and rough humor.
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In this, the first prose history in European civilization, Herodotus describes the growth of the Persian Empire with force, authority, and style. Perhaps most famously, the book tells the heroic tale of the Greeks' resistance to the vast invading force assembled by Xerxes, king of Persia. Here are not only the great battles - Marathon, Thermopylae, and Salamis - but also penetrating human insight and a powerful sense of epic destiny at work.
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Best of Audible's "The Histories" by Herodotus
- By Emily on 07-19-16
By: Herodotus
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The History of Rasselas
- By: Samuel Johnson
- Narrated by: Peter Wickham
- Length: 4 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Above all, Samuel Johnson’s Rasselas (1759) is concerned with the nature of happiness. Rasselas and his companions remove themselves from the pleasure of the ‘happy valley’ so that they can make their ‘choice of life’. In the course of their travels they come across scholars, astronomers, shepherds, hermits and poets, explore their way of life. Rasselas finds that complete happiness is elusive and, in the words of his mentor Imlac, ‘while you are making the choice of life, you neglect to live’.
By: Samuel Johnson
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The Essays
- Or Counsels Civil and Moral
- By: Francis Bacon
- Narrated by: Hayward B. Morse
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Francis Bacon (1561-1626), 1st Viscount St Albans, Attorney General and then Lord Chancellor of England, was an immensely learned, clever and ambitious man, with considerable political influence. However, he was also a philosopher with a wide interest in science, medicine and the classification of knowledge. Throughout his life he wrote a series of essays - following the manner set particularly by Montaigne, though extending back to Aristotle and others - the first 10 of which appeared in 1597.
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Instant classic.
- By A.J. on 12-15-19
By: Francis Bacon
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The Faerie Queene
- By: Edmund Spenser
- Narrated by: David Timson
- Length: 33 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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This remarkable poem, dedicated to Queen Elizabeth I, was Spenser's finest achievement. The first epic poem in modern English, The Faerie Queene combines dramatic narratives of chivalrous adventure with exquisite and picturesque episodes of pageantry. At the same time, Spenser is expounding a deeply-felt allegory of the eternal struggle between Truth and Error....
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High Fantasy from the Renaissance
- By Jabba on 10-03-15
By: Edmund Spenser
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The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Volume 1
- By: Edward Gibbon
- Narrated by: Bernard Mayes
- Length: 41 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Considered one of the finest historical works in the English language, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is lauded for its graceful, elegant prose style as much as for its epic scope. Remarkably accurate for its day, Gibbon's treatise holds a high place in the history of literature and remains an enduring subject of study.
Gibbon's monumental work traces the history of more than 13 centuries, covering the great events as well as the general historical progression. This first volume covers A.D. 180 to A.D. 395, which includes the establishment of Christianity and the Crusades.
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One of the best purchases of my life
- By MJL on 10-03-11
By: Edward Gibbon
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Metamorphoses
- Penguin Classics
- By: Ovid, David Raeburn - translator, Denis Feeney
- Narrated by: Martin Jarvis, John Sackville, Maya Saroya, and others
- Length: 18 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Ovid's sensuous and witty poetry brings together a dazzling array of mythological tales, ingeniously linked by the idea of transformation - often as a result of love or lust - where men and women find themselves magically changed into new and sometimes extraordinary beings. Beginning with the creation of the world and ending with the deification of Augustus, Ovid interweaves many of the best-known myths and legends of Ancient Greece and Rome, including Daedalus and Icarus, Pyramus and Thisbe, Pygmalion, Perseus and Andromeda, and the fall of Troy.
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A revelation
- By Michael Cain on 05-24-20
By: Ovid, and others
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The Mark Twain Complete Collection
- All 12 Novels; The Complete Short Stories; Travel Writing; Essays; and Chapters from My Autobiography
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: Nathan Osgood, Ian Porter, Kenneth Jay, and others
- Length: 280 hrs and 21 mins
- Highlights
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This audiobook, read by Audie award-winning narrators, includes unabridged recordings of all Mark Twains's greatest works: 12 novels; over 120 of his beloved short stories; Chapters From My Autobiography; 5 pieces of short non-fiction; and 6 pieces of his groundbreaking, wide-ranging travel writing.
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An Incredible Twain Collection with A* Narration!
- By James on 08-13-24
By: Mark Twain
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The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
- By: Edward Gibbon
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 126 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Here in a single volume is the entire, unabridged recording of Gibbon's masterpiece. Beginning in the second century A.D. at the apex of the Pax Romana, Gibbon traces the arc of decline and complete destruction through the centuries across Europe and the Mediterranean. It is a thrilling and cautionary tale of splendor and ruin, of faith and hubris, and of civilization and barbarism. Follow along as Christianity overcomes paganism... before itself coming under intense pressure from Islam.
