-
The Quality of Mercy
- Reflections on Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Michael Pennington
- Length: 2 hrs and 21 mins
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
The Quality of Mercy
Buy for $6.04
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 Empty Space
- By: Peter Brook
- Narrated by: Adrian Lester
- Length: 5 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 15
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 11
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 11
Peter Brook's seminal book, The Empty Space, sets out many of the ideas about theater which have informed his lifelong work as a theater director, from his iconic "white box" production of A Midsummer Night's Dream and his groundbreaking adaptation of The Mahabharata, to his ongoing work at the International Centre for Theatre Research. More than 50 years on from its first publication in 1968, The Empty Space remains a cornerstone of thinking about theater.
By: Peter Brook
-
Shakespeare in a Divided America
- What His Plays Tell Us About Our Past and Future
- By: James Shapiro
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 314
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 271
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 268
Read at school by almost every student, staged in theaters across the land, and long highly valued by both conservatives and liberals alike, Shakespeare's plays are rare common ground in the United States. For well over two centuries now, Americans of all stripes - presidents and activists, writers and soldiers - have turned to Shakespeare's works to address the nation's political fault lines, such as manifest destiny, race, gender, immigration, and free speech.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An Entertaining History Lesson
- By David on 08-17-20
By: James Shapiro
-
A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
- 1599
- By: James Shapiro
- Narrated by: James Shapiro
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 135
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 84
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 84
1599 was an epochal year for Shakespeare and England. During that year, Shakespeare wrote four of his most famous plays: Henry the Fifth, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, and, most remarkably, Hamlet; Elizabethans sent off an army to crush an Irish rebellion, weathered an Armada threat from Spain, gambled on a fledgling East India Company, and waited to see who would succeed their aging and childless queen.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Note!--Abridged version
- By Scott on 01-05-16
By: James Shapiro
-
All the Sonnets of Shakespeare
- By: William Shakespeare, Paul Edmondson - editor, Stanley Wells - editor
- Narrated by: Kenneth Branagh, Lolita Chakrabarti
- Length: 4 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 6
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 6
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 6
How can we look afresh at Shakespeare as a writer of sonnets? What new light might they shed on his career, personality, and sexuality? Shakespeare wrote sonnets for at least 30 years, not only for himself, for professional reasons, and for those he loved, but also in his plays, as prologues, as epilogues, and as part of their poetic texture.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
love it, love it, love it.
- By Anonymous User on 02-01-23
By: William Shakespeare, and others
-
Stella Adler
- The Art of Acting
- By: Howard Kissel
- Narrated by: Bonnie Agan
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 43
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 34
Stella Adler was one of the 20th Century's greatest figures. She is arguably the most important teacher of acting in American history. Over her long career, both in New York and Hollywood, she offered her vast acting knowledge to generations of actors, including Marlon Brando, Warren Beatty, and Robert De Niro. The great voice finally ended in the early 1990s. But, her decades of experience and teaching have been brilliantly captured and encapsulated by Howard Kissel, in the 22 lessons you'll hear in this audiobook.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Highly recommended
- By Roman Greenberg on 03-07-22
By: Howard Kissel
-
Richard Burton's Hamlet
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Richard Burton, a full cast
- Length: 2 hrs and 58 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 70
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 35
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 34
This production of Hamlet, directed by Sir John Gielgud and starring Richard Burton, was recorded in the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, and with the actors performing just as they would if you went to see a production tonight. "The particular intensity and nerves of this is probably the same kind of thing that excites an audience in live theater," says Richard Burton.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Burton at His Best
- By Thomas A. Copeland on 01-25-03
-
The Empty Space
- By: Peter Brook
- Narrated by: Adrian Lester
- Length: 5 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 15
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 11
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 11
Peter Brook's seminal book, The Empty Space, sets out many of the ideas about theater which have informed his lifelong work as a theater director, from his iconic "white box" production of A Midsummer Night's Dream and his groundbreaking adaptation of The Mahabharata, to his ongoing work at the International Centre for Theatre Research. More than 50 years on from its first publication in 1968, The Empty Space remains a cornerstone of thinking about theater.
