Short Classics Collection

A Christmas Carol, Alice in Wonderland, Call of the Wild, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Metamorphosis, and More

By: Charles Dickens, Lewis Carroll, Jack London, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Washington Irving, Franz Kafka, Robert Louis Stevenson

Narrated by: John York

Length: 20 hrs and 54 mins

Publisher's summary

Discover a classic collection of seven timeless stories.

Inside this delightful collection, you'll uncover seven tales from literary legends whose work shaped the world of writing. From gothic horror to existentialist reflections on life and society, inside you'll also find your fair share of adventures, fantastical places, compelling characters, and moral lessons.

These timeless works continue to resonate with people to this day, giving rise to countless adaptations and reimagining - now, you can experience the source material in all its glory, brought to life in this high-quality collection.

Inside this collection, you'll find:

• A Christmas Carol, the Christmas-defining book by Charles Dickens which tells the story of Ebenezer Scrooge
• Alice in Wonderland, a timeless story with talking animals, crazy adventures, and a Mad Hatter.
• Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, a Gothic horror novel which explores the dark side of human nature.
• The Call of the Wild, Jack London’s short story about a domesticated dog learning to embrace his primal nature and become a leader in the harsh wild.
• Notes from the Underground, an existentialist novel featuring the dark and gritty world of Saint Petersburg.
• The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, the Gothic story which gave rise to the Headless Horseman.
• And The Metamorphosis, a tale about a man waking up one morning having transformed into a giant insect.

Ideal for all fans of classic work, and as a great way to teach children about the greatest stories of the past, this collection proves that the literary masterpieces of generations ago are still no less relevant or beloved today.

©2019 Flâneur Media (P)2019 Flâneur Media

Wonderful

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

I really enjoyed listening to these classic stories. John York really brings them to life. It brought me back to when I had first heard these stories.

Lots of stories to keep you busy

Great compilation of books that really are definitely called classics for a reason. I enjoyed listening to each tale. Narrator did a good job voicing the books.

Perfect for all ages

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.
While having the opportunity to listen to such a collection can arouse interest in nearly all ages the narrator makes an enormous difference, he has a great calm voice when reading and the ability to take on the personality of each character. Following Alice down the rabbit hole, running with Buck as he leads the pack, seeing the evil in the good doctor Jekyll, and many more.
I enjoyed listening to this collection and would gladly listen to it again. While Dostoevskys and Kafka's work is a bit more than I was able to comprehend, I am sure another run through and I may be able to see into the ideas they were trying to portray. Mr. York's voice is a soothing voice, and I believe all audiences will find more than one classic worth listening in this collection.

Excellent narration...

I grew up with all of these stories and I thoroughly enjoyed the acting that brought them all to life for me.

I Love This Audible book

A collection of some of my favorite books! What a find! :) If you love 'A Christmas Carol, Alice in Wonderland' and a few others... then this selection is for you.

And thanks to audible, I was able to listen to these books for free!

awesome

Loved it !! this story. the narrator is so fantastic it's like your really there!! good overall

Great Collection of Books!

I really enjoyed this audiobook! Content and narration was great! For example.. Dickens is one of my favourite authors, but I haven't had the opportunity to read "A Christmas Carol'.

On the other hand, it was pretty delicious to hear Lewis Carroll. And so with London, Dostoevsky, Kafka, Stevenson, etc.

What I mean, is that I just spended a enjoyable time listening to old and new classics for me.

A so beautiful experience!!

Began listening with reservation...

...but was pleasantly surprised by the narration.

Note: Since these are classics that readers are already likely familiar with, this review will not rate them. And because they are classics, I will automatically give a 5-star rating for the Story category.

I have a number of books in my Audible library read by John York but was not blown away by any of them. Indeed, they seemed amateurish to me. But in this compilation of classics he does a terrific job. Maybe took a class or something. Something else different is that he uses a British accent (unless this is his natural accent?—in which case THAT may account for his doing so well as compared to earlier attempts at narration)

Here is how I think John York did in his reading of each classic story (listed below in their order of occurrence in the collection):

A Christmas Carol—Strong British accent was great and appropriate and voices of the character done well.

Alice in Wonderland—I was curious how John York would pull off doing an Alice voice, and I found it perfectly acceptable considering it was a male doing the voice (whereas female narrators will obviously do female voices better, for the most part).

The Call of the Wild—A less British/more American accent. And in this reading I hear more of the John York narrations of other books I previously referred to... but better than them in that he doesn't overdo his reading (which was, I think, my major problem with his earlier forays into narration, particularly in how he used to complete sentences)

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde—This may be my favorite of all the narrations. I don't know if it was an intended effect, but the reading had a subtle sinister tone to it that I can't quite put my finger on.

Notes from the Underground—Because this is by Dostoevsky I expected it would be a real challenge for the narrator... but he managed it quite well enough. But no Russian accent. Maybe with an accent pronunciation class? Anyhow, glad he didn't fake it since he obviously didn't know how to do a Russian accent any more than I would have—although he does it pretty good job in pronouncing "Dostoevsky" in the outro of the story, which made me smile, because I certainly wouldn't have been able to do it that good!

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow—This one was my first disappointment. So I checked my library and, sure enough, I already own "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" read by another narrator (Kevin Theis)... and John York's is better! Guess he spoiled my from the readings I have already listed above!

The Metamorphosis—I expected this one (by Franz Kafka) would be no less challenging than his Dostoevsky, but he did fine, giving it an intellectual-sounding flare. I've actually never even heard this story before so now John York has become my only point of reference.

I requested and received a complimentary review copy of SHORT CLASSICS COLLECTION and have written/posted this review voluntarily. If it has been helpful to you, please click Helpful below so that I can achieve my goal of becoming a top Audible reviewer. Thanks!

My rating scale:
1 = Junk! (dumpster worthy) // 2 = Poor // 3 = Good (average) // 4 = Great // 5 = Excellent! (award worthy)