
Independent People
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Narrated by:
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Michael Page
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By:
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Halldór Laxness
About this listen
This magnificent novel - which secured for its author the 1955 Nobel Prize in Literature - is now available to contemporary American audiences. Although it is set in the early 20th century, it recalls both Iceland's medieval epics and such classics as Sigrid Undset's Kristin Lavransdatter. And if Bjartur of Summerhouses, the book's protagonist, is an ordinary sheep farmer, his flinty determination to achieve independence is genuinely heroic and, at the same time, terrifying and bleakly comic.
Having spent 18 years in humiliating servitude, Bjartur wants nothing more than to raise his flocks unbeholden to any man. But Bjartur's spirited daughter wants to live unbeholden to him. What ensues is a battle of wills that is by turns harsh and touching, elemental in its emotional intensity, and intimate in its homely detail. Vast in scope and deeply rewarding, Independent People is a masterpiece.
©1946 Halldór Laxness (P)2017 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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- By: Alda Sigmundsdottir
- Narrated by: Alda Sigmundsdottir
- Length: 2 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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After more than 20 years away, Alda Sigmundsdottir returned to her native Iceland as a foreigner. With a native person's insight yet an outsider's perspective, Alda quickly set about dissecting the national psyche of the Icelanders. This second edition, from 2018, contains new and updated chapters from the original edition, reflecting the changes in Icelandic society and among the Icelandic people since the book was first published in 2012.
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disappointed
- By Wayne T. on 08-09-23
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The Children of the Dead
- By: Elfriede Jelinek, Gitta Honegger - translator
- Narrated by: Christa Lewis
- Length: 20 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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The Alpenrose is a mountain resort nestled in Austria's scenic landscape among historic churches and castles. It is a vacation idyll that attracts tourists from all over Europe. It is also a mass burial site. Amid the snow-topped peaks and panoramic vistas, ghosts haunt the forest: Edgar Gstranz, a young skier who died in a car crash; Gudrun Bichler, a philosophy student who committed suicide in her bathtub; and Karin Frenzel, a widow who (perhaps) died in a bus accident.
By: Elfriede Jelinek, and others
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The Creak on the Stairs
- By: Eva Björg Ægisdóttir
- Narrated by: Diana Croft
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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When a body of a woman is discovered at a lighthouse in the Icelandic town of Akranes, it soon becomes clear that she’s no stranger to the area. Chief Investigating Officer Elma, who has returned to Akranes following a failed relationship, and her collegues Sævar and Hörður commence an uneasy investigation which uncovers a shocking secret in the dead woman’s past that continues to reverberate in the present day.
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too hard to follow
- By Kindle Customer on 07-10-21
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Sorrow and Bliss
- A Novel
- By: Meg Mason
- Narrated by: Emilia Fox
- Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Martha Friel just turned forty. Once, she worked at Vogue and planned to write a novel. Now, she creates internet content. She used to live in a pied-à-terre in Paris. Now she lives in a gated community in Oxford, the only person she knows without a PhD, a baby or both, in a house she hates but cannot bear to leave. But she must leave, now that her husband Patrick—the kind who cooks, throws her birthday parties, who loves her and has only ever wanted her to be happy—has just moved out.
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Very Disappointed -- 2.75 Stars
- By Sharlotte on 06-07-21
By: Meg Mason
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The Craft of Scene Writing
- Beat by Beat to a Better Script
- By: Jim Mercurio
- Narrated by: Stephen Bowlby
- Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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No one comes out of a movie talking about structure. What audiences love and remember about a movie are great scenes. Marlon Brando in the back seat in On the Waterfront giving his "I could'a been a contender" speech. Meg Ryan's fake orgasm in Katz's Deli in When Harry Met Sally with the climactic punch line: "I'll have what she's having." In Superbad, Jonah Hill professing "I love you" to his friend Michael Cera by touching his nose with a "boop".
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Abridged and censored- not the full book!
