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Narcissus and Goldmund
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins
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Termed the Uncle Tom's Cabin of the southwestern Indians and the first protest novel of California, Ramona is the story of 3 cultures - Indian, Mexican, and Anglo - locked in combat. The upheaval and injustice are humanized through the romance of a beautiful half-Indian orphan who grow up as the ward of Señora Moreno in privileged surroundings, then falls in love with an Indian and joins him in a life of poverty and tragedy. The Ramona Pageant in Hemet, California, based on this romance, has played each year since 1923, reenacting the transition period between Mexican traditions and the new U.S. and state governments.
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Not The Full Book
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Peony
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Young Peony is sold into a rich Chinese household as a bondmaid - an awkward role in which she is more a servant, but less a daughter. As she grows into a lovely, provocative young woman, Peony falls in love with the family's only son. However, tradition forbids them to wed. How she resolves her love for him and her devotion to her adoptive family unfolds in this profound tale, based on true events in China over a century ago.
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Jews in China
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Dracula the Undead
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The legend returns... It is seven years since a stake was driven through the heart of the infamous Count Dracula. Seven years which have not eradicated the terrible memories for Jonathan and Mina Harker, who now have a young son. To lay their memories to rest they return to Transylvania, and can find no trace of the horrific events. But, beneath the earth, Dracula's soul lies in limbo, waiting for the Lifeblood that will revive him....
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Very good Sequel to the Bram Stoker Original
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The Short Stories of Anton Chekhov, Volume 1
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Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, (1860-1904), was born in Russia at Taganrog on the Sea of Azov. His name has become synonymous with a certain literary style much admired and widely copied since his death. Typically, a Chekhov story is a "mood", a state of mind, usually with regard to relations between one person and another. Under the influence of the constant, infinitesimal, and unforeseen pinpricks of life, there occurs a gradual transformation of that state of mind.
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A Box of Chocolates
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Dawn of the Morning is the story of a young woman coming of age in the early 1800s. Having never known a loving home, she is sent away to school by her hard and unfeeling father and stepmother, and a marriage is arranged for her to a man she dislikes and fears.
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Outstanding!
- By MrsAlex on 05-07-19
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Interview with the Vampire
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We are in a small room with the vampire, face to face, as he speaks--as he pours out the hypnotic, shocking, moving, and erotically charged confessions of his first two hundred years as one of the living dead. . . He speaks quietly, plainly, even gently . . . carrying us back to the night when he departed human existence as heir--young, romantic, cultivated--to a great Louisiana plantation, and was inducted by the radiant and sinister Lestat into the other, the "endless," life....
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New Editions!
- By A. Sentoni on 06-04-11
By: Anne Rice
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It's in German and I've now got a German audiobook
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Herman Hesse is one of my favorite.
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Beautiful writing and narration.
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i came here because of kpop
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In Siddhartha, Herman Hesse conveys a very profound message for all those who seek meaning in their lives. Though set in India, the concerns of Siddhartha are universal, expressing Hesse's general interest in the conflict between mind, body, and spirit. It is a story of a Brahmin boy who follows his heart and ventures out into the world to experience life as a pious Brahmin, a Samana, a rich merchant, a lover, and ordinary ferryman to a father - each life bringing a new awakening, bringing him closer to the truth until he is finally one with Buddha.
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Not THAT David Cross
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Siddhartha, a story based on the early life of Gautama Buddha, is concerned with the human search for self-knowledge and authentic spirituality. Hesse had written the first part of the book easily enough, but had to stop for a year with depression, before completing it in 1922. The book is a synthesis of Buddhist, Hindu, Taoist, and Christian thought, though Hesse rejected all conventional religion for a more individual and personal path.
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This classic novel of self-discovery has inspired generations of seekers. With parallels to the enlightenment of the Buddha, Hesse's Siddhartha is the story of a young Brahmin's quest for the ultimate reality. His quest takes him from the extremes of indulgent sensuality to the rigors of ascetism and self-denial. At last he learns that wisdom cannot be taught - it must come from one's own experience and inner struggle.
