New Reviews: Classics

Narrator P.J. Ochlan splendidly brings to life this classic work, which has also been given the title A RAW YOUTH in some translations. The novel concerns the two desires of 19-year-old Arkady Dologruky: to expose his scoundrel of a father for who he really is and to win the woman he loves. Like many Dostoevsky's works, this audiobook depicts an individual's inner world.... Read More

Narrators Bahni Turpin, Mirron Willis, and Lisa Reneé Pitts work together to create a vocal chorus that is equal to these vivid short stories written by one of the luminaries of the Harlem Renaissance. Listeners will be grateful for this talented cast, who capture the diverse characters in these narratives. From young women forced by necessity into prostitution and then... Read More

The cast of this audio production must be commended for undertaking one of the longest novels in English literature. They are successful in capturing Richardson's many epistolary voices. Lucy Scott gives an admirable performance as Clarissa Harlowe; her clear, soft voice captures the earnestness and innocence of the chief character. While Clarissa most often speaks sincerely to... Read More

Award-winning actress Juliet Stevenson guides the listener through the complex social world and moral ambiguity of this convoluted story. Maggie Verver's upcoming marriage to Prince Amerigo seems perfect. Just before Maggie and he are to wed, Amerigo's good friend and former lover, Charlotte, comes back into his life for a brief shopping trip for a wedding present. Even though... Read More

Narrator Simon Vance immediately places the listener into the action of Dumas's energetic historical adventure. The story takes place during the French Revolution and involves a plot to rescue Marie Antoinette. Vance's narration greatly contributes to the excitement of the novel. He has a consistent serious tone when narrating the events of the story; however, he transforms his... Read More

Ellen Parker's fine narration of this classic collection of meditations on the arid reaches of California is by turns intimate and inspiring. Her nuanced approach--deliberately paced, thoughtfully delivered--fits the the tone and style of this personal exploration of the Owens Valley, which is bounded by the Sierras, near Death Valley and the Mojave Desert. Parker's narration... Read More

Narrator Matt Addis brings care, talent, and skill to these stories from twelfth- and thirteenth-century Wales, but he could have exercised more restraint. He takes his cue from the stories themselves--fantastic, fanciful, somewhere between myth, legend, and fairy tale--and from the archaic tone of the mid-nineteenth-century translation by Charlotte Guest. Addis's phrases,... Read More

It's as much about the language in Saul Bellow's 1970 novel as it is about the philosophical, and what better narrator to handle Bellow's complex characters, ideas, and luscious layering of words than AUDIOFILE Golden Voice George Guidall? Arthur Sammler is a Polish refugee--a Holocaust survivor with only one good eye. But that doesn't keep him from seeing. Guidall portrays the... Read More

Narrator Simon Jones breathes life into the character of English gentleman Bertie Wooster as he tries to assist in three different love affairs--with disastrous yet comic consequences. Jones shines in conveying the superciliousness of Wooster; the level-headedness of his valet, Jeeves; and the crazy antics of the lovelorn. A comedy of errors ensues that only worsens as Wooster... Read More

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edna Ferber's classic novel set in New Orleans in the 1880s receives a flawless performance by Robin Miles. First published in 1941, the novel highlights the universal themes of ambition, greed, revenge, and, most importantly, the power of love. In a retrospective, 89-year-old tycoon and media darling Clint Maroon reveals his life as a robber baron... Read More

Listeners become immersed in the dramatic days of the French Revolution and the rush to save aristocrats by the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel. Through the narration of Bill Homewood, listeners will puzzle over the identity of the Scarlet Pimpernel, agonize with Marguerite over the fate of the brave hero, and worry about the evil plots of the villain Chauvelin. Though the... Read More

Stacy Gonzalez superbly re-creates life in an unnamed Midwestern town just before WWI. At the center are 17-year-old William "Willie" Baxter and his bratty, ever-present kid sister, Jane. Their tranquil summer changes when baby-talking, impressively portrayed Lola Pratt and her doglet, Flopit, arrive for a prolonged visit. Gonzalez is an excellent storyteller as Willie and his... Read More

Ferber won the Pulitzer Prize for her 1924 novel, and the incomparable Cassandra Campbell expertly wields the microphone in her performance of this quiet classic. Campbell's gentle delivery exudes empathy and confidence as she animates the life of Selina Peake DeJong, a woman with multifaceted experiences and an independent streak. Campbell's performance gives this... Read More

These three works of Plato are given a splendid narration by David Rintoul, as the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates, and by Hugh Ross and an ensemble cast, who each portray a different secondary character. SYMPOSIUM is a discourse by several individuals on the nature of love; THEAETETUS concerns the nature of knowledge; PHAEDO discusses the soul and is a dialogue that takes... Read More

Juliet Stevenson provides a compelling narration of Henry James's story about innocence, social class, and morality. The protagonist, Maisie, struggles to preserve her innocence when her parents divorce and her stepparents commit adultery. Seemingly effortlessly, Stevenson changes her voice to match her characters' traits: Maisie's innocent demeanor, her stepfather Sir Claude's... Read More