-
The Plum in the Golden Vase or, Chin P'ing Mei (Volume Two, The Rivals)
- Narrated by: George Backman
- Length: 19 hrs and 12 mins
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 Plum in the Golden Vase or, Chin P'ing Mei (Volume Two, The Rivals)
Buy for $24.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
In this second of a planned five-volume series, David Roy provides a complete and annotated translation of the famous Chin P'ing Mei, an anonymous sixteenth-century Chinese novel that focuses on the domestic life of His-men Ch'ing, a corrupt, upwardly mobile merchant in a provincial town, who maintains a harem of six wives and concubines. This work, known primarily for its erotic realism, is also a landmark in the development of narrative art--not only from a specifically Chinese perspective but in a world-historical context.
With the possible exception of The Tale of Genji (1010) and Don Quixote (1615), there is no earlier work of prose fiction of equal sophistication in world literature. Although its importance in the history of Chinese narrative has long been recognized, the technical virtuosity of the author, which is more reminiscent of the Dickens of Bleak House, the Joyce of Ulysses, or the Nabokov of Lolita than anything in the earlier Chinese fiction tradition, has not yet received adequate recognition. This is partly because all of the existing European translations are either abridged or based on an inferior recension of the text. This translation and its annotation aim to faithfully represent and elucidate all the rhetorical features of the original in its most authentic form and thereby enable the Western reader to appreciate this Chinese masterpiece at its true worth.
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Water Margin
- Outlaws of the Marsh
- By: Shi Naian, J. H. Jackson - translator, Edwin Lowe - translator
- Narrated by: Jonathan Booth
- Length: 33 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 16
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 13
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 13
The Water Margin is one of the most popular classics of early Chinese literature. It tells the vigorous story of 108 characters who, falling foul of the established state authorities, are forced to become outlaws. They form a bandit community in Liangshan Marsh, becoming such a formidable force in their own right that they threaten the power of government itself.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Top notch Chinese classic
- By Ken Blum on 10-13-23
By: Shi Naian, and others
-
The Hundred Years War
- The English in France 1337-1453
- By: Desmond Seward
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 205
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 170
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 169
From 1337 to 1453 England repeatedly invaded France on the pretext that her kings had a right to the French throne. Though it was a small, poor country, England for most of those "100 years" won the battles, sacked the towns and castles, and dominated the war. Desmond Seward's critically acclaimed account of the Hundred Years War brings to life all of the intrigue, beauty, and royal to-the-death-fighting of that legendary century-long conflict.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Superb narrator and fascintating history
- By Julie Seavello on 05-30-21
By: Desmond Seward
-
The Lives of the Artists
- By: Giorgio Vasari, Julia Conway Bondanella - Translated by, Peter Bondanella - Translated by
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 22 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 46
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 40
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 40
These biographies of the great quattrocento artists have long been considered among the most important of contemporary sources on Italian Renaissance art. Vasari, who invented the term "Renaissance", was the first to outline the influential theory of Renaissance art that traces a progression through Giotto, Brunelleschi, and finally the titanic figures of Michaelangelo, Da Vinci, and Raphael.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Awesome
- By Daniel on 05-17-19
By: Giorgio Vasari, and others
-
Monkey King
- Journey to the West
- By: Wu Cheng'en, Julia Lovell - translator - editor - introduction, Gene Luen Yang - foreword
- Narrated by: Robert Wu
- Length: 13 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 496
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 433
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 434
A shape-shifting trickster on a quest for eternal life, Monkey King is one of the most memorable superheroes in world literature. High-spirited and omni-talented, he amasses dazzling weapons and skills on his journey to immortality: a gold-hooped staff that can grow as tall as the sky and shrink to the size of a needle; the ability to travel 108,000 miles in a single somersault. A master of subterfuge, he can transform himself into whomever or whatever he chooses and turn each of his body's 84,000 hairs into an army of clones.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance
- By Maedine on 02-28-21
By: Wu Cheng'en, and others
-
The Sun Also Rises
- By: Ernest Hemingway, Colm Toibin
- Narrated by: William Hurt
- Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 6,012