By: Peter Brook
-
Shakespeare in a Divided America
- What His Plays Tell Us About Our Past and Future
- By: James Shapiro
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 314
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 271
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 268
Read at school by almost every student, staged in theaters across the land, and long highly valued by both conservatives and liberals alike, Shakespeare's plays are rare common ground in the United States. For well over two centuries now, Americans of all stripes - presidents and activists, writers and soldiers - have turned to Shakespeare's works to address the nation's political fault lines, such as manifest destiny, race, gender, immigration, and free speech.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An Entertaining History Lesson
- By David on 08-17-20
By: James Shapiro
-
A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
- 1599
- By: James Shapiro
- Narrated by: James Shapiro
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 135
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 84
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 84
1599 was an epochal year for Shakespeare and England. During that year, Shakespeare wrote four of his most famous plays: Henry the Fifth, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, and, most remarkably, Hamlet; Elizabethans sent off an army to crush an Irish rebellion, weathered an Armada threat from Spain, gambled on a fledgling East India Company, and waited to see who would succeed their aging and childless queen.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Note!--Abridged version
- By Scott on 01-05-16
By: James Shapiro
-
All the Sonnets of Shakespeare
- By: William Shakespeare, Paul Edmondson - editor, Stanley Wells - editor
- Narrated by: Kenneth Branagh, Lolita Chakrabarti
- Length: 4 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 6
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 6
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 6
How can we look afresh at Shakespeare as a writer of sonnets? What new light might they shed on his career, personality, and sexuality? Shakespeare wrote sonnets for at least 30 years, not only for himself, for professional reasons, and for those he loved, but also in his plays, as prologues, as epilogues, and as part of their poetic texture.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
love it, love it, love it.
- By Anonymous User on 02-01-23
By: William Shakespeare, and others
-
Stella Adler
- The Art of Acting
- By: Howard Kissel
- Narrated by: Bonnie Agan
- Length: 8 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 43
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 34
Stella Adler was one of the 20th Century's greatest figures. She is arguably the most important teacher of acting in American history. Over her long career, both in New York and Hollywood, she offered her vast acting knowledge to generations of actors, including Marlon Brando, Warren Beatty, and Robert De Niro. The great voice finally ended in the early 1990s. But, her decades of experience and teaching have been brilliantly captured and encapsulated by Howard Kissel, in the 22 lessons you'll hear in this audiobook.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Highly recommended
- By Roman Greenberg on 03-07-22
By: Howard Kissel
-
Richard Burton's Hamlet
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: Richard Burton, a full cast
- Length: 2 hrs and 58 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 70
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 35
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 34
This production of Hamlet, directed by Sir John Gielgud and starring Richard Burton, was recorded in the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, and with the actors performing just as they would if you went to see a production tonight. "The particular intensity and nerves of this is probably the same kind of thing that excites an audience in live theater," says Richard Burton.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Burton at His Best
- By Thomas A. Copeland on 01-25-03
-
Shakespeare, Our Contemporary
- By: Jan Kott
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 12
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 10
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 10
Shakespeare, Our Contemporary is a provocative, original study of the major plays of Shakespeare. More than that, it is one of the few critical works to have strongly influenced theatrical productions.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting ideas on WS
- By Darryl on 05-05-15
By: Jan Kott
-
Macbeth: A Dagger of the Mind
- By: Harold Bloom
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 2 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 31
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 24
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 24
Macbeth is one of William Shakespeare's more brilliantly populated plays and remains among the most widely read. Award-winning writer and beloved professor Harold Bloom investigates Macbeth's interiority and unthinkable actions with razor-sharp insight, agility, and compassion. He also explores his own personal relationship to the character. The book also becomes an extraordinarily moving argument for literature as a path to and a measure of our humanity.
By: Harold Bloom
-
The Iliad
- By: Homer, Richmond Lattimore - translator
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 22 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 770
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 630
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 632
The Iliad is one of the most enduring creations of Western Civilization and was originally written to be recited or chanted to the accompaniment of various instruments. Properly performed, this work today is just as meaningful, just as powerful, and just as entertaining as it was in the ninth century BC, and it casts its spell upon modern listeners with the same raw intensity as it did upon the people of ancient times.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An Excellent Iliad
- By Jefferson on 04-17-10
By: Homer, and others
-
The One-Straw Revolution
- An Introduction to Natural Farming
- By: Masanobu Fukuoka, Larry Korn
- Narrated by: David Shih
- Length: 5 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 666
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 560
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 562
Call it "Zen and the Art of Farming" or a "Little Green Book", Masanobu Fukuoka's manifesto about farming, eating, and the limits of human knowledge presents a radical challenge to the global systems we rely on for our food. At the same time, it is a spiritual memoir of a man whose innovative system of cultivating the earth reflects a deep faith in the wholeness and balance of the natural world. As Wendell Berry writes in his preface, the book "is valuable to us because it is at once practical and philosophical."
