On Consolation
Finding Solace in Dark Times
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On Consolation
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Narrated by:
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Michael Ignatieff
About this listen
Timely and profound meditations on how great figures in history, literature, music, and art searched for solace while facing tragedies and crises, from the internationally renowned historian of ideas and Booker Prize finalist Michael Ignatieff.
When we lose someone we love, when we suffer loss or defeat, when catastrophe strikes - war, famine, pandemic - we go in search of consolation. Once the province of priests and philosophers, the language of consolation has largely vanished from our modern vocabulary, and the places where it was offered, houses of religion, are often empty. Rejecting the solace of ancient religious texts, humanity since the 16th century has increasingly placed its faith in science, ideology, and the therapeutic.
How do we console each other and ourselves in an age of unbelief? In a series of lapidary meditations on writers, artists, musicians, and their works - from the books of Job and Psalms to Albert Camus, Anna Akhmatova, and Primo Levi - esteemed writer and historian Michael Ignatieff shows how men and women in extremity have looked to each other across time to recover hope and resilience.
Recreating the moments when great figures found the courage to confront their fate and the determination to continue unafraid, On Consolation takes those stories into the present, movingly contending that we can revive these traditions of consolation to meet the anguish and uncertainties of our precarious 21st century.
A Macmillan Audio production from Metropolitan Books
©2021 Michael Ignatieff (P)2021 Macmillan AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 250
Based on a thorough study of Greek life and civilization, of Greek literature, philosophy, and art, The Greek Way interprets their meaning and brings a realization of the refuge and strength the past can be to us in the troubled present. Miss Hamilton's book must take its place with the few interpretative volumes which are permanently rooted and profoundly alive in our literature.
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3 out of 5 stars
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...Not as Good as The Echo of Greece
- By The Masked Reviewer on 11-04-16
By: Edith Hamilton
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Our Oriental Heritage
- The Story of Civilization, Volume 1
- By: Will Durant
- Narrated by: Robin Field
- Length: 50 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,313
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,170
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,162
The first volume of Will Durant's Pulitzer Prize-winning series, Our Oriental Heritage: The Story of Civilization, Volume I chronicles the early history of Egypt, the Middle East, and Asia.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Wonderful
- By Michael on 11-30-13
By: Will Durant
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The Politically Incorrect Guide to Western Civilization
- By: Anthony Esolen
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 426
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 357
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 357
Western civilization is under attack. At universities and in the media, professors and pundits decry Western civilization as exploitative, destructive, and without value. But fear not: coming to its defense is this "P.I." guide to Western civilization.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Holy Neo-Nazism Batman!
- By Douglas on 12-03-11
By: Anthony Esolen
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Stories We Tell Ourselves
- Making Meaning in a Meaningless Universe
- By: Richard Holloway
- Narrated by: Richard Holloway
- Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 53
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 48
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Story5 out of 5 stars 48
Throughout history we have told ourselves stories to try and make sense of what it all means: our place in a small corner of one of billions of galaxies, at the end of billions of years of existence. In this new book Richard Holloway takes us on a personal, scientific and philosophical journey to explore what he believes the answers to the biggest of questions are.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Effortlessly profound
- By Consi on 09-28-21
By: Richard Holloway
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The Western Canon
- The Books and School of the Ages
- By: Harold Bloom
- Narrated by: James Armstrong
- Length: 22 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 233
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 136
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 138
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.....
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5 out of 5 stars
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A personal and opinionated book on the Canon
- By Steffen on 07-23-12
By: Harold Bloom
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Why We Are Restless
- On the Modern Quest for Contentment
- By: Benjamin Storey, Jenna Silber Storey
- Narrated by: Laurel Lefkow
- Length: 6 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 44
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 41
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 41
We live in an age of unprecedented prosperity, yet everywhere we see signs that our pursuit of happiness has proven fruitless. Dissatisfied, we seek change for the sake of change - even if it means undermining the foundations of our common life. In Why We Are Restless, Benjamin and Jenna Storey offer a profound and beautiful reflection on the roots of this malaise and examine how we might begin to cure ourselves.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Good primer.