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,119
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 5,112
A poignant look at the disillusionment and angst of the post-World War I generation, The Sun Also Rises introduces two of Hemingway’s most unforgettable characters: Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley. The story follows the flamboyant Brett and the hapless Jake as they journey from the wild nightlife of 1920s Paris to the brutal bullfighting rings of Spain with a motley group of expatriates. In his first great literary masterpiece, Hemingway portrays an age of moral bankruptcy, spiritual dissolution, unrealized love, and vanishing illusions.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Great actor, terrible reader, kills classic
- By Kerry on 09-14-14
By: Ernest Hemingway, and others
-
The Mayor of Casterbridge
- By: Thomas Hardy
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 165
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 146
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 145
Set against the backdrop of peaceful southwest England, where Thomas Hardy spent much of his youth, The Mayor of Casterbridge captures the author's unique genius for depicting the absurdity underlying much of the sorrow and humor in our lives. Michael Henchard is an out-of-work hay-trusser who gets drunk at a local fair and impulsively sells his wife, Susan, and baby daughter.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Hardy at his best
- By Barbara Bachner on 05-27-22
By: Thomas Hardy
-
The Water Margin
- Outlaws of the Marsh
- By: Shi Naian, J. H. Jackson - translator, Edwin Lowe - translator
- Narrated by: Jonathan Booth
- Length: 33 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 16
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 13
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 13
The Water Margin is one of the most popular classics of early Chinese literature. It tells the vigorous story of 108 characters who, falling foul of the established state authorities, are forced to become outlaws. They form a bandit community in Liangshan Marsh, becoming such a formidable force in their own right that they threaten the power of government itself.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Top notch Chinese classic
- By Ken Blum on 10-13-23
By: Shi Naian, and others
-
The Hundred Years War
- The English in France 1337-1453
- By: Desmond Seward
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 205
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 170
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 169
From 1337 to 1453 England repeatedly invaded France on the pretext that her kings had a right to the French throne. Though it was a small, poor country, England for most of those "100 years" won the battles, sacked the towns and castles, and dominated the war. Desmond Seward's critically acclaimed account of the Hundred Years War brings to life all of the intrigue, beauty, and royal to-the-death-fighting of that legendary century-long conflict.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Superb narrator and fascintating history
- By Julie Seavello on 05-30-21
By: Desmond Seward
-
The Lives of the Artists
- By: Giorgio Vasari, Julia Conway Bondanella - Translated by, Peter Bondanella - Translated by
- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
- Length: 22 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 46
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 40
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 40
These biographies of the great quattrocento artists have long been considered among the most important of contemporary sources on Italian Renaissance art. Vasari, who invented the term "Renaissance", was the first to outline the influential theory of Renaissance art that traces a progression through Giotto, Brunelleschi, and finally the titanic figures of Michaelangelo, Da Vinci, and Raphael.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Awesome
- By Daniel on 05-17-19
By: Giorgio Vasari, and others
-
Monkey King
- Journey to the West
- By: Wu Cheng'en, Julia Lovell - translator - editor - introduction, Gene Luen Yang - foreword
- Narrated by: Robert Wu
- Length: 13 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 496
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 433
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 434
A shape-shifting trickster on a quest for eternal life, Monkey King is one of the most memorable superheroes in world literature. High-spirited and omni-talented, he amasses dazzling weapons and skills on his journey to immortality: a gold-hooped staff that can grow as tall as the sky and shrink to the size of a needle; the ability to travel 108,000 miles in a single somersault. A master of subterfuge, he can transform himself into whomever or whatever he chooses and turn each of his body's 84,000 hairs into an army of clones.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance
- By Maedine on 02-28-21
By: Wu Cheng'en, and others
-
The Sun Also Rises
- By: Ernest Hemingway, Colm Toibin
- Narrated by: William Hurt
- Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 6,012
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,119
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 5,112