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fukuoka Hits a Home-Run.
- By philip d henderson on 06-23-18
By: Masanobu Fukuoka, and others
-
The Wind in the Willows
- By: Kenneth Grahame
- Narrated by: Michael Hordern
- Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,375
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,169
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,177
Here is a timeless tale of waterside Britain that has been loved by generations of children and acclaimed as a classic. The story of Mole, Ratty, Badger, and Toad, and their escapades, whether messing about on the river or poop-pooping in Toad's shiny new car, cannot fail to enchant.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
We were all Toad, once.
- By Dan Harlow on 03-25-15
By: Kenneth Grahame
-
Directing Actors
- By: Judith Weston
- Narrated by: Judith Weston
- Length: 12 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 162
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 130
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 129
In this essential guide to acting, internationally renowned directing coach Judith Weston demonstrates what constitutes a good performance, what actors want from a director, and what directors do wrong. She also goes over script analysis and preparation and how actors work, and she shares important and helpful insights into the director/actor relationship.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Directing Humans
- By Jacob Moore on 10-15-19
By: Judith Weston
-
The Method
- How the Twentieth Century Learned to Act
- By: Isaac Butler
- Narrated by: Isaac Butler
- Length: 14 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 110
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 96
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 96
On stage and screen, we know a great performance when we see it. But how do actors draw from their bodies and minds to turn their selves into art? What is the craft of being an authentic fake? More than a century ago, amid tsarist Russia’s crushing repression, one of the most talented actors ever, Konstantin Stanislavski, asked these very questions, reached deep into himself and emerged with an answer.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Where is the Thesis?
- By Frances L. on 07-27-22
By: Isaac Butler
-
Our Mutual Friend
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 31 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 569
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 399
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 393
A sinister masterpiece, Our Mutual Friend was Dickens' last completed novel. It is perhaps his ultimate vision of a dark, macabre London and the corrupting power of money.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Worth six stars
- By Erez on 07-05-08
By: Charles Dickens
-
The Year of Lear
- Shakespeare in 1606
- By: James Shapiro
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 180
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 155
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 152
In the years leading up to 1606, since the death of Queen Elizabeth and the arrival in England of her successor, King James of Scotland, Shakespeare's great productivity had ebbed, and it may have seemed to some that his prolific genius was a thing of the past. But that year, at age 42, he found his footing again, finishing a play he had begun the previous autumn - King Lear - then writing two other great tragedies, Macbeth and Antony and Cleopatra.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Detailed and satisfying
- By Tad Davis on 02-24-16
By: James Shapiro
-
Story
- Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting
- By: Robert McKee
- Narrated by: Robert McKee
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,148
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,423
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,388
Robert McKee's screenwriting workshops have earned him an international reputation for inspiring novices, refining works in progress, and putting major screenwriting careers back on track. Quincy Jones, Diane Keaton, Gloria Steinem, Julia Roberts, John Cleese, and David Bowie are just a few of his celebrity alumni. Writers, producers, development executives, and agents all flock to his lecture series, praising it as a mesmerizing and intense learning experience.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Only 5 Chapters
- By Stephen Buck on 02-15-11
By: Robert McKee
-
How to Read Literature Like a Professor
- A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines
- By: Thomas C. Foster
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,097
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 949
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 937
What does it mean when a fictional hero takes a journey? Shares a meal? Gets drenched in a sudden rain shower? Often, there is much more going on in a novel or poem than is readily visible on the surface - a symbol, maybe, that remains elusive, or an unexpected twist on a character - and there's that sneaking suspicion that the deeper meaning of a literary text keeps escaping you. In this practical and amusing guide to literature, Thomas C. Foster shows how easy and gratifying it is to unlock those hidden truths.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Lives Up to Its Claims
- By Evelyn on 05-22-14
By: Thomas C. Foster
-
A Challenge for the Actor
- By: Uta Hagen
- Narrated by: Barbara Rosenblat
- Length: 15 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 29
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 25
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 24
Uta Hagen, one of the world's most renowned stage actresses, also taught acting for more than 40 years at the HB Studio in New York. Her first book, Respect for Acting, published in 1973, remains a best seller in print. In this brand new audio edition of her second classic book, A Challenge for the Actor, she greatly expands her thinking about acting in a work that brings the full flowering of her artistry, both as an actor and as a teacher. She raises the issue of the actor's goals and examines the specifics of the actor's techniques.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great Book!