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excellent
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In The Idiot, Prince Myshkin possesses a childlike innocence and trusting nature that leave him vulnerable to abuse by those around him. Returning to St. Petersburg to collect an inheritance, Myshkin realizes he is a stranger in a society obsessed with wealth, manipulation and power.
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Avoid Constance Garnett
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The Odyssey
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Greek poet Homer established the standard for tales of epic quests and heroic journeys with The Odyssey. Crowded with characters, both human and nonhuman, and bursting with action, The Odyssey details the adventures of Ulysses, king of Ithaca and hero of the Trojan War, as he struggles to return to his home and his waiting, ever-faithful wife, Penelope.
By: Homer
What listeners say about Narcissus and Goldmund
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- David
- 10-21-11
My favorite of Hesse's novels, wonderfully read.
In my college years, Hermann Hesse was one author considered required reading by my peers. I read and reread all of his better known novels and found them all worthwhile. But of all of Hesse's work, it is Narcissus and Goldmund that moved me most deeply and it is the novel (of Hesse's) to which I have returned to most often.
Like all of Hesse's novels, it is about the the pursuit of the meaning of life, but here the writing is less self-conscious, simpler in some ways, but deeper in the exploring the range of human experience. It has drama, insight, poetic vision and covers a wide range of experiences. It is very Existential in some ways, but touches on the mystical in the arts with a more profound effect than the more "metaphysical" manner of the earlier novels.
This novel is about two medieval men with a very deep friendship but with very different temperaments. The meet in a monastery (after the death of Goldmund's mother). They appear to be complete opposites each seeks to bring meaning to their existence; Narcissus seeks peace and salvation (purity of mind) within a religious life in a monastery, while Goldmund is burning with the desire to experience life and throw himself into the world.
The story is about finding one's way and being true to one's inner nature. Narcissus lives a life of constraint but one that has purpose for him. Goldmund is unhappy in the monastery, and Narcissus tells him "be yourself, try to realize yourself" and encourages him to find his own way. The men separate to following their own paths. We follow the lives of both of these men, and in their contrasting experiences.
Goldmund then wanders the world in search of adventure, love and self-discovery . He has fantastic adventures, experiences the best and worst of humanity surrounded by the Black Plague; and in the mist of all these hardships, he finds meaning and beauty. After being profoundly touched by the beauty of wooden statue of the Madonna, the artist within himself awakens giving a new purpose and direction for his life. He seeks out the artist and becomes his apprentice. He develops his own skills, sacrificing the wild experiences and settling down to work (at least for the duration of the work) and he creates a sculpture of great merit.
Hesse writes powerfully and beautifully on the conflict between the Apollonian (understanding; form, order, restraint, conforming, the world of the intellect/mind) and the Dionysian (experience; passion, frivolity, lust, expression, the world of images/symbol/beauty). Hesse is able to bring out the conflict between flesh and spirit, emotion and control, ambition and modesty. This is a novel about the dilemma of life, and two possible paths that of spiritual pilgrims and that of artistic souls on the road of life. This was perfectly timed for me, in my early twenties, this book seems to express artistically and poignantly the central conflict of my life.
I own dozens of audiobooks, and none are better performed than this one. The narrator, Simon Vance, has the perfect voice, expression and pacing for such a meaningfull story. He varies the pitch and style of his speech to clearly portray each of the characters and expresses the difference between the thoughts and the words of the characters. He never over-acts nor does he ever rush the delivery. I've read the book several times, but in my listening to the audiobook I heard details that I'd never noticed before. As a result of the enjoyment of this performance, I've now purchased many other audiobooks narrated by Simon Vance, they are all well-read. Most highly recommended.