A poignant look at the disillusionment and angst of the post-World War I generation, The Sun Also Rises introduces two of Hemingway’s most unforgettable characters: Jake Barnes and Lady Brett Ashley. The story follows the flamboyant Brett and the hapless Jake as they journey from the wild nightlife of 1920s Paris to the brutal bullfighting rings of Spain with a motley group of expatriates. In his first great literary masterpiece, Hemingway portrays an age of moral bankruptcy, spiritual dissolution, unrealized love, and vanishing illusions.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Great actor, terrible reader, kills classic
- By Kerry on 09-14-14
By: Ernest Hemingway, and others
-
The Mayor of Casterbridge
- By: Thomas Hardy
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 165
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 146
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 145
Set against the backdrop of peaceful southwest England, where Thomas Hardy spent much of his youth, The Mayor of Casterbridge captures the author's unique genius for depicting the absurdity underlying much of the sorrow and humor in our lives. Michael Henchard is an out-of-work hay-trusser who gets drunk at a local fair and impulsively sells his wife, Susan, and baby daughter.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Hardy at his best
- By Barbara Bachner on 05-27-22
By: Thomas Hardy
-
Emma
- An Audible Original Drama
- By: Jane Austen, Anna Lea - adaptation
- Narrated by: Emma Thompson, Joanne Froggatt, Isabella Inchbald, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 21,449
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 19,483
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 19,347
Austen wrote, 'I am going to take a heroine whom no-one but myself will much like' and thus introduces the handsome, clever, rich - and flawed, Emma Woodhouse. Emma is perfectly content with her life and sees no need for either love or marriage; nothing however delights her more than matchmaking her fellow residents of Highbury. But when she ignores the warnings of her good friend Mr. Knightley and attempts to arrange a suitable match for her protegee Harriet Smith, her carefully laid plans soon unravel and have consequences that she never expected.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Background sonds RUINED this
- By Sandra Dodd on 09-09-18
By: Jane Austen, and others
-
A Hero Born
- The Definitive Edition
- By: Jin Yong
- Narrated by: Carolyn Oldershaw, Daniel York Loh
- Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 409
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 359
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 356
After his father, a Song patriot, was murdered, Guo Jing and his mother fled to the plains and joined Ghengis Khan and his people. Loyal, humble, and driven, he learned all he could from the warlord and his army in hopes of one day joining them in their cause. But what Guo Jing doesn’t know is that he’s destined to battle an opponent that will challenge him in every way imaginable and with a connection to his past that no one envisioned.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Very good
- By Heather Kamine on 05-15-20
By: Jin Yong
-
Mrs. Dalloway
- By: Virginia Woolf
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,547
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,349
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,337
It is a June day in London in 1923, and the lovely Clarissa Dalloway is having a party. Whom will she see? Her friend Peter, back from India, who has never really stopped loving her? What about Sally, with whom Clarissa had her life’s happiest moment? Meanwhile, the shell-shocked Septimus Smith is struggling with his life on the same London day.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
One Tough Read Perfectly Delivered
- By Chris on 06-11-12
By: Virginia Woolf
-
Red Sorghum
- A Novel of China
- By: Mo Yan, Howard Goldblatt - translator
- Narrated by: George Backman
- Length: 15 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 102
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 93
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 94
Spanning three generations, this novel of family and myth is told through a series of flashbacks that depict events of staggering horror set against a landscape of gemlike beauty, as the Chinese battle both Japanese invaders and each other in the turbulent 1930s. A legend in China, where it won major literary awards and inspired an Oscar-nominated film directed by Zhang Yimou, Red Sorghum is a book in which fable and history collide to produce fiction that is entirely new—and unforgettable.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Best narrator I've ever heard!
- By Ty on 12-12-16
By: Mo Yan, and others
-
The Stranger
- By: Albert Camus
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 3 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 6,160
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,045
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,035
Albert Camus' The Stranger is one of the most widely read novels in the world, with millions of copies sold. It stands as perhaps the greatest existentialist tale ever conceived, and is certainly one of the most important and influential books ever produced. Now, for the first time, this revered masterpiece is available as an unabridged audio production.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Is amorality bad?
