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The Summing Up
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
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Publisher's summary
The Summing Up represents Maugham's life and philosophy in his own words. It is autobiographical in nature, though most of the work is concerned with Maugham's unique and fascinating opinions on the theater, writing, metaphysics, and the interesting people he encountered in his long and successful career. His style is very conversational and you feel yourself settling into an intellectual odyssey led by a man who lived life to its fullest. Sixty years after The Summing Up was published, Maugham's controversial insights and opinions continue to stimulate conversation and debate. This is one of the most entertaining, self-revealing pieces of all time.
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Like having Steven Hawking read poetry
- By J. Gorton on 02-29-16
By: G. K. Chesterton
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Edgar Allan Poe - The Complete Works Collection
- By: Edgar Allan Poe
- Narrated by: Philippe Duquenoy
- Length: 48 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Edgar Allan Poe was one of the most prolific authors of his time, eventually gaining recognition for his tales of horror and his uncanny ability to paint a macabre picture with words. The Complete Works Collection of Edgar Allan Poe contains over 150 stories and poems, separated into individual chapters, including all of Poe's most notorious works such as The Raven, Annabel Lee, A Dream Within a Dream, Lenore, The Tell-Tale Heart, and many more.
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Would recommend to anyone!!!
- By Gail Blackwell on 03-14-18
By: Edgar Allan Poe
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Letters to a Young Poet
- By: Rainer Maria Rilke, Stephen Mitchell - translator
- Narrated by: Stephen Mitchell
- Length: 1 hr and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Ranier Maria Rilke challenges you, "...to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answers." Rilke's ability to combine the sensual and the spiritual into an inspired vision of the art of living is brought to vivid life in his letters. Through his eyes, the everyday difficulties of love, sex, solitude, sadness, and doubt are seen as the archetypal elements of the drama called life.
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Priceless Recordings of Intense Feeling
- By David on 10-08-04
By: Rainer Maria Rilke, and others
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Measure for Measure
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Royal Shakespeare Company
- Length: 2 hrs and 27 mins
- Original Recording
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A performance of the tragi-comedy by the Royal Shakespeare Company. When a young woman is offered the choice of saving a man's life at the price of her own chastity, what should she do? The political and moral corruption of Vienna has driven Duke Vincentio into hiding while his deputy governor, Angelo, is left to revive the old discipline of civic authority. Angelo's first act is to imprison Claudio, a young nobleman who has gotten his betrothed, Juliet, with child.
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Highly recommended
- By Todd on 10-16-08
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The Story of Philosophy
- The Lives and Opinions of the Greater Philosophers
- By: Will Durant
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 19 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Durant lucidly describes the philosophical systems of such world-famous “monarchs of the mind” as Plato, Aristotle, Francis Bacon, Spinoza, Kant, Voltaire, and Nietzsche. Along with their ideas, he offers their flesh-and-blood biographies, placing their thoughts within their own time and place and elucidating their influence on our modern intellectual heritage. This book is packed with wisdom and wit.
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Fantastic and insightful book
- By ESK on 01-25-13
By: Will Durant
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The Education of Henry Adams
- By: Henry Adams
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 19 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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As a journalist, historian, and novelist born into a family that included two past presidents of the United States, Henry Adams was constantly focused on the American experiment. An immediate bestseller awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1919, The Education of Henry Adams recounts his own and the country's education from 1838, the year of his birth, to 1905, incorporating the Civil War, capitalist expansion, and the growth of the United States as a world power.
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A Book EVERYONE should read once.
- By Darwin8u on 04-17-12
By: Henry Adams
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The Art of Worldly Wisdom
- By: Balthasar Gracian
- Narrated by: Keira Grace
- Length: 4 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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The Art of Worldly Wisdom was written in 1647. It is a collection of 300 maxims on various topics, each elaborated with a commentary. The sayings offer advice and guidance on how to live well, advance socially, and be a better person.
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Terrible Narration
- By John P. Owens on 08-31-22
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Why We Are Restless
- On the Modern Quest for Contentment
- By: Benjamin Storey, Jenna Silber Storey
- Narrated by: Laurel Lefkow
- Length: 6 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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We live in an age of unprecedented prosperity, yet everywhere we see signs that our pursuit of happiness has proven fruitless. Dissatisfied, we seek change for the sake of change - even if it means undermining the foundations of our common life. In Why We Are Restless, Benjamin and Jenna Storey offer a profound and beautiful reflection on the roots of this malaise and examine how we might begin to cure ourselves.
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Good primer.
- By Chris on 09-29-21
By: Benjamin Storey, and others
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Philip Carey, a sensitive orphan born with a clubfoot, finds himself in desperate need of passion and inspiration. He abandons his studies to travel, first to Heidelberg and then to Paris, where he nurses ambitions of becoming a great artist. Philip's youthful idealism erodes, however, as he comes face-to-face with his own mediocrity and lack of impact on the world. After returning to London to study medicine, he becomes wildly infatuated with Mildred, a vulgar, tawdry waitress, and begins a doomed love affair.
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A masterful production of Maugham's short stories.
- By J. J. Kuzma on 09-07-13
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Of all Somerset Maugham’s novels this is the most entertaining and arguably his best ever. Rosie is a barmaid with a heart of gold and a skeleton in her closet. Maugham’s portrait of her makes his novel fairly glow with witty observations of the contemporary literary scene. Features Willie Ashenden, who resurfaces in Maugham’s Ashenden.