- By Bahman Mahdavi on 04-14-21
By: Uta Hagen
Publisher's Summary
Unique insights into Shakespeare, from one of the world’s most revered theatre directors.
Who was the man who wrote Shakespeare’s plays?
Why does Shakespeare never go out of date?
How should actors approach Shakespeare’s verse?
In this short but immensely wise book, visionary theatre director Peter Brook debates the questions that are central to our understanding of Shakespeare, and revisits the plays he has directed with notable brilliance, including King Lear, Titus Andronicus, and, of course, A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
An illuminating and provocative insight into a great director’s relationship with our greatest playwright, narrated by leading Shakespearean actor Michael Pennington.
Peter Brook is one of the world’s best-known theatre directors. Outstanding in a career full of remarkable achievements are his productions of Titus Andronicus (1955) with Laurence Olivier, King Lear (1962) with Paul Scofield, and The Marat/Sade (1964) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1970), both for the Royal Shakespeare Company. Since moving to Paris and establishing the Centre International de Créations Théâtrales at the Bouffes du Nord, he has produced a series of events which push at the boundaries of theatre, such as The Conference of Birds (1976), The Ik (1975), The Mahabharata (1985), and The Tragedy of Hamlet (2000). His films include Lord of the Flies (1963), King Lear (1970), and The Mahabharata (1989). His books, especially The Empty Space (1968), have been hugely influential.
Michael Pennington is a major British actor and writer. He has played a variety of leading roles in the West End, for the Royal Shakespeare Company, for the National Theatre and for the English Shakespeare Company, of which he was co-founder and joint artistic director. He is the author of several highly praised books on Shakespeare.
More from the same
What listeners say about The Quality of Mercy
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kenny
- 12-31-21
Brilliant
Brook's observations and stories that come from 70 years of studying and directing Shakespeare are remarkable.
Related to this topic
-
The History of Theatre
- By: David Timson
- Narrated by: Derek Jacobi, cast
- Length: 5 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 74
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 45
Here is a diverse and fascinating story of the Theatre, from the first tragedies and comedies of Ancient Greece to the high-tech mega-musicals of the late 20th century. It is an absorbing listen, encompassing ancient tales, medieval theatre, Commedia dell'Arte, the great dramas of the Elizabethan age, and more.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Nice job! Very good basic overview of theater!
- By Tim on 01-30-09
By: David Timson
-
Illuminations
- Essays and Reflections
- By: Walter Benjamin, Hannah Arendt
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 21
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 18
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 17
Walter Benjamin was an icon of criticism, renowned for his insight on art, literature, and philosophy. This volume includes his views on Kafka, with whom he felt a close personal affinity; his studies on Baudelaire and Proust; and his essays on Leskov and Brecht’s epic theater. Illuminations also includes his penetrating study “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”, an enlightening discussion of translation as a literary mode, and his theses on the philosophy of history.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
finally
- By Anonymous User on 12-08-21
By: Walter Benjamin, and others
-
Languages of Truth
- Essays 2003-2020
- By: Salman Rushdie
- Narrated by: Raj Ghatak, Salman Rushdie
- Length: 13 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 31
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 26
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 26
Salman Rushdie is celebrated as “a master of perpetual storytelling” (The New Yorker), illuminating truths about our society and culture through his gorgeous, often searing prose. Now, in his latest collection of nonfiction, he brings together insightful and inspiring essays, criticism, and speeches that focus on his relationship with the written word and solidify his place as one of the most original thinkers of our time.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
SALMAN RUSHDIE
- By chetyarbrough.blog on 07-24-21
By: Salman Rushdie
-
Defiant Joy
- The Remarkable Life & Impact of G. K. Chesterton
- By: Kevin Belmonte
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 151
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 133
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 133
You may be aware that G. K. Chesterton authored influential Christian biographies and apologetics. But you may not know the larger-than-life Gilbert Keith Chesterton himself - not yet. Equally versed in poetry, novels, literary criticism, and journalism, he addressed politics, culture, and religion with a towering intellect and a soaring wit. Chesterton carried on lively, public discussions with the social commentators of his day, continually challenging them with civility, humility, erudition, and his ever-sharp sense of humor.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
I Liked It
- By Gene Hamill on 11-20-20
By: Kevin Belmonte
-
Story
- Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting
