Father Goriot
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Father Goriot
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Narrated by:
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Bill Homewood
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By:
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Honoré de Balzac
About this listen
Impoverished young aristocrat Eugene de Rastignac is determined to climb the social ladder and impress himself on Parisian high society. While staying at the Maison Vauquer, a boarding house in Paris's rue Neuve-Sainte-Genevieve, he encounters Jean-Joachim Goriot, a retired vermicelli maker who has spent his entire fortune supporting his two daughters. The boarders strike up a friendship and Goriot learns of Rastignac's feelings for his daughter Delphine. He begins to see Rastignac as the ideal son-in-law, and the perfect substitute for Delphine's domineering husband. But Rastignac has other opportunities too, as the notorious criminal Vautrin, "The Death Dodger", offers to murder the brother of a wealthy woman, giving the ambitious young lawyer a clear path to her fortune. Profound and realistic, Father Goriot is a startling glimpse into the vanity and selfishness of 19th-century Paris. It is considered one of the finest works of Balzac's La Comedie Humaine.
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 58
Honoré de Balzac uses his classic style of detail to describe a most controversial setting in his novel Le Pere Goriot. The story takes place in Paris just after the fall of Napoleon in 1819. The story focuses on three characters, Rastignac, a student who wants to try and make it big in the capital, Vautrin, an interesting and funny character who is also quite mysterious, and the main character, Goriot, that carries a heavy burden that only a loving parent would endure.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A minor masterpiece
- By Jack Rock on 03-04-18
By: Honoré de Balzac
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The Kill
- La Curée
- By: Émile Zola
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 3
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 3
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Story5 out of 5 stars 3
Against a backdrop of modernisation, extravagant luxury, political intrigue and sexual immorality, Saccard treats close relationships as money-making opportunities and loved ones as mere commodities. As one character puts it: ‘You see, everything is fine, as long as you make money from it.’
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5 out of 5 stars
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one of Zola's best
- By Nom de Guerre on 05-05-25
By: Émile Zola
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Sentimental Education
- By: Gustave Flaubert
- Narrated by: Andrew Wincott
- Length: 20 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 23
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 20
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Story4 out of 5 stars 20
Upon arriving home in Normandy, Frederick catches his first glimpse of Marie Arnoux, a mysterious and beautiful woman who leaves a lasting impression on him. Eventually they make each other's acquaintance and Marie becomes a symbol of unattainable perfection for Frederick, whose unrequited infatuation leaves him bouncing from one passion to another, falling in and out of love, money and society.
By: Gustave Flaubert
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Eugenie Grandet
- By: Honoré de Balzac
- Narrated by: Peter Newcombe Joyce
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 19
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 17
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 17
At the beginning of the story the heroine lives an unfulfilled life in rural France, her nature crushed by a domineering and miserly father. Gallant cousin Charles arrives and acts as a catalyst on Eugénie's personality and emotions. Will her love survive the strong self-opinion of the young man and the selfishness of her father or is Eugénie's reward destined to be in heaven?
By: Honoré de Balzac
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Dangerous Liaisons
- By: Pierre-Ambroise-François Choderlos de Laclos
- Narrated by: Gabriel Woolf
- Length: 15 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 162
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 120
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 121
The story, composed entirely of letters written by the various characters to each other, tells of the Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont, two rivals who use sex as a weapon to humiliate and degrade others, uncaring of those who face social ruin or whose hearts are broken. It depicts a decadent and corrupt aristocracy exposing the perversions of the so-called Ancien Regime. The relevance of this grew due to the ensuing the French Revolution.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Amazing story.
- By Steve Inman on 11-10-09
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Gargantua and Pantagruel
- By: François Rabelais
- Narrated by: Bill Homewood
- Length: 34 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 65
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 54
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 54
Here is a grotesque and carnivalesque collection of exuberant, fantastical stories that takes us from the ancient world through to the European Renaissance. At the heart of these tall tales are the giant Gargantua and his equally seismic son, Pantagruel. Containing magical adventures, maniacal punning, slapstick humor, erudite allusions, and just about any bodily function one can think of, here is quite possibly the zaniest, most risqué book ever written.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The king of all the narrators
- By amazon on 02-13-20
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Eugénie Grandet
- By: Honoré de Balzac
- Narrated by: Jonathan Fried
- Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 64
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 54
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 54
Hailed as the father of the naturalist novel, French author and playwright Honoré de Balzac left a legacy of treasured literary works that include Père Goriot and Cousin Bette. The daughter of a wealthy but miserly man, Eugénie Grandet falls in love with her penniless cousin, Charles. The two plan to marry, but at the behest of her father, Charles must first go overseas to make his fortune. Returning years later, Charles calls off the engagement, leaving Eugénie heartbroken and vengeful.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Unpleasant people
- By Tad Davis on 06-08-14
By: Honoré de Balzac
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Colonel Chabert
- By: Honoré de Balzac
- Narrated by: Bill Homewood
- Length: 2 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 11
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 9
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 9
