The Alteration
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The Alteration
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Narrated by:
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Michael Fox
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By:
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Kingsley Amis
About this listen
In Kingsley Amis’s virtuoso foray into virtual history it is 1976, but the modern world is a medieval relic, frozen in intellectual and spiritual time ever since Martin Luther was promoted to pope back in the sixteenth century. Stephen the Third, the king of England, has just died, and Mass (Mozart’s second requiem) is about to be sung to lay him to rest. In the choir is our hero, Hubert Anvil, an extremely ordinary ten-year-old boy with a faultless voice. In the audience is a select group of experts whose job is to determine whether that faultless voice should be preserved by performing a certain operation. Art, after all, is worth any sacrifice.
How Hubert realizes what lies in store for him and how he deals with the whirlpool of piety, menace, terror, and passion that he soon finds himself in are the subject of a classic piece of counterfactual fiction equal to Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle.
The Alteration won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best science fiction novel in 1976.
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-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 72
Walter of Gurnie, bastard son of an English peer, is forced to flee from Oxford for his part in the university riots of 1273. Inspired by Friar Bacon, he determines to travel to China. With his friend Tristam, he fights his way to the heart of the fabulous Mongol Empire and returns famous, to find that he must choose between the first love he thought lost and the exotic flower that he found in the East.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great Book
- By Jean on 03-09-13
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The Dead Secret
- By: Wilkie Collins
- Narrated by: Nicholas Boulton
- Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 47
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 46
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 45
A masterful blend of Gothic drama and romance, Wilkie Collins' mystery novel is an exploration of illegitimacy and inheritance. Set in Cornwall, the plot foreshadows The Woman in White with its themes of doubtful identity and deception and involves a broad array of characters. The "secret" of the book's title is the true parentage of the book's heroine, Rosamond Treverton, which has been written down and kept in an unused room at Porthgenna Tower. This is where, 20 years later, much of the novel's action is set.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Only complaint is I wish it were longer
- By alisammeredith on 03-15-22
By: Wilkie Collins
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Tess of the D'urbervilles
- By: Thomas Hardy
- Narrated by: Jennifer Dixon
- Length: 17 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 65
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 60
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 58
Tess of the d'Urbervilles is the 19th century novel lately thought to be one of the inspirations of E .L.James' Fifty Shades of Grey. It depicts the life of an impressionable, naive, somewhat educated young woman who yearns to be free to live her own life, but finds herself constricted by the bonds of the sexual, religious and socially hypocritical customs that have surrounded her from birth.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Jenny Dixon
- By Amazon Customer on 08-09-15
By: Thomas Hardy
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The Chocolate Maker's Wife
- By: Karen Brooks
- Narrated by: Willow Nash
- Length: 20 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 138
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 113
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 114
Born into poverty, brutalised and ignored by her family, it is only when she is married off to a nobleman that her life undergoes a transformation, as her husband recognises in Rosamund a magic she does not know she possesses but which affects almost all who encounter her. Presiding over a luxurious chocolate house where men go to be seen, exchange news and indulge in the sweet and heady drink to which they have become addicted, Rosamund feels blessed. But disaster strikes, and Rosamund stands on the brink of losing all she has worked so hard to achieve.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Loved the history....
- By Kim Tyler on 01-20-20
By: Karen Brooks
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The Noble Smuggler
- By: Sian Ann Bessey
- Narrated by: Noah Wall
- Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 216
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 205
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 204
Despite living at her father’s inn her entire life, Elizabeth Doyle has always managed to avoid involvement with the smugglers who frequently gather there. Until now. When a handsome smuggler is brought to her with dire injuries, Elizabeth risks everything to hide him - completely unaware that the wounded man is not who he appears to be. When an opportunity arises to infiltrate the notorious smuggling gang he believes caused his father’s death, Jonas Ainsworth, the Viscount Langton, pretends to be one of them.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Captivating clean romance with a mystery to be solved
- By Fleur-de-lis on 10-06-20
By: Sian Ann Bessey
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The Darwin Affair
- A Novel
- By: Tim Mason
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 423
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 376
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Story4 out of 5 stars 375
London, June 1860: When an assassination attempt is made on Queen Victoria, and a petty thief is gruesomely murdered moments later - and only a block away - Chief Detective Inspector Charles Field quickly surmises that these crimes are connected to an even more sinister plot. Was Victoria really the assassin's target? Are those closest to the Crown hiding something? Soon, Field's investigation exposes a shocking conspiracy in which the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species sets off a string of murders, arson, kidnapping, and the pursuit of a diabolical madman.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Dickensian “Jack the Ripper”
- By Kate on 07-14-19
By: Tim Mason
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The Castle
- By: Franz Kafka
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 259
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 146
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Story4 out of 5 stars 146
On his deathbed, Franz Kafka asked that all his unpublished manuscripts be burned. Fortunately, his request was ignored, allowing such works as The Trial to earn recognition among the literary masterpieces of the 20th century. This brilliant new translation of The Castle captures comedic elements and visual imagery that earlier interpretations missed.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Obscure, enigmatic, and not for everyone
- By John on 02-08-06
By: Franz Kafka
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The American
- By: Henry James
- Narrated by: Adam Sims
- Length: 14 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 51
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 45
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 44
Self-made American millionaire Christopher Newman arrives in Paris brimming with hope and optimism, excited to experience the culture and, hopefully, find the perfect woman to become his wife. After a chance encounter with American expatriate friends, his attention is drawn to Madame de Cintré, 25-year-old widowed daughter of the late Marquis de Bellegarde. Having fallen on hard times, the centuries-old aristocratic family permits Newman's courtship to proceed; however, they later persuade the widow to break off her engagement to the nouveau-riche businessman.