- By Chris on 09-29-21
By: Benjamin Storey, and others
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The Spiritual Teachings of Seneca
- Ancient Philosophy for Modern Wisdom
- By: Mark Forstater, Victoria Radin
- Narrated by: David Troughton, Louisa Millwood Haig
- Length: 1 hr and 36 mins
- Abridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 95
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 71
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Story4 out of 5 stars 69
Seneca was dedicated to Stoicism, and in his essays and letters he explained the stoic position on many fundamental issues: pleasure and the problem of desire, happiness, and contentment; anger, fear, living in the present, how to think for yourself, anxiety and tranquillity, goodness, freedom, trusting the universe; courage, opportunity, cruelty and how to deal with it, friendship, love and trust, death and how to live, learning , chance and fate, time, aspirations, wisdom - and more.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Odd presentation style
- By Mark on 08-03-08
By: Mark Forstater, and others
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The Greatest Minds and Ideas of All Time
- By: Will Durant
- Narrated by: John Little
- Length: 3 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,261
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 974
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Story4 out of 5 stars 962
Best-selling historian and philosopher Will Durant devoted his entire life to studying the most significant eras, individuals, and achievements of human history. Here is a summation of Durant's work, as he presents the best of world history. Filled with Durant's renowned wit, knowledge, and unique ability to explain events in simple and exciting terms, it is a concise liberal arts education.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Puzzled
- By James on 04-06-04
By: Will Durant
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The Enneagram
- A Christian Perspective
- By: Richard Rohr, Andreas Ebert
- Narrated by: Rick Adamson
- Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 203
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 168
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 165
This runaway best seller shows both the basic logic of the Enneagram and its harmony with the core truths of Christian thought from the time of the early Church forward. Experience author Richard Rohr's expertise and advanced thought on the subject, easily laid out for all audiences.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Not truly a Christian view
- By Ben on 07-27-21
By: Richard Rohr, and others
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A Wicked Company
- The Forgotten Radicalism of the European Enlightenment
- By: Philipp Blom
- Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin
- Length: 14 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 34
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 33
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 33
The flourishing of radical philosophy in Baron Thierry Holbach’s Paris salon from the 1750s to the 1770s stands as a seminal event in Western history. Holbach’s house was an international epicenter of revolutionary ideas and intellectual daring, bringing together such original minds as Denis Diderot, Laurence Sterne, David Hume, Adam Smith, Ferdinando Galiani, Horace Walpole, Benjamin Franklin, Guillaume Raynal, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. In A Wicked Company, acclaimed historian Philipp Blom retraces the fortunes of this exceptional group of friends.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent Book on Radical Enlightenment
- By EJJ on 02-15-15
By: Philipp Blom
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The Passion and the Cross
- By: Ronald Rolheiser
- Narrated by: Douglas James
- Length: 3 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 47
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 38
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 37
Ronald Rolheiser, one of the most influential spiritual writers of our day, offers profound reflections on the central mystery of our Christian faith. His beautifully written meditations on the passion and the cross invite you to a new understanding of redemption and offer insight into the meaning of your own loss and suffering. Take a journey into the deeper meaning of pain with guidance from a trusted spiritual advisor.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Intersections of Cross
- By Virginia on 04-05-17
By: Ronald Rolheiser
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Stay
- A History of Suicide and the Philosophies Against It
- By: Jennifer Michael Hecht
- Narrated by: Jennifer Michael Hecht
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 147
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 129
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Story4 out of 5 stars 130
Worldwide, more people die by suicide than by murder, and many more are left behind to grieve. Despite distressing statistics that show suicide rates rising, the subject, long a taboo, is infrequently talked about. In this sweeping intellectual and cultural history, poet and historian Jennifer Michael Hecht channels her grief for two friends lost to suicide into a search for history’s most persuasive arguments against the irretrievable act, arguments she hopes to bring back into public consciousness.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Informative but oddly dispassionate
- By Scott on 01-07-14
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The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus
- By: Brennan Manning
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 46
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 38
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Story5 out of 5 stars 38
Is God a wrathful judge? A gentle healer? A father? Brother? Friend? In The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus, Brennan Manning brings you to a deeper understanding of the true nature of God. Through poignant and unforgettable stories and challenging observations, Manning helps you stretch your mind and reject simplistic explanations of who God really is.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Beautiful, Poetic, Convincing
- By Elizabeth Doonan on 12-03-22
By: Brennan Manning
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The Confessions
- The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century
- By: St. Augustine
- Narrated by: Various
- Length: 13 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 54
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 45
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Story5 out of 5 stars 45
The Confessions by Saint Augustine is considered an all-time number one Christian classic. Augustine undertook his greatest piece of writing with the conviction that God wanted him to make this confession. The Confessions is, in fact, an extended poetic, passionate, intimate prayer.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Reading is by 13 Consecutive Amateurs
- By Horkstow Grange on 01-16-21
By: St. Augustine
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The Great Gatsby
- By: F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Narrated by: Jake Gyllenhaal
- Length: 4 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 23,249
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 20,466
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 20,430
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic American novel of the Roaring Twenties is beloved by generations of readers and stands as his crowning work. This new audio edition, authorized by the Fitzgerald estate, is narrated by Oscar-nominated actor Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain). Gyllenhaal's performance is a faithful delivery in the voice of Nick Carraway, the Midwesterner turned New York bond salesman, who rents a small house next door to the mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby....
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5 out of 5 stars
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Simple, Beautiful, and Exquisitely Textured
- By Darwin8u on 04-09-13
What listeners say about On Consolation
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ricardo Hausmann
- 12-29-21
A unique book. A must read for anybody with a beating heart and a conscience
Nothing like it. As a social scientist I read to little of the humanities. This is a fantastic way to connect
to the many bright minds that over millennia have had to struggle with the death, the meaning of life and the scope for consolation. I cannot praise it enough.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 01-07-22
Remarkable is every way. A must for the mental..
This book is a masterpiece that ignites a path forward when the mind has faded into darkness and despair. On Consolation poetically illuminates glimpses of clarity in times when sorrow overwhelms and there is no understanding. It is the perfect read to help cope with death and loss.
The reader’s voice in this audiobook is penetrating and resolute.
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