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Heart of Darkness: A Signature Performance by Kenneth Branagh
- Narrated by: Kenneth Branagh
- Length: 3 hrs and 49 mins
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Editorial reviews
"The horror! The horror!" In this brooding and justly celebrated novella of 1902, seaman Charles Marlow is cruising quietly down the Thames at dusk with some friends. As night begins to fall, he tells them of his harrowing journey down an African river in search of the unscrupulous and near-legendary ivory trader named Kurtz, a quest deep into inky spiritual and symbolic darkness. Acclaimed Irish actor/director Kenneth Branagh impersonates Marlow in this recording. Admirably, while fully playing the drama, he never goes overboard. He plays the tale for the great yarn that it is. But had he taken more cognizance of its trajectory and subtleties, he would have made the listening experience far richer than he has.
Publisher's summary
Prose that demands to be read aloud requires a special kind of narrator. For the Audible Signature Classics edition of Joseph Conrad’s atmospheric masterpiece, Heart of Darkness, we called upon four-time Academy Award nominee Kenneth Branagh.
Branagh’s performance is riveting because he reads as though he’s telling a ghost story by a campfire, capturing the story’s sense of claustrophobia, while hinting at the storyteller Marlow’s own creeping madness. Heart of Darkness follows Captain Marlow into the colonial Congo where he searches for a mysterious ivory trader, Kurtz, and discovers an evil that will haunt him forever.
With this landmark work, Conrad is credited with bringing the novel into the twentieth century; we think Branagh brings it into the twenty-first.
Stay tuned for more one-of-a-kind performances from actors David Hyde Pierce, Leelee Sobieski, Tim Curry, and more, only from Audible Signature Classics.
Listen to more Audible Signature Classics.
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Wealthy ne'er-do-well Humphrey Van Weyden is a castaway who is put to work on the schooner Ghost, run by brutal Wolf Larsen. Toughened by life at sea, Humphrey develops the strength to protect another castaway, Maud Brewster, and stand up to the increasingly deranged Larsen. Experience the crashing, relentless power of the sea through this compelling story, made hauntingly immediate by author London's vivid prose.
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Great entertainment
- By Ross on 05-31-03
By: Jack London
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Shadow of the Moon
- By: M. M. Kaye
- Narrated by: Tara Ochs
- Length: 34 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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The author of The Far Pavilions returns us once again to the vast, intoxicating romance of India under the British Raj. Shadow of the Moon is the story of Winter de Ballesteros, a beautiful English heiress come home to her beloved India. It is also the tale of Captain Alex Randall, her protector, who aches to possess her. Forged in the fires of a war that threatens to topple an empire, their tale is the saga of a desperate and unforgettable love that consumes all in its thrall.
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Has always been a great story.
- By Sian on 06-08-14
By: M. M. Kaye
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Dracula [Audible Edition]
- By: Bram Stoker
- Narrated by: Alan Cumming, Tim Curry, Simon Vance, and others
- Length: 15 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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The modern audience hasn't had a chance to truly appreciate the unknowing dread that readers would have felt when reading Bram Stoker's original 1897 manuscript. Most modern productions employ campiness or sound effects to try to bring back that gothic tension, but we've tried something different. By returning to Stoker's original storytelling structure - a series of letters and journal entries voiced by Jonathan Harker, Dr. Van Helsing, and other characters - with an all-star cast of narrators, we've sought to recapture its originally intended horror and power.
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IS THAT NOT SO?
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 11-05-15
By: Bram Stoker
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The Four Feathers
- By: A. E. W. Mason
- Narrated by: Ralph Cosham
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Just before his regiment sails off to war in the Sudan, British officer Harry Feversham quits the military. He is immediately given four white feathers as symbols of cowardice, one by each of his three best friends and one by his fiancée. To disprove this grave dishonor, Harry dons an Arabian disguise and leaves for the Sudan, where he anonymously comes to the aid of his three friends, saving each of their lives. Having proven his bravery, Harry returns to England, hoping to regain the love and respect of his fiancée.
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Deep Realistic Story Masterfully Read
- By Kappavpi on 07-05-04
By: A. E. W. Mason
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A Hero of Our Time
- By: Mikhail Lermontov
- Narrated by: Nicholas Boulton
- Length: 6 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Grigori Aleksandrovich Pechorin is an enigma: arrogant, cocky, melancholic, brave, cynic, romantic, loner, socialite, soldier, free soul, and yet, victim of the world, he eludes definition and remains a mystery to those who know him. Just who is he? And what does he hope to achieve? Evolving from first person to third person, and then into a diary, A Hero of Our Time takes on a variety of forms to interrogate Pechorin's cryptic character and his unusual philosophy, providing breathtaking descriptions of the Caucasus along the way.
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Sarcastic Title
- By SmartShopper on 04-23-24
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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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The Most Dangerous Game
- By: Richard Connell
- Narrated by: B.J. Harrison
- Length: 58 mins
- Unabridged
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A mysterious island, shrouded in fear, evil, and darkness. Here the amoral General Zaroff hunts. And what, you ask, is the most dangerous game? It is the manner and substance of his nightly killings.
