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The Sonnets
- Narrated by: John Gielgud
- Length: 1 hr and 51 mins
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The Sonnets
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Publisher's summary
Shakespeare's timeless sonnets, which describe love in all its aspects, represent one of the finest bodies of poetry ever penned. They include the star-struck Sonnet 18 ("Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?"), the witty Sonnet 103 ("My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun"), the despairing yet hopeful Sonnet 29 ("When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes, I all alone beweep my outcast state"), and more. As read by the legendary Sir John Gielgud - perhaps the greatest contemporary interpreter of the Bard - the sonnets in this selection come alive with all the passion and profound human insight of their brilliant creator.
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 105
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 79
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 78
In this definitive collection of essays, including the poignant title essay "Self-Reliance," Ralph Waldo Emerson expounds on the importance of trusting your soul, as well as divine providence, to carve out a life. A firm believer in nonconformity, Emerson celebrates the individual and stresses the value of listening to the inner voice unique to each of us—even when it defies society's expectations.
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5 out of 5 stars
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This book is like a series of great quotes!
- By M. Allen on 01-16-19
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Samson Agonistes
- By: John Milton
- Narrated by: David de Keyser, Philip Madoc, Matthew Morgan, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 51 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 65
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 59
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 59
Samson Agonistes, the 'dramatic poem' by John Milton, was published in 1671, three years before the poet's death. Written in the form of a Greek tragedy, with the Chorus commenting on the action, it follows the biblical story of the blind Samson as he wreaks his revenge on the Philistines who have imprisoned him. A powerful subject, with a personal resonance for the blind Milton, it is a perfect work for the medium of audiobook where poetry and drama can be balanced equally.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Unbelievable
- By Anonymous User on 11-06-20
By: John Milton
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The Consolation of Philosophy
- By: Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius
- Narrated by: Peter Wickham
- Length: 4 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 40
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 37
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 37
Charged with treason under Theodoric the Great in sixth-century Rome, Boethius served one year's imprisonment, awaiting trial and eventual execution. During this time, he wrote The Consolation of Philosophy, which would go on to be one of the most popular philosophical works of all time, contributing much to medieval thought and influencing the likes of Dante and Chaucer, as well as Renaissance writers, such as Milton and Shakespeare.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The Bestseller for a 1000 Years
- By Ken on 02-05-22
![La Vita Nuova [The New Life] Audiobook By Dante Alighieri cover art](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51+N56si4dL._SL320_.jpg)
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La Vita Nuova [The New Life]
- By: Dante Alighieri
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
- Length: 2 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 24
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 21
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 21
Written in alternating prose and poetry, La Vita Nuova is a profound reflection on the nature of love, devoted to Dante's muse Beatrice. Following Beatrice's death in 1290, Dante became obsessed with the young Florentine woman, whom he only ever knew from a distance. He believed his love for her was a form of divine love and saw her as an image of salvation itself - a theme that is later explored in his masterpiece The Divine Comedy, where she guides him through heaven.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A must
- By Barnaby on 11-15-20
By: Dante Alighieri
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Falstaff
- Give Me Life
- By: Harold Bloom
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 3 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 37
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 33
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 34
Falstaff is both a comic and tragic central protagonist in Shakespeare's three Henry plays. He is companion to Prince Hal (the future Henry V), who loves him, goads him, teases him, indulges his vast appetites, and commits all sorts of mischief with him. Award-winning author and esteemed professor Harold Bloom examines Falstaff with the deepest compassion and sympathy and also with unerring wisdom. He uses the relationship between Falstaff and Hal to explore the devastation of severed bonds and the heartbreak of betrayal.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Falstaff brooks no rebuttal.
- By Darwin8u on 02-06-20
By: Harold Bloom
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Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson
- By: Ralph Waldo Emerson
- Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach
- Length: 14 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 116
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 105
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 100
Here in one volume are both the Essays: First Series and Essays: Second Series from one of the most influential philosophers in American history. Although Ralph Waldo Emerson, perhaps America’s most famous philosopher, did not wish to be referred to as a transcendentalist, he is nevertheless considered the founder of this major movement of nineteenth-century American thought. Emerson was influenced by a liberal religious training; theological study; personal contact with the Romanticists Coleridge, Carlyle, and Wordsworth; and a strong indigenous sense of individualism and self-reliance.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Riggenbach's Essays, Not Emerson's
- By Jake Behm on 12-01-15
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De Profundis
- By: Oscar Wilde
- Narrated by: David McCallion
- Length: 1 hr and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 40
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 38
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 38
At its heart, De Profundis is a love letter and is better known as the De Profundis papers. Written in 1897, while Oscar Wilde was imprisoned in Reading Gaol, De Profundis would become one of his best-known works. The papers include Wilde's account of living a lavish lifestyle and his relationship with Lord Alfred Douglas, both of which he credited for his eventual downfall and imprisonment. The second half of the papers is Wilde's account of prison life and his spiritual awakening.
