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The Captive, Volume I
- Narrated by: Neville Jason
- Length: 3 hrs and 45 mins
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The Captive, Volume I
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Editorial reviews
Listening to Proust may be the ideal way to experience this great French writer. His prose is exquisite, but so careful in its variation that it benefits greatly from Neville Jason's narration. Jason performs the text, more than narrating it, and his marked changes in tone, pace, and breath make this a pleasure to listen to. Jason also emphasizes the humor of the text, playing up each speaker's verbal tics. Proust's story focuses on desire and art. The desire is examined through character thought and action, the art through the precision of the prose, and through the snippets of period music that are occasionally carefully interwoven with it.
Publisher's summary
In the first part of The Captive the fifth volume of Marcel Proust's monumental, seven volume Remembrance of Things Past, Marcel's suspicions regarding Albertine's lesbian desires lead to his keeping her a virtual prisoner in his Paris apartment. The Captive is a masterly portrayal of obessional jealousy.
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-
Story4 out of 5 stars 47
Dr. Johnson may have been correct in saying that “Rousseau was a very bad man,” but none can argue that his ideas are among the most influential in all of world history. It was Rousseau, the father of the romantic movement, who was responsible for introducing at least two modern day thoughts that pervade academia. The Confessions is Rousseau’s landmark autobiography. Both brilliant and flawed, it is nonetheless beautifully written and remains one of the most moving human documents in all of literature.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Extraordinary in its ordinariness...
- By Varni-Maree on 08-28-12
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Camille
- The Lady of the Camellias
- By: Alexandre Dumas fils
- Narrated by: Alyssa Bresnahan, John McDonough, Firdous Bamji
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 87
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 75
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 75
First published in 1848, Camille captivated Paris and has inspired countless adaptations. This classic story of love and loss is based on the author’s real-life affair with courtesan Marie Duplessis. Also known as The Lady of the Camellias, the novel follows the courtesan Marguerite Gautier through her tumultuous love affair with handsome—but middle class—Armand Duval. Before their passionate affair is over, one lover must give up everything.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Better than Play, Opera, or Movie
- By Michael on 03-11-13
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The Idiot [Blackstone]
- By: Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
- Length: 22 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,091
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 811
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Story4 out of 5 stars 819
Prince Myshkin, is thrust into the heart of a society more concerned with wealth, power, and sexual conquest than the ideals of Christianity. Myshkin soon finds himself at the center of a violent love triangle in which a notorious woman and a beautiful young girl become rivals for his affections. Extortion, scandal, and murder follow, testing the wreckage left by human misery to find "man in man."
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5 out of 5 stars
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Intense and painfully sad
- By Tad on 04-27-12
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Middlemarch
- By: George Eliot
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 35 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5,079
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 4,607
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,570
Dorothea Brooke is an ardent idealist who represses her vivacity and intelligence for the cold, theological pedant Casaubon. One man understands her true nature: the artist Will Ladislaw. But how can love triumph against her sense of duty and Casaubon’s mean spirit? Meanwhile, in the little world of Middlemarch, the broader world is mirrored: the world of politics, social change, and reforms, as well as betrayal, greed, blackmail, ambition, and disappointment.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Best Audible book ever
- By Molly-o on 12-25-11
By: George Eliot
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3 Classic Novels
- Sense & Sensibility, Pride & Prejudice, Mansfield Park
- By: Jane Austen
- Narrated by: Geoffrey Giuliano, The Spire
- Length: 36 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 1
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 1
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Story5 out of 5 stars 1
Welcome to the world of Jane Austen, one of the most beloved authors in the English language. Austen's works are known for their wit, social commentary, and romantic storylines that have captivated readers for generations.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Classic Novels are the best.
- By Maureen Hart on 09-07-23
By: Jane Austen
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Northanger Abbey
- By: Jane Austen
- Narrated by: Harriet Stevens
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 109
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 104
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 104
As Jane Austen's first completed novel that was submitted to be published, Northanger Abbey is a miraculously weaved tale of love, society, and deception, themes that would come to be synonymous in literature with Austen's name. The young Catherine Morland receives a fantastic opportunity to explore the city of Bath with some family friends, and while there, she experiences a level of mental and emotional growth that was as yet unparalleled in her life.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great Listening Experience
- By Robert Jennings on 05-18-16
By: Jane Austen
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Sanditon
- Jane Austen's Unfinished Masterpiece Completed
- By: Jane Austen, Juliette Shapiro
- Narrated by: Helen Lloyd
- Length: 7 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 382
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 339
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 338
Had Jane Austen lived to complete Sanditon, it would have been as treasured as her other novels. In the half-finished masterpiece, Austen fashions one of her classic heroines: Charlotte Heywood. The surviving fragment also sets the story well on its path as Charlotte begins an adventure to Sanditon where a full cast of characters becomes intertwined in various intrigues.
