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The Canterbury Tales: The Prioress's Tale (Modern Verse Translation)
- Narrated by: Rosalind Shanks
- Length: 15 mins
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Publisher's summary
This is a story from the Canterbury Tales III: Modern Verse Translation collection.
Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, a collection of narratives written between 1387 and 1400, tells of a group of 30 people from all layers of society who pass the time along their pilgrimage to Canterbury by telling stories to one another, their interaction mediated (at times) by the affable host - Chaucer himself. Naxos AudioBooks' third volume presents the tales of six people, here in an unabridged modern verse translation (by Frank Ernest Hill, 1935). This is an ideal way to appreciate the genuinely funny and droll talent of England's early master storyteller. Seven leading British actors bring the medieval world into the 21st century, and at least in terms of character, not much seems to have changed!
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The most dogmatically religious and anti-Semitic of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, The Prioress’s Tale describes how a virtuous seven-year-old young boy is murdered for angelically singing praise to the Virgin Mother. Rosalind Shanks, veteran of BBC radio, stage, and television, ably performs the difficult task of creating a character believable both in her readiness to cry over a dead mouse as well as her steely condemnation of those she believes are enemies to her Lord. This selection, based on Frank Ernest Hill’s modern English translation, is from an original audiobook production of Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.
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Samson Agonistes
- By: John Milton
- Narrated by: David de Keyser, Philip Madoc, Matthew Morgan, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 51 mins
- Original Recording
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Samson Agonistes, the 'dramatic poem' by John Milton, was published in 1671, three years before the poet's death. Written in the form of a Greek tragedy, with the Chorus commenting on the action, it follows the biblical story of the blind Samson as he wreaks his revenge on the Philistines who have imprisoned him. A powerful subject, with a personal resonance for the blind Milton, it is a perfect work for the medium of audiobook where poetry and drama can be balanced equally.
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Unbelievable
- By Anonymous User on 11-06-20
By: John Milton
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Le Morte D'Arthur
- By: Sir Thomas Malory
- Narrated by: Chris MacDonnell
- Length: 37 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
To the modern eye, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table have many similarities to our own contemporary super-heroes. Equipped with magical powers, enchanted swords, super-strength, and countless villains to take on, they protect the weak and innocent and adhere to their own code of honor. Comparing Batman, Superman, and Captain America to Sir Launcelot, Sir Tristram, and Sir Galahad isn't a huge leap of the imagination.
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This is my go-to audio version of Malory
- By Arthurian Tapestry on 03-16-19
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The Canterbury Tales: A Retelling
- By: Peter Ackroyd
- Narrated by: Keith Moore, Toby Leonard Moore, Colin McPhillamy, and others
- Length: 16 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Author Peter Ackroyd has won the Somerset Maugham Award, the Whitbread Novel of the Year, and the Guardian Fiction Prize, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Based on Geoffrey Chaucer’s immortal work, this retelling of The Canterbury Tales follows a party of travelers as they tell stories amongst themselves about love and chivalry, saints and legends, travel and adventure. Through allegory, satire, and humor, the tales help pass the time during their journey.
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WOW
- By Mitchell Drimmer on 02-25-15
By: Peter Ackroyd
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The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner
- By: James Hogg
- Narrated by: Peter Kenny, Nick McArdle
- Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Story
A psychological thriller before its time, James Hogg’s Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner, published in 1824, takes us back to the world of 18th-century Scotland, into a mind haunted by religious obsession, and driven to commit murder. The events are told from several different viewpoints, so that truth and reality appear to dissolve in this disturbing story of the dark legacy of Calvinist doctrine, and how it led one man to madness.
