The Mysterious Portrait
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
The Mysterious Portrait
Buy for $4.89
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Allan Monteiro
-
By:
-
Nikolai Gogol
About this listen
Nikolai Gogol was one of the first to use the technique of the grotesque. According to Viktor Shklovsky, Gogol's strange style of writing resembles the "ostranenie" technique of defamiliarization. His early works, such as Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka, were influenced by his Ukrainian upbringing, Ukrainian culture and folklore.
THE MYSTERIOUS PORTRAIT: Nowhere did so many people pause as before the little picture-shop in the Shtchukinui Dvor. This little shop contained, indeed, the most varied collection of curiosities. The pictures were chiefly oil-paintings covered with dark varnish, in frames of dingy yellow.
Public Domain (P)2022 Bookstream GmbHListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Diary of a Madman and Other Stories
- By: Nikolai Gogol
- Narrated by: Nicholas Boulton
- Length: 17 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 88
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 70
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 70
The Diary of a Madman and Other Stories is a bizarre and colorful collection containing the finest short stories by the iconic Russian writer Nikolai Gogol. From the witty and Kafkaesque "The Nose", where a civil servant wakes up one day to find his nose missing, to the moving and evocative "The Overcoat", about a reclusive man whose only ambition is to replace his old, threadbare coat, Gogol gives us a unique take on the absurd.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Brilliant writer, fantastic narration, plus TOC
- By Reader on 04-01-22
By: Nikolai Gogol
-
Dead Souls
- By: Nikolai Gogol, C. J. Hogarth - translator
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 15 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 143
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 128
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 128
Chichikov, a mysterious stranger, arrives in a provincial town and visits a succession of landowners to make each a strange offer. He proposes to buy the names of dead serfs still registered on the census, saving their owners from paying tax on them, and to use these "souls" as collateral to reinvent himself as a gentleman. In this ebullient masterpiece, Nikolai Gogol created a grotesque gallery of human types.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Captures absurdity of mid 19th century Russia
- By Darwin8u on 10-26-12
By: Nikolai Gogol, and others
-
The Overcoat
- A Russian Ghost Story, with Original Foreword by Kate Shrewsday
- By: Nikolai Gogol
- Narrated by: Kate Shrewsday
- Length: 1 hr and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 94
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 81
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 81
Nicolai Gogol's classic ghost story set in the streets of St. Petersburg in the 19th century.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The Life, Death, and Life After Death of Akaky
- By Douglas on 10-07-15
By: Nikolai Gogol
-
The Overcoat
- By: Nikolai Gogol
- Narrated by: Walter Zimmerman
- Length: 1 hr and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 101
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 50
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 53
The writer who did most to establish prose as a force in Russian literary culture was Nikolai Gogol. Gogol's example combined with the pronouncements of the literary critics of the period, established prose as the literary medium of the future. Fyodor Dostoevsky is supposed to have said, referring to himself and his fellow Realists, "We have all come out from under Gogol's "Overcoat".
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Good Story but bad deal
- By Bob Cochrane on 09-01-05
By: Nikolai Gogol
-
David Copperfield
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Richard Armitage
- Length: 36 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 7,543
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 6,972
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 6,930
Between his work on the 2014 Audible Audiobook of the Year, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: A Novel, and his performance of Classic Love Poems, narrator Richard Armitage ( The Hobbit, Hannibal) has quickly become a listener favorite. Now, in this defining performance of Charles Dickens' classic David Copperfield, Armitage lends his unique voice and interpretation, truly inhabiting each character and bringing real energy to the life of one of Dickens' most famous characters.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A PERFECT narration of an English classic!
- By Wayne on 09-03-17
By: Charles Dickens
-
The Complete Novels : Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion
- By: Jane Austen
- Narrated by: Alison Larkin
- Length: 81 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 984
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 853
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 843
Ever since Colin Firth's Mr Darcy emerged from the lake in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, the novels of Jane Austen have become more popular than ever, delighting millions of fans all over the world. Now, Alison Larkin's critically acclaimed narrations of Austen's six completed novels are brought together in this very special 200th anniversary audio edition. "Alison Larkin's narration will captivate listeners from the first sentence" raves AudioFile magazine about the Earphones Award-winning recording of Sense and Sensibility, which starts the collection.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Table of Contents/Navigation Guide!
