Description
A treasure-chest of the written and spoken word, this collection is read by brilliant actors who make this audio anthology a genuine treat for the listener. Includes tales by Oscar Wilde, Rudyard Kipling, Edgar Allen Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Arthur Conan Doyle, and more: Reginald on House Parties by Saki; The Sphinx Without a Secret by Oscar Wilde; Tobermory by Saki; On Being Idle by Jerome K. Jerome; For Better or Worse by W. W. Jacobs; The Model Millionaire by Oscar Wilde; The Garden of Truth by E. Nesbit; The Cat That Walked by Himself by Rudyard Kipling; The Girl from Arles by Alphonse Daudet; Mr. & Mrs. Dove by Katherine Mansfield; Georgie Porgie by Rudyard Kipling; Caterpillars by E. F. Benson; Lost Hearts by M. R. James; Ship to Tarshish by John Buchan; The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe; The Man of the Night by Edgar Wallace; Dr. Heidegger's Experiment by Nathaniel Hawthorne; B 24 by Arthur Conan Doyle; Pat Hobby & Orson Welles by F. Scott Fitzgerald; Mad by Guy de Maupassant; The Black Cat by Edgar Allan Poe; and The Monkey's Paw by W. W. Jacobs.
Reviews
A real listening pleasure
I enjoy the varied readers of these English and American Gothic masterpieces.The readers have achieved a fine balance between dramatization and plain reading.
Although some of the British authors are new to me, especially the wickedly witty, Saki, I have not read several of the old Gothic American stories since high school English class, so they return as a surprise to me when heard in a more mature way now. For instance, I was driving along listening to "The Black Cat" and was so shocked at what was happening in the story that I turned it off. Then I drove for a while and realized I simply had to know what happened next, and turned it back on. To me that is a sign of great literature.
Of course, many of these short stories are not for children and the parent who complained about their content might want to pre-screen the stories her child listens to.
Hearing these stories again has been a real listening pleasure for me.
Definitely GREAT Classics
The 22 Stories are:
Reginald on House Parties - Saki
The Sphinx without a Secret - Oscar Wilde
Tobermory - Saki
On Being Idle - Jerome K Jerome
The Model Millionaire - Oscar Wilde
The Garden of Truth - E. Nesbit
The Cat that Walked by Himself - Rudyard Kipling
The Girl from Arles - Alphonse Daudet
Mr. & Mrs. Dove - Katherine Mansfield
Georgie Porgie - Rudyard Kipling
Caterpillars - E.F. Benton
Lost Hearts - MR James
Ship to Tarshish - John Buchan
The Tell-Tale Heart - Edgar Allan Poe
The Man of the Night - Edgar Wallace
Dr. Heidegger's Experiment - Nathaniel Hawthorne
B 24 - Arthur Conan Doyle
Pat Hobby & Orson Welles - F. Scott Fitzgerald
Mad - Guy de Maupassant
The Black Cat - Edgar Allan Poe
The Monkey's Paw - WW Jacobs
Each short story lasts from a range of about 10 to about 45 minutes for a total of 7.5 hours. 6 discs with 3-5 narrations per disc. All narrators are British actors who read each story in character voices (like anything, some better than others - but all still enjoyable). The BBC did do an excellent job of selecting interesting short stories from its selection of Classics. I enjoyed all of them, even when there were occasional British or period phrases or places that were referenced in the tales with which I was unfamiliar. These vivid tales of human psychology were filled with interesting characters really made my lengthy daily drive to work less painful.
Wonderfully done!!
I have read many of these stories and enjoyed them tremendously over the years. They have been brought to life in this audio series. Many of the stories kept me awake at night( Lost Hearts, The Monkey's Paw,The Tell Tale Heart)when I read them in print. The Audio version is even better. The actors chosen to narrate this collection are outstanding and give a new interpretation to these classic tales.
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