-
The Pillow Book
- Narrated by: Georgina Sutton
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $24.31
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
The Pillow Book of Sei Shōnagon is a fascinating, detailed account of Japanese court life in the closing years of the 10th century. Written by a lady of the court at the height of Heian culture, this book enthrals with its lively gossip, witty observations and subtle impressions.
Lady Shōnagon was an erstwhile rival of Lady Murasaki, whose novel, The Tale of Genji, fictionalized the elite world Lady Shōnagon so eloquently relates. Featuring reflections on royal and religious ceremonies, nature, conversation, poetry and many other subjects, The Pillow Book is an intimate look at the experiences and outlook of the Heian upper class.
Sei Shōnagon, born around 965, was lady-in-waiting to Empress Sadako and between the early 990s and 1002, she kept these ‘personal notes’, recording what she saw and encountered with wit, accuracy and intelligence. There is immense variety here. There are more than 320 entries, each with its own heading: ‘Birds’, Trees’, ‘When His Excellency The Chancellor Had Departed’, ‘Unreliable Things’.... Some entries are very brief, no more than ‘asides’, and there are even concise lists. Some reflect the sensitive Japanese response to nature or patterned silk, and there are longer narratives of incidents involving prominent political figures. Her singular humour is often to the fore: ‘Masahiro really is a laughing stock. I wonder what it is like for his parents and friends.’
But there are also entries which reflect a considerate nature as shown in ‘One of Her Majesty’s Wet-Nurses’.
While Arthur Waley’s classic translation remains well-known it was abridged, and this Ukemi recording presents the translation by Ivan Morris, the first unabridged English version. It is fluent and lively, and reflects the sparkling character of Sei Shōnagon’s writing which, in the 21st century, belies its ancient origins and its academic standing as one of the great works of Japanese literature. This is perfectly captured by in Georgina Sutton’s reading.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Tale of Murasaki
- A Novel
- By: Liza Dalby
- Narrated by: Allison Hiroto
- Length: 17 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the 11th century Murasaki Shikibu wrote the world’s first novel, The Tale of Genji, the most popular work in the history of Japanese literature. In The Tale of Murasaki, Liza Dalby has created a breathtaking fictionalized narrative of the life of this timeless poet - a lonely girl who becomes such a compelling storyteller that she is invited to regale the empress with her tales. The Tale of Murasaki is the story of an enchanting time and an exotic place.
-
-
Great book, reader lacked emotion
- By Epiphany on 06-05-18
By: Liza Dalby
-
The Tale of Genji, Volume 1
- By: Murasaki Shikibu, Dennis Washburn - translator
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 35 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Murasaki Shikibu, born into the middle ranks of the aristocracy during the Heian period (794-1185 CE), wrote The Tale of Genji, widely considered the world's first novel, during the early years of the 11th century. Expansive, compelling, and sophisticated in its representation of ethical concerns and aesthetic ideals, Murasaki's tale came to occupy a central place in Japan's remarkable history of artistic achievement and is now recognized as a masterpiece of world literature.
-
-
Tales of Genji
- By Amazon Customer on 02-24-20
By: Murasaki Shikibu, and others
-
Kusamakura [Grass Pillow]
- By: Natsume Soseki, Meredith McKinney - translator
- Narrated by: Kotaro Watanabe, Elizabeth Jasicki
- Length: 7 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Natsume Soseki's Kusamakura - meaning “grass pillow” - follows its nameless young artist-narrator on a meandering walking tour of the mountains. At the inn at a hot-spring resort, he has a series of mysterious encounters with Nami, the lovely young daughter of the establishment. Nami, or "beauty", is the center of this elegant novel, the still point around which the artist moves and the enigmatic subject of Soseki's word painting.
-
-
This beautiful novel deserves a better narration
- By Fishlamb on 11-07-23
By: Natsume Soseki, and others
-
Musashi
- By: Eiji Yoshikawa, Charles S. Terry - translator
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 53 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The classic samurai novel about the real exploits of the most famous swordsman. Miyamoto Musashi becomes a reluctant hero to a host of people whose lives he has touched and by whom he has been touched. Inevitably, he has to pit his skill against the naked blade of his greatest rival.
-
-
Good Historical Novel
- By The Walking Dude on 08-11-19
By: Eiji Yoshikawa, and others
-
The Water Margin
- Outlaws of the Marsh
- By: Shi Naian, J. H. Jackson - translator, Edwin Lowe - translator
- Narrated by: Jonathan Booth
- Length: 33 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Water Margin is one of the most popular classics of early Chinese literature. It tells the vigorous story of 108 characters who, falling foul of the established state authorities, are forced to become outlaws. They form a bandit community in Liangshan Marsh, becoming such a formidable force in their own right that they threaten the power of government itself.
-
-
Top notch Chinese classic
- By Ken Blum on 10-13-23
By: Shi Naian, and others
-
The Iliad & The Odyssey
- By: Homer
- Narrated by: John Lescault
- Length: 28 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Little is known about the Ancient Greek oral poet Homer, the supposed 8th century BC author of the world-read Iliad and his later masterpiece, The Odyssey. These classic epics provided the basis for Greek education and culture throughout the classical age and formed the backbone of humane education through the birth of the Roman Empire and the spread of Christianity.
-
-
Worth the price, worth the time
- By Sam on 12-31-04
By: Homer
-
The Tale of Murasaki
- A Novel
- By: Liza Dalby
- Narrated by: Allison Hiroto
- Length: 17 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the 11th century Murasaki Shikibu wrote the world’s first novel, The Tale of Genji, the most popular work in the history of Japanese literature. In The Tale of Murasaki, Liza Dalby has created a breathtaking fictionalized narrative of the life of this timeless poet - a lonely girl who becomes such a compelling storyteller that she is invited to regale the empress with her tales. The Tale of Murasaki is the story of an enchanting time and an exotic place.
