Great Classic Stories

22 Unabridged Classics

By: Alphonse Daudet, Saki, Oscar Wilde

Narrated by: Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry, Barbara Leigh-Hunt

Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's Summary

A treasure-chest of the written and spoken word, this collection is read by brilliant actors who make this audio anthology a genuine treat for the listener. Includes:

"Reginald on House Parties" by Saki

"The Sphinx Without a Secret" by Oscar Wilde

Tobermory" by Saki

"On Being Idle" by Jerome K. Jerome

"For Better or Worse" by W.W. Jacobs

"The Model Millionaire" by Oscar Wilde

"The Garden of Truth" by E. Nesbit

"The Cat That Walked by Himself" and "The Girl from Arles" by Alphonse Daudet

"Mr. & Mrs. Dove" by Katherine Mansfield

"Georgie Porgie" by Rudyard Kipling

"Caterpillars" by E.F. Benson

"Lost Hearts" by M.R. James

"Ship to Tarshish" by John Buchan

"The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe

"The Man of the Night" by Edgar Wallace

"Dr. Heidegger's Experiment" by Nathaniel Hawthorne

"B 24" by Arthur Conan Doyle

"Pat Hobby & Orson Welles" by F. Scott Fitzgerald

"Mad" by Guy de Maupassant

"The Black Cat" by Edgar Allan Poe

"The Monkey's Paw" by W.W. Jacobs

This collection was previously published as Short Stories: The Ultimate Classic Collection.

(P)2005 CSA Telltapes, licensed from CSA Word

Critic Reviews

"Emilia Fox reads beautifully. She also supplies an appealing, believable voice for Victoria, the Cockney heroine." (AudioFile)

Mostly entertaining

As you might expect with a variety pack, the quality of story and the quality of narration varies. Probably does not have the best work from any of the authors. But enjoyable overall. Helped me through a long drive.

Uneven, disappointing collection of performances

I was attracted by the star-studded cast including Sir Derek Jacobi, Stephen Fry, Martin Jarvis and Nigel Hawthorne... and was disappointed these talented narrators performed some of the shortest pieces.These (and a few other narrators) delivered inspired performances, compared to a handful of others that were laughably amateurish. After a few minutes of listening, I had to skip over those.The production value was often substandard (including clicks, mouth noises, audible gasping breaths, and even one bizarre mispronunciation). Very disappointed.

Enjoyable listen

The previous reviewer must have done something wrong, because I got nearly 8 hours of audio. Great narrators & great stories.

awesome

I love this collection of awesome short stories read by incredible readers I think you'll really enjoy these if you like classic literature great stories and really good sound actors

Deliciously good

Would you consider the audio edition of Great Classic Stories to be better than the print version?

Great stories that make you want to listen to them from your easy chair by the fire with a hot beverage and a big bowl of buttered popcorn at hand. Cozy stories from Victorian England thereabouts and narrated by British actors you know. Nigel Hawthorne, Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie for three. Each one is delightful and paints a word picture of life in Olde England.

Which character – as performed by the narrators – was your favorite?

They are all second to none.

a strange collection ...

... or maybe just not for me. I truly enjoyed only one or two of the stories in this collection. Some off the rest were downright unpleasant, including the flattest and at the same time the most horrifying ghost story I have ever read. There's also an story by Conan Doyle (not a Sherlock Holmes story) that I found unentertaining. And if you're looking for laughs at the expense of the Downton Abbey set, skip this collection and go back to Wodehouse.

Good variety

I enjoyed all the stories and the performances. I was surprised at some of the authors who wrote what could be described as horror stories. There were a disproportionate number of horror stories which I liked but would not have been able to tell that from the book descriptions. There were a few I stopped listening to because they involved animal cruelty which would have not been out of place when the stories were written so it was just a preference of mine not to finish listening to them.

Great Stories (Abridged by Audible)

I was rather shocked when I downloaded this Audiobook to discover how much it had been cut down. While it say in my library, it claimed to have 7 hours of stories, while the Audible version only had the first hour and a half.

Too much horror, not enough "literature"

I'm currently a student in an MFA in Creative Writing program, with a focus on short story.

I am therefore trying to read a wide range of short stories, and bought this and 2 other collections from Audible.com

I was sorry that so many of these stories were in the "horror" genre.

Very enjoyable

Loved to hear some of the old stories. the tellers were wonderful! Tell tale heart still makes me feel icky.