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The Road to Wigan Pier
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
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Publisher's summary
In this searing yet beautiful account of life on the bottom rung, Orwell asks himself why Socialism - which alone, he felt, could rescue human values from the ravages of industrialism - had so little appeal. His answer is a harsh critique of the Socialism and Socialists of his time.
Featured Article: 40+ Thought-Provoking George Orwell Quotes
George Orwell transformed literature with his piercing social commentary and allegorical style. His works have become so entrenched in popular culture that the term "Orwellian" is used to describe totalitarian and authoritarian societies. Orwell also wrote nonfiction books and essays that similarly express his gift for satire and controversial views on government. Throughout his writing career, he never feared tackling challenging topics, no matter how subversive.
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Wonderful listen!!
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- Narrated by: David Shih
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Soseki Natsume's comic masterpiece, I Am a Cat, satirizes the foolishness of upper-middle class Japanese society during the Meiji era. With acerbic wit and sardonic perspective, it follows the whimsical adventures of a world-weary stray kitten who comments on the follies and foibles of the people around him. A classic of Japanese literature, I Am a Cat is one of Soseki's best-known novels. Considered by many as the greatest writer in modern Japanese history, Soseki's I Am a Cat is a classic novel sure to be enjoyed for years to come.
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Three Men in a Boat (AmazonClassics Edition)
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In the latest volume of his celebrated series of Time Traveler's Guides, Ian Mortimer turns to what is arguably the most-loved period in British history—the Regency, or Georgian England. A time of exuberance, thrills, frills, and unchecked bad behavior, it was perhaps the last age of true freedom before the arrival of the stifling world of Victorian morality. At the same time, it was a period of transition. Conveying the sights, sounds, and smells of the Regency period, this is history at its most exciting—the past not as something to be studied, but as lived experience.
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SKIP THIS BOOK
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Coming up for Air
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George Bowling, an insurance salesman, hits middle age and feels impelled to “come up for air” from his life of quiet desperation. With seventeen pounds he has won at a race, he steals a vacation from his wife and family and pays a visit to Lower Binfield, the village where he grew up, to fish for carp in a pool he remembers from thirty years before. But the pool is gone, Lower Binfield has changed beyond recognition, and the principal event of Bowling’s holiday is an accidental bombing by the RAF.
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Orwell Flirts and Fishes w/ Nostalgia & Modernity.
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Come On Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All
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Performance
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Story
Come on Shore and We Will Kill and Eat You All is the story of the cultural collision between Westerners and the Maoris of New Zealand, told partly as a history of the complex and bloody period of contact between Europeans and the Maoris in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and partly as the story of Christina Thompson's marriage to a Maori man.
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a beautiful story
- By Pumpkin99 on 12-24-22
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At Home
- A Short History of Private Life
- By: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: Bill Bryson
- Length: 16 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Bill Bryson and his family live in a Victorian parsonage in a part of England where nothing of any great significance has happened since the Romans decamped. Yet one day, he began to consider how very little he knew about the ordinary things of life as he found it in that comfortable home. To remedy this, he formed the idea of journeying about his house from room to room to “write a history of the world without leaving home.”
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Bryson does it again
- By Robert on 10-15-10
By: Bill Bryson
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What’s Wrong with the World
- By: G. K. Chesterton
- Narrated by: Bernard Mayes
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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In this important book, G.K. Chesterton offers a remarkably perceptive analysis of social and moral issues, even more relevant today than in his own time. With a light, humorous tone but a deadly serious philosophy, he comments on errors in education, on feminism vs. true womanhood, on the importance of the child, and other issues, using incisive arguments against the trendsetters’ assaults on the common man and the family.
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The mind that finds...
- By Darwin8u on 05-24-17
By: G. K. Chesterton
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Notes from the Underground (AmazonClassics Edition)
- By: Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Constance Garnett - translator
- Narrated by: Pete Simonelli
- Length: 4 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Isolated from society in a tenement basement in St. Petersburg, a malicious former civil servant vents his resentments. In the rambling notes that follow, we are exposed to the inner turmoil of the Underground Man, who represents the voice of his generation. An emotional, paranoid knot of contradictions, the spiteful narrator is also desperate to join a society he loathes, if only to prove his superiority to it.
