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Father Goriot
- Narrated by: Bill Homewood
- Length: 12 hrs
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Publisher's summary
Impoverished young aristocrat Eugene de Rastignac is determined to climb the social ladder and impress himself on Parisian high society. While staying at the Maison Vauquer, a boarding house in Paris's rue Neuve-Sainte-Genevieve, he encounters Jean-Joachim Goriot, a retired vermicelli maker who has spent his entire fortune supporting his two daughters. The boarders strike up a friendship and Goriot learns of Rastignac's feelings for his daughter Delphine. He begins to see Rastignac as the ideal son-in-law, and the perfect substitute for Delphine's domineering husband. But Rastignac has other opportunities too, as the notorious criminal Vautrin, "The Death Dodger", offers to murder the brother of a wealthy woman, giving the ambitious young lawyer a clear path to her fortune. Profound and realistic, Father Goriot is a startling glimpse into the vanity and selfishness of 19th-century Paris. It is considered one of the finest works of Balzac's La Comedie Humaine.
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Story
Here is a grotesque and carnivalesque collection of exuberant, fantastical stories that takes us from the ancient world through to the European Renaissance. At the heart of these tall tales are the giant Gargantua and his equally seismic son, Pantagruel. Containing magical adventures, maniacal punning, slapstick humor, erudite allusions, and just about any bodily function one can think of, here is quite possibly the zaniest, most risqué book ever written.
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The king of all the narrators
- By amazon on 02-13-20
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Cousin Bette
- By: Honoré de Balzac
- Narrated by: Lucy Scott
- Length: 16 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Lisbeth Fischer has lived in the shadow of her beautiful cousin Adeline for much of her life. Pampered while Lisbeth works in the fields, Adeline makes an enviable leap in status when Baron Hulot offers her his hand in marriage. Out of kindness, they bring Lisbeth to Paris, where she falls in love with the artist Wenceslas, her protege. However, when she is jilted for Adeline's daughter Hortense, her jealousy and rage exponentially intensify, and she resolves to bring the Hulot family to ruin, employing the cold seductress Valerie Marneffe as her vehicle for revenge.
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A Masterpiece!
- By Huntress of Erudition on 10-07-23
By: Honoré de Balzac
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La Rabouilleuse
- The Black Sheep; The Two Brothers
- By: Honoré de Balzac
- Narrated by: Bill Homewood
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Brothers Philippe and Joseph Bridau are completely unalike: Philippe, braggart and soldier, formerly aide-de-camp to Napoleon, is their mother Agathe's favorite; Joseph, a poor and aspiring artist, is raised in his brother's shadow. When Agathe is reduced to poverty and Philippe accrues gambling debts, the family join forces to focus their attentions on Agathe's brother, Jean-Jacques Rouget, heir to the family fortune. The struggle for his inheritance pits the family against Rouget's beautiful maid Flore ("La Rabouilleuse"), the apple of her master's eye, and her crafty lover.
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Brutal poetic justice
- By Tad Davis on 06-23-20
By: Honoré de Balzac
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Orlando
- By: Virginia Woolf
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Published in 1928, Orlando is a fictional biography that spans several centuries and follows the protagonist, Orlando, an Elizabethan nobleman who undergoes a mysterious gender transformation. The novel explores themes of gender identity, fluidity and the constraints imposed by societal norms. It challenges traditional notions of gender roles and raises questions about the nature of identity and the passage of time.
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Why the Hype?
- By K. Mattis on 03-03-24
By: Virginia Woolf
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Eugénie Grandet
- By: Honoré de Balzac
- Narrated by: Jonathan Fried
- Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Hailed as the father of the naturalist novel, French author and playwright Honoré de Balzac left a legacy of treasured literary works that include Père Goriot and Cousin Bette. The daughter of a wealthy but miserly man, Eugénie Grandet falls in love with her penniless cousin, Charles. The two plan to marry, but at the behest of her father, Charles must first go overseas to make his fortune. Returning years later, Charles calls off the engagement, leaving Eugénie heartbroken and vengeful.
