Useless Beauty
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Useless Beauty
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Narrated by:
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Walter Zimmerman
About this listen
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Editorial reviews
Guy de Maupassant's story "Useless Beauty" is performed with elegance by Walter Zimmerman. Maupassant is a master at depicting the intricacies of human nature - in this case, listeners are drawn into the drama of a beautiful French housewife in the early 19th century, who is condemned by her husband to the "penal servitude of childbearing". The audio begins with the countess finally rebelling against her captor - revealing that one of their seven children is not his - an affair, she exclaims, was the only way by which she was able to go against his authority. Zimmerman draws listeners into the irresistible drama with a deliberately paced, elegant performance. Timing, both in composition and performance, are key to this audiobook's genius.
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-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 152
In his perceptive and moving depiction of Ivan Ilych, a worldly careerist facing his own mortality in the midst of a self-absorbed family and indifferent colleagues, Tolstoy provides one of literature's greatest and most memorable reflections on the meaning of the good life and on life as preparation for death.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great experience
- By Amazon Customer on 08-03-16
By: Leo Tolstoy
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The Count of Monte Cristo
- By: Alexandre Dumas
- Narrated by: Bill Homewood
- Length: 52 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 19,397
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 17,730
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Story5 out of 5 stars 17,688
On the eve of his marriage to the beautiful Mercedes, having that very day been made captain of his ship, the young sailor Edmond Dantès is arrested on a charge of treason, trumped up by jealous rivals. Incarcerated for many lonely years in the isolated and terrifying Chateau d'If near Marseille, he meticulously plans his brilliant escape and extraordinary revenge.
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4 out of 5 stars
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This is the one to spend 50 hours listening to!
- By james on 03-05-13
By: Alexandre Dumas
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Anna Karenina
- By: Leo Tolstoy
- Narrated by: David Horovitch
- Length: 38 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,003
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,569
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,557
Anna Karenina seems to have everything - beauty, wealth, popularity and an adored son. But she feels that her life is empty until the moment she encounters the impetuous officer Count Vronsky.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Beautiful story, amazing narration
- By Marcus Vorwaller on 08-02-08
By: Leo Tolstoy
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The Idiot [Blackstone]
- By: Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
- Length: 22 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,093
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 812
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Story4 out of 5 stars 820
Prince Myshkin, is thrust into the heart of a society more concerned with wealth, power, and sexual conquest than the ideals of Christianity. Myshkin soon finds himself at the center of a violent love triangle in which a notorious woman and a beautiful young girl become rivals for his affections. Extortion, scandal, and murder follow, testing the wreckage left by human misery to find "man in man."
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5 out of 5 stars
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Intense and painfully sad
- By Tad on 04-27-12
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The Good Soldier
- By: Ford Madox Ford
- Narrated by: Frank Muller
- Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 198
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 150
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Story4 out of 5 stars 149
On the face of it Captain Edward Ashburnham's life was unimpeachable. But behind the mask where passion seethes, the captain's "good" life was rotting away.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Treachery in the Troops
- By Mel on 01-08-15
By: Ford Madox Ford
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The Count of Monte Cristo (Dramatized)
- By: Orson Welles
- Narrated by: Orson Welles
- Length: 59 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 55
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 43
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 45
Starring Orson Welles, Anges Moorehead, and Ray Collins, The Count of Monte Cristo is a tale of revenge and retribution. Edmond Dantès, a young, energetic sailor, is falsely accused of treason on his wedding day and incarcerated in the forbidding Château d'If. His escape and ultimate revenge on those who wronged him makes this one of the most thrilling stories in French literature, as compelling now as when it was first published in 1846.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent
- By Stefanie on 05-19-14
By: Orson Welles
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The Adolescent
- By: Fyodor Dostoevsky, Richard Pevear - translator, Larissa Volokhonsky - translator
- Narrated by: P.J. Ochlan
- Length: 28 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 52
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 48
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 48
The narrator and protagonist of Dostoevsky's novel The Adolescent (first published in English as A Raw Youth) is Arkady Dolgoruky, a naive 19-year-old boy bursting with ambition and opinions. The illegitimate son of a dissipated landowner, he is torn between his desire to expose his father's wrongdoing and the desire to win his love. He travels to St. Petersburg to confront the father he barely knows, inspired by an inchoate dream of communion and armed with a mysterious document that he believes gives him power over others.
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5 out of 5 stars
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An Oft-Forgotten Dostoevsky Gem
- By Ben on 02-09-20
By: Fyodor Dostoevsky, and others
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The Shuttle
- By: Frances Hodgson Burnett
- Narrated by: Tabi That
- Length: 19 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 53
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 49
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 50
Rosalie Vanderpoel, the daughter of an American multimillionaire marries an impoverished English baronet and goes to live in England. She all but loses contact with her family in America. Years later her younger sister Bettina, beautiful, intelligent and extremely rich, goes to England to find what has happened to her sister. She finds Rosalie shabby and dispirited, cowed by her husband's ill-treatment. Bettina sets about to rectify matters.