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A gripping story
- By fred greene on 04-19-18
By: James Hogg
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Gargantua and Pantagruel
- By: François Rabelais
- Narrated by: Bill Homewood
- Length: 34 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Performance
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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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The Plays of Sophocles
- Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone
- By: Sophocles
- Narrated by: David McCallion
- Length: 5 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Sophocles was born at Colonus, near Athens in about 496 BC and is considered to be one of the premier playwrights of Greek tragedy. His stories may have been filled with strife, but Sophocles himself was prosperous and came from a good family. It is said that he was handsome, wealthy, and a highly respected citizen of Athens. During his life, he wrote over 120 plays and was instrumental in how plays would eventually be performed, including the addition of stage props.
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Bad Dialogue
- By Zoe Olvera on 08-12-18
By: Sophocles
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Medea
- By: Euripides
- Narrated by: Jonathan Waters
- Length: 1 hr and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Medea is an ancient Greek tragedy written by Euripides, based upon the myth of Jason and Medea and first produced in 431 BC. The plot centers on the actions of Medea, a former princess of the "barbarian" kingdom of Colchis, and the wife of Jason; she finds her position in the Greek world threatened as Jason leaves her for a Greek princess of Corinth. Medea takes vengeance on Jason by murdering Jason's new wife as well as her own children, after which she escapes to Athens to start a new life.
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Great Narrator makes this story work
- By cosmitron on 08-02-18
By: Euripides
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Lack of coherant "chapters"
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By: Geoffrey Chaucer
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The Canterbury Tales [Blackstone]
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In this edition, we hear, translated into modern English, 20-some tales, told in the voices of knight and merchant, wife and miller, squire and nun, and many more. Some are bawdy, some spiritual, some romantic, some mysterious, some chivalrous. Between the stories, the travelers converse, joke, and argue, revealing much about their individual outlooks upon life as well as what life was like in late 14th-century England.
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A helpful index
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By: Geoffrey Chaucer
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Beowulf
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- Narrated by: Svanur Thorkelsson
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The Old English epic poem Beowulf, recorded in its original Saxon dialect for the first time. Performed by Icelandic poet, playwright, professional storyteller and performer Svanur Thorkelsson, Audible’s production gives listeners the opportunity to experience how it might have felt to hear bards recite sections of the 3000-line poem from memory in Anglo Saxon dining halls. Audible’s Beowulf recaptures the heroic style and vast scale of what can be considered ‘England’s first native audiobook’.
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Recorded in Anglo-Saxon, not Modern English
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Beowulf
- By: Michael Alexander, Anonymous
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Beowulf is the greatest surviving work of literature in Old English, unparalleled in its epic grandeur and scope. It tells the story of the heroic Beowulf and of his battles, first with the monster Grendel, who has laid waste to the great hall of the Danish king Hrothgar, then with Grendel's avenging mother and finally with a dragon that threatens to devastate his homeland.
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Excellent translation and reading
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By: Michael Alexander, and others
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The Canterbury Tales
- By: Geoffrey Chaucer
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Overall
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The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories, written in the Middle English vernacular, supposedly told among a group of pilgrims traveling from London to Canterbury. Chaucer uses the form, possibly based on knowledge of Boccaccio’s Decameron gained on a visit to Italy in 1373, to provide a highly varied portrait of his society, both secular and religious. The journey of the pilgrims, unlike that of, say, Homer’s Odysseus or of Dante in the Divine Comedy, is relatively unimportant compared to the tales themselves, where Chaucer’s true interest lies.
By: Geoffrey Chaucer
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Paradise Lost
- By: John Milton
- Narrated by: Sam Kusi
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The first version, published in 1667, consists of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse. A second edition followed in 1674, arranged into twelve books (in the manner of Virgil's Aeneid) with minor revisions throughout. It is considered by critics to be Milton's major work, and it helped solidify his reputation as one of the greatest English poets of his time.
By: John Milton
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A Midsummer Night's Dream
- By: William Shakespeare
- Narrated by: David Miles
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- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Сomedy "A Midsummer's Night Dream" is a wonderful piece of work written by a genius English playwright William Shakespeare. Three very amusing stories tightly connected with each other fascinate the reader with numerous love adventures. The reason for that is a potion of a forest spirit Puck. William Shakespeare is the author of the world famous sonnets and plays Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth and Othello, as well as comedies Twelfth Night, A Midsummer's Night Dream, Love’s Labour's Lost, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Two Gentlemen of Verona and As You Like It.