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3 out of 5 stars
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There is a reason Jane didn't finish this book
- By ELEANOR FOWSER on 06-21-14
By: Jane Austen, and others
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The House of Mirth
- By: Edith Wharton
- Narrated by: Eleanor Bron
- Length: 12 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,588
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,384
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,378
Beautiful, sophisticated and endlessly ambitious Lily Bart endeavours to climb the social ladder of New York's elite by securing a good match and living beyond her means. Now nearing 30 years of age and having rejected several proposals, forever in the hope of finding someone better, her future prospects are threatened. A damning commentary of 20th-century social order, Edith Wharton's tale established her as one of the greatest British novelists of the 1900s.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Like Henry James but more accessible
- By Merlin on 08-19-12
By: Edith Wharton
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The Woman in White
- By: Wilkie Collins
- Narrated by: Josephine Bailey, Simon Prebble
- Length: 25 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,336
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,986
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Story4 out of 5 stars 1,999
One of the greatest mystery thrillers ever written, Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White was a phenomenal best seller in the 1860s, achieving even greater success than works by Charles Dickens. Full of surprise, intrigue, and suspense, this vastly entertaining novel continues to enthrall audiences today.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Gripping novel, excellent production
- By David on 01-18-11
By: Wilkie Collins
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The Charterhouse of Parma
- By: Henri Beyle Stendhal
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 19 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 182
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 165
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Story4 out of 5 stars 161
In the coming-of-age story, we follow a young Italian nobleman, Fabrizio Valserra, Marchesino del Dongo, on many adventures, including his experiences at the Battle of Waterloo, and romantic intrigues.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Amazing novel finally available on audio!
- By Grant on 03-23-14
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The Custom of the Country
- By: Edith Wharton
- Narrated by: Grace Conlin
- Length: 14 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 90
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 45
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Story4 out of 5 stars 45
One of Edith Wharton's most acclaimed works, The Custom of the Country is a blistering indictment of materialism, power, and misplaced values. Its heroine, Undine Spragg, is one of the most ruthless characters in all of literature, as selfishly unscrupulous as she is fiercely beautiful. As she climbs the class ladder through a series of marriages and affairs, she shows little concern for who she has to step on.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Narrator kills the book
- By Mississippi Malka on 05-24-10
By: Edith Wharton
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The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas
- By: Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis
- Narrated by: Edoardo Camponeschi
- Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 43
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 32
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Story4 out of 5 stars 32
Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis (1839-1908) was the greatest writer ever to come from Brazil and one of the masters of nineteenth-century fiction. Susan Sontag calls him "the greatest writer ever produced in Latin America", surpassing even Borges. Harold Bloom says that Machado is "the supreme black literary artist to date". And Allen Ginsburg calls him "another Kafka". And The Posthumous Memoirs of Bras Cubas is his masterpiece, a dazzling, tragic, and profound novel that belongs next to the greatest works of his contemporaries Melville and Dostoevsky.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A hidden masterpiece
- By C. Park on 08-09-18
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The Woman in White
- By: Wilkie Collins
- Narrated by: Andrea Giordani
- Length: 25 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 42
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 39
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Story5 out of 5 stars 38
Through a series of calculated moves that involve death and a large inheritance, a small community is rocked and shrouded in mystery at the hands of the conniving Sir Percival Glyde, who is interested only in making himself wealthy at the hands of others.... Celebrated as one of the first popular mystery novels, The Woman in White, by Wilkie Collins, skillfully incorporates the twisting and turning of more than a few plot lines that all manage to converge beautifully at the end of the work.
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3 out of 5 stars
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horrible technically - echoes at most of the words
- By James D. Coburn on 12-30-15
By: Wilkie Collins
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Lady Windermere's Fan
- By: Oscar Wilde
- Narrated by: Samuel West, Michael Sheen, Derek Waring, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 163
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 110
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 110
Oscar Wilde's first play confronts the hypocrisy of public "morality" compared with genuine, private kindness. The reasons for its continued popularity are not difficult to identify: the play's witty dialogue contains many of Wilde's most quoted aphorisms, its stylish setting provides opportunities for elegant presentation, and its cast of memorable characters play out a story which is genuinely moving. This new audio production brings together a full cast worthy of Wilde's creative genius.
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5 out of 5 stars
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An exciting night at the
- By Karen on 11-28-04
By: Oscar Wilde
What listeners say about The Captive, Volume I
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Marius
- 03-24-10
A Prisoner in Paris
The Captive is the fifth book of the seven-volume In Search of Lost Time / Rememberances. For audiobook purposes, it is divided into two parts, this being the first. As with this entire series, it is beautifully narrated by Neville Jason.
This particular section commences with the period in which the intriguing Albertine lives with the narrator in Paris, virtually as a prisoner in a gilded cage, hence the title. A feature of the book is his increasing obsession and near-paranoid episodes of jealousy regarding Albertine. The narrator selects Andr?e (another of the little band of Balbec) to be a guide and companion to his mistress, and also entrusts her to the Verdurin chauffeur, a friend of the sinister violinist, Charlie Morel, both rather unwise choices. Morel in turn continues his relationship with M. de Charlus while also increasingly becoming seriously smitten by Jupien's niece.
For readers seeking action, I regret that there is neither a speedboat chase up the Seine, nor a gangster shootout amid the gargoyles of the Notre Dame. The action is instead far more deadly, concentrating on barbed words and spiteful actions.
As I have noted before, Proust is an unhurried author, who delights in ordinary events (and some that are rather out of the ordinary). If you like really wonderful writing, a relaxed pace, and are after a break from a diet of thrillers, you will really like this.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
- kristin
- 06-14-10
Just couldnt get into it!
The narration put me to sleep, and the plot seems like it would be an okay read but I couldn't get into it!
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