The Birds

And Other Stories

By: Daphne du Maurier

Narrated by: Michael Sinclair, Barbara Rosenblat, Katherine Kellgren, James Langton

Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

A classic of alienation and horror, The Birds was immortalized by Hitchcock in his celebrated film. The five other chilling stories in this collection echo a sense of dislocation and mock man's dominance over the natural world. The mountain paradise of "Monte Verità" promises immortality but at a terrible price; a neglected wife haunts her husband in the form of an apple tree; a professional photographer steps out from behind the camera and into his subject's life; a date with a cinema usherette leads to a walk in the cemetery; and a jealous father finds a remedy when three's a crowd....

©2013 Daphne du Maurier (P)2015 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Anyone starting this book under the impression that he may sleepily relax is in for a shock...continually provokes both pity and terror." [ The Observer (UK)]

Six Stories

Six stories, three are fabulous, the other three are just OK. Apparently Hitchcock's favorite author, as he adapted several of her books, I just had to take a look. Narration is good enough.

Good, if flawed

The recording quality is not great, but the stories themselves are, and the readings are well done. Stick it out through the fuzzy audio quality - the stories are worth it!

Good collection

I chose this collection because of the story The Birds. Totally different from the movie as I figured. Both are very good in their own right. The other stories were okay.

ENJOYABLE

What can I say, Daphne du Maurier is in a class by herself. I usually don’t like short stories, but enjoyed these stories. The narrators were will chosen. My thanks to all involved, JK

good stories not so good audio

Loved the stories, but the quality of the audio was bad on some of the stories (sounding like the guy who ends all the books "audible hopes you've enjoyed this program"), so it made the listening experience very uneven, which is a shame, because I found Daphne du Maurier's stories very intriguing, but was spoiled by the overall audio quality.

Brilliant Performances!

Highly recommend! Exceptional, captivating performances wonderfully enhance, no, bring to life, Daphne du Maurier's intriguing, unexpected, sometimes enchanting, sometimes downright creepy, delicious stories!

Great short stories!

Unlike Hollywood versions of Daphne Du Maurier stories these well preformed short stories are raw with twists, turns and sometimes spine chilling.

A good collection of short stories

Daphne du Maurier was a masterful novelist, and most of her short stories are worth reading, especially most of those included here:

1. THE BIRDS is iconic, and needs no introduction.

2. MONTE VERITA is a story that is at once paranormal and romantic in the several senses of that word. A seventy year-old man looks back on his youth and his passion for mountain climbing. He remembers his best friend Victor's heartbreak when his stunning Welsh bride chose a different life, an existence in an otherworldly mountain community.

3. THE APPLE TREE is a creepy tale with a touch of Algernon Blackwood about it. Our first person narrator, a recently widowed gentleman with little self-understanding or awareness, is tormented by an apple tree in many unusual ways.

4. THE LITTLE PHOTOGRAPHER finds the divinely beautiful Marquise and her children in a seaside resort. La Marquise is elegant, spoiled, entitled, and easily bored. But when she takes advantage of a diversion, she comes to know how ruinous the incidental expenses of travel can be.

5. KISS ME AGAIN, STRANGER is an oft-anthologized story, and one frequently adapted for teleplays, but that's because it's a good one. Again, the paranormal and the romantic intersect in what first appears to be a simple boy-meets-girl affair, but turns out to be something more dangerous.

6. THE OLD MAN is a disturbing, strange sort of tale, almost a fairy story out of Grimm.

The narrations are good overall, but the sound quality and levels are a bit uneven in places.

Enjoyable

A selection of (5) short stories, each quite different. "The Birds", of course, is a well-known title, but don't expect much similarity to the famous film. I think the story is much moodier.
The remaining stories are all unique, all are well narrated. ( my personal favorite is "Kiss Me Again, Stranger")

Varying sound quality between stories

Don’t like that each recorded story has varying sound quality, please make version that’s up to date and consistent. Clearly edited together from older recordings.