Preview

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Madman

By: Khalil Gibrán
Narrated by: Arthur Brown
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $7.00

Buy for $7.00

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Kahlil Gibran's The Madman was the first book he penned in English. Beautifully written, it is a short collection of parables on God, animals, human nature, and life's big questions. Not as well known as his classic The Prophet, but some would say just as inspirational, or possibly more so.

Read the first verse here and decide for yourself, or better still, listen to the sample of Arthur Browns' beautiful narration. You ask me how I became a madman. It happened thus: One day, long before many gods were born, I woke from a deep sleep and found all my masks were stolen, the seven masks I have fashioned and worn in seven lives, I ran maskless through the crowded streets shouting, "Thieves, thieves, the cursed thieves." Men and women laughed at me and some ran to their houses in fear of me. And when I reached the market place, a youth standing on a house top cried, "He is a madman." I looked up to behold him; the sun kissed my own naked face for the first time. For the first time the sun kissed my own naked face and my soul was inflamed with love for the sun, and I wanted my masks no more. And as if in a trance I cried, "Blessed, blessed are the thieves who stole my masks." Thus I became a madman.

And I have found both freedom of loneliness and the safety from being understood, for those who understand us enslave something in us.But let me not be too proud of my safety. Even a Thief in a jail is safe from another thief.

©1918 White Crow Productions Ltd (P)2009 White Crow Productions Ltd
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about The Madman

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    56
  • 4 Stars
    9
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    47
  • 4 Stars
    10
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    49
  • 4 Stars
    8
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Madman indeed

Classic reflection of life itself, and the interpretive meaning attached to individual perception of value. Deviance is the foundation to innovation.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The Narrator is awesome.

Awesome Narration, I enjoy the reading and will be listening to this audio again.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent read!

I wish I owned the book, now. I want to go back and review some of the short stories again

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

The madman in us all

The Mad Man is a beautiful short book of poems and parables that are thought provoking and nuanced. Gibran looks at the multiple fronts we display to the world versus the inner essence of which we are and how the mind struggles to deal with the ambiguities inherent in that existence. Favorite quote: “My friend, I am not what I seem. Seeming is but a garment I wear-a care-woven garment that protects me from thy questionings and thee from my negligence.”

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Tales

This book was brought up in a discussion about a wrestlers character change (Jonathan Gresham) and I felt that this was a book I had to hear. I can honestly say that I made the right decision. Sean D. James

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Artful mystical narration!

Profound spiritual teachings with masterful narration. The Madman ponders the depths and purpose of human existence.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

An Interesting, if Somewhat Dark Series of Short Vignettes

I am intentionally differentiating between the reading performance and the work itself. I rate the performance as "five stars" as the reading is professional and accurate. I read while listening. The work itself is a series of seemingly metaphorical and allegorical vignettes, almost like a prosaic form of poetry. Much of this work seems dark to me. There is much need for interpretation and contemplation, without which the exercise is not as valuable and may in fact prove pointless. Personally I did enjoy the experience and am interested in studying the author. Think You...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!