- By Jim on 02-23-18
By: Jane Austen
-
The Diary of a Madman and Other Stories
- By: Nikolai Gogol
- Narrated by: Nicholas Boulton
- Length: 17 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 88
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 70
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 70
The Diary of a Madman and Other Stories is a bizarre and colorful collection containing the finest short stories by the iconic Russian writer Nikolai Gogol. From the witty and Kafkaesque "The Nose", where a civil servant wakes up one day to find his nose missing, to the moving and evocative "The Overcoat", about a reclusive man whose only ambition is to replace his old, threadbare coat, Gogol gives us a unique take on the absurd.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Brilliant writer, fantastic narration, plus TOC
- By Reader on 04-01-22
By: Nikolai Gogol
-
Dead Souls
- By: Nikolai Gogol, C. J. Hogarth - translator
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 15 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 143
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 128
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 128
Chichikov, a mysterious stranger, arrives in a provincial town and visits a succession of landowners to make each a strange offer. He proposes to buy the names of dead serfs still registered on the census, saving their owners from paying tax on them, and to use these "souls" as collateral to reinvent himself as a gentleman. In this ebullient masterpiece, Nikolai Gogol created a grotesque gallery of human types.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Captures absurdity of mid 19th century Russia
- By Darwin8u on 10-26-12
By: Nikolai Gogol, and others
-
The Overcoat
- A Russian Ghost Story, with Original Foreword by Kate Shrewsday
- By: Nikolai Gogol
- Narrated by: Kate Shrewsday
- Length: 1 hr and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 94
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 81
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 81
Nicolai Gogol's classic ghost story set in the streets of St. Petersburg in the 19th century.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The Life, Death, and Life After Death of Akaky
- By Douglas on 10-07-15
By: Nikolai Gogol
-
The Overcoat
- By: Nikolai Gogol
- Narrated by: Walter Zimmerman
- Length: 1 hr and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 101
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 50
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 53
The writer who did most to establish prose as a force in Russian literary culture was Nikolai Gogol. Gogol's example combined with the pronouncements of the literary critics of the period, established prose as the literary medium of the future. Fyodor Dostoevsky is supposed to have said, referring to himself and his fellow Realists, "We have all come out from under Gogol's "Overcoat".
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Good Story but bad deal
- By Bob Cochrane on 09-01-05
By: Nikolai Gogol
-
David Copperfield
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Richard Armitage
- Length: 36 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 7,543
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 6,972
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 6,930
Between his work on the 2014 Audible Audiobook of the Year, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: A Novel, and his performance of Classic Love Poems, narrator Richard Armitage ( The Hobbit, Hannibal) has quickly become a listener favorite. Now, in this defining performance of Charles Dickens' classic David Copperfield, Armitage lends his unique voice and interpretation, truly inhabiting each character and bringing real energy to the life of one of Dickens' most famous characters.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A PERFECT narration of an English classic!
- By Wayne on 09-03-17
By: Charles Dickens
-
The Complete Novels : Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion
- By: Jane Austen
- Narrated by: Alison Larkin
- Length: 81 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 984
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 853
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 843
Ever since Colin Firth's Mr Darcy emerged from the lake in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, the novels of Jane Austen have become more popular than ever, delighting millions of fans all over the world. Now, Alison Larkin's critically acclaimed narrations of Austen's six completed novels are brought together in this very special 200th anniversary audio edition. "Alison Larkin's narration will captivate listeners from the first sentence" raves AudioFile magazine about the Earphones Award-winning recording of Sense and Sensibility, which starts the collection.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Table of Contents/Navigation Guide!