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Unpleasant people
- By Tad Davis on 06-08-14
By: Honoré de Balzac
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Tom Jones
- The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling
- By: Henry Fielding
- Narrated by: Bill Homewood
- Length: 37 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Tom Jones, a foundling, is brought up by the kindly Mr. Allworthy as if he were his own son. Forced to leave the house as a young man after tales of his disgraceful behavior reach his benefactor's ears, he sets out in utter despair, not only because of his banishment but because he has now lost all hope of gaining the hand of the beautiful Sophia. But she too is forced to flee her parental home to escape an undesirable marriage and their stories and adventures intertwine.
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terrific story BUT
- By tom on 01-28-14
By: Henry Fielding
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The House of the Dead
- By: Fyodor Dostoevsky
- Narrated by: Nicholas Boulton
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Completed six years after Dostoyevsky's own term as a convict, The House of the Dead is a semi-autobiographical account of life in a Siberian prison camp, and the physical and mental effects it has on those who are sentenced to inhabit it. Alexandr Petrovitch Goryanchikov, a gentleman of the noble class, has been condemned to 10 years of hard labor for murdering his wife.
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This was FAR better than what I was expecting!
- By Savva on 05-12-20
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Belinda
- By: Maria Edgeworth
- Narrated by: Lucy Scott
- Length: 18 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Published in 1801, Maria Edgeworth’s Belinda is an absorbing novel that mirrors social and domestic life among the English gentry. In her pursuit of a suitable marriage, Belinda encounters an array of characters including the dazzling socialite Lady Delacourt, the feminist Harriet Freke, the wealthy and handsome West Indian Mr Vincent and the impulsive Clarence Hervey.
By: Maria Edgeworth
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Sentimental Education
- By: Gustave Flaubert
- Narrated by: Andrew Wincott
- Length: 20 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Upon arriving home in Normandy, Frederick catches his first glimpse of Marie Arnoux, a mysterious and beautiful woman who leaves a lasting impression on him. Eventually they make each other's acquaintance and Marie becomes a symbol of unattainable perfection for Frederick, whose unrequited infatuation leaves him bouncing from one passion to another, falling in and out of love, money and society.
By: Gustave Flaubert
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Under the Volcano
- A Novel
- By: Malcolm Lowry
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 14 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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On the Day of the Dead, in 1938, Geoffrey Firmin, an alcoholic and ruined man, is fatefully living out his last day, drowning himself in mescal while his former wife and half-brother look on, powerless to help him. The events of this one day unfold against a backdrop unforgettable for its evocation of a Mexico at once magical and diabolical.
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Excellent...but not for everyone
- By Melinda on 12-07-10
By: Malcolm Lowry
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What listeners say about Father Goriot
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Michael Muse
- 06-10-21
Materialism and Greed.
Balzac exposes the lack of humanistic and Democratic values in early 19th century Paris, France.
Only a minority believed in community, family and democracy.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Tom - Charlottesville,Virginia
- 06-28-20
My first Balzac
Wonderful and old fashion. But such joy! I will read more. The reader was excellent and if you spend any time with it you will be well rewarded!
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2 people found this helpful
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- Betty
- 08-10-22
We’ll worth revisiting this classic
The story is a satire of 19C France. I found it gripping and heart breaking at the same time. The narration was splendid.
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- Laurence Grey
- 04-05-21
Astounding performance
Bill's performance renders the work so accessible and touching. The book can have rather longer commentaries esp at the beginning, but story also amazing as it gathers pace
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3 people found this helpful
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- Lorenzo Coopman
- 09-15-20
lots to think about
I listened to this book as it is mentioned by Thomas Piketty in his book 'capital in the 21 century.' He may take much data from it I mostly read this as an ethical story. This is not a subtle story but it is a dark counterpart for war and peace and even a foreboding for Proust' recherche.
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1 person found this helpful