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A TRUE COSMOPOLITE
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 08-02-16
By: Richard Connell
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The Narrow Corner
- By: W. Somerset Maugham
- Narrated by: David Thorpe
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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On his way home from a remote Pacific island, Dr Saunders travels with two strangers: the treacherous Captain Nichols, and Fred, a handsome Australian with a shadowy past. Driven to shelter from a storm on the island of Banda, the trio meets good-natured Erik Christessen and his fiancée, the cool and beautiful Louise. A tense, exotic tale of love, jealousy, murder and suicide, which evolved from a passage in Maugham's earlier masterpiece, The Moon and Sixpence.
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Stunningly Great
- By SouthwestDude on 09-08-19
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Edgar Allan Poe - The Complete Short Stories
- By: Edgar Allan Poe
- Narrated by: Bob Thomley
- Length: 16 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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All of Edgar Allan Poe’s great short stories in one 16-hour collection.
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NEVERMORE
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 11-23-15
By: Edgar Allan Poe
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The Best Ghost Stories Ever Told
- Best Stories Ever Told
- By: Stephen Brennan - editor
- Narrated by: J. M. Badger, Imelda Pot
- Length: 24 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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A big, brilliant, spooky collection of classic and contemporary ghost stories that will make you hesitate before turning off that light.
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A very mixed review
- By Michael Mayer on 08-05-15
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Treasure Island
- By: Robert Louis Stevenson
- Narrated by: Robin Field
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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The classic story, told in the first person by Jim Hawkins, whose mother kept the Admiral Benbow Inn, and who shared in the adventures from start to finish. An old sea dog comes to this peaceful inn one day, apparently intending to finish his life there. He hires Jim to keep a watch out for other sailors, but despite all precautions, he is hunted out and served with the black spot that means death. Jim and his mother barely escape death when Blind Pew, Black Dog, and other pirates descend on the inn in search of the sea dog’s papers. Jim snatches up a packet of papers to square the sailor’s debt, when they were forced to retreat from the inn.
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Solid performance
- By Mel on 09-20-24
What listeners say about Heart of Darkness: A Signature Performance by Kenneth Branagh
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Lyn
- 01-22-15
riveting
The narrator is perfect for the work. good reason why this is a classic. I could hardly wait for each new chapter.
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- Berserk
- 06-14-12
Look if your in college your going to have to buy
Ok first off this book is simply AMAZING a classic that has withstood the test of time. In addition, if your getting ready to go to college your going to get this as assigned as reading so to save you time BUY this book.
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- Prof. Neil Larsen
- 09-01-12
Branagh is the master!
After listening to Branagh's dramatic reading of Conrad, everything else pales. The average reader of audio books, especially of fiction, is good as long as he or she doesn't get in the way of the work itself, allowing it to speak for itself. All too often, they are such bumbling idiots that they don't even bother to learn the correct pronunciation of the foreign words that crop up in, say, Conrad or Henry James. This is as true of American as it is of 'native' British readers of English-- and is scandalous enough. But with Branagh, Conrad's tale comes so vividly alive THROUGH him, even as he remains absolutely faithful to its text, that one feels that one is finally reading it--hearing it!-- for the first time. Branagh, with his Shakespearean training, INTERPRETS as he reads, speaks, BECOMES what he narrates. I had to rip myself away from this recording, and, if it had been possible, would not have moved an inch until finishing it. I'm a professor of literature, and I now can't imagine ever teaching THE HEART OF DARKNESS without having my students listen to Branagh's rendering. More, please, more from this great master!
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- Evan Hearnsberger
- 09-18-21
Beautiful
Perfectly orated - expanded my mind. More eloquently acted than any other audiobook I’ve heard. The themes of this adventure generate a story that is absolutely incredible, it’s a classic that survives for good reason. Conrad can explain the abstract like no other.
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- Steven
- 06-27-13
Reminds me of some Dickens
At the end of this novela, I asked myself the same question as at the end of 'The Old Curiosity Shop.' What was it about? Sorry, but I don't understand all of the great reviews. It just didn't do anything for me. Since it was technically ok, I had to give it three stars.
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- Redwood
- 12-02-21
Didn’t love it.
I didn’t love it. Maybe I was distracted but not much seemed to happen. I know it’s short, but I thought more would happen in the story.
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- Michael G Shine
- 12-13-21
Apocalypse Now
I purchased this book as a I am a huge fan of the movie Apocalypse Now. For those who do not know, the movie was based on this book. Extremely well read and definite insight into the movie through this character of Kurtz.
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- Scottsville Stu
- 12-11-21
Fantastic narration, wordy story
i could listen to Mr Branagh read a menu and love it. He made this somewhat verbose story a pleasure. It was also fun seeing the connection to Apocalypse Now.
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- Michael
- 09-23-20
Perfect in every way.
This really is the perfect reading of a magnificent book. I have enjoyed listening to it many times. Absolutely perfect.
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- William F. Burk
- 03-10-22
Amazing Performance!
I'm not going to lie. The story at times was slightly hard to follow. That said, it was still a great tale. But what truly makes this story so good was the INCREDIBLE performance of the narrator. The voice was easy to get lost in, and a couple times I even got chills. I would definitely recommend this!
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