-
The Ambassadors
- Narrated by: Flo Gibson
- Length: 15 hrs and 10 mins
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed

pick 2 free titles with trial.
Buy for $28.59
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Golden Bowl
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 25 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Wealthy Maggie Verver has everything she could ever ask for - except a husband and a title. While in Italy, acquiring art for his museum back in the States, Maggie’s millionaire father, Adam, decides to remedy this and acquire a husband for Maggie. Enter Prince Amerigo, of a titled but now poor aristocratic Florentine family. Amerigo is the perfect candidate.
-
-
If you don't love this book, it's your fault
- By Viewer on 09-14-18
By: Henry James
-
The Wings of the Dove
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 22 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Milly Theale is a young, beautiful, and fabulously wealthy American. When she arrives in London and meets the equally beautiful but impoverished Kate Croy, they form an intimate friendship. But nothing is as it seems: materialism, romance, self-delusion, and ultimately fatal illness insidiously contaminate the glamorous social whirl.
-
-
Not an easy read but SO worth it!
- By Julie Gray on 10-31-17
By: Henry James
-
The American
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Adam Sims
- Length: 14 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Self-made American millionaire Christopher Newman arrives in Paris brimming with hope and optimism, excited to experience the culture and, hopefully, find the perfect woman to become his wife. After a chance encounter with American expatriate friends, his attention is drawn to Madame de Cintré, 25-year-old widowed daughter of the late Marquis de Bellegarde. Having fallen on hard times, the centuries-old aristocratic family permits Newman's courtship to proceed; however, they later persuade the widow to break off her engagement to the nouveau-riche businessman.
-
-
excellent reading
- By Andorboth on 12-03-22
By: Henry James
-
The Portrait of a Lady
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 21 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Isabel Archer, a young American woman with looks, wit, and imagination, arrives in Europe, she sees the world as "a place of brightness, of free expression, of irresistible action". She turns aside from suitors who offer her their wealth and devotion to follow her own path.
-
-
Bleak and believable
- By Karen on 04-26-09
By: Henry James
-
The Bostonians
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Adam Sims
- Length: 15 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Taking place in Boston, Massachusetts, a decade after the Civil War, The Bostonians tells the story of two cousins who battle for the affections of and control over an enchanting prophetess. While visiting his cousin Olive Chancellor, a fierce feminist deeply involved in the Suffragette movement, Basil Ransom, a Confederate Civil War veteran turned lawyer, attends a speech by the talented young orator Verena Tarrant. Basil quickly falls in love with Verena, although he disagrees with her politics; Olive, however, sees her as the future of the women's rights movement.
-
-
A satire that turns tragic
- By Tad Davis on 08-23-20
By: Henry James
-
The Princess Casamassima
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Flo Gibson
- Length: 19 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hyacinth Robinson, drawn into the London underworld of revolutionary politics, vows to assassinate an enemy of the people. His exposure to the Princess Casamassima's world of art, nobility, and beauty leads him to lose faith in his cause.
-
-
Empathy Armed?
- By C. Bailey on 03-26-08
By: Henry James
-
The Golden Bowl
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 25 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Wealthy Maggie Verver has everything she could ever ask for - except a husband and a title. While in Italy, acquiring art for his museum back in the States, Maggie’s millionaire father, Adam, decides to remedy this and acquire a husband for Maggie. Enter Prince Amerigo, of a titled but now poor aristocratic Florentine family. Amerigo is the perfect candidate.
-
-
If you don't love this book, it's your fault
- By Viewer on 09-14-18
By: Henry James
-
The Wings of the Dove
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 22 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Milly Theale is a young, beautiful, and fabulously wealthy American. When she arrives in London and meets the equally beautiful but impoverished Kate Croy, they form an intimate friendship. But nothing is as it seems: materialism, romance, self-delusion, and ultimately fatal illness insidiously contaminate the glamorous social whirl.
-
-
Not an easy read but SO worth it!
- By Julie Gray on 10-31-17
By: Henry James
-
The American
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Adam Sims
- Length: 14 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Self-made American millionaire Christopher Newman arrives in Paris brimming with hope and optimism, excited to experience the culture and, hopefully, find the perfect woman to become his wife. After a chance encounter with American expatriate friends, his attention is drawn to Madame de Cintré, 25-year-old widowed daughter of the late Marquis de Bellegarde. Having fallen on hard times, the centuries-old aristocratic family permits Newman's courtship to proceed; however, they later persuade the widow to break off her engagement to the nouveau-riche businessman.