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Great character, a little slow towards the end
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Far eastern Tales is a collection of Maugham's short stories, all born of his experiences in Malaysia, Singapore, and other outposts of the former British Empire. The stories included on this recording are Footprints in the Jungle, Mabel, P & O, The Door of Oportunity, The Buried Talent, Before the Party, Mr. Know-all, Neil MacAdam, The End of the Flight and The Force of Circumstance.
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As perfect a reading as I've ever heard
- By Ted on 05-30-16
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The Great War changed everything and everyone, and Larry Darrell is no exception. Though his physical wounds from the war heal, his spirit is changed almost beyond recognition. He leaves his betrothed, the beautiful and devoted Isabel; studies philosophy and religion in Paris; lives as a monk, and witnesses the exotic hardships of Spanish life. All of life that he can find - from an Indian Ashrama to labor in a coal mine - becomes Larry's spiritual experiment as he spurns the comfort and privilege of the Roaring 20s.
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The Painted Veil
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First published in 1925, The Painted Veil is an affirmation of the human capacity to grow, change, and forgive. Set in England and Hong Kong in the 1920s, it is the story of the beautiful but shallow young Kitty Fane. When her husband discovers her adulterous affair, he forces her to accompany him to a remote region of China ravaged by a cholera epidemic.
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What An Unexpected Delight!
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You won't want it to end!
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A masterful production of Maugham's short stories.
- By J. J. Kuzma on 09-07-13
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Cakes and Ale
- or The Skeleton in the Cupboard
- By: W. Somerset Maugham
- Narrated by: Neil Hunt
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Overall
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Of all Somerset Maugham’s novels this is the most entertaining and arguably his best ever. Rosie is a barmaid with a heart of gold and a skeleton in her closet. Maugham’s portrait of her makes his novel fairly glow with witty observations of the contemporary literary scene. Features Willie Ashenden, who resurfaces in Maugham’s Ashenden.
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Great character, a little slow towards the end
- By Thomas on 01-03-19
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As perfect a reading as I've ever heard
- By Ted on 05-30-16
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An Classic of Love and the Desire for Meaning
- By Eric on 01-06-17
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The Painted Veil
- By: W. Somerset Maugham
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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What An Unexpected Delight!
- By Mimi on 10-22-08
What listeners say about The Summing Up
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Eric Chevlen
- 10-30-05
Portrait of the artist as an old man
Listening to "The Summing Up" is like sitting with Maugham in a dimly lit club room on a steamer slowly chugging across a distant sea. He is leisurely, even dilatory, in his deeply considered but gently offered reminiscences. His was the life of an artist--a self-conscious artist who intended to hone the skills of his art. He shares his thoughts on great writers of the past, and discusses the business of succeeding as a dramatist. The last section of this book is frankly philosophical. This book reminds one of an an autobiography written with the frankness of a man who thought it would never be read by others. Perhaps it feels so frank because it deals mostly with his thoughts, and so little with the events of his life. For example, this book never even mentions that he married and fathered a daughter, nor does it allude to the years he allegedly spent living with a homosexual lover.
As always, Charlton Griffin, who reads this book for us, is superb beyond description. He brings the perfect mixture of erudition and languor to the reading.
I highly recommend this recording for anyone who contemplates living the life of a writer.
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19 people found this helpful
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- Yury C.
- 04-26-24
Variety of the most important subjects
Serious great work.
It is the best to listen to it after reading the majority of Maugham’s books.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Barak
- 07-07-24
A must for people who love the works of Maugham
I've listened to this many times. I think I may like listening to it more than reading it. The part towards the end on metaphysics is quite impressive though compact. I don't think this is a book for someone who hasn't read the author before. Charlton G's narration is perfect if you've been listening to other books by Maugham narrated by him, at least for me as I love his voice, and also because the author has a unique way of inserting himself as the narrator of many of his novels, so you feel as if this autobiographical text fits right in...
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- Wilhelm Snyman
- 09-04-07
Maugham magic
A wonderfully enriching voyage through Maugham's sensibility. A very rewarding listening experience as Maugham's opinions are well thought through, albe they of a certain time, but you find you have to take a stance and he causes one to think in new directions. Honest and very instructive as well.
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12 people found this helpful
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- Leo Aprendi
- 01-11-23
Reflections on a full life
Maugham wrote clearly and without humbug. Much to absorb here about drama, fiction, philosophy, religion, and autobiography. Many aphorisms and much wry humor. Both proud and modest at the same time. Does not claim “to know it all,” and has the wisdom to say so.
The Audible narrator does a good unhurried job.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Thomas
- 04-09-19
A book that could actually change your life
... especially if you're an artist. a breath of fresh air of common sense communicated with humility and grace. and if you already enjoy maughm, this is a no-brainer. only wish I had read this earlier.
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2 people found this helpful
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- self
- 09-14-15
Awful narration.
Would you listen to The Summing Up again? Why?
Interesting book by Somerset Maugham. Nearly destroyed by a narrator that noisily swallows, licks lips and makes disgusting mouth noises distracting me from the story. I am thinking about returning this book because of this. Wouldn't read this narrator again.
Would you be willing to try another one of Charlton Griffin’s performances?
No! See above.
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5 people found this helpful
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- A satisfied customer
- 01-03-18
A profound book
A brilliant and moving summation of a brilliant and moving writer whose works are well worth reading. Highly recommended.
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1 person found this helpful
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- eclectic reader
- 01-17-18
A thought provoking insight into one of the twentieth century Giants
I'm not a big fan of Maugham but found this book very interesting. It does reflect the continuing change of cultural sensitivities and norms.
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1 person found this helpful