The Elixir of Life
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The Elixir of Life
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Narrated by:
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Paul Spera
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By:
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Honoré de Balzac
About this listen
"The Elixir of Life" is a fantastic tale by the French novelist and writer Honoré de Balzac in which he gives a satirical version of the legend of Don Juan. This early short story was originally published in 1830; like all the pieces of Balzac’s "Comédie Humaine", it is considered a stand-alone piece of literature.
The spoiled son of a Spanish nobleman, Don Juan Belvidero cannot wait for the moment to claim the family wealth and title for himself. His father calls to his death-bed to inform him that he is in possession of a magic, death-defying potion. If the son will only rub the liquid on his dead body, the father will come back to life. Don Juan assures his father that he will resurrect him, but will he keep his promise or betray the old man?
Honoré de Balzac's keen observation of detail, subtle psychology and unfiltered representation of society gave him his place as one of the founders and great masters of realism in European literature with his magnum opus, "La Comédie Humaine" ("The Human Comedy"). His characters are complex, morally ambiguous and utterly real.
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-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 123
Meet the Otis family: Mister and Missus, and their four children - Washington; the twins called Stars and Stripes; and their daughter, Virginia. They've just moved from America and into the English country manor of Canterville Chase. Though rumors persist that the house is haunted, the Otis' have none of it, and set about making the house their own. Then come the mysterious clanking chains and the bloodstains on the floor, and soon even the Otis family must come face to face with that most feared of creatures - The Canterville Ghost. But will the Ghost be able to survive his encounters with the erstwhile Americans?
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5 out of 5 stars
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Funny Stuff !!
- By Michele Fitzgerald on 04-26-13
By: Oscar Wilde, and others
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Phantastes
- By: George MacDonald
- Narrated by: Brad Powers
- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 198
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 181
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 177
A young man named Anodos experiences dream like adventures in Fairy Land, where he meets tree spirits, endures the presence of the overwhelming shadow, journeys to the palace of the fairy queen, and searches for the spirit of the earth. The story conveys a profound sadness and a poignant longing for death.
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1 out of 5 stars
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THIS IS LIBRIVOX'S FREE RECORDING
- By C. M. W. on 12-24-18
By: George MacDonald
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The Bondwoman's Narrative
- By: Hannah Crafts, edited by Henry Louis Gates Jr.
- Narrated by: Anna Deavere Smith
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 204
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 119
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 120
An unprecedented historical and literary event, this tale written in the 1850s is the only known novel by a female African American slave, and quite possibly the first novel written by a black woman anywhere. A work recently uncovered by renowned scholar and professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., it is a stirring tale of "passing" and the adventures of a young slave as she makes her way to freedom.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Poor reading of an important book
- By Hilary on 11-15-04
By: Hannah Crafts, and others
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Doug Bradley's Spinechillers Audio Books, Volume 1
- Classic Horror Stories
- By: Charles Dickens, H. P. Lovecraft, Saki, and others
- Narrated by: Doug Bradley
- Length: 2 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 92
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 86
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 84
This volume features William F Harvey's original undead hand story "The Beast with Five Fingers" that sparked many movies including Sam Raimi's "The Evil Dead". Poe's classic "The Tell Tale Heart" is joined by Lovecraft's creepy tale of alienation "The Outsider", and a chilling Dickens ghost story "The Signalman".
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent stories and wonderful performance
- By Gavin Lees on 10-12-18
By: Charles Dickens, and others
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Eugene Onegin
- A Novel in Verse
- By: Alexander Pushkin, James E. Falen - translator
- Narrated by: Raphael Corkhill
- Length: 4 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 146
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 128
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 128
Eugene Onegin is the master work of the poet whom Russians regard as the fountainhead of their literature. Set in 1820s imperial Russia, Pushkin's novel in verse follows the emotions and destiny of three men - Onegin the bored fop, Lensky the minor elegiast, and a stylized Pushkin himself - and the fates and affections of three women - Tatyana the provincial beauty, her sister Olga, and Pushkin's mercurial Muse.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Pushkin and Falen are brilliant, Corkhill not bad
- By Jabba on 05-17-15
By: Alexander Pushkin, and others
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Against Nature (Against the Grain)
- By: Joris-Karl Huysmans
- Narrated by: Nicholas Boulton
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 94
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 84
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 84
Against Nature was one of the most shocking French novels of the 19th century. When it was published in 1884, it thrilled the aesthetes, the poets, and the intellectuals of Europe on both sides of the Channel (notably Oscar Wilde) because for all its lofty tone, it had, as its core, an unbridled decadence, and it was this same character that challenged, even horrified, established bourgeois society.
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5 out of 5 stars
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An excellent reading of the Decadent classic
- By Mark Hedden on 06-13-17
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Les Miserables
- By: Victor Hugo
- Narrated by: David Case
- Length: 12 hrs and 25 mins
- Abridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 82
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 53
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 55
Les Misérables emphasizes the three major predicaments of the 19th century, each symbolized by a major character: Jean Valjean represents the degradation of man in the proletariat, Fantine represents the subjection of women through hunger, and Cosette represents the atrophy of the child by darkness.