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Amazing
- By Bryan on 02-19-19
By: Fyodor Dostoyevsky, and others
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The Gulag Archipelago, Volume 1
- An Experiment in Literary Investigation
- By: Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 25 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Volume 1 of the gripping epic masterpiece, Solzhenitsyn's chilling report of his arrest and interrogation, which exposed to the world the vast bureaucracy of secret police that haunted Soviet society. Features a new foreword by Anne Applebaum.
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Should be required reading in US schools
- By Richard on 01-01-21
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The Town House
- By: Norah Lofts
- Narrated by: Juliet Prague, Martyn Read
- Length: 17 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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"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.
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Another winner by Norah Lofts
- By Bird Lady 147 on 10-03-17
By: Norah Lofts
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The Pursuit of Love
- Radlett and Montdore Trilogy Series, Book 1
- By: Nancy Mitford
- Narrated by: Bessie Carter
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Mitford's most enduringly popular novel, The Pursuit of Love, is a classic comedy about growing up and falling in love among the privileged and eccentric. Mitford modeled her characters on her own famously unconventional family. We are introduced to the Radletts through the eyes of their cousin, Fanny, who stays with them at Alconleigh, their Gloucestershire estate. Uncle Matthew is the blustering patriarch; Aunt Sadie is the vague but doting mother; and the seven Radlett children, despite the delights of their unusual childhood, are recklessly eager to grow up.
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Unlistenable
- By Michael on 10-17-21
By: Nancy Mitford
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Oil!
- By: Upton Sinclair
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 19 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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As he did so masterfully in The Jungle, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Upton Sinclair interweaves social criticism with human tragedy to create an unforgettable portrait of Southern California's early oil industry. Enraged by the oil scandals of the Harding administration in the 1920s, Sinclair tells a gripping tale of avarice, corruption, and class warfare, featuring a cavalcade of characters, including senators, oil magnates, Hollywood film starlets, and a crusading evangelist.
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an outstanding book
- By Gregory on 05-18-08
By: Upton Sinclair
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The Gulag Archipelago 1918-1956
- An Experiment in Literary Investigation
- By: Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn
- Narrated by: Ignat Solzhenitsyn
- Length: 21 hrs and 53 mins
- Abridged
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The Nobel Prize winner’s towering masterpiece of world literature, the searing record of four decades of terror and oppression, in one abridged volume (authorized by the author). Features a new foreword by Anne Applebaum.
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Mandatory reading in Russia, not USA. Why?
- By Arlon James on 11-07-20
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Eugenics and Other Evils
- By: G. K. Chesterton
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 4 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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During the first three decades of the 20th century, eugenics, the scientific control of human breeding, was a popular cause within enlightened and progressive segments of the English-speaking world. This prophetic volume counters the intellectual nihilism of Nietzsche, while simultaneously rebuking Western notions of progress - biological or otherwise. Chesterton expands his criticism of eugenics into what he calls "a more general criticism of the modern craze for scientific officialism and strict social organization."
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Truly Great!
- By No to Statism on 07-26-19
By: G. K. Chesterton
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In 1936, George Orwell went to Spain to report on the civil war and instead joined the P.O.U.M. militia to fight against the Fascists. In this now justly famous account of his experience, he describes both the bleak and the comic aspects of trench warfare on the Aragon front, the Barcelona uprising in May 1937, his nearly fatal wounding just two weeks later, and his escape from Barcelona into France after the P.O.U.M. was suppressed.
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Excellent book, marred by narration
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Such, Such Were the Joys and Other Essays
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Viewed as too libelous to print in England until 1968, the title essay in this collection reveals the abuse Orwell experienced as a child at an expensive and snobbish boarding school and offers insights into his lifelong concern for the oppressed. "Why I Write" describes Orwell's sense of political purpose, and the classic essay "Politics and the English Language" insists on clarity and precision in communication in order to avoid the Newspeak later described in 1984.