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5 out of 5 stars
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More than Lovely
- By jTacy67 on 01-17-18
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North and South
- By: Elizabeth Gaskell
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 18 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7,375
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 6,564
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 6,568
Written at the request of Charles Dickens, North and South is a book about rebellion that poses fundamental questions about the nature of social authority and obedience. Gaskell expertly blends individual feeling with social concern and her heroine, Margaret Hale, is one of the most original creations of Victorian literature. When Margaret Hale's father leaves the Church in a crisis of conscience she is forced to leave her comfortable home in the tranquil countryside of Hampshire....
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5 out of 5 stars
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Delightful
- By Sally on 01-04-10
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The Red and the Black
- By: Stendhal
- Narrated by: Davina Porter
- Length: 20 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 354
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 268
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Story4 out of 5 stars 264
So what would Al Gore choose if he had a book club? Gore named Stendhal's The Red and the Black, a 19th century classic chock full of adultery, betrayal, and moral vacuity, as his favorite book on a recent broadcast of Oprah. It's a bit shocking of a choice, given his wife and running mate's position on clean, wholesome literature. Listen and decide for yourself the merit of this presidential pick.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Almost perfect
- By Erez on 05-29-08
By: Stendhal
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Oblomov
- By: Ivan Goncharov
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 20 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 84
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 75
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 75
A member of the landed gentry, with a seemingly guaranteed income from his estate in the country, Oblomov lives in Petersburg, uninterested in the business that provides his living and barely aware that the revenue is diminishing. Not that he leads a dissolute life of extravagance, balls and entertainment. Instead he is a dreamer, a sybarite, content above all to spend most of the day supine, in bed. The novel opens with Oblomov thus ensconced, attended only by his dirty, grumbling, indolent servant Zahar, who has looked after him since childhood, catering to his every need.
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5 out of 5 stars
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funny and smart
- By Bennett Weiss on 07-29-20
By: Ivan Goncharov
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Camille
- The Lady of the Camellias
- By: Alexandre Dumas fils
- Narrated by: Alyssa Bresnahan, John McDonough, Firdous Bamji
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 98
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 85
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 85
First published in 1848, Camille captivated Paris and has inspired countless adaptations. This classic story of love and loss is based on the author’s real-life affair with courtesan Marie Duplessis. Also known as The Lady of the Camellias, the novel follows the courtesan Marguerite Gautier through her tumultuous love affair with handsome—but middle class—Armand Duval. Before their passionate affair is over, one lover must give up everything.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Better than Play, Opera, or Movie
- By Michael on 03-11-13
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The Brothers Karamazov [Naxos AudioBooks Edition]
- By: Constance Garnett - translator, Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Narrated by: Constantine Gregory
- Length: 37 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5,788
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,200
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,184
Fyodor Dostoyevsky is a titanic figure among the world's great authors, and The Brothers Karamazov is often hailed as his finest novel. A masterpiece on many levels, it transcends the boundaries of a gripping murder mystery to become a moving account of the battle between love and hate, faith and despair, compassion and cruelty, good and evil.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Spiritual and Philosophical Tour-de-Force
- By Rich on 02-27-16
By: Constance Garnett - translator, and others
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The Picture of Dorian Gray
- By: Oscar Wilde
- Narrated by: Russell Tovey
- Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7,817
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 6,926
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 6,893
A disturbing tale of a young man's uncanny ability to remain both young and beautiful while descending into a life of heartless debauchery, The Picture of Dorian Gray was considered proof of both Wilde's genius and his perversion. Oscar Wilde's scandalous best seller of 1891 was one of the most damning pieces of evidence used against him in the trial that brought about his downfall.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A twisted tale of vanity and poisonous people
- By Shantastic on 10-02-19
By: Oscar Wilde
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Les Miserables
- By: Victor Hugo
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 57 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,258
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,573
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,586
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.
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4 out of 5 stars
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one happy insomniac
- By Kathryn on 01-27-05
By: Victor Hugo
What listeners say about Useless Beauty
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Michael
- 04-13-13
Almost Great Maupassant Short
This is the best Maupassant short story I have listened to so far, and it is quite good except for a boring philosophical preach in the middle of the story. Otherwise I really enjoyed the characters, prose and narration. This particular story has aged very well and with 46 minutes at 95 cents I would recommend this one.
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8 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- William E. Hendry
- 11-12-16
A masterpiece.
What made the experience of listening to Useless Beauty the most enjoyable?
A priceless mix of the primitive, of God, of cunning and revenge. A story like none i have read. What surprise.
What does Walter Zimmerman bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Well read.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Rochelle
- 04-30-13
Audio quality is sub-par
Check the audio quality before you download this book. It's a bit tinny & some people may find that frustrating.
For that though it is a clever story & for the price I enjoyed it a great deal. Normally below average sound quality would annoy me but I knew the story was only going to last 45 minutes so I wouldn't be stuck listening to it for days, and it's very cheap.
Haven't come across Guy de Maupassant before & would try his stories again.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Joanna
- 10-16-09
Great Story
A very good short story with an interesting twist~those Edwardian ladies had their special way of getting what they wanted. Wish it had been longer.
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Susan
- 04-14-13
What a tangled web we weave....,
Any additional comments?
This is a great short with an ending that could go many different ways. I liked the suspense. Would recommend.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
- Kristin Simmons
- 11-14-18
Terrible
The narrator was so terrible I was unable to make it past two minutes. No.
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