- By Jim on 02-23-18
By: Jane Austen
-
Edgar Allan Poe - The Complete Short Stories
- By: Edgar Allan Poe
- Narrated by: Bob Thomley
- Length: 16 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,310
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 1,157
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,164
All of Edgar Allan Poe’s great short stories in one 16-hour collection.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
NEVERMORE
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 11-23-15
By: Edgar Allan Poe
-
Les Miserables
- By: Victor Hugo
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 57 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,257
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,572
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,585
Set in the Parisian underworld and plotted like a detective story, Les Miserables follows Jean Valjean, originally an honest peasant, who has been imprisoned for 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister's starving family. A hardened criminal upon his release, he eventually reforms, becoming a successful industrialist and town mayor. Despite this, he is haunted by an impulsive former crime and is pursued relentlessly by the police inspector Javert.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
one happy insomniac
- By Kathryn on 01-27-05
By: Victor Hugo
-
The Magic Mountain
- By: Thomas Mann
- Narrated by: David Rintoul
- Length: 37 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,002
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 870
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 864
Hans Castorp is, on the face of it, an ordinary man in his early 20s, on course to start a career in ship engineering in his home town of Hamburg, when he decides to travel to the Berghof Santatorium in Davos. The year is 1912 and an oblivious world is on the brink of war. Castorp’s friend Joachim Ziemssen is taking the cure and a three-week visit seems a perfect break before work begins. But when Castorp arrives he is surprised to find an established community of patients, and little by little, he gets drawn into the closeted life and the individual personalities of the residents.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Magical Journey
- By Paul on 08-20-20
By: Thomas Mann
-
On the Origin of Species
- By: Charles Darwin
- Narrated by: Richard Dawkins
- Length: 5 hrs and 53 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,393
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,115
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,098
Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion and a life-long committed Darwinist, abridges and reads this special audio version of Charles Darwin's famous book. A literally world-changing book, Darwin put forward the anti-religious and scientific idea that humans in fact evolved over millions of generations from animals, starting with fish, all the way up through the ranks to apes, then to our current form.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Perfect Abridgement
- By M on 05-28-09
By: Charles Darwin
-
Les Misérables
- By: Victor Hugo
- Narrated by: Bill Homewood
- Length: 67 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 705
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 635
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 641
Les Misérables is set in Paris after the French Revolution. In the sewers and backstreets, we encounter "the wolf-like tread of crime", and assassination for a few sous is all in a day's work. We weep with the unlucky and heart-broken Fantine, and we exult with the heroic revolutionaries of the barricades; but above all we thrill to the steadfast courage and nobility of soul of ex-convict Jean Valjean, always in danger from the relentless pursuit of the diabolical Inspector Javert.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Use earphones that are light on bass
- By Tad Davis on 11-08-15
By: Victor Hugo
-
Nicholas Nickleby
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 31 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,063
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,687
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,684
The most gorgeously theatrical of all Dickens's novels, Nicholas Nickleby follows the delightful adventures of a hearty young hero in 19th-century England. Nicholas, a gentleman's son fallen upon hard times, must set out to make his way in the world. His journey is accompanied by some of the most swaggering scoundrels and unforgettable eccentrics in Dickens's pantheon.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Amazing
- By Terie on 07-12-07
By: Charles Dickens
-
The Forsyte Saga
- By: John Galsworthy
- Narrated by: Fred Williams
- Length: 42 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 725
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 489
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 489
The three novels that make up The Forsyte Saga chronicle the ebbing social power of the commercial upper-middle class Forsyte family through three generations, beginning in Victorian London during the 1880s and ending in the early 1920s. Galsworthy's masterly narrative examines not only their fortunes but also the wider developments within society, particularly the changing position of women.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A delight
- By Kay in DC on 03-02-06
By: John Galsworthy
-
The Scarlet Pimpernel
- By: Baroness Orczy
- Narrated by: Flo Gibson
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 12
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 10
-
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.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
nostalgic
- By theamazingcatherine on 07-29-18
By: Baroness Orczy
-
Dombey and Son
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: David Timson
- Length: 39 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 606
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 560
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 556
Dombey and Son is vintage Dickens and explores the classic themes of betrayal, cruelty and deceit. Dombey's dysfunctional relationships are painted against a backdrop of social unrest in industrialized London, which is populated by a host of fascinating and memorable secondary characters. The complete and unabridged novel is brought spectacularly to life by veteran reader David Timson.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Utterly incredible!