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Superb collection of essays, very well read
- By Christopher on 07-07-11
By: George Orwell
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Down and Out in Paris and London
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Orwell's own experiences inspire this semi-autobiographical novel about a man living in Paris in the early 1930s without a penny. The narrator's poverty brings him into contact with strange incidents and characters, which he manages to chronicle with great sensitivity and graphic power. The latter half of the book takes the English narrator to his home city, London, where the world of poverty is different in externals only.
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The King of Boldness, Clearness, and Audacity
- By Darwin8u on 05-21-12
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Coming up for Air
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George Bowling, an insurance salesman, hits middle age and feels impelled to “come up for air” from his life of quiet desperation. With seventeen pounds he has won at a race, he steals a vacation from his wife and family and pays a visit to Lower Binfield, the village where he grew up, to fish for carp in a pool he remembers from thirty years before. But the pool is gone, Lower Binfield has changed beyond recognition, and the principal event of Bowling’s holiday is an accidental bombing by the RAF.
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Orwell Flirts and Fishes w/ Nostalgia & Modernity.
- By Darwin8u on 07-10-12
By: George Orwell
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Burmese Days
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Colonial politics in Kyauktada, India, in the 1920s, come to a head when the European Club, previously for whites only, is ordered to elect one token native member. The deeply racist members do their best to manipulate the situation, resulting in the loss not only of reputations but of lives. Amid this cynical setting, timber merchant James Flory, a Brit with a genuine appreciation for the native people and culture, stands as a bridge between the warring factions. But he has trouble acting on his feelings, and the significance of his vote, both social and political, weighs on him.
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A Sad, Fierce and Ambitious Colonial Novel
- By Darwin8u on 11-08-12
By: George Orwell
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A Clergyman's Daughter
- By: George Orwell
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- Unabridged
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Dorothy Hare, the dutiful daughter of a rector in Suffolk, spends her days performing good works and cultivating good thoughts, pricking her arm with a pin when a bad thought arises. She does her best to reconcile her father’s fanciful view of his position in the world with such realities as the butcher’s bill. But even Dorothy’s strength has its limits, and one night, as she works feverishly on costumes for the church-school play, she blacks out. When she comes to, she finds herself on a London street, clad in a sleazy dress and unaware of her identity.
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Bottom-Shelf Orwell, but still G-D Orwell
- By Darwin8u on 08-11-19
By: George Orwell
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Homage to Catalonia
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In 1936, George Orwell went to Spain to report on the civil war and instead joined the P.O.U.M. militia to fight against the Fascists. In this now justly famous account of his experience, he describes both the bleak and the comic aspects of trench warfare on the Aragon front, the Barcelona uprising in May 1937, his nearly fatal wounding just two weeks later, and his escape from Barcelona into France after the P.O.U.M. was suppressed.
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Excellent book, marred by narration
- By Kirby on 02-02-13
By: George Orwell
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Such, Such Were the Joys and Other Essays
- By: George Orwell
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- Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Viewed as too libelous to print in England until 1968, the title essay in this collection reveals the abuse Orwell experienced as a child at an expensive and snobbish boarding school and offers insights into his lifelong concern for the oppressed. "Why I Write" describes Orwell's sense of political purpose, and the classic essay "Politics and the English Language" insists on clarity and precision in communication in order to avoid the Newspeak later described in 1984.
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Superb collection of essays, very well read
- By Christopher on 07-07-11
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Down and Out in Paris and London
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Orwell's own experiences inspire this semi-autobiographical novel about a man living in Paris in the early 1930s without a penny. The narrator's poverty brings him into contact with strange incidents and characters, which he manages to chronicle with great sensitivity and graphic power. The latter half of the book takes the English narrator to his home city, London, where the world of poverty is different in externals only.
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The King of Boldness, Clearness, and Audacity
- By Darwin8u on 05-21-12
By: George Orwell
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Coming up for Air
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George Bowling, an insurance salesman, hits middle age and feels impelled to “come up for air” from his life of quiet desperation. With seventeen pounds he has won at a race, he steals a vacation from his wife and family and pays a visit to Lower Binfield, the village where he grew up, to fish for carp in a pool he remembers from thirty years before. But the pool is gone, Lower Binfield has changed beyond recognition, and the principal event of Bowling’s holiday is an accidental bombing by the RAF.
