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

Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins

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

Okay Book

There were a handful of stories that were good the rest were aimless and confusing to follow. But worth a try.

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.

F. Scott Fitzgerald was excellent

All of the stories were quite good.
I love the writing style. the dialogue was very entertaining, as well.

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. )

The stories are humorous, charming, and great!

By the way, Oh! The Public by Anton Chekhov is omitted in the first review

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!

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.

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.

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

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.