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The Canterbury Tales: The Knight's Tale (Modern Verse Translation)
- By: Geoffrey Chaucer
- Narrated by: Edward de Souza
- Length: 55 mins
- Abridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
This is a story from the Canterbury Tales I: Modern Verse Translation collection. Chaucer's greatest work, written towards the end of the fourteenth century, paints a brilliant picture of medieval life, society and values. The stories range from the romantic, courtly idealism of "The Knight's Tale" to the joyous bawdy of the Miller's; all are told with a freshness and vigor in this modern verse translation that make them a delight to hear.
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The Knight's Tale
- By Asheley on 08-02-18
By: Geoffrey Chaucer
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The Canterbury Tales: The Prologue
- By: Geoffrey Chaucer
- Narrated by: Philip Madoc
- Length: 22 mins
- Abridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
This is a story from the Canterbury Tales I: Modern Verse Translation collection. Chaucer's greatest work, written towards the end of the fourteenth century, paints a brilliant picture of medieval life, society and values. The stories range from the romantic, courtly idealism of "The Knight's Tale" to the joyous bawdy of the Miller's; all are told with a freshness and vigor in this modern verse translation that make them a delight to hear.
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The Canterbury Tales' Prologue
- By Asheley on 07-27-18
By: Geoffrey Chaucer
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Paradise Lost & Paradise Regained
- By: John Milton
- Narrated by: Charlton Griffin
- Length: 16 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Paradise Lost, along with its companion piece, Paradise Regained, remain the most successful attempts at Greco-Roman style epic poetry in the English language. Remarkably enough, they were written near the end of John Milton's amazing life, a bold testimonial to his mental powers in old age. And, since he had gone completely blind in 1652, 15 years prior to Paradise Lost, he dictated it and all his other works to his daughter.
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SELL YOUR SHIRT FOR THIS AUDIO BOOK!
- By thomas on 04-23-11
By: John Milton
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The Aeneid
- By: Virgil, Robert Fitzgerald - translator
- Narrated by: Christopher Ravenscroft
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Abridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
Profoundly poetic yet gloriously accessible, this is the best way to experience a work that has remained a centerpiece of Western civilization for 2,000 years. Fitzgerald's rendering speaks directly to the modern listener, inviting us to share the excitement, adventure, and human tears as Aeneas, the warrior hero, escapes from the burning city of Troy, embarks on a long and perilous journey, and eventually, triumphantly establishes a new nation: Rome.
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Not complete
- By Martin E Sargent on 04-16-16
By: Virgil, and others
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A Tale of Two Cities
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Jerry Trant
- Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
After eighteen years as a political prisoner in the Bastille, the ageing Doctor Manette is finally released and reunited with his daughter in England. There the lives of two very different men, Charles Darnay, an exiled French aristocrat, and Sydney Carton, a disreputable but brilliant English lawyer, become enmeshed through their love for Lucie Manette. From the tranquil roads of London, they are drawn against their will to the vengeful, bloodstained streets of Paris at the height of the Reign of Terror, and they soon fall under the lethal shadow of La Guillotine.
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Terrible Narration
- By Amazon Customer on 10-23-20
By: Charles Dickens
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Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
- By: Simon Armitage
- Narrated by: Bill Wallis
- Length: 5 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
The famous Middle English poem by an anonymous Northern England poet is beautifully translated by fellow poet Simon Armitage in this edition. "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" narrates in crystalline verse the strange tale of a green knight who rudely interrupts the Round Table festivities one Yuletide, casting a pall of unease over the company and challenging one of their number to a wager.
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great original, translation, and reader
- By Mary on 04-30-08
By: Simon Armitage