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Masterpiece - Best Audiobook I’ve Listened To
- By Student on 09-18-18
By: Edward Gibbon
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Our Oriental Heritage
- The Story of Civilization, Volume 1
- By: Will Durant
- Narrated by: Robin Field
- Length: 50 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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The first volume of Will Durant's Pulitzer Prize-winning series, Our Oriental Heritage: The Story of Civilization, Volume I chronicles the early history of Egypt, the Middle East, and Asia.
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Wonderful
- By Michael on 11-30-13
By: Will Durant
What listeners say about The Life of Samuel Johnson
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- colin kerr
- 01-25-20
For the serious fan only, maybe?
Way too long for anyone other than the most serious student of his life and or times, I think. Well-performed, interesting subject matter usually. I think redundant and over-kill. That's the fault of Boswell's man-crush. lol.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Prov31Aspiration
- 06-18-24
Excellent
The reader does a superb job of bringing to life the various characters in this lengthy book. Boswell's writing is clear and lively, and gives to each reader who has patience to get through his long work a sense of near acquaintance with this exceptional man. I enjoyed the brief glimpses of other contemporaries like Hannah More and John Wesley, and historic events like the Revolutionary War, all viewed from, as it were, ground level. The inclusion of his letters is a valuable addition, especially as a picture of friendship before the technological age.
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- Anonymous User
- 08-22-18
Stunningly thorough
I've never before felt like I knew the subject of a book personally. Boswell makes you feel as if you actually knew Johnson, and the reader makes both Johnson and Boswell come to life.
There's one part that I was particularly impressed with: Boswell quotes Hawkins quoting Johnson, after Boswell expresses doubts about the authenticity of the quote. The reader read the quote in Johnson's "voice", but subtly added the accent from the Hawkins "voice" to it. I was impressed that that much attention was paid to details.
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13 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 08-31-22
A Masterful Reading Of The Classic Biography
Mr. Timmons’ reading allowed the listener to imagine he was eavesdropping on the dawning of modern English literature. This exhilarating experience was in no small part due to the narrator’s complete, consistent, and nuanced application of the appropriate dialect for everyone of the represented characters.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Alex M. Frankel
- 04-23-19
Brilliant
Highly recommended. It’s the kind of book (or audiobook) that can be read and reread.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Anonymous User
- 01-01-24
Unique
You see the subject for who he really was rather than for where he went and what he did.
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- Tad Davis
- 02-02-18
Wonderful!
I usually try to wait till I’ve finished listening to a book to write a review. I have to make an exception in this case. David Timson is the perfect narrator for Boswell’s Life of Johnson, and he carries it off with lightness and charm (and the slightest of Scottish accents). I took a point off on the story because I dislike Boswell - it’s irrational, but despite his charm and his devotion to Johnson, I can’t help feeling he’s not a very nice person. Fortunately the effect of the book is of spending many hours in Johnson’s company rather than Boswell’s.
There is one other recording of the complete Life available on Audible. While both are excellent, Timson’s delivery is more engaging and the sound quality of this recording is better.
Don’t think of it as a mammoth undertaking. Think of it as something to listen to for an hour a day - at that rate you’ll have gone through the whole thing in less than two months. You can even take weekends off.
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50 people found this helpful
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- Robert S. Becker
- 12-18-24
Amazing quality
I enjoyed reading Boswell’s Johnson, and loved Timson’s performance of same. The book comes to life in his recording. It’s as grand as a Beethoven symphony.
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- phillip88
- 02-05-25
The voice of Johnson
The voice of Johnson had such a natural affect that I believe that I was hearing Dr Johnson.
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- Vinayak
- 11-14-18
The finest literary biography
The Life of Johnson by Boswell is a wonderful treat for anyone interested in literature and literary biographies. It is a biography that intuitively understood how to bring the subject alive and leads you through Dr Johnson’s everyday preoccupations and literary exertions. More than anything, it introduces us to the live everyday conversations of Dr Johnson, whose solemn wit and repartee is legendary, either alone with Boswell or in company with other great names of the era - Garrick the actor, Oliver Goldsmith, Reynolds the artist, and many others. It is a long book but fascinating for anyone interested in the subject and in the times. David Timson is probably the best narrator of English literature with perfect enunciation as well as the right intonation. It is indeed an education to listen to his narration of the book. #EnglishLiterature #Biography #OutstandingNarration #18thCenturyLondon #Tagsgiving #Sweepstakes
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8 people found this helpful