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2 out of 5 stars
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TOO Abridged, Read Only if You Won't Read More
- By Syd Young on 02-03-14
By: Victor Hugo
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The Oscar Wilde Collection
- By: Oscar Wilde
- Narrated by: James Marsters, Jacqueline Bisset, Alfred Molina, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 397
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 354
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 353
Four classic comedies from one of the wittiest playwrights in Western literature: Lady Windermere's Fan, A Woman of No Importance, An Ideal Husband, and The Importance of Being Earnest, all featuring star-studded casts with the likes of Jacqueline Bisset, Miriam Margolyes, James Marsters, Alfred Molina, Roger Rees, Yeardley Smith, Eric Stoltz, and many more. This audio also includes a chilling dramatization of Wilde's sole novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Good Collection
- By Anniebligh on 03-31-12
By: Oscar Wilde
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A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
- By: James Joyce
- Narrated by: Colin Farrell
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,700
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,498
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Story4 out of 5 stars 1,488
This quintessential coming-of-age novel describes the early life of Stephen Dedalus. It is set in Ireland during the 19th century, which was a time of emerging Irish nationalism and conservative Catholicism. Highly autobiographical in nature, the work is also notable for its being the first one in which Joyce uses innovative “stream of consciousness” writing style. A Portrait... follows Stephen Dedalus from his babyhood into early adulthood.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Bitterly disappointed
- By James on 01-29-19
By: James Joyce
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Ben-Hur
- A Tale of the Christ
- By: Lew Wallace
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 23 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,137
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,026
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,029
A classic of faith, fortitude, and inspiration, this faithful New Testament tale combines the events of the life of Jesus with grand historical spectacle in the exciting story of Judah of the House of Hur, a man who finds extraordinary redemption for himself and his family. Judah Ben-Hur lives as a rich Jewish prince and merchant in Jerusalem at the beginning of the first century. His old friend, Messala, arrives as commanding officer of the Roman legions.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Not Like the Movie
- By Paul Z. on 01-31-12
By: Lew Wallace
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The Masque of the Red Death
- By: Edgar Allan Poe
- Narrated by: David Ian Davies
- Length: 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 55
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 45
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 46
Prince Prospero invites several dozen of the local nobility to his castle for protection against an oncoming plague, the Red Death. Prospero orders his guests to attend a masked ball and, amidst a general atmosphere of debauchery and depravity, notices the entry of a mysterious hooded stranger dressed all in red.
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4 out of 5 stars
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mediocre
- By Krystal on 10-20-17
By: Edgar Allan Poe
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The Vampyre
- By: John Polidori
- Narrated by: B.J. Harrison
- Length: 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 263
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 238
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Story4 out of 5 stars 236
Young, impressionable Aubrey is fascinated by the enigmatic Lord Ruthven, and accompanies him on a tour to Europe. But Aubrey develops a growing distaste for Lord Ruthven’s sinister and grotesque conduct - especially as it concerns human blood. This novella, penned during that tempestuous night in Switzerland amongst such notables as Percy Shelley, Lord Byron, and Mary Shelley, served as the great inspiration for Bram Stoker to create Dracula.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Kicking it oldschool
- By Rebecca on 08-13-12
By: John Polidori
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The Scarlet Pimpernel
- By: Baroness Orczy
- Narrated by: Flo Gibson
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 12
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 10
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 10
The mysterious Scarlet Pimpernel's daring rescues of French nobility from the threat of the guillotine and the evil Chauvelin's efforts to track him down are all part of the intrigue in this swashbuckling adventure.
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4 out of 5 stars
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nostalgic
- By theamazingcatherine on 07-29-18
By: Baroness Orczy
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The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
- By: Samuel Taylor Coleridge
- Narrated by: B.J. Harrison
- Length: 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 349
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 306
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 304
A bird of good omen is murdered. A fickle crew is punished by supernatural, spectral beings. A skeletal ship is sighted moving against the wind and tide. The figure of Death along with a singular, gruesome companion man the fiendish craft. And as they draw closer, it becomes clear that the two play at dice for the soul of the ancient mariner. The result is nothing short of cataclysmic.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A classic well read
- By Gary on 08-08-16
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The Sorrows of Young Werther
- By: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 4 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 155
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 133
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 133
Werther, a sensitive young artist, finds himself in Wahlheim, a quiet, attractive village in Germany where he seeks solace from the turmoils of love. It is a young spring, and he hopes that arcadian solitude will prove a genial balm to his mind. But his romantic tendency rules otherwise, and he falls in love with Charlotte - Lotte - even though he knows she is affianced to another.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great performance for a classical story.
- By Brandon Shaw on 09-15-17