- By Rolando on 03-10-14
By: Albert Camus
-
Our Oriental Heritage
- The Story of Civilization, Volume 1
- By: Will Durant
- Narrated by: Robin Field
- Length: 50 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,312
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,169
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,161
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Wonderful
- By Michael on 11-30-13
By: Will Durant
-
Paradise Lost
- By: John Milton
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,654
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,410
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,407
John Milton's Paradise Lost is one of the greatest epic poems in the English language. It tells the story of the Fall of Man, a tale of immense drama and excitement, of rebellion and treachery, of innocence pitted against corruption, in which God and Satan fight a bitter battle for control of mankind's destiny.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The most accessible reading of Paradise Lost
- By Tony McClung on 02-21-10
By: John Milton
-
Istanbul
- City of Majesty at the Crossroads of the World
- By: Thomas F. Madden
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 14 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 283
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 248
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 248
For more than two millennia, Istanbul has stood at the crossroads of the world, perched at the very tip of Europe, gazing across the shores of Asia. The history of this city - known as Byzantium, then Constantinople, now Istanbul - is at once glorious, outsized, and astounding. Founded by the Greeks, its location blessed it as a center for trade but also made it a target of every empire in history, from Alexander the Great and his Macedonian Empire, to the Romans and later the Ottomans.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
A History Without People
- By SeanO on 04-02-19
By: Thomas F. Madden
-
The Children of Hurin
- By: J. R. R. Tolkien
- Narrated by: Christopher Lee
- Length: 7 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7,244
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 6,175
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 6,151
There are tales of Middle-earth from times long before The Lord of the Rings. The story told in this book is set in the great country that lay beyond the Grey Havens in the West: lands where Treebeard once walked, but which were drowned in the great cataclysm that ended the First Age of the World.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Powerful and Disturbing
- By Catherine Dalzell on 12-19-09
By: J. R. R. Tolkien
-
Mythology: Mega Collection
- Classic Stories from the Greek, Celtic, Norse, Japanese, Hindu, Chinese, Mesopotamian and Egyptian Mythology
- By: Scott Lewis
- Narrated by: Madison Niederhauser, Oliver Hunt
- Length: 31 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 696
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 610
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 610
Do you know how many wives Zeus had? Or how the famous Trojan War was caused by one beautiful lady? Or how Thor got his hammer? Give your imagination a real treat. This Mega Mythology Collection of eight audiobooks is for you....
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
An interesting set of introductions.
- By Kevin Potter on 05-30-19
By: Scott Lewis
-
Bolivar
- American Liberator
- By: Marie Arana
- Narrated by: David Crommett
- Length: 20 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,401
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,220
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,215
It is astonishing that Simón Bolívar, the great Liberator of South America, is not better known in the United States. He freed six countries from Spanish rule, traveled more than 75,000 miles on horseback to do so, and became the greatest figure in Latin American history. His life is epic, heroic, straight out of Hollywood: he fought battle after battle in punishing terrain, forged uncertain coalitions of competing forces and races, lost his beautiful wife soon after they married and died relatively young, uncertain whether his achievements would endure.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
There will be blood.
- By Joselo on 08-02-13
By: Marie Arana
-
The Magic Mountain
- By: Thomas Mann
- Narrated by: David Rintoul
- Length: 37 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,000
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 868
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 862
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
Related to this topic
-
Equal of the Sun
- A Novel
- By: Anita Amirrezvani
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 736
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 661
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 664
Iran in 1576 is a place of peace, wealth, and dazzling beauty. But when the Shah dies without having named an heir, the court is thrown into tumult. Princess Pari, the Shah's daughter and closest adviser, knows more about the inner workings of the state than almost anyone, but the princess's maneuvers to instill order after her father's sudden death incite resentment and dissent. Pari and her trusted servant, a eunuch able to navigate the harem as well as the world beyond the palace walls, are in possession of an incredible tapestry....
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A Woman in a Man's World
- By JGrace on 06-26-13
-
The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B.