-
-
excellent reading
- By Andorboth on 12-03-22
By: Henry James
-
The Portrait of a Lady
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Wanda McCaddon
- Length: 21 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Isabel Archer, a young American woman with looks, wit, and imagination, arrives in Europe, she sees the world as "a place of brightness, of free expression, of irresistible action". She turns aside from suitors who offer her their wealth and devotion to follow her own path.
-
-
Bleak and believable
- By Karen on 04-26-09
By: Henry James
-
The Bostonians
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Adam Sims
- Length: 15 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Taking place in Boston, Massachusetts, a decade after the Civil War, The Bostonians tells the story of two cousins who battle for the affections of and control over an enchanting prophetess. While visiting his cousin Olive Chancellor, a fierce feminist deeply involved in the Suffragette movement, Basil Ransom, a Confederate Civil War veteran turned lawyer, attends a speech by the talented young orator Verena Tarrant. Basil quickly falls in love with Verena, although he disagrees with her politics; Olive, however, sees her as the future of the women's rights movement.
-
-
A satire that turns tragic
- By Tad Davis on 08-23-20
By: Henry James
-
The Princess Casamassima
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Flo Gibson
- Length: 19 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Hyacinth Robinson, drawn into the London underworld of revolutionary politics, vows to assassinate an enemy of the people. His exposure to the Princess Casamassima's world of art, nobility, and beauty leads him to lose faith in his cause.
-
-
Empathy Armed?
- By C. Bailey on 03-26-08
By: Henry James
-
The Aspern Papers
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Jeremy Northam
- Length: 3 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One of the wittiest and most scathing of Henry James' novellas, The Aspern Papers chronicles the attempt to extract the valuable letters of the famous and recently deceased poet Jeffrey Aspern from the hands of his past lover and formidable adversary in the battle Juliana Bordereau. The plot was reputedly suggested to James by a story he heard of an illicit attempt to get hold of several of Lord Byron's letters.
-
-
Cat and mouse
- By Beyler Francois on 01-07-18
By: Henry James
-
Daisy Miller
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Ellie Kendrick
- Length: 3 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Travelling in Europe with her family, Daisy Miller, an exquisitely beautiful young American woman, presents her fellow countryman Winterbourne with a dilemma he cannot resolve. Is she deliberately flouting social convention in the outspoken way she talks and acts, or is she simply ignorant of those conventions? When she strikes up an intimate friendship with an urbane young Italian, her flat refusal to observe the codes of respectable behaviour leave her perilously exposed.
-
-
Moving
- By Favreau-Boisvert on 02-17-23
By: Henry James
-
The Spoils of Poynton
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Maureen O'Brien
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mrs Gereth, a wealthy widow, is dreading the day that her son, Owen, gets married. She hopes that he will marry a woman who will appreciate their home and all of its treasures as she does. So she enlists the help of Fleda Vetch to try to corrupt the impending marriage of her son and Mona Brigstock - a philistine who is determined to marry Owen in order to inherit Mrs Gereth’s valuable possessions and home by any means. Meanwhile, Fleda hides her real feelings towards Owen. Even when he ends up feeling the same way, Fleda cannot bring herself to marry him as this would force him to break his engagement to Mona, and thus betray all of her own ideals.
-
-
Outstanding
- By LCantoni on 07-31-10
By: Henry James
-
What Maisie Knew
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Following a violent and messy divorce, young Maisie Farange floats back and forth between her parents, Beale and Ida, who use her as a weapon to torment each other in their ongoing, internecine war. Eventually the parents both remarry, and it becomes clear that the new spouses care more for Maisie than her own parents. Beale and Ida soon embark on a series of extramarital affairs, leaving Maisie in the care of the new step-parents, who begin their own affair with each other.