-
-
Great book, reader lacked emotion
- By Epiphany on 06-05-18
By: Liza Dalby
-
The Tale of Genji, Volume 1
- By: Murasaki Shikibu, Dennis Washburn - translator
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 35 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Murasaki Shikibu, born into the middle ranks of the aristocracy during the Heian period (794-1185 CE), wrote The Tale of Genji, widely considered the world's first novel, during the early years of the 11th century. Expansive, compelling, and sophisticated in its representation of ethical concerns and aesthetic ideals, Murasaki's tale came to occupy a central place in Japan's remarkable history of artistic achievement and is now recognized as a masterpiece of world literature.
-
-
Tales of Genji
- By Amazon Customer on 02-24-20
By: Murasaki Shikibu, and others
-
Kusamakura [Grass Pillow]
- By: Natsume Soseki, Meredith McKinney - translator
- Narrated by: Kotaro Watanabe, Elizabeth Jasicki
- Length: 7 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Natsume Soseki's Kusamakura - meaning “grass pillow” - follows its nameless young artist-narrator on a meandering walking tour of the mountains. At the inn at a hot-spring resort, he has a series of mysterious encounters with Nami, the lovely young daughter of the establishment. Nami, or "beauty", is the center of this elegant novel, the still point around which the artist moves and the enigmatic subject of Soseki's word painting.
-
-
This beautiful novel deserves a better narration
- By Fishlamb on 11-07-23
By: Natsume Soseki, and others
-
Musashi
- By: Eiji Yoshikawa, Charles S. Terry - translator
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 53 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The classic samurai novel about the real exploits of the most famous swordsman. Miyamoto Musashi becomes a reluctant hero to a host of people whose lives he has touched and by whom he has been touched. Inevitably, he has to pit his skill against the naked blade of his greatest rival.
-
-
Good Historical Novel
- By The Walking Dude on 08-11-19
By: Eiji Yoshikawa, and others
-
The Water Margin
- Outlaws of the Marsh
- By: Shi Naian, J. H. Jackson - translator, Edwin Lowe - translator
- Narrated by: Jonathan Booth
- Length: 33 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Water Margin is one of the most popular classics of early Chinese literature. It tells the vigorous story of 108 characters who, falling foul of the established state authorities, are forced to become outlaws. They form a bandit community in Liangshan Marsh, becoming such a formidable force in their own right that they threaten the power of government itself.
-
-
Top notch Chinese classic
- By Ken Blum on 10-13-23
By: Shi Naian, and others
-
The Iliad & The Odyssey
- By: Homer
- Narrated by: John Lescault
- Length: 28 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Little is known about the Ancient Greek oral poet Homer, the supposed 8th century BC author of the world-read Iliad and his later masterpiece, The Odyssey. These classic epics provided the basis for Greek education and culture throughout the classical age and formed the backbone of humane education through the birth of the Roman Empire and the spread of Christianity.
-
-
Worth the price, worth the time
- By Sam on 12-31-04
By: Homer
-
Introduction to Classical Chinese Philosophy
- By: Bryan W. Van Norden
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Van Norden’s Introduction to Classical Chinese Philosophy is evidently of increasing importance in balancing our 21st century view of philosophy in general. It is to Van Norden’s regret, that when ‘philosophy’ is discussed or taught, it is almost always in the context of ‘Western Philosophy’ rather than a global perspective. Yet the contribution of China to global thought and understanding is crucial, especially in our contemporary context.
-
-
Chinese Philosophy 101
- By Kalala on 02-23-22
-
The Pillow Book: Series 1-11
- A Full-Cast Historical Crime Drama
- By: Robert Forrest
- Narrated by: Benedict Cumberbatch, Cal MacAninch, full cast, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lady Shonagon is an imperial courtesan, living at the court of the Japanese Emperor in the 10th century. When a series of disturbing thefts within the palace walls throws the court into confusion and unrest, Shonagon is appointed guide and assistant to Lieutenant Yukinari as he investigates. Together, Shonagon and Yukinari must solve the mysteries and escalating crimes that plague the Japanese court, and their romance blossoms in the tightly enclosed world behind the high palace walls. But soon Shonagon's lover, Tadanobu, becomes uncomfortable with how closely they are working together....
-
-
British voices in an ancient Japanese story? Why??
- By Anne on 10-01-19
By: Robert Forrest
-
Emperor of Rome
- Ruling the Ancient World
- By: Mary Beard
- Narrated by: Mary Beard
- Length: 14 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In her international bestseller SPQR, Mary Beard told the thousand-year story of ancient Rome. Now she shines her spotlight on the emperors who ruled the Roman empire, from Julius Caesar (assassinated 44 BCE) to Alexander Severus (assassinated 235 CE). Emperor of Rome is not your usual chronological account of Roman rulers, one after another: the mad Caligula, the monster Nero, the philosopher Marcus Aurelius.
-
-
Wasn't sure but won me over
- By John S. on 01-26-24
By: Mary Beard
-
Japanese Ghost Stories
- Penguin Classics
- By: Lafcadio Hearn
- Narrated by: Eleanor Matsuura
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this collection of classic ghost stories from Japan, beautiful princesses turn out to be frogs, paintings come alive, deadly spectral brides haunt the living and a samurai delivers the baby of a Shinto goddess with mystical help. Here are all the phantoms and ghouls of Japanese folklore: 'rokuro-kubi', whose heads separate from their bodies at night; 'jikininki', or flesh-eating goblins; and terrifying faceless 'mujina' who haunt lonely neighbourhoods.
-
-
Japanese pronunciation a problem
- By CT on 01-20-21
By: Lafcadio Hearn
-
Kokoro
- By: Natsume Soseki
- Narrated by: Matt Shea
- Length: 7 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The subject of Kokoro, which can be translated as 'the heart of things' or as 'feeling,' is the delicate matter of the contrast between the meanings the various parties of a relationship attach to it. In the course of this exploration, Soseki brilliantly describes different levels of friendship, family relationships, and the devices by which men attempt to escape from their fundamental loneliness. The novel sustains throughout its length something approaching poetry, and it is rich in understanding and insight.