- By Amazon Customer on 03-12-12
By: Charles Dickens
-
Sentimental Education
- By: Gustave Flaubert
- Narrated by: Michael Maloney
- Length: 15 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 80
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 73
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 73
Frederic Moreau is a law student returning home to Normandy from Paris when he first notices Mme Arnoux, a slender, dark woman several years older than himself. It is the beginning of an infatuation that will last a lifetime. He befriends her husband, an influential businessman, and their paths cross and re-cross over the years. Through financial upheaval, political turmoil, and countless affairs, Mme Arnoux remains the constant, unattainable love of Moreau’s life.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
When Crimes of Passion Were All the Fashion
- By W Perry Hall on 03-12-17
By: Gustave Flaubert
-
The Belly of Paris
- By: Émile Zola, Ernest Alfred Vizetelly - translator
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 66
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 60
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 59
Although it is little known in this country, The Belly of Paris is considered one of Émile Zola’s best novels. Set in the newly built food markets of Paris, it is a story of wealth and poverty set against a sumptuous banquet of food and commerce. Having just escaped from prison after being wrongfully accused, young Florent arrives at Paris’ food market, Les Halles, half starved, surrounded by all he can’t have, and indignant at his world, which he now knows to be unjust. He finds that the city’s working classes have been displaced to make way for bigger streets and bourgeois living quarters, so he settles in with his brother’s family.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Not keen on Davidson’s voice
- By Jeff Lacy on 05-08-21
By: Émile Zola, and others
-
Le Pere Goriot
- By: Honoré de Balzac
- Narrated by: Paul Hecht
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 188
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 143
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 139
At the shabby boarding house in the rue Neuve-Sainte-Geneviève, petty Madame Vauquer and her tenants wonder at the plight of the aging resident Goriot. Once a well-heeled merchant, Goriot was, at first, afforded special treatment from the Madame. But now something is clearly amiss in his financial affairs, and his increasingly tawdry appearance makes him a subject of ridicule in the household.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
balzac rocks
- By beatrice on 03-12-10
By: Honoré de Balzac
Related to this topic
-
The Diary of a Madman and Other Stories
- By: Nikolai Gogol
- Narrated by: Nicholas Boulton
- Length: 17 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 88
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 70
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 70
The Diary of a Madman and Other Stories is a bizarre and colorful collection containing the finest short stories by the iconic Russian writer Nikolai Gogol. From the witty and Kafkaesque "The Nose", where a civil servant wakes up one day to find his nose missing, to the moving and evocative "The Overcoat", about a reclusive man whose only ambition is to replace his old, threadbare coat, Gogol gives us a unique take on the absurd.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Brilliant writer, fantastic narration, plus TOC
- By Reader on 04-01-22
By: Nikolai Gogol
-
Sentimental Education
- By: Gustave Flaubert
- Narrated by: Michael Maloney
- Length: 15 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 80
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 73
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 73
Frederic Moreau is a law student returning home to Normandy from Paris when he first notices Mme Arnoux, a slender, dark woman several years older than himself. It is the beginning of an infatuation that will last a lifetime. He befriends her husband, an influential businessman, and their paths cross and re-cross over the years. Through financial upheaval, political turmoil, and countless affairs, Mme Arnoux remains the constant, unattainable love of Moreau’s life.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
When Crimes of Passion Were All the Fashion
- By W Perry Hall on 03-12-17
By: Gustave Flaubert
-
The Belly of Paris
- By: Émile Zola, Ernest Alfred Vizetelly - translator
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 66
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 60
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 59
Although it is little known in this country, The Belly of Paris is considered one of Émile Zola’s best novels. Set in the newly built food markets of Paris, it is a story of wealth and poverty set against a sumptuous banquet of food and commerce. Having just escaped from prison after being wrongfully accused, young Florent arrives at Paris’ food market, Les Halles, half starved, surrounded by all he can’t have, and indignant at his world, which he now knows to be unjust. He finds that the city’s working classes have been displaced to make way for bigger streets and bourgeois living quarters, so he settles in with his brother’s family.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Not keen on Davidson’s voice
- By Jeff Lacy on 05-08-21
By: Émile Zola, and others
-
Le Pere Goriot
- By: Honoré de Balzac