-
-
Not a book for Audible
- By Mitzi on 06-22-20
By: Henry James
-
The Good Soldier
- Penguin Classics
- By: Ford Madox Ford
- Narrated by: David Shaw-Parker, Billy Howle
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Dowells, a wealthy American couple, have been close friends with the Ashburnhams for years. Edward Ashburnham, a first-rate soldier, seems to be the perfect English gentleman and Leonora his perfect wife, but beneath the surface their marriage seethes with unhappiness and deception. Our only window on the strange tangle of events surrounding Edward is provided by John Dowell, the husband he deceives. Gradually Dowell unfolds a devastating story, in which everyone's honesty is in doubt.
-
-
Humorous Take on Conceptually Tragic Circumstance
- By noah on 09-19-23
By: Ford Madox Ford
-
Tender Is the Night
- By: F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Narrated by: Therese Plummer
- Length: 12 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set on the French Riviera in the late 1920s, Tender Is the Night is the tragic romance of the young actress Rosemary Hoyt and the stylish American couple Dick and Nicole Diver. A brilliant young psychiatrist at the time of his marriage, Dick is both husband and doctor to Nicole, whose wealth goads him into a lifestyle not his own, and whose growing strength highlights Dick's harrowing demise. A profound study of the romantic concept of character - lyrical, expansive, and hauntingly evocative.
-
-
Subtle yet grand
- By jb on 10-12-15
-
Buddenbrooks
- The Decline of a Family
- By: Thomas Mann
- Narrated by: David Rintoul
- Length: 26 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
First published in 1900, when Thomas Mann was 25, Buddenbrooks is a minutely imagined chronicle of four generations of a North German mercantile family - a work so true to life that it scandalized the author’s former neighbours in his native Lübeck.
-
-
Where Have You Been All My Life, Thomas Mann?
- By Virginia Waldron on 03-30-17
By: Thomas Mann
-
A Passage to India
- By: E. M. Forster
- Narrated by: Vikas Adam
- Length: 11 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The lives of Miss Adela Quested and those around her are forever changed when she befriends a young doctor named Aziz during a trip she and her companion Mrs. Moore make to India. The unlikely friendship between Adela and Aziz eventually culminates in a disastrous expedition to the Marabar caves, during which she offends him, an action which leads to false accusations, arrests, and a litany of miscommunications.
-
-
Confusing at Times
- By Matthew Everett on 01-12-22
By: E. M. Forster
-
Brideshead Revisited
- By: Evelyn Waugh
- Narrated by: Jeremy Irons
- Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Evelyn Waugh's most celebrated work is a memory drama about the intense entanglement of the narrator, Charles Ryder, with a great Anglo-Catholic family. Written during World War II, the story mourns the passing of the aristocratic world Waugh knew in his youth and vividly recalls the sensuous pleasures denied him by wartime austerities; in so doing it also provides a profound study of the conflict between the demands of religion and the desires of the flesh.
-
-
Extraordinary
- By Vieux Carré Blonde on 12-12-12
By: Evelyn Waugh
-
The Remains of the Day
- By: Kazuo Ishiguro
- Narrated by: Nicholas Guy Smith
- Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is Kazuo Ishiguro's profoundly compelling portrait of a butler named Stevens. Stevens, at the end of three decades of service at Darlington Hall, spending a day on a country drive, embarks as well on a journey through the past in an effort to reassure himself that he has served humanity by serving the "great gentleman," Lord Darlington. But lurking in his memory are doubts about the true nature of Lord Darlington's "greatness," and much graver doubts about the nature of his own life.
-
-
Beautiful and ever relevant
- By bbots on 07-04-20
By: Kazuo Ishiguro
-
Absalom, Absalom!
- By: William Faulkner
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 12 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Absalom, Absalom! tells the story of Thomas Sutpen, the enigmatic stranger who came to Jefferson township in the early 1830s. With a French architect and a band of wild Haitians, he wrung a fabulous plantation out of the muddy bottoms of the north Mississippi wilderness. Sutpen was a man, Faulker said, "who wanted sons and the sons destroyed him". His tragedy left its impress not only on his contemporaries but also on men who came after, men like Quentin Compson, haunted even into the 20th century by Sutpen's legacy.
