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Great Classic Stories II  By  cover art

Great Classic Stories II

By: Edgar Allan Poe,James Joyce,Mark Twain,Kate Chopin,Virginia Woolf,Aldous Huxley,Oscar Wilde,F. Scott Fitzgerald
Narrated by: Simon Vance,Kate Fenton,Stephen R. Thorne,Robert Fass,Bronson Pinchot
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Publisher's summary

This wonderful collection of 18 short stories includes work by some of literature's most treasured names, including Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe, James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Oscar Wilde, and many more.

This superlative treasury includes "The Cask of Amontillado" by Edgar Allan Poe; "A Piece of String" by Guy Le Maupassant; "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin; "The Mark on the Wall" by Virginia Woolf; "Nuns at Lunch" by Aldous Huxley, and many more!

Narrators include Simon Vance, Kate Fenton, Stephen R. Thorne, Robert Fass, Bronson Pinchot, and other talents, for a superb listening experience!

Public Domain (P)2010 BBC Audio

What listeners say about Great Classic Stories II

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Another great selection of stories

This second collection of "Great Classic Stories" is just as rewarding as the first, with something for everyone, including comedy, tragedy, suspense, and romance.

From Huxley's brassy lunchtime companion to the sad teller of Gilbert's love story, nearly every story reveals an unforgettable character or two, and the narrators are first-rate. I particularly enjoyed Bill Wallis and Simon Vance.

Here are the stories in order:

YOUNG GOODMAN BROWN by Nathaniel Hawthorne

THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO by Edgar Allan Poe

COUSIN WILLIAM by Harriet Beecher Stowe

HOW I EDITED AN AGRICULTURAL PAPER by Mark Twain

A PIECE OF STRING by Guy de Maupassant

ANGELA, AN INVERTED LOVE STORY by W. S. Gilbert

THE NIGHTINGALE AND THE ROSE by Oscar Wilde

THE STORY OF AN HOUR by Kate Chopin

A JURY OF HER PEERS by Susan Glaspell

ARABY by James Joyce

THE MARK ON THE WALL by Virginia Woolf

THE INTERLOPERS by Saki

HEAD AND SHOULDERS by F. Scott Fitzgerald

THE STRANGER by Katherine Mansfield

THE BLIND MAN by D. H. Lawrence

NUNS AT LUNCHEON by Aldous Huxley

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101 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Great Classic Stories II

The audible download does not itemize this book by each story so I have no way to find a specific story and play it. I see no index or table of contents to review to know titles, author, narrator, etc. Maybe I am missing something but that is a huge drawback.

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50 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Entertaining!

This audio book would have been worth the purchase if only for the reading of Mark Twain's "How I Edited An Agricultural Paper." I bust up laughing every time I hear that story! However, this audio book is filled with great short stories and are sure to entertain and are read by a variety of great readers. I would recommend this to anyone!

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25 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

No story titles?

The performances were beautifully done, the writing classic.
But- how difficult would it have been to label the chapters with the names of the stories and their authors? Each story in the table of contents (“Chapters”) is merely labeled with a number.
The is such negligence.
A decision that must have been made by an indifferent manager rather than a true editor or any lover of the written word. It is an insult to both reader and author.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Shame they ruined the endings...

Most of these stories are engaging and well-written, but the editor jammed them together so that there was no real ending to nearly every one. It's very disappointing to be enjoying the whole of a story and have the endings ruined by such poor judgement. If you don't mind having to replay every story ending to be sure of what happened, no problem. I despised this book by the close.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

a mixed bag

This collection includes a handful of truly outstanding stories (I particularly enjoyed The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin and A Jury of Her Peers by Susan Glaspell), some delightfully amusing ones (How I Edited an Agricultural Paper by Mark Twain; Oh, The Public by Anton Chekhov), several that were middle of the road or really nothing special, and a few that sucked the life right out of me (Cousin William by Harriet Beecher Stowe; A Coward by Edith Wharton; Araby by James Joyce).

As for narration, How I Edited an Agricultural Paper, Oh, The Public, The Mark on the Wall by Virginia Woolf and Nuns at Luncheon by Aldous Huxley (the last of which just so happens to be narrated by my personal favourite, Simon Vance) earn top marks.

In all honesty the fact that Cousin William came so early in the collection nearly caused me to throw in the towel - it was that mind-numbingly boring. All in all, I'm glad I stuck with it as I discovered some real gems. I've knocked an additional star off the overall score due to the fact that the chapters aren't labelled in any way and on two occasions there are two stories included in one chapter.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Js
  • 12-11-20

great compilation of excellent stories

all worthy of many a re-listen, but, sorely needs a TOC and Index, preferably annotated on the latter . (I'm hand-indexing as we speak. )

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Entertaining stories

This collection is wonderful, each story written by a great author, each one in a different style.All succeed in building up tension leading to surprising conclusions.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Enjoyed this collection.

I enjoyed the range of top authors , and the scope of the stories. Would recommend to anyone who likes reading stories by notable authors. Also enjoyed the narration.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Some good, some not so good.

These stories are enjoyable, but some of the narration leaves a lot to be desired. The first 4 stories I found to be unlistenable. However, 5 and 6, both read by Cameron Stewart, are quite good, and so I listened to the rest - they do get better as they go on.

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1 person found this helpful