-
-
The Heart Of Things, Relationships & Feelings
- By Sara on 04-27-15
By: Natsume Soseki
-
The Book of the City of Ladies
- By: Christine de Pizan
- Narrated by: Georgina Sutton
- Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Shocked and distressed by a male writer's vilification of women, Christine de Pizan has a powerful dreamlike vision in which she is visited by three personified Virtues: Reason, Rectitude and Justice. They tell her she has been chosen to write a book which will be like a city, housing virtuous women and protecting them from feminist attack. Partly myth, partly fact, The Book of the City of Ladies is an extraordinary, pioneering and impassioned defense of women that set out to shatter misogynist cliches and serve to instill self-worth in its female listeners of the time.
-
-
The audio really illuminated the ideas for me
- By JoAnn on 03-09-22
-
The Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District and Other Stories
- By: Nikolai Leskov
- Narrated by: Nicholas Boulton
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Praised by Chekhov as his favorite writer, Nikolai Leskov occupies a unique place in Russian literature. His original stories often seem like folk-tales, their larger-than-life characters including soldiers, Tsars, priests and gypsies. Leskov's storytelling, simple in its style, combines a deep religious spirit with comic absurdity. The Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, Leskov's best-known work, is a realist account of a young woman who escapes from her loveless marriage through adultery, leading to violence and murder
By: Nikolai Leskov
-
The Eclogues and Georgics
- By: Virgil
- Narrated by: Andrew Wincott, Jamie Parker, Paul Panting, and others
- Length: 4 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Though it is for the sparkling epic, Aeneid, that the Roman poet Virgil is best known, it was these two poems, The Eclogues and Georgics, which first established his reputation.
By: Virgil
-
The Man Without Qualities
- By: Robert Musil
- Narrated by: John Telfer
- Length: 60 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1913, the Viennese aristocracy is gathering to celebrate the 17th jubilee of the accession of Emperor Franz Josef, even as the Austro-Hungarian Empire is collapsing and the rest of Vienna is showing signs of rebellion. At the centre of this social labyrinth is Ulrich: a veteran, a seducer and a scientist, yet also a man 'without qualities' and therefore a brilliant and detached observer of his changing world.
-
-
An unmatched intellectual epic
- By Delano on 06-23-22
By: Robert Musil
-
Emperor of Japan
- Meiji and His World, 1852-1912
- By: Donald Keene
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 38 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Little has been written about the strangely obscured figure of Meiji himself, the first Japanese emperor ever to meet a European. But now, Donald Keene sifts the available evidence to present a rich portrait not only of Meiji but also of rapid and sometimes violent change during this pivotal period in Japan's history. Emperor of Japan conveys in sparkling prose the complexity of the man and offers an unrivaled portrait of Japan in a period of unique interest.
-
-
Great book. Terrible narration.
- By Ken Snyder on 07-05-23
By: Donald Keene
-
A Personal Matter
- By: Kenzaburo Oe, John Nathan - translator
- Narrated by: Eric Michael Summerer
- Length: 7 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Oe's most important novel, A Personal Matter, has been called by The New York Times "close to a perfect novel". In A Personal Matter, Oe has chosen a difficult, complex though universal subject: how does one face and react to the birth of an abnormal child?
-
-
Should have been better
- By Erez on 07-24-12
By: Kenzaburo Oe, and others
-
Poor Folk
- By: Fyodor Dostoyevsky, C. J. Hogarth - translator
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble, Julie Teal
- Length: 5 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Upon its first publication in 1846, "Poor Folk" was an immediate critical triumph. Composed entirely of an exchange of letters between a middle-aged copy clerk and a young seamstress who live on opposite sides of a Petersburg tenement courtyard, the novel explores the emotional and psychological effects of a threatening urban environment on the psyches of poor people struggling to survive.
-
-
it was kind of depressing yet oddly relatable.
- By Eli on 08-07-24
By: Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and others
Related to this topic
-
The Tale of Murasaki
- A Novel
- By: Liza Dalby
- Narrated by: Allison Hiroto
- Length: 17 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the 11th century Murasaki Shikibu wrote the world’s first novel, The Tale of Genji, the most popular work in the history of Japanese literature. In The Tale of Murasaki, Liza Dalby has created a breathtaking fictionalized narrative of the life of this timeless poet - a lonely girl who becomes such a compelling storyteller that she is invited to regale the empress with her tales. The Tale of Murasaki is the story of an enchanting time and an exotic place.
-
-
Great book, reader lacked emotion
- By Epiphany on 06-05-18
By: Liza Dalby
-
Spring Snow
- By: Yukio Mishima
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 14 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Spring Snow is set in Tokyo in 1912, when the hermetic world of the ancient aristocracy is being breached for the first time by outsiders -- rich provincial families unburdened by tradition, whose money and vitality make them formidable contenders for social and political power. Among this rising new elite are the ambitious Matsugae, whose son has been raised in a family of the waning aristocracy, the elegant and attenuated Ayakura.
-
-
An extraordinary work.......
- By Raj Saberwal on 05-29-14
By: Yukio Mishima
-
Heat and Dust
- By: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
- Narrated by: Julie Christie
- Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1923 the beautiful, spoiled, and bored Olivia, married to Douglas and his career in the Indian Civil Service, outrages the English and Indian communities by eloping with an Indian prince. Fifty years later, Douglas’s granddaughter, armed with Olivia’s letters, goes back to the heat and dust and squalor of the bazaars to find out for herself how Olivia could have been so affected by India that she turned her back on her own country.
-
-
Short, Rich Novel
- By David P on 01-23-22
-
Abundance
- A Novel of Marie Antoinette
- By: Sena Jeter Naslund
- Narrated by: Susanna Burney
- Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Marie Antoinette was a child of 14 when she was made to leave her family and country to become the wife of another child, France's 15-year-old King Louis the XVI. Far from home and suddenly thrust not only into the role of a woman and wife, but of a queen, Marie Antoinette lived an astonishing, though short, existence.