-
-
A long, enjoyable listen
- By pilot on 01-08-09
By: William Faulkner
-
Doctor Zhivago
- By: Boris Pasternak, Larissa Volokhonsky - translator, Richard Pevear - translator
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 23 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In celebration of the 40th anniversary of its original publication, here is a new translation of the classic story of the life and loves of a poet/physician during the turmoil of the Russian Revolution. Taking his family from Moscow to what he hopes will be shelter in the Ural Mountains, Zhivago finds himself instead embroiled in the battle between the Whites and the Reds. Set against this backdrop of cruelty and strife is Zhivago’s love for the tender and beautiful Lara.
-
-
Russian Philosophical Feast
- By Syd Young on 02-16-13
By: Boris Pasternak, and others
Publisher's summary
More from the same
What listeners say about The Ambassadors
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Eugene
- 11-03-17
A dense, intricate, beautiful work
This was my first introduction to Henry James, but after listening to this, I'll be exploring his work further. I love novels like this. The writing is ponderous, more concerned with fleshing out the characters and musing on their plights than on advancing the plot. It's dense stuff, but when the writing is this beautiful, that's a good thing.
I highly recommend this if you're interested in immersing yourself in it. It's the type of old book that can put you in a reverie, and an antidote to our times, even if the story is at times quite sad. I do not recommend this if you are looking for a plot-driven novel or have a low tolerance for long, complicated sentences and a style of narration that is highly indirect and suggestive rather than blunt and forthright.
The narration is quite good, in my opinion, but I know these things are personal. Play samples from the various versions available to find the narrator that's right for you.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Michael S. Ameigh
- 05-01-15
Why Henry James never goes out of style
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
This is a wonderful book, and thank you Flo Gibson for contriving charming character voices that transcend the ages. Your English-speaking Parisians come to life instantly, present themselves with dignity and high-minded sophistication.
Listening to the first chapter or so may be a bit daunting for some; the prose is somewhat archaic by today's standards (Not complaining! Love it!), requires some time to get the rhythm, sense the trajectory. But such a sweet story, so insightful and pleasant. After hearing it I went for the print version, intend to read it, too.
What did you like best about this story?
The deep dive into character development that generates an aire of highly refined sophistication assisted by disarming self-deprecation and good humor.
Have you listened to any of Flo Gibson’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
I have not but will certainly seek them out.
If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
Vive la difference!
Any additional comments?
Thanks for a very enjoyable experience.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lori
- 11-10-15
Loved reading Portrait of a Lady, but this...
I'm not sure why I disliked this audio book so much. I found the characters to be annoyingly self interested and ridiculously effusive. Everyone was "exquisite" and "perfect". Made myself finish it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tad Davis
- 07-08-20
Not to my taste
I tried this novel first with a different narrator, and learned quickly that Henry James needs a reader who can handle the rhythm of his sentences. With the wrong narrator, his complex sentences sound herky-jerky; after a half hour I was convinced I was listening to a parody.
Flo Gibson to the rescue. She's someone who's not to everyone’s taste, but I've always loved her voice and found myself drawn in by her handling of the text and the characters. Gibson’s tones are not dulcet, but they are warm and humane and touched with humor. Since much of James’s prose seems to be lacking in exactly those qualities, her narration helps strike a balance. The prose is still knotty and the characters not especially engaging or likable, but at least the voice is a familiar friend.
Even so, I found my attention wandering quite a bit. Sessions with Henry James are likely to find me with my finger resting next to the Rewind button. Over and over again, after paying close attention to an interaction between two characters, I came away wondering: what the hell just happened? (Late in the game, I dug out the SparkNotes chapter summaries, which at least helped with this aspect of the novel.)
The problem I have is that characters in Henry James novels suffer from the same claustrophobic self-consciousness as those in Dostoevsky. They engage in the same kind of endless internal debates. But they have no depth: they are self-conscious about trivia, obsessed with appearances. They are dancing around on the surface of life. They are cardboard imitations of real people: they have no juice.
Even in their apparent dissolution, they are vapid do-nothings. Here is Strether, describing his way of “cutting loose” in Paris: “I don't get drunk; I don't pursue the ladies; I don't spend money; I don't even write sonnets. But nevertheless I'm making up late for what I didn't have early. I cultivate my little benefit in my own little way.”
My, Strether, I'm tempted to say, quoting Daniel Cleaver: what a gripping life you lead.
