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Fantastic Tales
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Italian Folktales
- By: Italo Calvino
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 28 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 2
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Story4 out of 5 stars 2
Chosen as one of the New York Times's 10 best books in the year of its original publication, this collection immediately won a cherished place among lovers of the tale and vaulted Calvino into the ranks of the great folklorists.
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Japanese Ghost Stories
- Penguin Classics
- By: Lafcadio Hearn
- Narrated by: Eleanor Matsuura
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 8
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 8
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.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Difficult to Follow
- By Chemar on 12-02-19
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If on a Winter's Night a Traveler
- By: Italo Calvino
- Narrated by: Jefferson Mays
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 405
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 368
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 364
Italo Calvino imagines a novel capable of endless mutations in this intricately crafted story about writing and readers. If on a Winter's Night a Traveler turns out to be not one novel but 10, each with a different plot, style, ambience, and author, and each interrupted at a moment of suspense. Together they form a labyrinth of literatures, known and unknown, alive and extinct, through which two readers, a male and a female, pursue both the story lines that intrigue them and one another.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The position of the feet during reading...
- By literate rose on 02-09-18
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Invisible Cities
- By: Italo Calvino
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 2 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 286
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 248
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 252
In a garden sit the aged Kublai Khan and the young Marco Polo - Tartar emperor and Venetian traveler. Kublai Khan has sensed the end of his empire coming soon. Marco Polo diverts the emperor with tales of the cities he has seen in his travels around the empire: cities and memory, cities and desire, cities and designs, cities and the dead, cities and the sky, trading cities, hidden cities. Soon it becomes clear that each of these fantastic places is really the same place.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Beautiful prose poems read too quickly
- By David on 10-04-16
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The Complete Cosmicomics
- Translated by Martin McLaughlin, Tim Parks, & William Weaver
- By: Italo Calvino, Martin McLaughlin - translator, Tim Parks - translator, and others
- Narrated by: Jefferson Mays
- Length: 15 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 30
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 26
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 27
Italo Calvino's beloved cosmicomics cross planets and traverse galaxies, speed up time or slow it down to the particles of an instant. Through the eyes of an ageless guide named Qfwfq, Calvino explores natural phenomena and tells the story of the origins of the universe. Poignant, fantastical, and wise, these 34 dazzling stories - collected here in one definitive anthology - relate complex scientific and mathematical concepts to our everyday world.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Moments of Greatness = Worth the Read
- By Amazon Customer on 08-06-18
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Marcovaldo
- or The Seasons in the City (Translated by William Weaver)
- By: Italo Calvino, William Weaver - translator
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 3 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 11
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 11
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 11
Marcovaldo is an unskilled worker in a drab industrial city in northern Italy. He is an irrepressible dreamer and an inveterate schemer. Much to the puzzlement of his wife, his children, his boss, and his neighbors, he chases his dreams - but the results are never the expected ones.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Perfect narrator and wonderful story
- By Dn8sk!#Ujka on 12-17-17
-
Italian Folktales
- By: Italo Calvino
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 28 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 2
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 2
Chosen as one of the New York Times's 10 best books in the year of its original publication, this collection immediately won a cherished place among lovers of the tale and vaulted Calvino into the ranks of the great folklorists.
-
Japanese Ghost Stories
- Penguin Classics
- By: Lafcadio Hearn
- Narrated by: Eleanor Matsuura
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 8
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 8
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.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Difficult to Follow
- By Chemar on 12-02-19
-
If on a Winter's Night a Traveler
- By: Italo Calvino
- Narrated by: Jefferson Mays
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 405
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 368
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 364
Italo Calvino imagines a novel capable of endless mutations in this intricately crafted story about writing and readers. If on a Winter's Night a Traveler turns out to be not one novel but 10, each with a different plot, style, ambience, and author, and each interrupted at a moment of suspense. Together they form a labyrinth of literatures, known and unknown, alive and extinct, through which two readers, a male and a female, pursue both the story lines that intrigue them and one another.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The position of the feet during reading...