- Narrated by: Paul Hecht
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 188
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 143
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 139
At the shabby boarding house in the rue Neuve-Sainte-Geneviève, petty Madame Vauquer and her tenants wonder at the plight of the aging resident Goriot. Once a well-heeled merchant, Goriot was, at first, afforded special treatment from the Madame. But now something is clearly amiss in his financial affairs, and his increasingly tawdry appearance makes him a subject of ridicule in the household.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
balzac rocks
- By beatrice on 03-12-10
By: Honoré de Balzac
-
The House of the Seven Gables
- By: Nathaniel Hawthorne
- Narrated by: Anthony Heald
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 400
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 313
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 316
In a sleepy little New England village stands a dark, weather-beaten, many-gabled house. This brooding mansion is haunted by a centuries-old curse that casts the shadow of ancestral sin upon the last four members of the distinctive Pyncheon family of Salem.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Classic Thriller
- By E. Pearson on 12-03-10
-
Dead Souls
- By: Nikolai Gogol, C. J. Hogarth - translator
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 15 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 143
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 128
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 128
Chichikov, a mysterious stranger, arrives in a provincial town and visits a succession of landowners to make each a strange offer. He proposes to buy the names of dead serfs still registered on the census, saving their owners from paying tax on them, and to use these "souls" as collateral to reinvent himself as a gentleman. In this ebullient masterpiece, Nikolai Gogol created a grotesque gallery of human types.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Captures absurdity of mid 19th century Russia
- By Darwin8u on 10-26-12
By: Nikolai Gogol, and others
-
The Diary of a Madman and Other Stories
- By: Nikolai Gogol
- Narrated by: Nicholas Boulton
- Length: 17 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 88
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 70
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 70
The Diary of a Madman and Other Stories is a bizarre and colorful collection containing the finest short stories by the iconic Russian writer Nikolai Gogol. From the witty and Kafkaesque "The Nose", where a civil servant wakes up one day to find his nose missing, to the moving and evocative "The Overcoat", about a reclusive man whose only ambition is to replace his old, threadbare coat, Gogol gives us a unique take on the absurd.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Brilliant writer, fantastic narration, plus TOC
- By Reader on 04-01-22
By: Nikolai Gogol
-
Sentimental Education
- By: Gustave Flaubert
- Narrated by: Michael Maloney
- Length: 15 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 80
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 73
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 73
Frederic Moreau is a law student returning home to Normandy from Paris when he first notices Mme Arnoux, a slender, dark woman several years older than himself. It is the beginning of an infatuation that will last a lifetime. He befriends her husband, an influential businessman, and their paths cross and re-cross over the years. Through financial upheaval, political turmoil, and countless affairs, Mme Arnoux remains the constant, unattainable love of Moreau’s life.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
When Crimes of Passion Were All the Fashion
- By W Perry Hall on 03-12-17
By: Gustave Flaubert
-
The Belly of Paris
- By: Émile Zola, Ernest Alfred Vizetelly - translator
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 66
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 60
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 59
Although it is little known in this country, The Belly of Paris is considered one of Émile Zola’s best novels. Set in the newly built food markets of Paris, it is a story of wealth and poverty set against a sumptuous banquet of food and commerce. Having just escaped from prison after being wrongfully accused, young Florent arrives at Paris’ food market, Les Halles, half starved, surrounded by all he can’t have, and indignant at his world, which he now knows to be unjust. He finds that the city’s working classes have been displaced to make way for bigger streets and bourgeois living quarters, so he settles in with his brother’s family.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Not keen on Davidson’s voice
- By Jeff Lacy on 05-08-21
By: Émile Zola, and others
-
Le Pere Goriot
- By: Honoré de Balzac
- Narrated by: Paul Hecht
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 188
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 143
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 139
At the shabby boarding house in the rue Neuve-Sainte-Geneviève, petty Madame Vauquer and her tenants wonder at the plight of the aging resident Goriot. Once a well-heeled merchant, Goriot was, at first, afforded special treatment from the Madame. But now something is clearly amiss in his financial affairs, and his increasingly tawdry appearance makes him a subject of ridicule in the household.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
