In a Time of Distance
And Other Poems
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In a Time of Distance
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Narrated by:
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Alexander McCall Smith
About this listen
What really counts in this life? For the writer, Alexander McCall Smith, it is friendship and love - themes that crop up time and again in his novels. And it is these themes that he explores in this collection of poems.
In this book, divided into nine sections, the author takes you on a journey across the globe from Africa to Greece, London to Mumbai, and back home to Edinburgh. In a Time of Distance is a captivating celebration of place and people, but also of animals and books. Looking at the world through the lens of this writer it is a better, more humane place. Throughout these poems there are moments of swoop and soar, descriptions that will make you laugh and realign your view. In this collection, Alexander McCall Smith reminds us to look at the world differently, to stop once in while and look up at the sky.
Music composed by James Ross from the album These Are the Hands. Audiobook produced by David Ian Neville.
©2020, 2021, 2022 Alexander McCall Smith (P)2020, 2021, 2022 Alexander McCall SmithListeners also enjoyed...
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The reading is quiet and heavenly
- By Atalante Lemuria on 11-12-20
By: Hermann Hesse, and others
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On Elizabeth Bishop
- By: Colm Tóibín
- Narrated by: John Keating
- Length: 5 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 38
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 33
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 34
In this book novelist Colm Tóibín offers a deeply personal introduction to the work and life of one of his most important literary influences - the American poet Elizabeth Bishop. Ranging across her poetry, prose, letters, and biography, Tóibín creates a vivid picture of Bishop while also revealing how her work has helped shape his sensibility as a novelist and how her experiences of loss and exile resonate with his own.
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5 out of 5 stars
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ELIZABETH BISHOP
- By chetyarbrough.blog on 05-19-16
By: Colm Tóibín
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Levels of Life
- By: Julian Barnes
- Narrated by: Julian Barnes
- Length: 3 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 163
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 138
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 136
'You put together two things that have not been put together before. And the world is changed...' Julian Barnes's new book is about ballooning, photography, love and grief; about putting two things, and two people, together, and about tearing them apart. One of the judges who awarded him the 2011 Man Booker Prize described him as 'an unparalleled magus of the heart'. This book confirms that opinion.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Every love story is a potential grief story.
- By Darwin8u on 09-27-16
By: Julian Barnes
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The Rest of God
- Restoring Your Soul by Restoring Sabbath
- By: Mark Buchanan
- Narrated by: Eric Michael Summerer
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 106
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 91
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 90
Stillness as a virtue is a foreign concept in our society, but there is wisdom in God's own rhythm of work and rest. Jesus practiced sabbath among those who had turned it into a dismal thing, a day for murmuring and finger-wagging, and he reminded them of the day's true purpose: liberation - to heal, to feed, to rescue, to celebrate, to lavish and relish life abundant. With this audiobook, Buchanan reminds us of this and gives practical advice for restoring the sabbath in our lives.
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5 out of 5 stars
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I get it now
- By Kris on 02-23-20
By: Mark Buchanan
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Walking in Wonder
- Eternal Wisdom for a Modern World
- By: John O'Donohue, Krista Tippett - foreword
- Narrated by: Pat O'Donohue
- Length: 4 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 298
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 260
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Story5 out of 5 stars 256
In this unabridged audiobook of Walking in Wonder, John O’Donohue’s friend and frequent collaborator John Quinn collects a series of talks and essays from the poet-philosopher on humanity’s relationship with the land, the ache of absence, our place in an often mysterious universe, and the great adventure of death itself.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Gentle wise companion
- By papa k on 03-24-19
By: John O'Donohue, and others
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Speak
- A Novel
- By: Louisa Hall
- Narrated by: Suzan Crowley, Christopher Ashman, Adrienne Rusk, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 91
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 83
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Story4 out of 5 stars 84
In a narrative that spans geography and time, from the Atlantic Ocean in the 17th century to a correctional institute in Texas in the near future, and told from the perspectives of five very different characters, Speak considers what it means to be human and what it means to be less than fully alive.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Like nothing else
- By Anonymous User on 06-22-17
By: Louisa Hall
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A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters
- By: Julian Barnes
- Narrated by: Alex Jennings
- Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 268
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 211
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Story4 out of 5 stars 213
This is one of the defining novels of English writer Julian Barnes. An entertaining melange of stories starting with a contemporary account of the launch of Noah's Ark takes us into unexpected areas of human foibles, activities, and tendencies.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Not what I Expected
- By Mark on 02-20-08
By: Julian Barnes
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Demian