-
-
Not for history fans
- By Cx30 on 12-09-06
-
The Fairy Tales of Herman Hesse
- By: Hermann Hesse, Jack Zipes - translator
- Narrated by: Donovan
- Length: 2 hrs and 53 mins
- Highlights
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Step into a world of visions, philosophy, and passion in which dreamers, seekers, princesses, and wandering poets dwell. The 6 wonderful, romantic tales in this collection are reminiscent of ancient Oriental and German fairy tales. The selections, "The Poet," "The Flute Dream," "The Dwarf," "Faldum," "Ziegler," and "Dream of the Gods" were hand-picked by the narrator, legendary folk and rock musician Donovan.
-
-
The reading is quiet and heavenly
- By Atalante Lemuria on 11-12-20
By: Hermann Hesse, and others
-
Orlando
- By: Virginia Woolf
- Narrated by: Clare Higgins
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fantasy, love and an exuberant celebration of English life and literature, Orlando is a uniquely entertaining story. Originally conceived by Virginia Woolf as a playful tribute to the family of her friend and lover, Vita Sackville-West, Orlando's central character, a fictional embodiment of Sackville-West, changes sex from a man to a woman and lives throughout the centuries, whilst meeting historical figures of English literature.
-
-
Magical
- By Mayca on 05-31-05
By: Virginia Woolf
-
The Tale of Murasaki
- A Novel
- By: Liza Dalby
- Narrated by: Allison Hiroto
- Length: 17 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the 11th century Murasaki Shikibu wrote the world’s first novel, The Tale of Genji, the most popular work in the history of Japanese literature. In The Tale of Murasaki, Liza Dalby has created a breathtaking fictionalized narrative of the life of this timeless poet - a lonely girl who becomes such a compelling storyteller that she is invited to regale the empress with her tales. The Tale of Murasaki is the story of an enchanting time and an exotic place.
-
-
Great book, reader lacked emotion
- By Epiphany on 06-05-18
By: Liza Dalby
-
Spring Snow
- By: Yukio Mishima
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 14 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Spring Snow is set in Tokyo in 1912, when the hermetic world of the ancient aristocracy is being breached for the first time by outsiders -- rich provincial families unburdened by tradition, whose money and vitality make them formidable contenders for social and political power. Among this rising new elite are the ambitious Matsugae, whose son has been raised in a family of the waning aristocracy, the elegant and attenuated Ayakura.
-
-
An extraordinary work.......
- By Raj Saberwal on 05-29-14
By: Yukio Mishima
-
Heat and Dust
- By: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
- Narrated by: Julie Christie
- Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1923 the beautiful, spoiled, and bored Olivia, married to Douglas and his career in the Indian Civil Service, outrages the English and Indian communities by eloping with an Indian prince. Fifty years later, Douglas’s granddaughter, armed with Olivia’s letters, goes back to the heat and dust and squalor of the bazaars to find out for herself how Olivia could have been so affected by India that she turned her back on her own country.
-
-
Short, Rich Novel
- By David P on 01-23-22
-
Abundance
- A Novel of Marie Antoinette
- By: Sena Jeter Naslund
- Narrated by: Susanna Burney
- Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Marie Antoinette was a child of 14 when she was made to leave her family and country to become the wife of another child, France's 15-year-old King Louis the XVI. Far from home and suddenly thrust not only into the role of a woman and wife, but of a queen, Marie Antoinette lived an astonishing, though short, existence.
-
-
Not for history fans
- By Cx30 on 12-09-06
-
The Fairy Tales of Herman Hesse
- By: Hermann Hesse, Jack Zipes - translator
- Narrated by: Donovan
- Length: 2 hrs and 53 mins
- Highlights
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Step into a world of visions, philosophy, and passion in which dreamers, seekers, princesses, and wandering poets dwell. The 6 wonderful, romantic tales in this collection are reminiscent of ancient Oriental and German fairy tales. The selections, "The Poet," "The Flute Dream," "The Dwarf," "Faldum," "Ziegler," and "Dream of the Gods" were hand-picked by the narrator, legendary folk and rock musician Donovan.
-
-
The reading is quiet and heavenly
- By Atalante Lemuria on 11-12-20
By: Hermann Hesse, and others
-
Orlando
- By: Virginia Woolf
- Narrated by: Clare Higgins
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fantasy, love and an exuberant celebration of English life and literature, Orlando is a uniquely entertaining story. Originally conceived by Virginia Woolf as a playful tribute to the family of her friend and lover, Vita Sackville-West, Orlando's central character, a fictional embodiment of Sackville-West, changes sex from a man to a woman and lives throughout the centuries, whilst meeting historical figures of English literature.
-
-
Magical
- By Mayca on 05-31-05
By: Virginia Woolf
-
The Nine Cloud Dream
- By: Kim Man-jung, Heinz Insu Fenkl - translator
- Narrated by: David Shih
- Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Often considered the highest achievement in Korean fiction, The Nine Cloud Dream poses the question: Will the life we dream of truly make us happy? Written in 17th-century Korea, this classic novel's wondrous story begins when a young monk living on a sacred Lotus Peak in China succumbs to the temptation of eight fairy maidens. For doubting his master's Buddhist teachings, the monk is forced to endure a strange punishment: reincarnation as the most ideal of men.
-
-
Nine Stars
- By MJ Harkins on 06-28-21
By: Kim Man-jung, and others
-
Madame Bovary
- By: Gustave Flaubert, Lydia Davis - translator
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 13 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Emma Bovary is the original desperate housewife. Beautiful but bored, she is married to the provincial doctor Charles Bovary yet harbors dreams of an elegant and passionate life. Escaping into sentimental novels, she finds her fantasies dashed by the tedium of her days. Motherhood proves to be a burden; religion is only a brief distraction. In an effort to make her life everything she believes it should be, she spends lavishly on clothes and on her home and embarks on two disappointing affairs.
