Literary Criticism audiobooks

Giants of Russian Literature: Turgenev, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and Chekhov

By: Liza Knapp

Narrated by: Jean-Marc Berne

Length: 7 hours 46 minutes

Abridged: No

Russian literature of the 19th century is among the richest, most profound, and most human traditions in the world. This course explores this tradition by focusing on four giants: Ivan Turgenev, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Leo Tolstoy, and Anton Chekhov. Their works had an enormous impact on Russian understanding of the human condition. And, just as... Read more

Monsters, Gods, and Heroes

By: Timothy B. Shutt

Narrated by: Richard Davidson

Length: 7 hours 44 minutes

Abridged: No

From the very outset in the West-from the time of Homer himself in about 750 BCE-the epic has been the most highly regarded of literary genres. It is rivaled only by tragedy, which arose a bit more than two centuries later, as the most respected, the most influential, and, from a slightly different vantage point, the most prestigious mode of... Read more

Dante and His Divine Comedy

By: Timothy B. Shutt

Narrated by: Timothy B. Shutt

Length: 8 hours 30 minutes

Abridged: No

Dante's Divine Comedy stands very high among the greatest literary works ever written. The Commedia is about the afterlife, not just Hell, but Purgatory and Heaven, too. Dante's genius is the genius of the allegorical method. The Commedia is, in the first instance, an account of Dante's own salvation. In chronicling his own recovery, indeed his... Read more

The Giants of Irish Literature

By: George O'Brien

Narrated by: George O'Brien

Length: 8 hours 18 minutes

Abridged: No

Oscar Wilde, W.B. Yeats, James Joyce, and Samuel Beckett: These four masters of Irish literature created works of startling innovation and unparalleled literary merit. They defied popular expectations and confounded critics with unique masterpieces that one might think of as puzzles, the solution of which lies at the heart of the modern age.... Read more

From Here to Infinity

By: Michael Drout

Narrated by: Michael Drout

Length: 7 hours 59 minutes

Abridged: No

Science fiction literature and films have contributed indelible images to the popular imagination, from H.G. Wells's War of the Worlds to Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles to the fiction of "cyberpunks." In addition to enthralling readers with breathtaking narratives and dazzling the imagination with mind-bending glimpses of possible futures,... Read more

Doris Lessing

By: Carole Klein

Narrated by: Anna Fields

Length: 10 hours 59 minutes

Abridged: No

Both in her personal life and in her literature, Doris Lessing broke the rules. Born in Persia and raised in Rhodesia by a hypercritical mother and a father who was shell-shocked during the First World War, she was forever in search of her essential identity. Twice married and divorced before the age of thirty, she moved to Britain with one of... Read more

10 Books That Screwed Up the World

By: Benjamin Wiker, Ph.D.

Narrated by: Robertson Dean

Length: 6 hours 54 minutes

Abridged: No

You've heard of the "Great Books"?



These are their evil opposites. From Machiavelli's The Prince to Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto to Alfred Kinsey's Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, these "influential" books have led to war, genocide, totalitarian oppression, family breakdown, and disastrous social experiments. And yet these authors' bad... Read more

Tony Horwitz: A Voyage Long and Strange

By: PBS NewsHour

Narrated by: PBS NewsHour

Length: 7 minutes

Abridged: No

In this discussion, author Tony Horwitz talks about his new book, A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World, and how the American continent during 1500s is largely a forgotten time. While most students know about Columbus sailing the ocean blue in 1492 and the Pilgrims landing in 1620, Horwitz tells the NewsHour’s Ray Suarez that... Read more

Die Augusteische Dichtung - Abridged

By: Niklas Holzberg

Narrated by: Niklas Holzberg

Length: 1 hour 11 minutes

Abridged: Yes

Philologie mit Prof. Dr. Niklas Holzberg: NACH PHILIPPI 42 v. Chr. Oktavian und Mark Anton haben die Cäsarmörder besiegt und teilen das römische Reich unter sich auf. In der unsicheren politischen Situation entstehen die idyllische Hirtenpoesie Vergils und die zeitkritischen Satiren des Horaz. NACH AKTIUM 31 v. Chr. Oktavian hat Mark... Read more

Simon Winchester: The Man Who Loved China

By: PBS NewsHour

Narrated by: PBS NewsHour

Length: 7 minutes

Abridged: No

In The Man Who Loved China, Simon Winchester tells the story of Joseph Needham, an eccentric biochemist at Cambridge University who embarked on two great love affairs—Lu Gwei-Djen and China. In this interview, Winchester discusses Needham's introduction to Chinese language, his creation of an intellectual force during war and conflict, China's... Read more

The Romantic Manifesto

By: Ayn Rand

Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne

Length: 7 hours 21 minutes

Abridged: No

In this beautifully written and brilliantly reasoned collection of essays, Ayn Rand throws new light on the nature of art and its purpose in human life. Once again, Rand demonstrates her bold originality and her refusal to let popular catchphrases and conventional ideas define her sense of the truth.In her ethics AynRand extolled the virtue of... Read more

Das Alter in der Literatur - Abridged

By: Helmut Bachmaier

Narrated by: Helmut Bachmaier

Length: 1 hour

Abridged: Yes

Die Literaturgeschichte bietet viele Beispiele für Lob und Fluch des Alters. Bei Autoren wie Montaigne, Shakespeare oder Goethe finden wir Einsichten, die durch die moderne Altersforschung verifiziert wurden. Ein Reigen von verschiedenen Altersbildern der Literaturgeschichte liefert Anregungen und Material, um das eigene Altern zu reflektieren. Read more