- By: Sandra Gulland
- Narrated by: Kim Handysides
- Length: 14 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 60
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 49
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 49
In this first of three books inspired by the life of Josephine Bonaparte, Sandra Gulland has created a novel of immense and magical proportions. We meet Josephine in the exotic and lush Martinico, where an old island woman predicts that one day she will be queen. The journey from the remote village of her birth to the height of European elegance is long, but Josephine's fortune proves to be true.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance...ugh
- By Lisa on 02-17-18
By: Sandra Gulland
-
The Nine Cloud Dream
- By: Kim Man-jung, Heinz Insu Fenkl - translator
- Narrated by: David Shih
- Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 27
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 22
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 22
Often considered the highest achievement in Korean fiction, The Nine Cloud Dream poses the question: Will the life we dream of truly make us happy? Written in 17th-century Korea, this classic novel's wondrous story begins when a young monk living on a sacred Lotus Peak in China succumbs to the temptation of eight fairy maidens. For doubting his master's Buddhist teachings, the monk is forced to endure a strange punishment: reincarnation as the most ideal of men.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Nine Stars
- By MJ Harkins on 06-28-21
By: Kim Man-jung, and others
-
Pavilion of Women
- By: Pearl S. Buck
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 15 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 456
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 391
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 392
On her 40th birthday, Madame Wu carries out a decision she has been planning for a long time: she tells her husband that after 24 years their physical life together is now over and she wishes him to take a second wife. The House of Wu, one of the oldest and most revered in China, is thrown into an uproar by her decision, but Madame Wu will not be dissuaded and arranges for a young country girl to come take her place in bed.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Horrible narration!
- By ClearlyCrystalAnn on 06-17-15
By: Pearl S. Buck
-
Peony
- A Novel of China
- By: Pearl S. Buck
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 12 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 407
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 337
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 337
Young Peony is sold into a rich Chinese household as a bondmaid - an awkward role in which she is more a servant, but less a daughter. As she grows into a lovely, provocative young woman, Peony falls in love with the family's only son. However, tradition forbids them to wed. How she resolves her love for him and her devotion to her adoptive family unfolds in this profound tale, based on true events in China over a century ago.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Jews in China
- By Jean on 04-22-12
By: Pearl S. Buck
-
Heat and Dust
- By: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
- Narrated by: Julie Christie
- Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 82
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 67
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 67
In 1923 the beautiful, spoiled, and bored Olivia, married to Douglas and his career in the Indian Civil Service, outrages the English and Indian communities by eloping with an Indian prince. Fifty years later, Douglas’s granddaughter, armed with Olivia’s letters, goes back to the heat and dust and squalor of the bazaars to find out for herself how Olivia could have been so affected by India that she turned her back on her own country.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Short, Rich Novel
- By David P on 01-23-22
-
Equal of the Sun
- A Novel
- By: Anita Amirrezvani
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 736
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 661
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 664
Iran in 1576 is a place of peace, wealth, and dazzling beauty. But when the Shah dies without having named an heir, the court is thrown into tumult. Princess Pari, the Shah's daughter and closest adviser, knows more about the inner workings of the state than almost anyone, but the princess's maneuvers to instill order after her father's sudden death incite resentment and dissent. Pari and her trusted servant, a eunuch able to navigate the harem as well as the world beyond the palace walls, are in possession of an incredible tapestry....
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A Woman in a Man's World
- By JGrace on 06-26-13
-
The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B.
- By: Sandra Gulland
- Narrated by: Kim Handysides
- Length: 14 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 60
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 49
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 49
In this first of three books inspired by the life of Josephine Bonaparte, Sandra Gulland has created a novel of immense and magical proportions. We meet Josephine in the exotic and lush Martinico, where an old island woman predicts that one day she will be queen. The journey from the remote village of her birth to the height of European elegance is long, but Josephine's fortune proves to be true.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance...ugh
- By Lisa on 02-17-18
By: Sandra Gulland
-
The Nine Cloud Dream
- By: Kim Man-jung, Heinz Insu Fenkl - translator
- Narrated by: David Shih
- Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 27
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 22
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 22
Often considered the highest achievement in Korean fiction, The Nine Cloud Dream poses the question: Will the life we dream of truly make us happy? Written in 17th-century Korea, this classic novel's wondrous story begins when a young monk living on a sacred Lotus Peak in China succumbs to the temptation of eight fairy maidens. For doubting his master's Buddhist teachings, the monk is forced to endure a strange punishment: reincarnation as the most ideal of men.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Nine Stars
- By MJ Harkins on 06-28-21
By: Kim Man-jung, and others
-
Pavilion of Women
- By: Pearl S. Buck
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 15 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 456
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 391
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 392
On her 40th birthday, Madame Wu carries out a decision she has been planning for a long time: she tells her husband that after 24 years their physical life together is now over and she wishes him to take a second wife. The House of Wu, one of the oldest and most revered in China, is thrown into an uproar by her decision, but Madame Wu will not be dissuaded and arranges for a young country girl to come take her place in bed.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Horrible narration!