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Orwell Flirts and Fishes w/ Nostalgia & Modernity.
- By Darwin8u on 07-10-12
By: George Orwell
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Burmese Days
- A Novel
- By: George Orwell
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
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Colonial politics in Kyauktada, India, in the 1920s, come to a head when the European Club, previously for whites only, is ordered to elect one token native member. The deeply racist members do their best to manipulate the situation, resulting in the loss not only of reputations but of lives. Amid this cynical setting, timber merchant James Flory, a Brit with a genuine appreciation for the native people and culture, stands as a bridge between the warring factions. But he has trouble acting on his feelings, and the significance of his vote, both social and political, weighs on him.
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A Sad, Fierce and Ambitious Colonial Novel
- By Darwin8u on 11-08-12
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A Clergyman's Daughter
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Dorothy Hare, the dutiful daughter of a rector in Suffolk, spends her days performing good works and cultivating good thoughts, pricking her arm with a pin when a bad thought arises. She does her best to reconcile her father’s fanciful view of his position in the world with such realities as the butcher’s bill. But even Dorothy’s strength has its limits, and one night, as she works feverishly on costumes for the church-school play, she blacks out. When she comes to, she finds herself on a London street, clad in a sleazy dress and unaware of her identity.
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Bottom-Shelf Orwell, but still G-D Orwell
- By Darwin8u on 08-11-19
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Essays
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With great originality and wit, Orwell unfolds his views on subjects ranging from a revaluation of Charles Dickens to the nature of Socialism, from a comic yet profound discussion of naughty seaside postcards to a spirited defense of English cooking. Displaying an almost unrivalled mastery of English plain prose, Orwell’s essays created a unique literary manner from the process of thinking aloud and continue to challenge, move, and entertain.
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Great Content; Would benefit from chapter names
- By Laimis on 08-15-20
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Keep the Aspidistra Flying
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Gordon Comstock loathes dull, middle-class respectability and worship of money. He gives up a 'good job' in advertising to work part-time in a bookshop, giving him more time to write. But he slides instead into a self-induced poverty that destroys his creativity and his spirit. Only Rosemary, ever-faithful Rosemary, has the strength to challenge his commitment to his chosen way of life.
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Gordon's Grey World is Colored with Grant
- By Timothy on 09-25-11
By: George Orwell
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Homage to Catalonia
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- Original Recording
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George Orwell's classic account of his experiences during the Spanish Civil War, dramatised for radio by Mike Walker. Produced by Kate McAll.
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The best acted audiobook you'll hear.
- By KellySeoul on 03-05-18
By: George Orwell
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Life at the Bottom
- The Worldview that Makes the Underclass
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- Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
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- Unabridged
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Theodore Dalrymple, a British psychiatrist who treats the poor in a slum hospital and a prison in England, has seemingly seen it all. Yet in listening to and observing his patients, he is continually astonished by the latest twist of depravity that exceeds even his own considerable experience. Dalrymple's key insight in Life at the Bottom is that long-term poverty is caused not by economics, but by a dysfunctional set of values, one that is continually reinforced by an elite culture searching for victims.
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Excellent!
- By Amazon Man on 02-15-21
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The Painted Bird
- By: Jerzy Kosinski
- Narrated by: Fred Berman, Michael Aronov
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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A harrowing story that follows the wanderings of a boy abandoned by his parents during World War II, The Painted Bird is a dark masterpiece that examines the proximity of terror and savagery to innocence and love. It is the first, and the most famous, novel by one of the most important and original writers of this century.
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A guided tour of Hell.
- By Shawn on 12-01-11
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The Lion and the Unicorn
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- Unabridged
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George Orwell's moving reflections on the English character and his passionate belief in the need for political change. 'The Lion and the Unicorn' was written in London during the worst period of the Blitz. It is vintage Orwell, a dynamic outline of his belief in socialism, patriotism and an English revolution. His fullest political statement, it has been described as 'one of the most moving and incisive portraits of the English character' and is as relevant now as it ever has been.