-
-
Ironic, humorous, and restrained
- By Esther on 05-13-13
By: Gustave Flaubert, and others
-
Peony
- A Novel of China
- By: Pearl S. Buck
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 12 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Jews in China
- By Jean on 04-22-12
By: Pearl S. Buck
-
Collected Stories
- By: Oscar Wilde
- Narrated by: Frank Muller
- Length: 4 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Whether it's a 300-year-old ghost who's scared out of his wits, a tenderhearted statue with a mission of mercy, or the suave Lord Savile who cannot commit a crime, the characters in these stories by witty Oscar Wilde make the tales priceless delights. Absurd, ironic, poignant, or scathing, these small gems of the storyteller's art are sure to become favorites. This collection, narrated by Frank Muller, includes "Lord Arthur Savile's Crime," "The Model Millionaire," "The Nightingale and the Rose," and more.
-
-
Very Poor Recording
- By Anne in State College on 09-09-07
By: Oscar Wilde
-
Madame Bovary
- By: Gustave Flaubert
- Narrated by: Davina Porter
- Length: 13 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Emma Bovary is not content to be the mere dutiful wife of a French country doctor. She yearns for excitement and a sense of romance that pulls at her so strongly she is powerless to resist, even though pursuing her dreams will exact a terrible price. Learn why Gustave Flaubert's compelling heroine has enchanted and puzzled readers for centuries.
-
-
Now Here's a Story
- By P. Giorgio on 09-06-03
By: Gustave Flaubert
-
Merivel
- A Man of His Time
- By: Rose Tremain
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
- Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In search of answers, Merivel sets off for the French court. But Versailles leaves him in despair, until a chance encounter with a seductive Swiss botanist allows him to dream of an honorable future. But back home, his loyalty and medical skill are about to be tested to the limit, while the captive bear he has brought back from France begins to cause havoc.
-
-
On Foolishness and Mortality
- By Ilana on 12-27-14
By: Rose Tremain
-
The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosencreutz
- A Romance in Eight Days
- By: Johann Valentin Andreae, John Crowley - translator
- Narrated by: John Crowley
- Length: 4 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Often described as an alchemical allegory, John Crowley instead decided this is "the first science fiction novel". After all, "it's fiction; it's about the possibilities of a science; and it's a novel". No matter what else it might be, it's definitely one of the great outlandish stories in Western literature.
-
-
Trippy
- By David S. Mathew on 07-24-17
By: Johann Valentin Andreae, and others
-
Snow Country
- By: Yasunari Kawabata
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 3 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The story of the doomed love affair of a wealthy sophisticate, Shimamura, and the geisha Komako, at a mountain hotspring resort in western Japan, one of the snowiest regions on earth.
-
-
A beautifully written book
- By just asking for some common sense on 03-19-19
-
The Leopard
- A Novel
- By: Giuseppe di Lampedusa, Archibald Colquhuon - translator
- Narrated by: Paul Woodson
- Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set in the 1860s, The Leopard tells the spellbinding story of a decadent, dying Sicilian aristocracy threatened by the approaching forces of democracy and revolution. The dramatic sweep and richness of observation, the seamless intertwining of public and private worlds, and the grasp of human frailty imbue The Leopard with its particular melancholy beauty and power, and place it among the greatest historical novels of our time.
-
-
Timeless
- By Robert Massarella on 12-05-23
By: Giuseppe di Lampedusa, and others
-
Andersen's Fairy Tales, Volume 1
- By: Hans Christian Andersen
- Narrated by: Emma Fenney, Phil Gigante, Erin Yuen
- Length: 6 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales, which have been translated into more than 125 languages, have become culturally embedded in the West's collective consciousness. Readily accessible by children, they present lessons of virtue and resilience in the face of adversity that appeal to mature listeners as well. This collection of 18 tales includes "The Emperor's New Clothes", "The Princess and the Pea", and "The Snow Queen".
-
Pavilion of Women
- By: Pearl S. Buck
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 15 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On her 40th birthday, Madame Wu carries out a decision she has been planning for a long time: she tells her husband that after 24 years their physical life together is now over and she wishes him to take a second wife. The House of Wu, one of the oldest and most revered in China, is thrown into an uproar by her decision, but Madame Wu will not be dissuaded and arranges for a young country girl to come take her place in bed.
-
-
Horrible narration!
- By ClearlyCrystalAnn on 06-17-15
By: Pearl S. Buck
-
The Ruby in Her Navel
- By: Barry Unsworth
- Narrated by: Andrew Sachs
- Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Thurstan, a young Norman and would-be Knight at the Court of King Roger in Palermo, has been in love since boyhood with Lady Alicia, now returned a widow from the Holy Land. Thurstan soon finds himself caught in a tangle of plots.
-
-
A Well-Earned Five Stars for this Gem
- By Ilana on 12-11-14
By: Barry Unsworth
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
The Visionaries
- Arendt, Beauvoir, Rand, Weil, and the Power of Philosophy in Dark Times
- By: Wolfram Eilenberger, Shaun Whiteside
- Narrated by: Hannah Curtis
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The period from 1933 to 1943 was one of the darkest and most chaotic in human history, as the Second World War unfolded with unthinkable cruelty. It was also a crucial decade in the dramatic, intersecting lives of some of history’s greatest philosophers. There were four women, in particular, whose parallel ideas would come to dominate the twentieth century—at once in necessary dialogue and in striking contrast with one another.
-
-
Satire and Beauvoir’s problematic behavior; Simone Weil’s problematic self-immolation
- By Louise Beecher on 03-24-24
By: Wolfram Eilenberger, and others
-
The Power of Adrienne Rich
- A Biography
- By: Hilary Holladay
- Narrated by: Maggi-Meg Reed
- Length: 18 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Adrienne Rich was the female face of American poetry for decades. Her forceful, uncompromising writing has more than stood the test of time, and the life of the woman behind the words is equally impressive. Motivated by personal revelations, Rich transformed herself from a traditional, Radcliffe-educated lyric poet and married mother of three sons into a path-breaking lesbian-feminist author of prose as well as poetry.