Die erotische Dichtung der Römer - Abridged

By: Niklas Holzberg

Narrated by: Niklas Holzberg

Length: 1 hour 8 minutes

Abridged: Yes

AMOR IN ROMA Die für das Sexualleben im antiken Rom gültige Ordnung ist dem Liebesgott eher feindlich gesinnt, weshalb die Verfasser erotischer Poesie eine Gegenwelt errichten. CATULL (UM 55 V. CHR.) Berühmt ist das Wechselbad seiner Gefühle in den Lesbia-Gedichten ("Ich hasse und liebe"). Als Spott- und Schmähdichter schreckt er vor... Read more

How to Read and Why

By: Harold Bloom

Narrated by: John McDonough

Length: 11 hours 7 minutes

Abridged: No

"Information is endlessly available to us; where shall wisdom be found?" is the crucial question with which renowned literary critic Harold Bloom begins this impassioned book on the pleasures and benefits of reading well. For more than forty years, Bloom has transformed college students into
lifelong readers with his unrivaled love for... Read more

Thalia Book Club: The Autobiography of a Biographer

By: James Atlas, Edmund Morris & Stacy Schiff

Narrated by: Various

Length: 1 hour 5 minutes

Abridged: No

A panel of James Atlas (Delmore Schwartz, Saul Bellow), Edmund Morris (Theodore Roosevelt) and Stacy Schiff (Vladimir Nabokov, Antoine de Saint-Exupery) discuss the process of researching and writing another person's story. Read more

Achebe Discusses Africa 50 Years After 'Things Fall Apart'

By: PBS NewsHour

Narrated by: PBS NewsHour

Length: 8 minutes

Abridged: No

A half century after Chinua Achebe penned Things Fall Apart, Jeffrey Brown discusses Africa's ongoing story with the famed author. Read more

Achebe Discusses Africa 50 Years After 'Things Fall Apart'

By: Chinua Achebe

Narrated by: Chinua Achebe & Jeffrey Brown

Length: 7 minutes

Abridged: No

A half century after Chinua Achebe penned Things Fall Apart, Jeffrey Brown discusses Africa's ongoing story with the famed author. Read more

A Writer’s People

By: V. S. Naipaul

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 5 hours 20 minutes

Abridged: No

Born in Trinidad of Indian descent, a resident of England for his entire adult life, and a prodigious traveler, V. S. Naipaul has always faced the challenges of "fitting one civilization to another." Here, he takes us into his sometimes inadvertent process of creative and intellectual assimilation, which has shaped both his writing and his... Read more

Junot Diaz: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

By: PBS NewsHour

Narrated by: PBS NewsHour

Length: 7 minutes

Abridged: No

From the 'Fuku' of the Dominican Republic to Klingon from Star Trek, the world of author Junot Diaz is a vibrant mix of cultures and languages. He discusses his influences and winning the Pulitzer Prize earlier this month for his novel, The Brief Wondrous Life of Wao. Read more

Armageddon in Retrospect

By: Kurt Vonnegut

Narrated by: Rip Torn

Length: 5 hours 15 minutes

Abridged: No

The New York Times bestseller from the author of Slaughterhouse-Five—a “gripping” posthumous collection of Kurt Vonnegut’s previously unpublished work on the subject of war and peace.

A fitting tribute to a literary legend and a profoundly humane humorist, Armageddon in Retrospect is a collection of twelve previously unpublished writings. Imbued... Read more

The Everything Guide to C.S. Lewis & Narnia - Abridged

By: Jon Kennedy

Narrated by: Mark Warner

Length: 4 hours 24 minutes

Abridged: Yes

The Lion, the Witch, and the man behind it all. Now, more than ever, the works of C.S. Lewis enthrall and entertain listeners of all ages. But who was this man of intellect and imagination? The Everything Guide to C.S. Lewis and Narnia gives you an in-depth look at this master storyteller, his life and times, and his best-known works. You'll... Read more

Those Who Walk in Darkness

By: John Ridley

Narrated by: Patricia R. Floyd

Length: 11 hours 1 minute

Abridged: No

John Ridley, the best-selling author of The Drift, is renowned for his gritty, violent tales and their razor-sharp dialogue. This foray into science fiction is an explosive thriller. In the near future, superheroes are very real. But so are supervillains. When San Francisco is toasted during a superbeing clash, America has had enough. All... Read more

The Philosophical Dictionary

By: Voltaire

Narrated by: Donal Donnelly

Length: 4 hours 15 minutes

Abridged: No

-A collection of Voltaire's ideas and thoughts that were too short for pamphlets but worth saving for later development-wise and witty entries on subjects as diverse as atheism and kissing. Read more

Memoirs of Africa with Alexandra Fuller and Wendy Kann

By: Alexandra Fuller & Wendy Kann

Narrated by: Isaiah Sheffer

Length: 1 hour 33 minutes

Abridged: No

Isaiah Sheffer sits down with two memoirists, Alexandra Fuller and Wendy Kann, to discuss their memoirs from Africa: Fuller's Scribbling the Cat and Kann's Casting With a Fragile Thread. Read more