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information
- By Amazon Customer on 06-12-24
By: George Orwell
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Orwell: The Essays
- By: George Orwell
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- Unabridged
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A wide-ranging selection of George Orwell's essays, written in the clear-eyed, passionate and uncompromising style that has earned him a reputation as one of Britain's greatest writers.
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He understood the times
- By Wes on 08-19-23
By: George Orwell
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We
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- Unabridged
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Set in the 26th century A.D., Yevgeny Zamyatin's masterpiece describes life under the regimented totalitarian society of OneState, ruled over by the all-powerful "Benefactor." Recognized as the inspiration for George Orwell's 1984, We is the archetype of the modern dystopia, or anti-Utopia: a great prose poem detailing the fate that might befall us all if we surrender our individual selves to some collective dream of technology and fail in the vigilance that is the price of freedom.
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Interesting history, prose a little outdated
- By Joel D Offenberg on 11-30-11
By: Yevgeny Zamyatin
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Point Counter Point
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In music, counterpoint is the art of writing melodies that play in conjunction with one another, according to a strict set of rules, in order to emphasize the melody by contrast. In debate, point/counterpoint is a means of persuasion in which the speaker begins by conceding to their opponent’s argument before refuting it wholeheartedly. Aldous Huxley follows these traditions in his masterpiece Point Counter Point. The polarity between passion and reason in the intellectual life of the 1920s is demonstrated both in form and in theme in Huxley’s ambitious satire.
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finally - another classic from Huxley
- By Andorboth on 02-20-24
By: Aldous Huxley
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The French Revolution
- From Enlightenment to Tyranny
- By: Ian Davidson
- Narrated by: Clive Chafer
- Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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The French Revolution casts a long shadow, one that reaches into our own time and influences our debates on freedom, equality, and authority. Yet it remains an elusive, perplexing historical event. Its significance morphs according to the sympathies of the viewer, who may see it as a series of gory tableaux, a regrettable slide into uncontrolled anarchy - or a radical reshaping of the political landscape. In this riveting new book, Ian Davidson provides a fresh look at this vital moment in European history. He reveals how it was an immensely complicated and multifaceted revolution....
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superficial; trite
- By David Hart on 04-25-19
By: Ian Davidson
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Brave New World
- By: Aldous Huxley
- Narrated by: Michael York
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
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When Lenina and Bernard visit a savage reservation, we experience how Utopia can destroy humanity. Cloning, feel-good drugs, anti-aging programs, and total social control through politics, programming, and media: has Aldous Huxley accurately predicted our future? With a storyteller's genius, he weaves these ethical controversies in a compelling narrative that dawns in the year 632 A.F. (After Ford, the deity). When Lenina and Bernard visit a savage reservation, we experience how Utopia can destroy humanity.
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Michael York should stick to the stage and leave narration to the pros.
- By SD on 08-21-19
By: Aldous Huxley
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Puck of Pook's Hill
- By: Rudyard Kipling
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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On Midsummer Eve in a Sussex meadow, Dan and Una act out their version of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Suddenly, Puck, as old as Time itself, miraculously appears. The youngsters are swept into the past as Puck conjures up villages of long ago, filled with craftsmen, a Roman centurion, and a Norman knight. Rudyard Kipling’s magical tale brings English history dramatically to life to captivate both the young and the young at heart.
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The most charming bit of English history ever
- By Ellenaeddy on 09-06-15
By: Rudyard Kipling
What listeners say about The Road to Wigan Pier
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Braden
- 10-21-11
Very interesting book by a socialist in the 1930s!
This book is an interesting and detailed insight into the life of the working class in England in the 1930s, as well as into the thinking life of the intellectual socialists of that time. Mind you, most of the predictions Orwell made about the bleakness of the future of industrialization, and the inevitablility of socialism's adoption were way off-target, but then he didn't have the historical record of socialism's abject economic failures to draw upon as we do today, since it was almost all in the future at that time.