Strether is engaged to be married to a businesswoman in a small town in America. Her son seems to have disappeared into the fleshpots of France, and she sends Strether to find him and bring him back. Predictably, Strether himself is tempted by the plush lifestyle of the Europeans. Despite the hard-headed counsel of his friend Waymarsh, he is drawn in bit by bit. “Look here, Strether, quit this,” Waymarsh tells him. “Let them stew in their own juice. You're being used for a thing you ain't fit for.”
There was enough material here for a good short story. To pad it out to the length of a novel, though, James had to have his characters engage in beaucoodles of ratiocination — and then ratiocinate about their ratiocinating. A whole chapter is devoted to whether Chad wants to or whether he only wants to want to. It all becomes dreary and endless.
Here is James setting the scene for one of the climactic encounters in the novel. Strether is taking his dinner at a little cafe in the country.
“It may be mentioned without delay that Monsieur had the agreement of everything, and in particular, for the next twenty minutes, of a small and primitive pavilion that, at the garden's edge, almost overhung the water, testifying, in its somewhat battered state, to much fond frequentation. It consisted of little more than a platform, slightly raised, with a couple of benches and a table, a protecting rail and a projecting roof; but it raked the full grey-blue stream, which, taking a turn a short distance above, passed out of sight to reappear much higher up; and it was clearly in esteemed requisition for Sundays and other feasts. Strether sat there and, though hungry, felt at peace; the confidence that had so gathered for him deepened with the lap of the water, the ripple of the surface, the rustle of the reeds on the opposite bank....”
For the love of Pete, Henry, DO get on with it.
So.... James has never been a favorite, but I've been trying to broaden my horizons. Consider them broadened: James is marginally more interesting than Marcel Proust, whom I detest, and I have two or three more James novels I plan to tackle. But great heavens, what a sad, desiccated, joyless lot his people are, a quality reflected in his airless prose. I will read Henry James, I will understand him, but I will never like him. Not even when narrated by Flo Gibson.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jay Quintana
- 05-24-17
Where's the story?
This is more about my limitations as a reader than it is about James, but all I can do is be honest, and, my goodness, this was a tough slog to get through. In this vast sea of beautiful words, I wasn't able to find the story. I only know what the book was about because I went to Wikipedia. I don't know how many times I had to pause the recording and ask, wait, where are we now? Who's speaking? Who is this character again?
I don't know of a writer who uses more words to describe a person, a place, a state of being, than James. I've read/listened to several of his works and, I have to say, I find the movie adaptions of them to be better. Sacrilege, I know.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
Related to this topic
-
The Ambassadors
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 18 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lambert Strether, a mild, middle-aged American of no particular achievements, is dispatched to Paris from the manufacturing empire of Woollett, Massachusetts. The mission conferred on him by his august patron, Mrs. Newsome, is to discover what, or who, is keeping her son Chad in the notorious city of pleasure and to bring him home. But Strether finds Chad transformed by the influence of a remarkable woman.
-
-
Henry James can be hard to follow but worth it
- By Patricia on 01-29-13
By: Henry James
-
The Bostonians
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Adam Sims
- Length: 15 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Taking place in Boston, Massachusetts, a decade after the Civil War, The Bostonians tells the story of two cousins who battle for the affections of and control over an enchanting prophetess. While visiting his cousin Olive Chancellor, a fierce feminist deeply involved in the Suffragette movement, Basil Ransom, a Confederate Civil War veteran turned lawyer, attends a speech by the talented young orator Verena Tarrant. Basil quickly falls in love with Verena, although he disagrees with her politics; Olive, however, sees her as the future of the women's rights movement.
-
-
A satire that turns tragic
- By Tad Davis on 08-23-20
By: Henry James
-
The Two Towers (Dramatized)
- By: J. R. R. Tolkien
- Narrated by: An Ensemble Cast
- Length: 3 hrs and 28 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Fellowship is broken; the quest to destroy the Ring seems already shrouded in disaster. But as the evil lord Sauron readies his armies for war, Frodo and Sam continue their lonely journey toward Mordor, guided only by Gollum, a deceitful and tortured creature, helplessly in thrall to the Ring's dark power.
-
-
An excellent rendition!