-
-
Coherent & Worthwhile
- By AS st on 02-19-22
By: Hilary Holladay
-
The Pillow Book: Series 1-11
- A Full-Cast Historical Crime Drama
- By: Robert Forrest
- Narrated by: Benedict Cumberbatch, Cal MacAninch, full cast, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lady Shonagon is an imperial courtesan, living at the court of the Japanese Emperor in the 10th century. When a series of disturbing thefts within the palace walls throws the court into confusion and unrest, Shonagon is appointed guide and assistant to Lieutenant Yukinari as he investigates. Together, Shonagon and Yukinari must solve the mysteries and escalating crimes that plague the Japanese court, and their romance blossoms in the tightly enclosed world behind the high palace walls. But soon Shonagon's lover, Tadanobu, becomes uncomfortable with how closely they are working together....
-
-
British voices in an ancient Japanese story? Why??
- By Anne on 10-01-19
By: Robert Forrest
-
Streams of Gold, Rivers of Blood
- The Rise and Fall of Byzantium, 955 A.D. to the First Crusade
- By: Anthony Kaldellis
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 15 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the second half of the tenth century, Byzantium embarked on a series of spectacular conquests. By the early eleventh century, the empire was the most powerful state in the Mediterranean. Yet this imperial project came to a crashing collapse fifty years later, when political disunity, fiscal mismanagement, and defeat at the hands of the Seljuks and the Normans brought an end to Byzantine hegemony. By 1081, Byzantium's very existence was threatened.
-
-
Very Detailed but Tedious
- By Amazon Customer on 09-06-24
-
Lotus Girl
- My Life at the Crossroads of Buddhism and America
- By: Helen Tworkov
- Narrated by: Helen Tworkov
- Length: 12 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The daughter of an artist, Helen Tworkov grew up in the heady climate of the New York School of Abstract Expressionism; yet from an early age, she questioned the value of Western cultural norms. At the age of twenty-two, she set off for Japan, then traveled through Cambodia, India, and eventually to Tibetan refugee camps in Nepal. Set against the arresting cultural backdrop of the sixties and their legacy, this intimate self-portrait depicts Tworkov's search for a true home but also into the ways each of us can better understand and transform ourselves.
-
-
Amazing story
- By Elina on 05-25-24
By: Helen Tworkov
-
Bravehearts of Bharat
- Vignettes from Indian History
- By: Vikram Sampath
- Narrated by: Anuj Datta
- Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fifteen Brave Men and Women of Bharat who Never Succumbed to the Challenges of Invaders But were Lost and Forgotten in the Annals of History. These are the stories of those Bravehearts who Fought to Protect their Rights, Faith and Freedom.
-
-
Shining the light on the true history of Bharat
- By Srinivasan iyengar on 01-01-24
By: Vikram Sampath
-
The Visionaries
- Arendt, Beauvoir, Rand, Weil, and the Power of Philosophy in Dark Times
- By: Wolfram Eilenberger, Shaun Whiteside
- Narrated by: Hannah Curtis
- Length: 12 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The period from 1933 to 1943 was one of the darkest and most chaotic in human history, as the Second World War unfolded with unthinkable cruelty. It was also a crucial decade in the dramatic, intersecting lives of some of history’s greatest philosophers. There were four women, in particular, whose parallel ideas would come to dominate the twentieth century—at once in necessary dialogue and in striking contrast with one another.
-
-
Satire and Beauvoir’s problematic behavior; Simone Weil’s problematic self-immolation
- By Louise Beecher on 03-24-24
By: Wolfram Eilenberger, and others
-
The Power of Adrienne Rich
- A Biography
- By: Hilary Holladay
- Narrated by: Maggi-Meg Reed
- Length: 18 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Adrienne Rich was the female face of American poetry for decades. Her forceful, uncompromising writing has more than stood the test of time, and the life of the woman behind the words is equally impressive. Motivated by personal revelations, Rich transformed herself from a traditional, Radcliffe-educated lyric poet and married mother of three sons into a path-breaking lesbian-feminist author of prose as well as poetry.
-
-
Coherent & Worthwhile
- By AS st on 02-19-22
By: Hilary Holladay
-
The Pillow Book: Series 1-11
- A Full-Cast Historical Crime Drama
- By: Robert Forrest
- Narrated by: Benedict Cumberbatch, Cal MacAninch, full cast, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lady Shonagon is an imperial courtesan, living at the court of the Japanese Emperor in the 10th century. When a series of disturbing thefts within the palace walls throws the court into confusion and unrest, Shonagon is appointed guide and assistant to Lieutenant Yukinari as he investigates. Together, Shonagon and Yukinari must solve the mysteries and escalating crimes that plague the Japanese court, and their romance blossoms in the tightly enclosed world behind the high palace walls. But soon Shonagon's lover, Tadanobu, becomes uncomfortable with how closely they are working together....
-
-
British voices in an ancient Japanese story? Why??
- By Anne on 10-01-19
By: Robert Forrest
-
Streams of Gold, Rivers of Blood
- The Rise and Fall of Byzantium, 955 A.D. to the First Crusade
- By: Anthony Kaldellis
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 15 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the second half of the tenth century, Byzantium embarked on a series of spectacular conquests. By the early eleventh century, the empire was the most powerful state in the Mediterranean. Yet this imperial project came to a crashing collapse fifty years later, when political disunity, fiscal mismanagement, and defeat at the hands of the Seljuks and the Normans brought an end to Byzantine hegemony. By 1081, Byzantium's very existence was threatened.
-
-
Very Detailed but Tedious
- By Amazon Customer on 09-06-24
-
Lotus Girl
- My Life at the Crossroads of Buddhism and America
- By: Helen Tworkov
- Narrated by: Helen Tworkov
- Length: 12 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The daughter of an artist, Helen Tworkov grew up in the heady climate of the New York School of Abstract Expressionism; yet from an early age, she questioned the value of Western cultural norms. At the age of twenty-two, she set off for Japan, then traveled through Cambodia, India, and eventually to Tibetan refugee camps in Nepal. Set against the arresting cultural backdrop of the sixties and their legacy, this intimate self-portrait depicts Tworkov's search for a true home but also into the ways each of us can better understand and transform ourselves.