- By literate rose on 02-09-18
-
Invisible Cities
- By: Italo Calvino
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 2 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 286
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 248
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 252
In a garden sit the aged Kublai Khan and the young Marco Polo - Tartar emperor and Venetian traveler. Kublai Khan has sensed the end of his empire coming soon. Marco Polo diverts the emperor with tales of the cities he has seen in his travels around the empire: cities and memory, cities and desire, cities and designs, cities and the dead, cities and the sky, trading cities, hidden cities. Soon it becomes clear that each of these fantastic places is really the same place.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Beautiful prose poems read too quickly
- By David on 10-04-16
-
The Complete Cosmicomics
- Translated by Martin McLaughlin, Tim Parks, & William Weaver
- By: Italo Calvino, Martin McLaughlin - translator, Tim Parks - translator, and others
- Narrated by: Jefferson Mays
- Length: 15 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 30
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 26
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 27
Italo Calvino's beloved cosmicomics cross planets and traverse galaxies, speed up time or slow it down to the particles of an instant. Through the eyes of an ageless guide named Qfwfq, Calvino explores natural phenomena and tells the story of the origins of the universe. Poignant, fantastical, and wise, these 34 dazzling stories - collected here in one definitive anthology - relate complex scientific and mathematical concepts to our everyday world.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Moments of Greatness = Worth the Read
- By Amazon Customer on 08-06-18
-
Marcovaldo
- or The Seasons in the City (Translated by William Weaver)
- By: Italo Calvino, William Weaver - translator
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 3 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 11
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 11
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 11
Marcovaldo is an unskilled worker in a drab industrial city in northern Italy. He is an irrepressible dreamer and an inveterate schemer. Much to the puzzlement of his wife, his children, his boss, and his neighbors, he chases his dreams - but the results are never the expected ones.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Perfect narrator and wonderful story
- By Dn8sk!#Ujka on 12-17-17
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E.F. Benson's Ghost Stories
- read by Mark Gatiss
- By: E. F. Benson
- Narrated by: Mark Gatiss
- Length: 5 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 109
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 101
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 102
Mark Gatiss ( Sherlock, Doctor Who, Game of Thrones) reads chilling tales by the unsung master of the classic ghost story: E. F. Benson. There's nothing sinister about a London bus. Nothing supernatural could occur on a busy train platform. There's nothing terrifying about a little caterpillar. And a telephone, what could be scary about that? Don't be frightened of the dark corners of your room. Don't be alarmed by a sudden inexplicable chill.
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5 out of 5 stars
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E.F. Benson Classics Excellently Read by Gatiss
- By Robert on 10-28-17
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A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
- By: James Joyce
- Narrated by: Colin Farrell
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 447
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 419
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 415
This quintessential coming-of-age novel describes the early life of Stephen Dedalus. It is set in Ireland during the 19th century, which was a time of emerging Irish nationalism and conservative Catholicism. Highly autobiographical in nature, the work is also notable for its being the first one in which Joyce uses innovative “stream of consciousness” writing style. A Portrait... follows Stephen Dedalus from his babyhood into early adulthood.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Bitterly disappointed
- By James on 01-29-19
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The Myth of Sisyphus
- By: Albert Camus
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 5 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 317
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 294
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Story4 out of 5 stars 296
One of the most influential works of this century, The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays is a crucial exposition of existentialist thought. Influenced by works such as Don Juan and the novels of Kafka, these essays begin with a meditation on suicide; the question of living or not living in a universe devoid of order or meaning.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Brilliant work, excellently narrated
- By Richard B. on 04-30-19
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The Nonexistent Knight
- By: Italo Calvino
- Narrated by: Jefferson Mays
- Length: 4 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 10
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 10
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 10
Set in the time of Charlemagne and narrated by a nun with her own secrets to keep, The Nonexistent Knight tells the story of Agilulf, a gleaming white suit of armor with nothing inside it. A challenge to his honor sends Agilulf on a search through France, England, and North Africa to confirm the chastity of a virgin he saved from rape years earlier.
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Life and Fate: The Complete Series (Dramatised)
- By: Vasily Grossman
- Narrated by: Kenneth Branagh, David Tennant
- Length: 7 hrs and 35 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 155
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 129
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Story4 out of 5 stars 132
Kenneth Branagh stars in BBC Radio 4's ambitious eight-hour dramatisation of Life and Fate, Vasily Grossman's epic masterpiece set during the Battle of Stalingrad. This powerful work, completed in 1960, charts the fate of both a nation and a family in the turmoil of war. Its comparison of Stalinism with Nazism was considered by Soviet authorities to be so dangerous that the KGB placed the manuscript under arrest and Grossman was informed his book would not be published for at least 200 years.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Painfully well done
- By Eleanor Corner on 08-27-13
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The Cloven Viscount
- Translated by Archibald Colquhoun
- By: Italo Calvino
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 2 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 27
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 25
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Story4 out of 5 stars 25
In this fantastically macabre tale, the separate halves of a nobleman split in two by a cannonball go on to pursue their own independent adventures. In a battle against the Turks, Viscount Medardo of Terralba is bissected lengthwise by a cannonball. One half of him returns to his feudal estate and takes up a lavishly evil life. Soon the other, virtuous half appears. The two halves become rivals for the love of the same woman, fight a bloody duel, and achieve a miraculous resolution.
Publisher's Summary
"The true theme of the nineteenth-century fantastic tale is the reality of what we see: to believe or not to believe in phantasmagoric apparitions, to glimpse another world, enchanted or infernal, behind everyday appearances." (from Calvino's introduction to Fantastic Tales)
Vampires, ghosts, and other horrors abound in this collection of 19th-century fantastic literature, selected and edited by Italo Calvino, a 20th-century master of the speculative. This posthumously published anthology of enchanting, uncanny, terrifying, and immortally entertaining short stories includes E.T.A. Hoffmann's "The Sandman", Nikolai Gogol's "The Nose", Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart", Robert Louis Stevenson's "The Bottle Imp", and many more, each with an introduction by Calvino.
Fantastic Tales is a delight for the mind and a feast for the senses.
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