- By R. Compton on 08-25-13
By: J. R. R. Tolkien
-
Lady Windermere's Fan
- By: Oscar Wilde
- Narrated by: Samuel West, Michael Sheen, Derek Waring, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
An exciting night at the
- By Karen on 11-28-04
By: Oscar Wilde
-
Can You Forgive Her?
- By: Anthony Trollope
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 27 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Can You Forgive Her? is the first of the six Palliser novels. Here Trollope examines parliamentary election and marriage, politics and privacy. As he dissects the Victorian upper class, issues and people shed their pretenses under his patient, ironic probe.
-
-
Very Very Victorian
- By David on 09-27-11
By: Anthony Trollope
-
The Remains of the Day
- By: Kazuo Ishiguro
- Narrated by: Nicholas Guy Smith
- Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is Kazuo Ishiguro's profoundly compelling portrait of a butler named Stevens. Stevens, at the end of three decades of service at Darlington Hall, spending a day on a country drive, embarks as well on a journey through the past in an effort to reassure himself that he has served humanity by serving the "great gentleman," Lord Darlington. But lurking in his memory are doubts about the true nature of Lord Darlington's "greatness," and much graver doubts about the nature of his own life.
-
-
Beautiful and ever relevant
- By bbots on 07-04-20
By: Kazuo Ishiguro
-
The Ambassadors
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 18 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lambert Strether, a mild, middle-aged American of no particular achievements, is dispatched to Paris from the manufacturing empire of Woollett, Massachusetts. The mission conferred on him by his august patron, Mrs. Newsome, is to discover what, or who, is keeping her son Chad in the notorious city of pleasure and to bring him home. But Strether finds Chad transformed by the influence of a remarkable woman.
-
-
Henry James can be hard to follow but worth it
- By Patricia on 01-29-13
By: Henry James
-
The Bostonians
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Adam Sims
- Length: 15 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Taking place in Boston, Massachusetts, a decade after the Civil War, The Bostonians tells the story of two cousins who battle for the affections of and control over an enchanting prophetess. While visiting his cousin Olive Chancellor, a fierce feminist deeply involved in the Suffragette movement, Basil Ransom, a Confederate Civil War veteran turned lawyer, attends a speech by the talented young orator Verena Tarrant. Basil quickly falls in love with Verena, although he disagrees with her politics; Olive, however, sees her as the future of the women's rights movement.
-
-
A satire that turns tragic
- By Tad Davis on 08-23-20
By: Henry James
-
The Two Towers (Dramatized)
- By: J. R. R. Tolkien
- Narrated by: An Ensemble Cast
- Length: 3 hrs and 28 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Fellowship is broken; the quest to destroy the Ring seems already shrouded in disaster. But as the evil lord Sauron readies his armies for war, Frodo and Sam continue their lonely journey toward Mordor, guided only by Gollum, a deceitful and tortured creature, helplessly in thrall to the Ring's dark power.
-
-
An excellent rendition!
- By R. Compton on 08-25-13
By: J. R. R. Tolkien
-
Lady Windermere's Fan
- By: Oscar Wilde
- Narrated by: Samuel West, Michael Sheen, Derek Waring, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
An exciting night at the
- By Karen on 11-28-04
By: Oscar Wilde
-
Can You Forgive Her?
- By: Anthony Trollope
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 27 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Can You Forgive Her? is the first of the six Palliser novels. Here Trollope examines parliamentary election and marriage, politics and privacy. As he dissects the Victorian upper class, issues and people shed their pretenses under his patient, ironic probe.
-
-
Very Very Victorian
- By David on 09-27-11
By: Anthony Trollope
-
The Remains of the Day
- By: Kazuo Ishiguro
- Narrated by: Nicholas Guy Smith
- Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is Kazuo Ishiguro's profoundly compelling portrait of a butler named Stevens. Stevens, at the end of three decades of service at Darlington Hall, spending a day on a country drive, embarks as well on a journey through the past in an effort to reassure himself that he has served humanity by serving the "great gentleman," Lord Darlington. But lurking in his memory are doubts about the true nature of Lord Darlington's "greatness," and much graver doubts about the nature of his own life.