In the brutal Prussian winter of 1807, Emperor Napoléon Bonaparte’s Grande Armée suffered massive losses to the Russians in the Battle of Eylau. Many thousands died. Young Colonel Chabert falls heroically, his actions having turned the tide of the battle, but he is buried anonymously on the battlefield in a mass grave. Incredibly, he is alive, but severely injured, and digs himself out. On his eventual return to Paris, he finds his wife, the beautiful and ambitious Rosine, now remarried, and his fortune gone.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Thought provoking tale by Balzac
- By Simon Brodie on 07-05-21
By: Honoré de Balzac
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Old Goriot
- By: Honoré de Balzac
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 28
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Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 23
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Story4 out of 5 stars 22
Balzac’s universally loved novel explores the great theme of money and its effect on the human character. Old Goriot is a lodger at Madame Vauquer’s Parisian boarding house. At first, his wealth inspires respect, but as his circumstances are reduced, he is gradually shunned. He moves into smaller and less desirable rooms in the house, and soon his only remaining visitors are two beautiful young women. The mystery as to who they are and what is happening to Goriot’s fortune involves several other boarders, including Rastignac, an ambitious youth who hopes to rise in society.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Horrible narrator
- By Diana on 03-30-11
By: Honoré de Balzac
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The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade
- By: Herman Melville
- Narrated by: Lee Winfield
- Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5
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Story4 out of 5 stars 5
Herman Melville’s novel The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade (1857) is a comedy of masquerades and a blend of allegory, cultural satire, and metaphysics. The book portrays a confidence man who sneaks on board a Mississippi steamboat on April Fool's Day, and sets out to defraud his fellow passengers. He rapidly assumes various guises and the pleasure of trickery seems more important than the monetary gain. Each person is forced to confront that in which they believe.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Eye Opening - Great Voice
- By Anonymous User on 06-05-20
By: Herman Melville
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Le père Goriot
- By: Honoré de Balzac
- Narrated by: Éric Herson-Macarel
- Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 53
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 50
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 51
Voici donc l'histoire de ce père Goriot, vermicellien ayant fait fortune et qui, tel l'Albatros de Baudelaire, se déchirera les entrailles pour élever ses enfants. Mais, malgré le titre du roman, en est-ce vraiment le héros où est-ce Eugène de Rastignac, jeune homme issu d'une noble mais pauvre famille, venu faire des études de droit à Paris et qui va essayer par tous les moyens de se hisser dans l'échelle sociale parisienne ?
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5 out of 5 stars
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Roman magnifique et encore si vrai aujourd’hui
- By SANDRINE on 06-09-24
By: Honoré de Balzac
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Idylls of the King
- By: Lord Alfred Tennyson
- Narrated by: Bill Homewood
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 2
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2
Lovers of legends know that this is the finest retelling of the story of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table; lovers of literature know that this is the greatest of all 19th-century narrative poems. In Tennyson’s gloriously written tale of swashbuckling feats on and off the jousting field, the honour of maidens, knights, queens and kings is won or lost. Above all, the Quest for the Holy Grail spurs the bravest of knights on to deeds of terrifying foolhardiness and courage.
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The Red and the Black
- By: Stendhal
- Narrated by: Bill Homewood
- Length: 22 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 143
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 122
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Story4 out of 5 stars 121
Young Julien Sorel, the son of a country timber merchant, carries a portrait of his hero Napoleon Bonaparte and dreams of military glory. A brilliant career in the Church leads him into Parisian high society, where, 'mounted upon the finest horse in Alsace', he gains high military office and wins the heart of the aristocratic Mlle Mathilde de la Mole. Julien's cunning and ambition lead him into all sorts of scrapes.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Slow and wordy
- By Chrissie on 08-30-14
By: Stendhal
![Las ilusiones perdidas [The Lost Illusions] Audiobook By Honoré de Balzac, José Ramón Monreal Salvador c](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41+QMBHew5L._SL320_.jpg)
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Las ilusiones perdidas [The Lost Illusions]
- By: Honoré de Balzac, José Ramón Monreal Salvador
- Narrated by: Diego Rousselon
- Length: 25 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 17
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 16
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Story5 out of 5 stars 16
Obra maestra de Balzac, Las ilusiones perdidas cuenta la historia de un joven de provincias con ambiciones artísticas que sueña con triunfar en París. La odisea de Lucien Rubempré desde la inocencia de su Angulema natal hasta el fango del fracaso constituye uno de los periplos narrativos más audaces, embelesadores e imponentes de la narrativa del siglo XIX.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Balzac, Balzac
- By luis bianchi on 02-26-22
By: Honoré de Balzac, and others
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The Tale of Genji, Volume 1
- By: Murasaki Shikibu, Dennis Washburn - translator
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 35 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 175
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 149
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Story4 out of 5 stars 148
Murasaki Shikibu, born into the middle ranks of the aristocracy during the Heian period (794-1185 CE), wrote The Tale of Genji, widely considered the world's first novel, during the early years of the 11th century. Expansive, compelling, and sophisticated in its representation of ethical concerns and aesthetic ideals, Murasaki's tale came to occupy a central place in Japan's remarkable history of artistic achievement and is now recognized as a masterpiece of world literature.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Tales of Genji
- By Amazon Customer on 02-24-20
By: Murasaki Shikibu, and others
My first Balzac
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We’ll worth revisiting this classic
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Only a minority believed in community, family and democracy.
Materialism and Greed.
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Astounding performance
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lots to think about
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What a sad story
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