Nevertheless the way he analyzes from every angle, the thinking of socialists and non-socialists alike, is fascinating. What an intelligent man he was (I know, I know, if he was so intelligent, why did he get the future and the workability of socialism as an economic model so wrong? But I already addressed that in the last paragraph). Also, the details he describes in the everyday are a testimony to his incredible way with words.
The narrator's snobbish-sounding upper-class British dialect adds a lot to the reading, capturing the spirit of condescencion that Orwell clearly had for all sorts of groups he describes, whether socialists or non-socialists.
A first-class listen. I almost couldn't put it down.
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- Mark Brady
- 12-24-20
Hard to believe that was so recent
Orwell starts by recounting the living conditions of, what Victor Davis Hanson has termed, the muscular class. Post-war England’s working poor (or not working) dealt with conditions that are hard to comprehend. Made me chuckle when I think of the American college student rebelling against the ‘slave wages’ of $12/hour. After listening to this you’ll look at your bathtub or shower and H&C faucets with a sort of lust and relief.
The end of the book is a recipe for winning the cultural/political battle against the rise of Fascism. Still apropos to this day.
Worth your time to be sure.
Oh, and pay attentions to the last few paragraphs of the first 6 chapters. He polished them to a mirror-like finish with a razor’s edge.
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- William
- 09-02-20
Still relevant
Enjoyed very much. Many of Orwell’s observations remain relevant today. Perhaps not the one about the working class smelling bad!
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- chad johnson
- 12-26-22
modestly interesting
repossessed by Jordan Peterson, the last few chapters about fascism, socialism, capitalism, etc, were the best. Neat insight into the common man's world at the time. typically I don't like this Blackstone narrator, but he didn't overly dramatized his accent in this treating, somehow.
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Overall
- proton
- 04-15-09
Socialism
Written in the mid '30s Orwell interprets and then comments on the mindset of England at the pivotal point of their metamorphosis into a partner of the European family from a bully leadership role. As ever, Orwell's insight is stunning
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9 people found this helpful
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- Jon X.
- 10-08-20
background mumbling
I assume that multiple books are being recorded at the same time. In the background of the audio there’s a quiet but nonetheless noticeable voice of another book being read
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4 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 03-28-20
Wow scary accurate
Orwell's observations and social commentary is just as accurate today as in the 1930's. Its like he is reading my mind and is describing my everyday surrounds albeit less dire. Well worth the read and in an amazing voice that is very comprehensible at x1.5.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Thomas F. Lennon
- 01-15-20
An odd reading performance -- maybe the right one?
The recording dates back to the 1990s and it's odd -- a near caricature of an English gentleman's voice and accent. Initially it felt very much the wrong voice for this plain-spoken, unpretentious left-wing writer, whose loathing of so many aspects of the English upper-classes rings through his writings. But by the end of this brilliant book, my objections had lifted, for the second half of WIGAN PIER is a ruthlessly confessional insight into how class prejudices endure in all of us, including the writer, despite our best efforts, and the actor's upper class tones felt suddenly appropriate.
This is one strange book -- a deeply moving portrait of the miseries of English working-class life among the miners of Northern England, followed by a harrowing critique of socialism from a man who believed deeply in Socialism but was too honest not to attack its faults. A classic I'd heard about for decades and I'm so glad I know understand why it's a classic, one that has in no way lost its poliltical relevance.
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- Mary Phillips
- 09-02-21
Wigan Pier
Interesting read about the working class coal industry conditions in the 1930’s. The discussion of socialism relevant to that time period is interesting as well, helps one to understand the years between WW1 and WW2.
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- Mica Sims
- 08-18-21
Author falls short but great narration.
I was very disappointed in Orwell almost immediately into this. He’s definitely a novelist and should leave commentary alone. The whole book is why socialism is relevant to the lower class and it needs a new PR campaign. Never once did he make an argument for why socialism is losing fans. He decries capitalism as horrible but never gives a reason why or how to defend the view. The reader is waiting for a punchline that never comes. But the narrator did a fabulous job! 10pts for him
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