-
-
Beautiful and ever relevant
- By bbots on 07-04-20
By: Kazuo Ishiguro
-
The House of Mirth
- By: Edith Wharton
- Narrated by: Eleanor Bron
- Length: 12 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Like Henry James but more accessible
- By Merlin on 08-19-12
By: Edith Wharton
-
Swann's Way
- By: Marcel Proust
- Narrated by: Neville Jason
- Length: 21 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Swann’s Way is the first of seven volumes in Remembrance of Things Past. It sets the scene with the narrator’s memories being famously provoked by the taste of that little cake, the madeleine, accompanied by a cup of lime-flowered tea. It is an unmatched portrait of fin-de-siècle France.
-
-
Not a book one reads but inhabits & floats through
- By Darwin8u on 02-24-13
By: Marcel Proust
-
An American Tragedy
- By: Theodore Dreiser
- Narrated by: Dan John Miller
- Length: 34 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An American Tragedy is the story of Clyde Griffiths, who spends his life in the desperate pursuit of success. On a deeper, more profound level, it is the masterful portrayal of the society whose values both shape Clyde's ambitions and seal his fate; it is an unsurpassed depiction of the harsh realities of American life and of the dark side of the American dream.
-
-
Funny in Perspective
- By Michael on 11-23-14
By: Theodore Dreiser
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Classic Novels are the best.
- By Maureen Hart on 09-07-23
By: Jane Austen
-
The Glimpses of the Moon
- By: Edith Wharton
- Narrated by: Anna Fields
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Set in the 1920s, The Glimpses of the Moon details the romantic misadventures of Nick Lansing and Susy Branch, a couple with the right connections but not much in the way of funds. They devise a shrewd bargain: they'll marry and spend a year or so sponging off their wealthy friends, honeymooning in their mansions and villas.
-
-
Couldn't stop listening
- By Michael Breed on 12-09-09
By: Edith Wharton
-
The Gambler
- By: Fyodor Dostoevsky, C. J. Hogarth - translator
- Narrated by: Michael Kramer
- Length: 6 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Gambler is a psychologically probing novel concerning the gambling episodes, tangled love affairs, and complicated lives of Alexis Ivanovitch, a young gambling addict; Polina Alexandrovna, the woman he loves; a pair of French adventurers; and other characters. Narrated by Alexis, this short novel is based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's own experiences as a compulsive gambler.
-
-
Great book, great narration, proper pronunciation
- By Mike R. on 09-16-11
By: Fyodor Dostoevsky, and others
-
Thus Bad Begins
- A Novel
- By: Javier Marias, Margaret Jull Costa
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 16 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Madrid, 1980. Juan de Vere, nearly finished with his university degree, takes a job as personal assistant to Eduardo Muriel, an eccentric, once-successful film director. Urbane, discreet, irreproachable, Muriel is an irresistible idol to the young man. But Muriel's voluptuous wife, Beatriz, inhabits their home like an unwanted ghost, and on the periphery of their lives is Dr. Jorge Van Vechten, a family friend implicated in unsavory rumors that Muriel now asks Juan to investigate.
-
-
Fascinating plot, superb performance, psychological depth
- By Doctor George on 12-05-16
By: Javier Marias, and others
-
The Ladies of Rosings Park
- A Pride and Prejudice Sequel and Companion to The Darcys of Pemberley
- By: Shannon Winslow
- Narrated by: Marian Hussey
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chapter by chapter, these ladies of Rosings Park take turns telling the tale from the moment Elizabeth Bennet sets foot in Hunsford, changing everything. Is Anne heartbroken or relieved to discover Mr. Darcy will never marry her? As an heiress, even a sickly one, she must have other suitors. Does Lady Catherine gracefully accept the defeat of her original plan or keep conniving? Will Anne’s health ever improve? And what really happened to her father?
-
-
NOT Jane Austen
- By susan on 03-02-19
By: Shannon Winslow
-
The Castle
- By: Franz Kafka
- Narrated by: Allan Corduner
- Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A land-surveyor, known only as K., arrives at a small village permanently covered in snow and dominated by a castle to which access seems permanently denied. K.'s attempts to discover why he has been called constantly run up against the peasant villagers, who are in thrall to the absurd bureaucracy that keeps the castle shut, and the rigid hierarchy of power among the self-serving bureaucrats themselves.
-
-
A masculine and coquettish reading
- By Alan on 05-27-12
By: Franz Kafka
-
Jennie Gerhardt
- A Novel
- By: Theodore Dreiser