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61 people found this helpful
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- Merlin
- 05-25-16
Typical Germanic "depth of soul" novel
I frankly found this novel a bit tedious. It's quintessentially Germanic. Set rather vaguely in a pre-industrial stylized world of monks, craftsmen, blacksmiths, gypsy women, etc., it tells the story of the life of Goldmund. The life is fairly implausible. There are long, long, sections in which his mind and feelings and relationships are described in depth. The author's outlook, when it comes right down to it, is that the only thing that has real value in the world is aesthetic experience. THe deeper your soul, the deeper, and hence more valuable this will be. EVen when Goldmund is having sex with every girl he meets, this is still understand as essentially aesthetic--or as the foundation for something aesthetic. I think if I'd read this when I was 19 I'd have been very impressed; but not being 19, I found it often tiresome. The narration is very good.
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13 people found this helpful
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- BeachyKeen
- 07-26-16
A True Classic
This is the single most valuable book I have ever read in my life thus far. Long, but worth the time.
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9 people found this helpful
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- Joseph
- 11-08-15
One of the greatest novels I've ever read
Superb, beautifully written (and well-translated!) and splendidly read by Simon Vance. I'd read most of Hesse's novels, but always avoided this one for some reason, thinking it was a minor work. Not at all! It's one of the greatest novels by a great writer. Spiritually and psychologically profound, it's mostly about Goldmund, one of the most engaging characters I've ever encountered. The large amount of introspective material is not boring for a second, and is seamlessly woven into the action and descriptions. One of the best Audible experiences I've had.
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9 people found this helpful
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- Kirk A Mann
- 10-15-17
Riveting Masterepiece
One of the most amazing stories I have ever heard. So profound in its depth and breath of the human journey. Perhaps the best narrator I have ever heard. It's no wonder that the author Was recognized as a Nobel laureate.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Ka_rlos
- 09-07-17
All that a good book should be
Would you consider the audio edition of Narcissus and Goldmund to be better than the print version?
Simon Vance's delivery is just spectacular. He brings out every detail of Hesse's beautiful prose and has allowed me to discover the beauty of passages that I missed while reading the print version.
Who was your favorite character and why?
I cannot help but to identify with Narcissus. He is all that I seek to emulate, a man devoted to the life of the mind who seeks transcendence through the wisdom that humanity has stored in text.
Which scene was your favorite?
The final scene shows the essence of what Hesse was trying to communicate, the importance of living before one can achieve a good death.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
It is perhaps cliche to say that death was what moved me the most in the novel but I can't emphasize the beautiful sadness with which Hesse paints the tows ravaged by the Black Death.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Jory
- 05-14-17
excellent !
i extremely enjoyed this book. the narrator has the voice for herman hesse works. my most memorable moment here is when goldmund is pursuing the mistress of the count and the second visit gets found in their castle by the guards. as if he were set up. the moment actually had my heart pounding as if i were in the moment.
second most memorable moment was when goldmund enters the cabin full of dead family members. such a moment takes one a while to accept if at all. even for the reader let alone being there. hesse paints an etchingly vivid canvas for what death looks like in person. that chapter struck me. goldmund analyzes the scene in such a romantic and artistic manner. it opens a door for new ways to look at death. it also left a heavy feeling of awe and confusion and rejection of the scene. you dont want to believe it but here it is. in your face. and goldmund shows you a sense of glory with his imagery.
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- Guilherme
- 04-14-12
Existentialist essential!
Hesse once again explores with much depth the values, and inner forces that drives man. Religion, sex, behavior, friendship... Hesse's books are a guide to the appreciation of life.
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- CICADA
- 01-17-21
this book is referenced in The Catcher in The Rye
Thie is referenced in the political allegory called The Catcher In The Rye by J. D. Salinger. i think to gain an even clearer understanding of the philosophy in this book i highly recommend the book The Light and The Cave. To see what i mean by The Catcher being a political allegory see on Goodreads "Breaking the Code To The Catcher in the Rye"
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- TJ Eyes
- 10-30-20
Beautiful, stirring, elegiac, provocative
I was totally transported and transfixed by this story and the telling of it. A book truly enhanced in the audio format, thanks to this beautiful narration. It felt like sitting by the fire and being told a story from long ago. The ideas explored are not novel, but are beautifully rendered, given flesh, and made fresh in this parable-like story. Also of interest as an historical novel, recreating in great detail a particular time and place long ago. Lovely.
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