- By ClearlyCrystalAnn on 06-17-15
By: Pearl S. Buck
-
Peony
- A Novel of China
- By: Pearl S. Buck
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 12 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 407
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 337
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 337
Young Peony is sold into a rich Chinese household as a bondmaid - an awkward role in which she is more a servant, but less a daughter. As she grows into a lovely, provocative young woman, Peony falls in love with the family's only son. However, tradition forbids them to wed. How she resolves her love for him and her devotion to her adoptive family unfolds in this profound tale, based on true events in China over a century ago.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Jews in China
- By Jean on 04-22-12
By: Pearl S. Buck
-
Heat and Dust
- By: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
- Narrated by: Julie Christie
- Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 82
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 67
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 67
In 1923 the beautiful, spoiled, and bored Olivia, married to Douglas and his career in the Indian Civil Service, outrages the English and Indian communities by eloping with an Indian prince. Fifty years later, Douglas’s granddaughter, armed with Olivia’s letters, goes back to the heat and dust and squalor of the bazaars to find out for herself how Olivia could have been so affected by India that she turned her back on her own country.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Short, Rich Novel
- By David P on 01-23-22
-
The Lioness of Morocco
- By: Julia Drosten, Christiane Galvani - translator
- Narrated by: Henrietta Meire
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 374
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 338
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 338
Independent-minded Sibylla Spencer feels trapped in 19th-century London, where her strong will and progressive views have rendered her unmarriageable. Still single at 23, she is treated like a child and feels stifled in her controlling father's house. When Benjamin Hopkins, an ambitious employee of her father's trading company, shows an interest in her, she realizes marriage is her only chance to escape.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The Lioness o Morocco
- By MM on 06-23-17
By: Julia Drosten, and others
-
The Praise Singer
- By: Mary Renault
- Narrated by: Tim Bentinck
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 56
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 45
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 45
Set in sixth-century Greece at the time of the Tyrants, the Persian Wars, and a great flowering of the arts, this novel takes the form of Simonides' memoirs, written in retirement in Sicily. The author was a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and she also wrote "The King Must Die".
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Ambrosia for the gods & a feast for Greek geeks
- By James on 04-20-15
By: Mary Renault
-
Buddenbrooks
- The Decline of a Family
- By: Thomas Mann
- Narrated by: David Rintoul
- Length: 26 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 677
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 610
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 608
First published in 1900, when Thomas Mann was 25, Buddenbrooks is a minutely imagined chronicle of four generations of a North German mercantile family - a work so true to life that it scandalized the author’s former neighbours in his native Lübeck.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Where Have You Been All My Life, Thomas Mann?
- By Virginia Waldron on 03-30-17
By: Thomas Mann
-
Guests of the Sheik
- An Ethnography of an Iraqi Village
- By: Elizabeth Warnock Fernea
- Narrated by: Kirsten Potter
- Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 65
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 55
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 55
A delightful, well-written, and vastly informative ethnographic study, this is an account of Elizabeth Warnock Fernea's two-year stay in a tiny rural village in Iraq, where she assumed the dress and sheltered life of a harem woman. This volume gives a unique insight into a part of the Midddle Eastern life seldom seen by the West.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Unforgettable
- By Avalon on 01-05-18
-
Madame Tussaud
- A Novel of the French Revolution
- By: Michelle Moran
- Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
- Length: 15 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 682
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 574
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 570
Marie Tussaud has learned the secrets of wax sculpting by working alongside her uncle in their celebrated wax museum, the Salon de Cire. From her popular model of the American ambassador Thomas Jefferson to her tableau of the royal family at dinner, Marie's museum provides Parisians with the very latest news on fashion, gossip, even politics. Her customers hail from every walk of life, and word even arrives that the royals themselves are coming to see their likenesses....
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Tales from a turbulent time
- By Tim on 07-23-12
By: Michelle Moran
-
Three Souls
- A Novel
- By: Janie Chang
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 78
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 69
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 70
We have three souls, or so I'd been told. But only in death could I confirm this.... So begins the haunting and captivating tale, set in 1935 China, of the ghost of a young woman named Leiyin, who watches her own funeral from above and wonders why she is being denied entry to the afterlife. Beside her are three souls - stern and scholarly yang; impulsive, romantic yin; and wise, shining hun - who will guide her toward understanding. She must, they tell her, make amends.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Very different but compelling point of view.