-
-
Amazing story
- By Elina on 05-25-24
By: Helen Tworkov
-
Bravehearts of Bharat
- Vignettes from Indian History
- By: Vikram Sampath
- Narrated by: Anuj Datta
- Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fifteen Brave Men and Women of Bharat who Never Succumbed to the Challenges of Invaders But were Lost and Forgotten in the Annals of History. These are the stories of those Bravehearts who Fought to Protect their Rights, Faith and Freedom.
-
-
Shining the light on the true history of Bharat
- By Srinivasan iyengar on 01-01-24
By: Vikram Sampath
-
Move Like Water
- My Story of the Sea
- By: Hannah Stowe
- Narrated by: Anna Rust
- Length: 6 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a young girl, Hannah Stowe was raised at the tide’s edge on the Pembrokeshire coast of Wales, falling asleep to the sweep of the lighthouse beam. Now in her midtwenties, working as a marine biologist and sailor, Stowe draws on her professional experiences sailing tens of thousands of miles in the North Sea, North Atlantic, Mediterranean, Celtic Sea, and the Caribbean to explore the human relationship with wild waters. Why is it, she asks, that she and so many others have been drawn to life at sea—and what might the water around us be able to teach us?
-
-
Every sentence is so beautiful
- By Raleigh on 11-16-23
By: Hannah Stowe
-
Victorious in Defeat
- The Life and Times of Chiang Kai-shek, China, 1887-1975
- By: Alexander V. Pantsov, Steven I. Levine - translator
- Narrated by: Rick Adamson
- Length: 25 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) led the Republic of China for almost fifty years, starting in 1926. He was the architect of a new republican China, a hero of the Second World War, and a faithful ally of the United States. Simultaneously a Christian and a Confucian, Chiang dreamed of universal equality yet was a perfidious and cunning dictator responsible for the deaths of over 1.5 million innocent people. This critical biography is based on Chiang Kai-shek's unpublished diaries, his extensive personal files from the Russian archives, and the Russian files of his relatives, associates, and foes.
-
-
A hard story to tell
- By A reader on 08-31-24
By: Alexander V. Pantsov, and others
-
Motherland
- A Memoir of Love, Loathing, and Longing
- By: Elissa Altman
- Narrated by: Elissa Altman
- Length: 6 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After surviving a traumatic childhood in 1970s New York and young adulthood living in the shadow of her flamboyant mother, Rita, a makeup-addicted former television singer, Elissa Altman has managed to build a very different life, settling in Connecticut with her wife of nearly 20 years. After much time, therapy, and wine, Elissa is at last in a healthy place, still orbiting around her mother but keeping far enough away to preserve the stable, independent world she has built as a writer and editor. Then Elissa is confronted with the unthinkable.
-
-
One of the best memoirs of 2021
- By NMwritergal on 11-17-21
By: Elissa Altman
-
The Lives of Lucian Freud
- Fame, 1968-2011
- By: William Feaver
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 19 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lucian Freud (1922-2011) is one of the most influential figurative painters of the 20th century. His paintings are in every major museum and many private collections here and abroad. William Feaver's daily calls from 1973 until Freud died in 2011, as well as interviews with family and friends, were crucial sources for this book. Freud had ferocious energy, worked day and night, but his circle was broad, including not just other well-known artists but writers, bluebloods, royals in England and Europe, drag queens, fashion models gamblers, bookies, and gangsters like the Kray twins.
-
-
Perfect
- By Travis Carl on 05-29-21
By: William Feaver
-
Theoderic the Great
- King of Goths, Ruler of Romans
- By: Hans-Ulrich Wiemer, John Noel Dillon - translator
- Narrated by: Julian Elfer
- Length: 23 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the year 493, the leader of a vast confederation of Gothic warriors, their wives, and children personally cut down Odoacer, the man famous for deposing the last Roman emperor in 476. That leader became Theoderic the Great (454-526). This engaging history of his life and reign immerses listeners in the world of the warrior-king who ushered in decades of peace and stability in Italy as king of Goths and Romans.
-
-
More for historians than general readers
- By Bill Staley on 10-29-23
By: Hans-Ulrich Wiemer, and others
-
Better Broken
- The Hidden Advantage of a Challenging Life
- By: Sean J. Rogers
- Narrated by: Sean J. Rogers
- Length: 4 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From enduring an abusive childhood to fighting as a Special Forces Green Beret in the war in Afghanistan, Sean Rogers has come away from his hardships with the tools necessary to not only survive but thrive. He knows firsthand what it means to face your trauma and use it as a source for incredible strength.
-
-
A universal message.
- By Anonymous User on 03-26-24
By: Sean J. Rogers
-
Burnt
- A Memoir of Fighting Fire
- By: Clare Frank
- Narrated by: Clare Frank
- Length: 11 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Burnt is a book about finding your calling, even if it's an unexpected one. It's about finding your home, even if you aren't immediately welcomed. And it's about reaching the top and making a difference, even if you don't look like you fit in.
-
-
Badass
- By SkoGirl on 08-21-24
By: Clare Frank
-
Landlines
- The Remarkable Story of a Thousand-Mile Journey Across Britain
- By: Raynor Winn
- Narrated by: Raynor Winn
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Cape Wrath Trail is hundreds of miles of grueling terrain through Scotland's remotest mountains and lochs. But the lure of the wilderness and the beguiling beauty of the awaiting glens draw them northwards. Being one with nature saved them in their darkest hour years earlier—and their hope is that this experience can work its magic again.
