Leaves of Grass

By: Walt Whitman

Narrated by: Ed Begley

Walt Whitman's celebrated poetry collection, read by Ed Begley. Includes: 'The Old Face of the Mother of Many Children', 'Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking', 'A March in the Ranks Hard-Prest', 'Good-Bye My Fancy', 'Hear America Singing', 'I Think I Could Turn and Live with Animals', 'The Sleepers Are Very Beautiful', 'Give Me The Splendid Silent Sun', 'Song of Myself - I Celebrate Myself', 'To a Locomotive', 'Who Goes There', 'A Child Said What Is the Grass', 'The Spotted Hawk Swoops By and Accuses Me', and 'When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer'.

©2010 Saland Publishing (P)2010 Saland Publishing

Walt Is A Very Profound SOB.

What made the experience of listening to Leaves of Grass the most enjoyable?

Reading Walt is like finding great Soul Food and can't stop eating it.

What did you like best about this story?

Twas a large meal of various appetites and all delicious.

What does Ed Begley bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Ed reads the poetry as well as I have heard and puts his soul into it but each with it's own significant voice.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

My first Walt W.

Any additional comments?

I recommend it especially for fans of Tennyson.

Breathtaking

Probably the best performance I heard. I wish it included more poems from this universal poet.

Whitman

Never have I read a word so pure and descriptive of life, happiness, loss, death, or triumph. This work resonates to the soul pulmonic in its travel. Ed Begley’s voice compliments this work with great affection.

Well done, Walt Whitman and Ed Begley.

Ed Begley performed beautifully but titles of poems could have been added to the narration

If only there were more!!

Ed Begley does such a wonderful reading that you'll be wishing fervently for more. Never have I heard a better reading of poetry. The last time a narration dazzled me like that was Day-Lewis' reading of his own translation of Virgil's "The Georgics".

The entire audiobook is as brilliant as the three minute sample.

I imagine that Walt Whitman would be delighted by this beautiful reading of his poetry.

If only there were more!!

Blast

Short but very interesting. His appreciation for life is evident. I never got into Walt, but this makes me want to read more from this poet.

There is no better Whitman recording, even if incomplete.

Begley’s recording — strangely — is the only recording available that does Justice to Whitman’s verse. It is expertly recited, giving life to ‘To A Locomotive in Winter’ with “O’er the prairies wide! Across the lakes! To the free skies! Un. Pent, and GLAD. And. STRONG.” … and tenderness to ‘[A Child said, what is the grass]’.

If you want to the complete Leaves of Grass, listen to this series of excerpts first, then read it for yourself. Don’t bother with bland audiobook voices with Whitman.

Inspiring!

This is the first time I truly "got" Walt! Thank you for this introduction to the grandfather of American poetry.

Ed Begley’s reading is brilliant

There are four or five versions of Leaves of Grass on Audible, I sampled them all, Begley’s unsurprisingly blows the rest out of the water. There just is no other poet like Whitman, the poem itself is transporting and Begley, a magnificent actor, does it justice. Ten stars if I could.

Begley helped me understand

The musical power and large hearted was of Whitman's poems. Wish it were twice as long!