balzac rocks
- By beatrice on 03-12-10
By: Honoré de Balzac
-
The House of the Seven Gables
- By: Nathaniel Hawthorne
- Narrated by: Anthony Heald
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 400
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 313
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 316
In a sleepy little New England village stands a dark, weather-beaten, many-gabled house. This brooding mansion is haunted by a centuries-old curse that casts the shadow of ancestral sin upon the last four members of the distinctive Pyncheon family of Salem.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Classic Thriller
- By E. Pearson on 12-03-10
-
Dead Souls
- By: Nikolai Gogol, C. J. Hogarth - translator
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 15 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 143
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 128
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 128
Chichikov, a mysterious stranger, arrives in a provincial town and visits a succession of landowners to make each a strange offer. He proposes to buy the names of dead serfs still registered on the census, saving their owners from paying tax on them, and to use these "souls" as collateral to reinvent himself as a gentleman. In this ebullient masterpiece, Nikolai Gogol created a grotesque gallery of human types.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Captures absurdity of mid 19th century Russia
- By Darwin8u on 10-26-12
By: Nikolai Gogol, and others
-
Death in Venice
- By: Thomas Mann
- Narrated by: Peter Batchelor
- Length: 3 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 212
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 183
-
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.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A problem with the narration
- By Erez on 03-19-12
By: Thomas Mann
-
First Love
- By: Ivan Turgenev
- Narrated by: David Troughton
- Length: 2 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 753
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 663
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 659
At the end of a dinner party, the remaining guests drink wine and tell stories of their first love. For one of them, it will be a dark journey into his past, reawakening unbearable memories of his obsession with the beautiful Zinaida.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Turgenev's Famous Novel...
- By Douglas on 01-16-14
By: Ivan Turgenev
-
Les Misérables
- By: Victor Hugo
- Narrated by: Bill Homewood
- Length: 67 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 705
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 635
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 641
Les Misérables is set in Paris after the French Revolution. In the sewers and backstreets, we encounter "the wolf-like tread of crime", and assassination for a few sous is all in a day's work. We weep with the unlucky and heart-broken Fantine, and we exult with the heroic revolutionaries of the barricades; but above all we thrill to the steadfast courage and nobility of soul of ex-convict Jean Valjean, always in danger from the relentless pursuit of the diabolical Inspector Javert.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Use earphones that are light on bass
- By Tad Davis on 11-08-15
By: Victor Hugo
-
Dombey and Son
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 36 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 123
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 68
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 66
In this carefully crafted novel, Dickens reveals the complexity of London society in the enterprising 1840s as he takes the listener into the business firm and home of one of its most representative patriarchs, Paul Dombey.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Perfect pair
- By Philip on 03-25-08
By: Charles Dickens
-
The Professor
- By: Charlotte Brontë
- Narrated by: James Wilby
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 312
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 283
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 281
The Professor is Charlotte Brontë's first novel albeit the last to have been published. Edited and distributed by Arthur Bell Nicholls, two years after Brontë's death, it is based on her experiences of living as a language student in Brussels. The Professor follows the career and love affairs of William Crimsworth, a reserved but compassionate aristocrat who has been ostracised by his family and left penniless.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Beautiful
- By ilene on 12-26-16
By: Charlotte Brontë
-
Madame Bovary
- By: Gustave Flaubert
- Narrated by: Elaine Wise
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 77
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 69
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 69
Though he embodies neither wealth nor a lavish persona, Charles Bovary - a somewhat established doctor - takes a chance in marrying the young, vibrant, and ambitious farm girl Emma Rouault. At first, Emma is delighted to be married and away from her father's farm, but her thirst for the rich and ornate lifestyle that she witnesses other people living soon drives her away from her husband and into the arms of various suitors.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Madame Bovary doesn't disappoint