-
-
Incredible
- By Matthew R Atkinson on 10-26-24
By: Raynor Winn
-
The Dress Diary
- Secrets from a Victorian Woman's Wardrobe
- By: Kate Strasdin
- Narrated by: Karen Cass
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1838, a young woman was given a diary on her wedding day. Collecting snippets of fabric from a range of garments—some her own, others donated by family and friends—she carefully annotated each one, creating a unique record of their lives. Her name was Mrs. Anne Sykes. Nearly two hundred years later, the diary fell into the hands of Kate Strasdin, a fashion historian and museum curator. Using her expertise, Strasdin spent the next six years unraveling the secrets contained within the album's pages, and the lives of the people within.
-
-
Fascinating History
- By Cpm405 on 01-09-24
By: Kate Strasdin
-
Revolusi
- Indonesia and the Birth of the Modern World
- By: David Van Reybrouck
- Narrated by: Neil Gardner
- Length: 22 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In August 1945, a handful of people raised a homemade cotton flag and announced the birth of a new nation. With the fourth largest population in the world, inhabiting islands that span an eighth of the globe, Indonesia became the first country to rid itself of colonial rule after WWII.
-
-
Solid Historical Survey
- By DavidPrestonokwu on 06-05-24
-
The Letters of Jane Austen
- By: Jane Austen
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
“I do not want people to be very agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them a great deal.” Jane Austen at her witty, observant, intelligent, and sympathetic best, in this collection of her letters written to family and friends. Compiled by her niece Fanny Knight’s son Edward Hugessen Knatchbull-Hugessen (the first Baron Brabourne), and edited by Sarah Chauncey Woolsey, this collection includes a preface written by the editor and notes from Lord Brabourne. It was originally published in 1892.
-
-
To be in the life of this wonderful writer
- By Yvette Jackson on 02-21-24
By: Jane Austen
-
The Sassoons
- The Great Global Merchants and the Making of an Empire
- By: Joseph Sassoon
- Narrated by: James Lurie
- Length: 13 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A spectacular generational saga of the making (and undoing) of a family dynasty: the riveting untold story of the gilded Jewish Bagdadi Sassoons, who built a vast empire through global finance and trade—cotton, opium, shipping, banking—that reached across three continents and ultimately changed the destinies of nations. With full access to rare family photographs and archives.
-
-
A telling history
- By Nick on 05-21-24
By: Joseph Sassoon
What listeners say about The Pillow Book
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Valerie
- 10-28-24
Elegant and calming
Perfect to listen to at bedtime or the middle of the night. Beautiful images. One must make allowances for her station and time period, but overall it is exquisite.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Emily
- 02-20-24
Delicious
I really enjoyed this memoir- it was special to get such an intimate look into medieval Japanese court society. A must read for anyone passionate about history, politics, human social dynamics, art, or nature. The reader did an excellent job- her performance conveyed the wit, archness and more than a bit of snobbishness that characterizes Sei Shonagon. I liked that this is read by a British woman with a rather posh accent (at least to my American ears) because I wouldn’t be able to know what a posh Japanese accent sounded like but I was able to have an understanding of what kind of a woman Sei Shonagon must have been via the cross-cultural associations provided by an aristocratic sounding British accent. Sei Shonagon was a true aesthete, and a genius in human behavior and emotion. Yes, she can be snobbish (she’s so cruel to poor people- probably a product of her upbringing and classist culture) and sometimes very self-satisfied- but she also knows she’s an intelligent woman and makes no attempt to hide or apologize for that. Her descriptions of nature in particular were painterly and moving. My main familiarity with Japanese art is Japanese woodblock prints of nature or people- and listening to this book was like getting to step into one of those prints.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lil Y. M. Judd
- 10-12-24
It's got moments it's very good and others when
Well, it sure does show their life in a very different perspective. Sometimes I loved it others not. I think it's a bit hard for us to relate to. I'm glad I got it because I've read other Chinese and Japanese court stories and this is very different. It's almost a book of poetry. The women must have been very quick and poetic to keep it going in their times.
I don't think I would have liked their lives ;) It's been interesting though and a novel read/listen to
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Joanna Sakievich
- 04-14-23
When black teeth were pleasing…?
Perhaps because of the translation and narrator, this nearly thousand-year-old book of Japanese court life seems remarkably relevant for current times. That is, until now & again something like whacking with brooms for fun or smooth, black teeth are casually referenced as appealing…I had to pause & look that tradition up (ohaguro it’s called). Then, the reader is instantly transported to a very different era of time and culture. This intermingling of timelessness and historically revealing tidbits, make Shonagon’s The Pillow Book a delectable treasure!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Peter W. Kalnin
- 10-08-24
Beautiful
I recommend this classic
More poetic than expected
Beautiful memoir and observations from over a thousand years ago.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- K.G.
- 01-11-23
Good writing, poor quality audio
The writing and story itself was fine. An interesting window into ancient Japanese court life. However the audio was poorly edited. The narrative did an admirable job, but had an English accent. A Japanese narrator would have been more appropriate.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- C L Haight
- 09-05-24
The Elegant Japanese Middle Ages
An intriguing book. Good reading. An extremely hierarchical culture I wouldn’t have wanted to live in but am glad to know about.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Fishlamb
- 04-24-22
Superb narration
The book is fascinating as it is, but the narration adds extra magic to it. A highly enjoyable listening
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- M. Harari
- 06-20-24
Simply Beautiful
Wonderful and Sutton is incredible. Sei couldn’t have a better voice reading her beautiful book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Erick DuPree
- 01-10-23
Exquisite. Truly!
This is a great audio. It’s interesting to read some of the critical reviews - which seem to forget that Ivan Morris’ Pillow Book translation is of a time- and thus the language is dated. His use of British analogy for Japanese court is anachronistic- but it also is a clear way to communicate an imperial concept to western readers. This translation is better than the very abridged Waley translation but is not as refined as the more recent McKinney translation.
This audio lacks a lot of context and notes found in standard translation. However for me, it did not detract. I loved the narrator- who sounded of the time for the translation- a bit nostalgic on voice, with her use of Received Pronunciation.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
6 people found this helpful