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The Common Reader Volume 1
- 26 Essays on Jane Austen, George Eliot, Conrad, Montaigne and Others
- Narrated by: Joan Walker
- Length: 8 hrs and 41 mins
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Publisher's Summary
This is Virginia Woolf’s first collection of essays, published in 1925. In them, she attempts to see literature from the point of view of the ‘common reader’ - someone whom she, with Dr Johnson, distinguished from the critic and the scholar. She read, and wrote, as an outsider: a woman set to school in her father’s library, denied the educational privileges of her male siblings - and with no fixed view of what constitutes ‘English literature’. What she produced is an eccentric and unofficial literary and social history from the 14th to the 20th centuries, with an excursion to ancient Greece thrown in.
She investigates medieval England (The Paston Letters and Chaucer), tsarist Russia (The Russian Point of View), Elizabethan Playwrights, Jane Austen, Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, Modern Fiction and the Modern Essay. When she published this book Woolf’s fame as a novelist was already established: now she was hailed as a brilliant interpretative critic. Here, she addresses ‘the common reader’ in the remarkable prose and with all the imagination and gaiety that are the stamps of her genius.
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What listeners say about The Common Reader Volume 1
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Story
- Jeff L. Keehr
- 10-31-22
Appreciations with little to back them up
Before the days of real criticism, reviewers would often simply say that a book was good and gush about this or that. There were no concrete examples or biographical background or references to influences and other reviews. That's what I found in this so-called common reader. The title suggests that it was written for the unscholarly reader who just enjoys reading. I found the prose crabbed and convoluted and almost unreadable, so I'm not sure who this common reader is. Most of these essays are dated and not worth reading today. Her opinions are contrary to popular opinion, which is not necessarily bad except when there is an army of professors and intellectuals who are against you. I got tricked into reading this by the lectures of David Thorburn, whom is now on my avoid list. This woman obviously had a great mind -- I love 'A Room of One's Own' -- but she also was incredibly repressed and unable to overcome her mental problems. Why she remains in the Western canon at this point is beyond me.
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- Drone Boy
- 05-26-21
Wonderful Listen
This volume contains some of Woolf's most important and influential essays: "Modern Fiction", "Jane Austen", "George Eliot", "Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights." The narrator's voice suits Woolf's writing style down to a T, so it is great to see Woolf's non-fiction making its way into the audiobook domain.
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- Fothergill
- 04-30-20
Let this not be your first Virginia !
The voice, oh this awful voice, it sounds computer generated , as if she is computing rhythms, and deliberately leaving modulation out,
So very painful to hear momentum,slowly dying, the more I think about it, the more I am convinced , it is a machine !
If you want to hear perfection, ( sadly she is not available for this one) seek out Juliet Stevenson, she reads - as she always does -with intelligence, and wit, so much is lost in this, one could be convinced VW had none of these qualities, in this instance book is best!
1 person found this helpful
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- NICK
- 10-18-21
A Soaring Intellect
And that’s not all. Even when she is writing about an obscure scribbler, poetaster or essayist, Virginia Woolf is always interesting, and one has to read on. That is to say, she writes with shrewd discrimination and in a congenial style: one always feels in safe hands. Then, of course, the major writers. If one was in any doubt why Jane Austen is without equal, we now know, and Virginia Woolf tells us, as ever, in the subtlest way. Women authors, of course, have pride of place: the Brontes, George Eliot, Mrs Gaskell; but also Conrad, Hardy… . This is not a book of literary criticism, but a volume for those who love the writing endeavour, done by writers who are passionate about their art. Some of them, eccentric perhaps, do not fit the “classic”canon as put up by academics but they are respected here, in the same way as the so-called “Common Reader”, it is very clear, is also respected. (Who else do writers write for, if not for people - my surmise - ). As for the present and the future of the novel (the major genre addressed in these essays), Virginia Woolf keeps her counsel whilst implying (she never condemns) that there is much to be desired in what publishers present us with; and we shall have to wait and see… . What’s new!
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A Witty, Beautiful Plea for Androgynous Integrity
- By Jefferson on 08-20-14
By: Virginia Woolf
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Night and Day
- By: Virginia Woolf
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 18 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Written before she began her experiments in the writing of fiction, Virginia Woolf's second novel, Night and Day, is a story about a group of young people trying to discover what it means to fall in love. It asks all the big questions: What does it mean to fall in love? Does marriage grant happiness? What is happiness? Night and Day is a conventional novel; however, it maps out for us the world of Virginia Woolf in its wondrous prose: For her it was the beginning, leading on to a prolonged engagement with her search for the means to express the "inner life".
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"After all, what is love?"
- By Eman Abd Allah on 12-13-16
By: Virginia Woolf
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Essays
- By: George Orwell
- Narrated by: Alex Hyde-White
- Length: 25 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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With great originality and wit, Orwell unfolds his views on subjects ranging from a revaluation of Charles Dickens to the nature of Socialism, from a comic yet profound discussion of naughty seaside postcards to a spirited defense of English cooking. Displaying an almost unrivalled mastery of English plain prose, Orwell’s essays created a unique literary manner from the process of thinking aloud and continue to challenge, move, and entertain.