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5 out of 5 stars
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excellent reading
- By Andorboth on 12-03-22
By: Henry James
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Silent in the Grave
- By: Deanna Raybourn
- Narrated by: Ellen Archer
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,824
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,205
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,196
Let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave. These ominous words, slashed from the pages of a book of Psalms, are the last threat that the darling of London society, Sir Edward Grey, receives from his killer. Before he can show them to Nicholas Brisbane, the private inquiry agent he has retained for his protection, Sir Edward collapses and dies at his London home, in the presence of his wife, Julia, and a roomful of dinner guests.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Happily surprised
- By 9S on 07-04-09
By: Deanna Raybourn
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Far from the Madding Crowd
- By: Thomas Hardy
- Narrated by: David McCallion
- Length: 13 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 35
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 31
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 30
Far from the Madding Crowd, which first appeared in Cornhill Magazine in monthly installments back in the late 19th century, features the love life of the young Bathsheba Everdene who is as poor as she is beautiful. Fortunately, Bathsheba's uncle leaves her his farm, which she goes to manage in the small town of Weatherbury. Before she leaves, however, she has an interesting encounter with a young farmer, Gabriel Oak, for whom she does a tremendous favor ,and he becomes indebted to her....
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5 out of 5 stars
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Loved this delightful listening experience !!!
- By Robin Wardle on 07-15-16
By: Thomas Hardy
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Night of a Thousand Stars
- By: Deanna Raybourn
- Narrated by: Anna Parker-Naples
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 147
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 135
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Story4 out of 5 stars 135
On the verge of a stilted life as an aristocrat's wife, Poppy Hammond does the only sensible thing - she flees the chapel in her wedding gown. Assisted by the handsome curate who calls himself Sebastian Cantrip, she spirits away to her estranged father's quiet country village, pursued by the family she left in uproar. But when the dust of her broken engagement settles and Sebastian disappears under mysterious circumstances, Poppy discovers there is more to her hero than it seems.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Stick to the print edition for this one
- By Caz on 11-21-15
By: Deanna Raybourn
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Dracula's Child
- By: J.S. Barnes
- Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble, Emma Gregory
- Length: 13 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 46
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 43
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 43
It has been some years since Jonathan and Mina Harker survived their ordeal in Transylvania. But shadows linger long in this world of blood feud and superstition - and the older their son Quincey gets, the deeper the shadows that lengthen at the heart of the Harkers' marriage. Jonathan has turned back to drink, Mina finds herself isolated inside the confines of her own family. Quincey himself struggles to live up to a family of such high renown.
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2 out of 5 stars
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A very slow burn
- By Amazon Customer on 12-07-20
By: J.S. Barnes
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Crime and Punishment
- Penguin Classics
- By: Fyodor Dostoevsky, Oliver Ready
- Narrated by: Don Warrington
- Length: 25 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 115
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 105
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 105
This acclaimed new translation of Dostoyevsky's 'psychological record of a crime' gives his dark masterpiece of murder and pursuit a renewed vitality, expressing its jagged, staccato urgency and fevered atmosphere as never before. Raskolnikov, a destitute and desperate former student, wanders alone through the slums of St. Petersburg, deliriously imagining himself above society's laws. But when he commits a random murder, only suffering ensues.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Best translation on audible – mediocre narrator
- By Fantod on 04-29-20
By: Fyodor Dostoevsky, and others
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Death in Venice
- By: Thomas Mann
- Narrated by: Peter Batchelor
- Length: 3 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 212
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 183
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Story4 out of 5 stars 185
A stunningly beautiful youth and the city of Venice set the stage for Thomas Mann’s introspective examination of erotic love and philosophical wisdom.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A problem with the narration
- By Erez on 03-19-12
By: Thomas Mann
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My Lady Ludlow
- By: Elizabeth Gaskell
- Narrated by: Susannah York
- Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 63
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 58
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 58
Lady Ludlow's appalling snobbery, prejudice and bred-in-the-bone conviction as to the superiority of the English aristocracy and their feudal way of life are deliciously tested, and found wanting, in this gently radical tale of the collapse of a social system. Elizabeth Gaskell's My Lady Ludlow is a brilliant picture of the shift in power in a rural northern village, from the velvety feudal Ludlows to the glitter of the new money rattling through the system courtesy of the brazen baker from Birmingham.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A treat
- By Tad Davis on 03-04-20