- By: Robert McKee
- Narrated by: Robert McKee
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,148
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,423
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,388
Robert McKee's screenwriting workshops have earned him an international reputation for inspiring novices, refining works in progress, and putting major screenwriting careers back on track. Quincy Jones, Diane Keaton, Gloria Steinem, Julia Roberts, John Cleese, and David Bowie are just a few of his celebrity alumni. Writers, producers, development executives, and agents all flock to his lecture series, praising it as a mesmerizing and intense learning experience.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Only 5 Chapters
- By Stephen Buck on 02-15-11
By: Robert McKee
-
The Fiery Angel
- Art, Culture, Sex, Politics, and the Struggle for the Soul of the West
- By: Michael Walsh
- Narrated by: Michael Walsh
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 53
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 45
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 45
Without an understanding and appreciation of the culture we seek to preserve and protect, the defense of Western civilization is fundamentally futile; a culture that believes in nothing cannot defend itself, because it has nothing to defend. In this profound and wide-ranging historical survey, Michael Walsh illuminates the ways that the narrative and visual arts both reflect and affect the course of political history, outlining the way forward by arguing for the restoration of the heroic narrative that forms the basis of all Western cultural and religious traditions.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great cultural criticism
- By miasarx on 08-06-18
By: Michael Walsh
-
The History of Theatre
- By: David Timson
- Narrated by: Derek Jacobi, cast
- Length: 5 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 74
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 45
Here is a diverse and fascinating story of the Theatre, from the first tragedies and comedies of Ancient Greece to the high-tech mega-musicals of the late 20th century. It is an absorbing listen, encompassing ancient tales, medieval theatre, Commedia dell'Arte, the great dramas of the Elizabethan age, and more.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Nice job! Very good basic overview of theater!
- By Tim on 01-30-09
By: David Timson
-
Illuminations
- Essays and Reflections
- By: Walter Benjamin, Hannah Arendt
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 21
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 18
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 17
Walter Benjamin was an icon of criticism, renowned for his insight on art, literature, and philosophy. This volume includes his views on Kafka, with whom he felt a close personal affinity; his studies on Baudelaire and Proust; and his essays on Leskov and Brecht’s epic theater. Illuminations also includes his penetrating study “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”, an enlightening discussion of translation as a literary mode, and his theses on the philosophy of history.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
finally
- By Anonymous User on 12-08-21
By: Walter Benjamin, and others
-
Languages of Truth
- Essays 2003-2020
- By: Salman Rushdie
- Narrated by: Raj Ghatak, Salman Rushdie
- Length: 13 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 31
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 26
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 26
Salman Rushdie is celebrated as “a master of perpetual storytelling” (The New Yorker), illuminating truths about our society and culture through his gorgeous, often searing prose. Now, in his latest collection of nonfiction, he brings together insightful and inspiring essays, criticism, and speeches that focus on his relationship with the written word and solidify his place as one of the most original thinkers of our time.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
SALMAN RUSHDIE
- By chetyarbrough.blog on 07-24-21
By: Salman Rushdie
-
Defiant Joy
- The Remarkable Life & Impact of G. K. Chesterton
- By: Kevin Belmonte
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 151
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 133
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 133
You may be aware that G. K. Chesterton authored influential Christian biographies and apologetics. But you may not know the larger-than-life Gilbert Keith Chesterton himself - not yet. Equally versed in poetry, novels, literary criticism, and journalism, he addressed politics, culture, and religion with a towering intellect and a soaring wit. Chesterton carried on lively, public discussions with the social commentators of his day, continually challenging them with civility, humility, erudition, and his ever-sharp sense of humor.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
I Liked It
- By Gene Hamill on 11-20-20
By: Kevin Belmonte
-
Story
- Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting
- By: Robert McKee
- Narrated by: Robert McKee
- Length: 6 hrs and 12 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,148
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,423
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,388