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Great Content; Would benefit from chapter names
- By Laimis on 08-15-20
By: George Orwell
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The Best American Essays 2022
- By: Alexander Chee
- Narrated by: Robert Atwan, Iva-Marie Palmer, Ewan Chung, and others
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Alexander Chee, a “master artist” (Maris Kreizman, host of The Maris Review) of the personal essay, selects 20 essays out of thousands that represent the best examples of the form published the previous year.
By: Alexander Chee
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A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again
- Essays and Arguments
- By: David Foster Wallace
- Narrated by: Paul Garcia
- Length: 17 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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In this exuberantly praised book - a collection of seven pieces on subjects ranging from television to tennis, from the Illinois State Fair to the films of David Lynch, from postmodern literary theory to the supposed fun of traveling aboard a Caribbean luxury cruiseliner - David Foster Wallace brings to nonfiction the same curiosity, hilarity, and exhilarating verbal facility that has delighted readers of his fiction.
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Wonderful book, terrible narration!
- By Karen on 08-20-13
Related to this topic
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The Art of War
- By: Sun Tzu
- Narrated by: Aidan Gillen
- Length: 1 hr and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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The 13 chapters of The Art of War, each devoted to one aspect of warfare, were compiled by the high-ranking Chinese military general, strategist, and philosopher Sun-Tzu. In spite of its battlefield specificity, The Art of War has found new life in the modern age, with leaders in fields as wide and far-reaching as world politics, human psychology, and corporate strategy finding valuable insight in its timeworn words.
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The actual book The Art of War, not a commentary
- By Fred271 on 12-31-19
By: Sun Tzu
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The Couple on Cedar Close
- Detective Dan Riley, Book 2
- By: Anna-Lou Weatherley
- Narrated by: James Lailey
- Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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One sunny August afternoon, the residents of Cedar Close throw their annual summer barbecue. Children play in the cherry-tree lined street, tables are laden with food, and the wine is flowing. For Laurie Mills, it’s her first time meeting the neighbours. And it’s the first time she discovers her husband, Robert, is having an affair. Cedar Close has always been a nice place to live - a quiet suburban street where everyone looks out for one another and bad things don’t happen. Until late one evening, when Robert Mills is found dead in his bedroom.
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I listened to the 1st book
- By scott comeaux on 06-24-19
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Catchers
- By: Ben Rock, Bob DeRosa
- Narrated by: Billy Gardell, Herizen Guardiola, Mary Lynn Rajskub, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 20 mins
- Original Recording
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In Buck Lake, Colorado, the resident dog catcher, Collins, is on the verge of retirement. But something strange lurks in the woods, about to ruin his plans.... After 30 years, Collins is ready to be done with small-town animal control. His replacement, Blair, is a Gen Z vet student who hates mansplaining; they don’t get along. But on the eve of his retirement, Collins gets a call that changes everything. There’s been a report of a vicious wild dog on the loose.
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I want more!
- By alex wolf on 10-28-22
By: Ben Rock, and others
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Pride and Prejudice
- By: Jane Austen
- Narrated by: Rosamund Pike
- Length: 11 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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One of Jane Austen’s most beloved works, Pride and Prejudice, is vividly brought to life by Academy Award nominee Rosamund Pike ( Gone Girl). In her bright and energetic performance of this British classic, she expertly captures Austen’s signature wit and tone. Her attention to detail, her literary background, and her performance in the 2005 feature film version of the novel provide the perfect foundation from which to convey the story of Elizabeth Bennet, her four sisters, and the inimitable Mr. Darcy.
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A perfect narration of a perfect book
- By Akela on 12-09-15
By: Jane Austen
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Never Date Your Brother's Best Friend
- Never Date Series, Book 1
- By: Jules Barnard
- Narrated by: Meghan Styles
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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My plan was perfect. My friend needed a date, and my brother's best friend was single. Problem solved. Until I saw Jaeger for the first time in years, and sparks flew in the wrong direction. Jaeger has grown up and bulked up. But that shouldn't matter because I have the perfect life. Really.
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First book of 250+ I truly struggled to finish
- By Georgina on 07-07-18
By: Jules Barnard
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The Stranger's Wife
- Detective Dan Riley, Book 3
- By: Anna-Lou Weatherley
- Narrated by: James Lailey
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Beth and Cath are leaving their husbands. This is a story about two very different women. One is wealthy and having an affair with a man who gives her the kind of love that her cold, detached husband does not. One is living hand to mouth, suffering at the hands of a violent partner who would rather see her dead than leave him. You may think you know these women already and how their lives will unfold. Beth will live happily ever after with her little girl and her soulmate. Cath will go back to her abusive husband. And these two women will never cross paths. But you will be wrong.
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Stranger
- By Margie Nell Brown on 05-08-20