- By Kevin Wickline on 06-08-23
By: Janie Chang
-
Hand of Isis
- By: Jo Graham
- Narrated by: Gigi Shane
- Length: 16 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 37
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 32
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 33
Charmian is handmaiden to Cleopatra. She is also an oracle, gifted with ancient memories that may hold the key to preserving Egypt. Through blood and fire, war and peace, love and death, she will face a desperate struggle that will remake the future of the world.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Reader does not know how to pronounce words
- By Gail N. on 07-31-19
By: Jo Graham
-
Skye O'Malley
- A Novel (O'Malley Saga, Book 1)
- By: Bertrice Small
- Narrated by: Justine Eyre
- Length: 21 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 360
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 323
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 324
Indomitable and bold in an era of royalty and rogues, Skye O'Malley is a woman who embraces her unbridled sensuality as valiantly as she fights for her children, her lovers, her empire. A woman of justice and honor, she will match wits with and challenge the most dangerous and powerful woman of her time: Queen Elizabeth I.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Classic
- By JuJu on 10-15-20
By: Bertrice Small
-
The Town House
- By: Norah Lofts
- Narrated by: Juliet Prague, Martyn Read
- Length: 17 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 72
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 65
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 67
"It was in the first week of October in the year 1391 that I first came face to face with the man who owned me… the man whose lightest word was to us, his villeins, weightier than the King’s law or the edicts of our Holy Father…” So began the story of Martin Reed - a serf whose resentment of the automatic rule of his feudal lord finally flared into open defiance.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Another winner by Norah Lofts
- By Bird Lady 147 on 10-03-17
By: Norah Lofts
-
First Lessons
- Medieval Tale 1
- By: Lina J. Potter
- Narrated by: Tiffany Morgan
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 206
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 162
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 163
Being a genius Medical school graduate and a sporty and active girl, Aliya dies suddenly in a car accident... only to find herself reborn in a completely different body in the middle of a half-ruined castle during Medieval times. While confused and dismayed, Aliya realizes she has been given a second chance in life - so she rolls up her sleeves and gets to work on restoring the castle and her new life.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Reads like a high school project
- By P on 07-04-20
By: Lina J. Potter
-
Bianca
- The Silk Merchant's Daughters
- By: Bertrice Small
- Narrated by: Jill Tanner
- Length: 13 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 124
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 104
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 106
Giovanni Pietro D’Angelo is a highly respected silk merchant who wants nothing more than to see his seven daughters married off. For Bianca, his beautiful eldest daughter, his sights are set on Giuliano Rovere, a famous member of the lawyer’s guild. Though Giuliano has a dark history with women, the Pietro D’Angelos have too much to gain from the pairing and turn a blind eye to his past deeds. Once married, Bianca discovers the true nature of her husband, and is sent seaside to recover. There, she meets Prince Sabih al Saqr, a Turkish wool merchant who has the power to heal her wounds.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Bertrice Small
- By Jacci on 03-05-13
By: Bertrice Small
-
Half a Lifelong Romance
- A Novel
- By: Eileen Chang
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 15 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 31
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 30
Manzhen is a young worker in a Shanghai factory where she meets Shijun, the son of wealthy merchants. Despite family complications, they fall in love and begin to dream of a shared life together - until circumstances force them apart. When they are reunited after many years, can they start their relationship again? Or is it destined to be the romance of only half a lifetime?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
super
- By Marcus Aurelius on 10-05-17
By: Eileen Chang
What listeners say about The Plum in the Golden Vase or, Chin P'ing Mei (Volume Two, The Rivals)
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
- bpjammin
- 11-23-14
A Real Plum of a Book
Any additional comments?
An elegant and eloguent work of literature. Excellent translation and an excellent reading of the work. It's easy to hear why it's still banned in China after 400 years and it's easy to hear why it has persisted for 400 years.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Dan El
- 09-09-21
Next 3 books please!
Had the books but was very pleasantly surprised by the narrator's reading and style. Saving my credits for the next 3 books!! Hurry please! =D
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!