Robert McKee's screenwriting workshops have earned him an international reputation for inspiring novices, refining works in progress, and putting major screenwriting careers back on track. Quincy Jones, Diane Keaton, Gloria Steinem, Julia Roberts, John Cleese, and David Bowie are just a few of his celebrity alumni. Writers, producers, development executives, and agents all flock to his lecture series, praising it as a mesmerizing and intense learning experience.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Only 5 Chapters
- By Stephen Buck on 02-15-11
By: Robert McKee
-
The Fiery Angel
- Art, Culture, Sex, Politics, and the Struggle for the Soul of the West
- By: Michael Walsh
- Narrated by: Michael Walsh
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 53
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 45
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 45
Without an understanding and appreciation of the culture we seek to preserve and protect, the defense of Western civilization is fundamentally futile; a culture that believes in nothing cannot defend itself, because it has nothing to defend. In this profound and wide-ranging historical survey, Michael Walsh illuminates the ways that the narrative and visual arts both reflect and affect the course of political history, outlining the way forward by arguing for the restoration of the heroic narrative that forms the basis of all Western cultural and religious traditions.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great cultural criticism
- By miasarx on 08-06-18
By: Michael Walsh
-
Daemon Voices
- On Stories and Storytelling
- By: Philip Pullman
- Narrated by: Philip Pullman, Simon Mason
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 197
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 173
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 174
One of the most highly acclaimed and best-selling authors of our time now gives us a book that charts the history of his own enchantment with story - from his own books to those of Blake, Milton, Dickens, and the Brothers Grimm, among others - and delves into the role of story in education, religion, and science. At once personal and wide-ranging, Daemon Voices is both a revelation of the writing mind and the methods of a great contemporary master and a fascinating exploration of storytelling itself.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Mixed views
- By Luna on 08-03-19
By: Philip Pullman
-
The Western Canon
- The Books and School of the Ages
- By: Harold Bloom
- Narrated by: James Armstrong
- Length: 22 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 225
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 128
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 130
Harold Bloom explores our Western literary tradition by concentrating on the works of twenty-six authors central to the Canon. He argues against ideology in literary criticism; he laments the loss of intellectual and aesthetic standards; he deplores multiculturalism, Marxism, feminism, neoconservatism, Afrocentrism, and the New Historicism. Insisting instead upon "the autonomy of aesthetic," Bloom places Shakespeare at the center of the Western Canon.....
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A personal and opinionated book on the Canon
- By Steffen on 07-23-12
By: Harold Bloom
-
For the Love of Music
- A Conductor's Guide to the Art of Listening
- By: John Mauceri
- Narrated by: John Mauceri
- Length: 6 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 26
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 23
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 24
With a lifetime of experience, profound knowledge and understanding, and heartwarming appreciation, an internationally celebrated conductor and teacher answers the questions: Why should I listen to classical music? How can I get the most from the listening experience? Unpretentious, graceful, instructive, this is a book for the aficionado, the novice, and anyone looking to have the love of music fired within them.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Divine Time with a Maestro
- By Meg on 12-18-19
By: John Mauceri
-
Opera 101
- A Complete Guide to Learning and Loving Opera
- By: Fred Plotkin
- Narrated by: Fred Plotkin
- Length: 18 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 72
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 38
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 37
Opera is the fastest growing of all the performing arts, attracting audiences of all ages who are enthralled by the gorgeous music, vivid drama, and magnificent production values. If you've decided that the time has finally come to learn about opera and discover for yourself what it is about opera that sends your normally reserved friends into states of ecstatic abandon, this is the book for you.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
A tedious introduction
- By Ravi on 08-30-05
By: Fred Plotkin
-
Wagnerism
- Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music
- By: Alex Ross
- Narrated by: Alex Ross
- Length: 28 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 130
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 113
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 110
Alex Ross, renowned New Yorker music critic and author of the international best seller and Pulitzer Prize finalist The Rest Is Noise, reveals how Richard Wagner became the proving ground for modern art and politics - an aesthetic war zone where the Western world wrestled with its capacity for beauty and violence.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Not Just for Wagner Experts!