- By Arlene Olsen on 12-11-16
By: Gustave Flaubert
-
Le Pere Goriot
- By: Honoré de Balzac
- Narrated by: David McCallion
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 71
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 61
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 57
Honoré de Balzac uses his classic style of detail to describe a most controversial setting in his novel Le Pere Goriot. The story takes place in Paris just after the fall of Napoleon in 1819. The story focuses on three characters, Rastignac, a student who wants to try and make it big in the capital, Vautrin, an interesting and funny character who is also quite mysterious, and the main character, Goriot, that carries a heavy burden that only a loving parent would endure.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A minor masterpiece
- By Jack Rock on 03-04-18
By: Honoré de Balzac
-
Dombey and Son
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: David Timson
- Length: 39 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 606
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 560
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 556
Dombey and Son is vintage Dickens and explores the classic themes of betrayal, cruelty and deceit. Dombey's dysfunctional relationships are painted against a backdrop of social unrest in industrialized London, which is populated by a host of fascinating and memorable secondary characters. The complete and unabridged novel is brought spectacularly to life by veteran reader David Timson.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Utterly incredible!
- By Amazon Customer on 03-12-12
By: Charles Dickens
-
The Bridge of San Luis Rey
- By: Thornton Wilder
- Narrated by: Sam Waterston
- Length: 3 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 618
-
Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 457
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 454
Wilder's stories consistently explored the connections between the commonplace and cosmic dimensions of human experience, always returning to fundamental questions about the meaning of life. This Pulitzer Prize-winning tale concerns the lives of five people who fall to their deaths from a Peruvian rope bridge in 1714. A humble Franciscan, Brother Juniper, witnesses the accident and determines to learn about the lives of the victims in order to find out whether this accident happened by chance or by plan.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent Story, But Poor Audiobook Technically
- By RKL on 11-15-13
By: Thornton Wilder
-
Villette
- By: Charlotte Brontë
- Narrated by: Davina Porter
- Length: 22 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 451
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 396
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 397
Hailed as Charlotte Brontë’s “finest novel” by Virginia Woolf, Villette is the timeless semi-autobiographical tale of Lucy Snowe. Left with no family and no money, Lucy goes against her own timid nature and travels to the small city of Villette, France, where she becomes a school teacher in Madame Beck’s school for girls. During her stay, she falls in love—twice—and discovers an independent, inner strength rarely seen in women of her time.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The Divine Ms. Porter delivers as always
- By peachnmario on 03-17-15
By: Charlotte Brontë
-
Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas
- A Novel
- By: Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, Jull Costa Margaret - translator, Robin Patterson - translator
- Narrated by: Ramon De Ocampo
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 48
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 43
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 44
Machado de Assis’ classic novel, the precursor of Latin American fiction, is finally rendered as a stunningly relevant work for 21st-century audiences. In eloquent, contemporary prose, Costa and Patterson breathe new life into the dynamic character of Brás Cubas and reveal the vivid, tempestuous Rio de Janeiro of his time. The recently deceased Cubas narrates his life story, admitting glibly: “I am not so much a writer who has died, as a dead man who has decided to write.”
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Incredible story from an incredible author
- By Anonymous User on 01-01-21
By: Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, and others
-
Swann's Way
- By: Marcel Proust
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 17 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 72
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 57
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 58
Swann's Way is the first novel of Marcel Proust's seven-volume magnum opus In Search of Lost Time. After elaborate reminiscences about his childhood with relatives in rural Combray and in urban Paris, Proust's narrator recalls a story regarding Charles Swann, a major figure in his Combray childhood....
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Not the newer, far better translation
- By Samuel Murray on 05-02-11
By: Marcel Proust
What listeners say about The Mysterious Portrait
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 10-17-23
A very good narrator
The narrator is perfect for this short story. Something about his voice really captures the essence of the Usurer and the feeling of Charkov.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!