Faust

Unless you're familiar with Faust, before listening to this, I would 1) go to the Naxos Audiobooks website and read about this particular production of Faust.

Part 1 has a clear narrative and the performance sparkles.

Part 2, through no fault of the performers, is difficult to follow if you don't already know the story. I kept thinking I had missed something and kept rewinding. Eventually, I read the study guide posted above so I would have a clue what is going on with the story. The narrative of Part 2 is simply nowhere near as compelling as Part 1.

The performers do a wonderful job. It is simply difficult for someone unfamiliar with Part 2 of Faust to follow along without some outside help.

This is a good abridgment of Faust and is very well presented.

It gives the story in a nutshell.

The beautiful performance!

This is the way to really enjoy Faust! Beautifully performed, with a full tapestry of voices and sounds. Well done!

The wonderful reading, next would be the great sound effects that didn't sound corny at all.

I don't know quite what to think of Faust. Part 1 was excellent and very thought provoking, but part two is confusing and almost makes the reader think he has switched to a book by a different author, or at least skipped the middle book in a trilogy.

The satanic poodle.... :)

Dramatic, moving, thought provoking

Gretchen Tragedy, Walpurgis Night,

These are veteran actors who provide an excellent reading.

Faust is really best served as poetry. This audible reading provides more than enough to stimulate the listener's imagination.

A few quibbles: It would be nice to be able to search the poem by section. Being one large file makes it a little difficult to move back and forth between selections. However, the pdf included does give the listener a guide to the divisions for the presentation.

...and now I understand why. The classic tale about a man's deal with the Devil for untold earthly pleasures had a sorrowful and encompassing first half that seems to tell a complete part of the story, which I really enjoyed.

The second half of the play was not really related to the first. It was divided into little story-acts that didn't always relate to each other and often left me confused. While it was easy to follow the first half and infer what would be happening on stage, it was a lot more difficult to do so with the second. Apparently, Goethe wrote the first part long before the second, and the second was published posthumously. It focuses on different themes and has less of a linear narrative, all of which served only to confuse me as I listened. It doesn't help that many of Faust's trials in the second part involve mythical places and allusions that aren't easily described through dialogue alone. The play does its best with sound effects that make the listening experience more enjoyable, and the actors were brilliant. But I think I would have enjoyed it more if it were only the first part.

Absolutely.
A lot of my friends are into classic literature and—while this is technically a play—listening to it on audio makes it accessible to experience anytime.

The story is amazing. If you haven't read it and you like stories like Paradise Lost, The Divine Comedy, and Homer's epics, then this is for you.

The performance is absolutely stellar. The performers do a fantastic job of bringing it to life.

It's thought provoking, inspiring, insightful, and beautiful.

Life.

They really pulled the beauty out of this story.

Mmm, no. It was much more one of those stories that maintains a consistent amount of inspiration inside throughout.

I really wanted to enjoy this performance, and my rating has nothing to do with the narrator's skill. I really believe that there are some books that are best read "the old fashioned way," and this is one of them.

I am in love with Goethe after hearing this rendition of Faust. Absolutely can't wait for part 2 and rest of the book. Please get more of his works and other such classics.

I didn't finish this audiobook because I got depressed. Faust is a legendary jerk and I wanted to understand the story behind the legend.

I suppose that I may go back to it sometime when I have a stronger stomach.