- The Story of Emil Sinclair's Youth
- By: Hermann Hesse
- Narrated by: Jeff Woodman
- Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,101
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 928
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 924
Here is the dramatic story of young, docile Emil Sinclair's descent - led by precocious schoolmate Max Demian - into a secret and dangerous world of petty crime and revolt against convention and eventual awakening to selfhood.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Demian
- By Debra on 12-08-08
By: Hermann Hesse
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Walking
- One Step at a Time
- By: Erling Kagge, Becky L. Crook - translator
- Narrated by: Atli Gunnarsson
- Length: 2 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 72
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 66
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 64
A lyrical account of an activity that is essential for our sanity, equilibrium, and well-being, from the author of Silence.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A delightful and essential book
- By Yogans on 05-02-19
By: Erling Kagge, and others
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Brida
- By: Paulo Coelho
- Narrated by: Linda Emond
- Length: 5 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,070
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 870
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Story4 out of 5 stars 873
Brida, a young Irish girl, has long been interested in various aspects of magic but is searching for something more. Her search leads her to people of great wisdom. She meets a wise man who dwells in a forest, who teaches her to trust in the goodness of the world, and a woman who teaches her how to dance to the music of the world. As Brida seeks her destiny, she struggles to find a balance between her relationships and her desire to become a witch.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Very disappointing
- By Jen Terry on 01-11-09
By: Paulo Coelho
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Conundrum
- By: Jan Morris
- Narrated by: Roy McMillan
- Length: 5 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 86
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 77
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Story5 out of 5 stars 76
This remarkable memoir is the classic account of the transgender journey. It is all the more extraordinary because it is the life story of a figure who, it seemed, seamlessly and publicly charted a course through the English establishment - James Morris, outstanding journalist, historian and travel writer, famed for a peerless writing style. But all the while he was concealing a very different inner world: from the age of four he felt that, despite his body, he was really a girl.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Beautiful memoir
- By Gabriel Smith on 07-25-22
By: Jan Morris
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The Three Marriages
- Reimagining Work, Self and Relationship
- By: David Whyte
- Narrated by: David Whyte
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 409
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 286
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 281
According to Whyte, we humans are involved not just with one marriage with a significant other. We also have made secret vows to our work and unspoken vows to an inner, constantly developing self. Whyte's thesis is that to separate these marriages in order to balance them is to destroy the fabric of happiness itself; that in each of these marriages, will, effort, and hard work are overused, overrated, and in many ways self-defeating.
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5 out of 5 stars
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RARE SELF-HELP BOOK THAT ACTUALLY HELPS
- By Elizabeth on 03-05-09
By: David Whyte
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The Innocents Abroad
- By: Mark Twain
- Narrated by: David McCallion
- Length: 18 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 49
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 47
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 47
In June 1867, Mark Twain set sail for Europe and the Holy Land. Twain recorded this adventurous trip and later turned it into The Innocents Abroad. This book became so popular overseas that it would propel him into an international star. The Innocents Abroad is Twain’s account of his thoughts of the Old World, including Paris, Venice, Pompeii, Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Bethlehem, as well as many other noteworthy cities. His disbelief and wonder are told with humor that endeared Twain to American audiences.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Big Mistake
- By Megg on 12-18-18
By: Mark Twain
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Small Graces
- The Quiet Gifts of Everyday Life
- By: Kent Nerburn
- Narrated by: Kent Nerburn
- Length: 1 hr and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 32
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 25
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 25
Small Graces is a journey into the sacred moments that illuminate our everyday lives. In 20 elegant pieces, writer, sculptor, and theologian Kent Nerburn celebrates the daily rituals that reveal our deeper truths. Through the exploration of simple acts, Small Graces reminds us to chart a course each day that nourishes the soul, honors the body, and engages the mind.
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5 out of 5 stars
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worth every minute spent listening
- By Jory on 02-25-18
By: Kent Nerburn
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Gift of the Red Bird
- The Story of a Divine Encounter
- By: Paula D'Arcy
- Narrated by: Paula D'Arcy
- Length: 3 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 62
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 52
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 52
When Paula D'Arcy lost her husband and baby in a car crash, she began an inner search for a faith that was stronger than fear. In Gift of the Red Bird she shares her remarkable spiritual adventure. Grief, she shows us, is an ongoing, never-completed process, one that becomes woven into the fabric of the grieving person's spiritual life.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Relatable story
- By Maryjane Hadaway on 07-15-19
By: Paula D'Arcy