- By Rupert Pupkin on 09-26-20
By: Alex Ross
-
This Is Shakespeare
- A Pelican Book
- By: Emma Smith
- Narrated by: Emma Smith
- Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 67
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 54
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 53
This electrifying new audiobook thrives on revealing, not resolving, the ambiguities of Shakespeare's plays and their changing topicality. It introduces an intellectually, theatrically and ethically exciting writer who engages with intersectionality as much as with Ovid, with economics as much as poetry: who writes in strikingly modern ways about individual agency, privacy, politics, celebrity and sex.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Entertaining, up to date commentary
- By dpk-VT on 06-07-19
By: Emma Smith
-
Changing My Mind
- Occasional Essays
- By: Zadie Smith
- Narrated by: Barbara Rosenblat
- Length: 12 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 66
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 51
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 51
Split into five sections - Reading, Being, Seeing, Feeling, and Remembering - Changing My Mind finds Zadie Smith casting an acute eye over material both personal and cultural. This engaging collection of essays, some published here for the first time, reveals Smith as a passionate and precise essayist, equally at home in the world of great books and bad movies, family and philosophy, British comedians, and Italian divas. Changing My Mind is journalism at its most expansive, intelligent, and funny - a gift to readers and writers both.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
There may be truths on the side of life
- By Darwin8u on 02-18-20
By: Zadie Smith
-
The Man Who Invented Fiction
- How Cervantes Ushered in the Modern World
- By: William Egginton
- Narrated by: Michael Butler Murray
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 41
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 38
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 37
In the early 17th century, a crippled, graying, almost toothless veteran of Spain's wars against the Ottoman Empire published a novel. It was the story of a poor nobleman, his brain addled from studying too many novels of chivalry, who deludes himself that he is a knight errant and sets off on hilarious adventures. That story, Don Quixote, went on to sell more copies than any other book beside the Bible, making its author, Miguel de Cervantes, the single most-read author in human history.
By: William Egginton
-
The Seven Basic Plots
- Why We Tell Stories
- By: Christopher Booker
- Narrated by: Liam Gerrard
- Length: 38 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 50
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 43
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 43
This remarkable and monumental book at last provides a comprehensive answer to the age-old riddle of whether there are only a small number of "basic stories" in the world. Using a wealth of examples, from ancient myths and folk tales via the plays and novels of great literature to the popular movies and TV soap operas of today, it reveals that there are seven archetypal themes which recur throughout every kind of storytelling.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Save your time and money, the book is worthless
- By Kindle Customer on 08-20-20
-
What W. H. Auden Can Do for You
- Alexander McCall Smith
- By: Alexander McCall Smith
- Narrated by: William Neenan
- Length: 2 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 103
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 91
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 87
When facing a moral dilemma, Isabel Dalhousie--Edinburgh philosopher, amateur detective, and title character of a series of novels by best-selling author Alexander McCall Smith - often refers to the great twentieth-century poet W. H. Auden. This is no accident: McCall Smith has long been fascinated by Auden. Indeed, the novelist, best known for his No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, calls the poet not only the greatest literary discovery of his life but also the best of guides on how to live.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
On the Power of Poetry, Mostly Auden's
- By Rich S. on 12-09-13
-
Goethe
- Life as a Work of Art
- By: Rüdiger Safranksi, David Dollenmayer - translator
- Narrated by: James Anderson Foster
- Length: 24 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 81
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 68
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 68
Rüdiger Safranski's Goethe: Life as a Work of Art is the first definitive biography in a generation to tell the larger-than-life story of the writer considered to be the Shakespeare of German literature. Drawing upon the trove of letters, diaries, and notebooks Goethe left behind, as well as correspondence and criticism from Goethe's contemporaries, Safranski weaves a rich tale of Europe in the throes of revolution and of the man whose ideas heralded a new era.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Academic
- By tpritch on 07-06-19
By: Rüdiger Safranksi, and others
-
The Terror of Existence
- From Ecclesiastes to Theatre of the Absurd
- By: Theodore Dalrymple, Kenneth Francis
- Narrated by: Jack Wynters
- Length: 4 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 60
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 54
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 54
Existentialism is the literary cri de coeur resulting from the realization that without God, everything good, true, and beautiful in human life is destined to be destroyed in a pitiless material cosmos. Theodore Dalrymple and Kenneth Francis examine the main existentialist works, from Ecclesiastes to the Theatre of the Absurd, each man coming from a different perspective. Francis is a believer, Dalrymple is not, but both empathize with the struggle to find meaning in a seemingly meaningless universe. This book is part literary criticism, part philosophical exploration....
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Theism does not win, but secularism loses.
- By 20shop11 on 01-28-20
By: Theodore Dalrymple, and others