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1 out of 5 stars
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This Work Really Is Wilde Going Off...
- By James E. Lytle on 05-16-21
By: Oscar Wilde
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The Canterbury Tales
- A New Unabridged Translation by Burton Raffel
- By: Geoffrey Chaucer
- Narrated by: uncredited
- Length: 22 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 536
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 439
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Story4 out of 5 stars 436
Lively, absorbing, often outrageously funny, Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales is a work of genius, an undisputed classic that has held a special appeal for each generation of readers. The Tales gathers 29 of literature's most enduring (and endearing) characters in a vivid group portrait that captures the full spectrum of medieval society, from the exalted Knight to the humble Plowman. This unabridged work is based on the new translation.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Lack of coherant "chapters"
- By Jensophie on 02-24-10
By: Geoffrey Chaucer
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Meditations of Marcus Aurelius
- By: Marcus Aurelius
- Narrated by: Alan Munro
- Length: 5 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,149
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Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 1,835
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Story4 out of 5 stars 1,806
Meditations is former U.S. President Bill Clinton's favorite book. This audio consists of a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor 161-180 AD, setting forth his ideas on Stoic philosophy.
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4 out of 5 stars
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The reading made it impossible to focus on content
- By Mark Grebner on 09-02-12
By: Marcus Aurelius
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Meditations
- By: Marcus Aurelius, George Long - translator
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 5 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 26
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 21
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 22
The Meditations are a series of private reflections written in Greek by a Roman emperor immersed in the administration of an empire beset by wars on its frontiers and natural disasters in its interior. It is the work of a great man seeking philosophical and spiritual solace in the midst of human chaos and uncertainty. This beautiful piece of ancient literature has been the companion of many leaders over the centuries who turned to inner reflection in times of unrest. Its Stoic philosophy has been much admired and emulated.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Henny Youngman of Stoics
- By Asthmador1 on 06-01-23
By: Marcus Aurelius, and others
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Plato's Phaedrus
- By: Plato
- Narrated by: Ray Childs
- Length: 2 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 108
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 94
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 94
Phaedrus lures Socrates outside the walls of Athens, where he seldom goes, by promising to share a new work by his friend and mentor, Lysias, a famous writer of speeches. This dialogue provides a powerful example of the dialectical writing that Plato uses to manifest ideas that are essential to human existence and to living a good life. Phaedrus shows how oral and written forms of language relate to each other and to philosophy.
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1 out of 5 stars
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six pages (Hackett Complete Works edition) missing
- By S. Lee on 01-17-19
By: Plato
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A Woman of No Importance
- By: Oscar Wilde
- Narrated by: Miriam Margolyes, Samantha Mathis, Rosalind Ayres, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 34 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 224
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 187
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 187
Devilishly attractive Lord Illingworth is notorious for his skill as a seducer. But he is still invited to all the "best" houses, while his female conquests must hide their shame in seclusion. In this devastating drawing-room comedy, Oscar Wilde uses his celebrated wit to expose English society's narrow view of everything from sexual mores to Americans.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Pitch Perfect Performance
- By Cheryl on 08-26-12
By: Oscar Wilde
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The Renaissance
- Studies in Art and Poetry
- By: Walter Pater
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 6 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 46
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 40
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 41
Published to great acclaim in 1873, Walter Pater’s compendium of idiosyncratic, impressionistic essays on the Renaissance gained him a reputation as a daring modern philosopher. Oscar Wilde called it the “holy writ of beauty.” It was Pater’s cry of “art for art’s sake” that became the manifesto for the aesthetic movement. He believed that art should be sensual and that beauty should rank as the highest ideal. Marked by elegant fluency, Pater’s essays discuss Botticelli, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and other artists who, for him, embodied the spirit of the Renaissance.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Bizarre....no idea what I just listened to.
- By GogolGirl on 10-14-20
By: Walter Pater
What listeners say about The Sonnets
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- T. McG.
- 07-04-12
Hambone
Gielgud hams it too much, reading as if he were on stage, trying to emote. More concerned with his interpretation than he is with the meter, he may be a good actor but he doesn't understand the music of verse.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- dooyuhpilgrim?
- 02-19-19
Definitive
Gielgud worthily represents the great tradition of English verse speaking. The sound quality of these recordings is slightly dated, but this is not a critical flaw. Gielgud is never less than musical and cogent, and he is often magnificent. An important document of 20th century British Shakespearean performance..
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1 person found this helpful