- By Jonathan on 10-02-20
By: Jim Mercurio
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The City in the Middle of the Night
- By: Charlie Jane Anders
- Narrated by: Jennifer O'Donnell, Laura Knight Keating
- Length: 13 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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January is a dying planet - divided between a permanently frozen darkness on one side, and blazing endless sunshine on the other. Humanity clings to life, spread across two archaic cities built in the sliver of habitable dusk. Sophie, a student and reluctant revolutionary, is supposed to be dead, after being exiled into the night. Saved only by forming an unusual bond with the enigmatic beasts who roam the ice, Sophie vows to stay hidden from the world, hoping she can heal.
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One of the best S-F novels I've ever read!!!
- By Michael J. Mcmorrow on 02-17-19
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Masters of Atlantis
- By: Charles Portis
- Narrated by: Jefferson Mays
- Length: 9 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Lamar Jimmerson is the leader of the Gnomon Society, the international fraternal order dedicated to preserving the arcane wisdom of the lost city of Atlantis. Stationed in France in 1917, Jimmerson comes across a little book crammed with Atlantean puzzles, Egyptian riddles, and extended alchemical metaphors. It's the Codex Pappus—the sacred Gnomon text. Soon he is basking in the lore of lost Atlantis, convinced that his mission on earth is to administer to and extend the ranks of the noble brotherhood.
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What if “The Illuminatius Trilogy” was boring?
- By Francis on 04-26-24
By: Charles Portis
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The Morning Star
- By: Karl Ove Knausgaard
- Narrated by: Alyssa Bresnahan, Edoardo Ballerini, Elisabeth Rodgers, and others
- Length: 23 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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It's a normal night in August. Literature professor Arne and artist Tove are with their children at the resort in Sørlandet. Their friend, Egil, a driver by day, is staying in a cabin nearby. Kathrine, a priest, is on her way home from a seminar; the journalist Jostein is out on the town; and his wife, Turid, who is an assistant nurse, has a night shift. Above them all, a huge star suddenly appears in the sky. No one, not even the astronomers, knows for sure what kind of phenomenon it is.
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Great read for religious scholars
- By matt m on 01-13-22
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A Wizard of Earthsea
- The Earthsea Cycle, Book 1
- By: Ursula K. Le Guin
- Narrated by: Rob Inglis
- Length: 7 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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When Sparrowhawk casts a spell that saves his village from destruction at the hands of the invading Kargs, Ogion, the Mage of Re Albi, encourages the boy to apprentice himself in the art of wizardry. So, at the age of 13, the boy receives his true name - Ged - and gives himself over to the gentle tutelage of the Master Ogion. But impatient with the slowness of his studies and infatuated with glory, Ged embarks for the Island of Roke, where the highest arts of wizardry are taught.
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A little gem, excellently narrated.
- By Marjorie on 05-14-12
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The English Understand Wool
- Storybook ND Series
- By: Helen DeWitt
- Narrated by: Lucy Raynor
- Length: 1 hr and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Raised in Marrakech by a French mother and English father, a 17-year-old girl has learned above all to avoid mauvais ton ("bad taste" loses something in the translation). One should not ask servants to wait on one during Ramadan: they must have paid leave while one spends the holy month abroad. One must play the piano; if staying at Claridge’s, one must regrettably install a Clavinova in the suite so that the necessary hours of practice will not be inflicted on fellow guests.
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The wild and crazy story, narrated brilliantly!
- By AudiobookMaven on 11-24-24
By: Helen DeWitt
So from the point of view that he is a memorable character, I assume that is the reason the book has been given rave reviews and awards. But for me it was arduous to get through.
How one man can make many so miserable...
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Útligangur
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I learned a lot about Iceland around the time I was born, as well as its history, during our cold, wet winter nights.
There’s some good humor in it occasionally but you have to pay close attention so you don’t miss it.
I do wish male narrators could refrain from voicing all females with what I imagine dolls would sound like, or faeries.
Long, Slow, Mostly Depressing
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Astounding
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Pre-trip reading assignment
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Of witness of Human character In the Education of a soul through a voyage Of a life.
An empathic voyage in poetic verse and philosophic breadth
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Bjatur sounds like a cartoon character
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It was a bit hard to get into at the beginning but keep going. This is a story of persevering everyone should read.
A profound book of simple people
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Toxic Patriarchy
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Insight into Iceland's Culture and History
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