Reviews of Classic Audio Books

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Charlie and The Chocolate Factory

Author: Roald Dahl

Reader: Eric Idle

Short Review: Dahl’s award-winning children’s book read wonderfully by Eric Idle.

Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney

 Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney
 Translator: Seamus Heaney
 Reader: George Guidall
 Short Review: Heaney’s excellent translation read well, though not perfectly, by Guidall.
 Long Review: You know already whether or not you want to listed to Beowulf as an audiobook. There are those of us who perk right up at the thought of listening to epic poetry read [...]

The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood

Short Review: Margaret Atwood’s retelling of a portion of The Odyssey in Penelope’s voice, her contribution to the Canongate Myth Series, read by Laurel Merlington.

The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper

Author: James Fenimore Cooper
Read by: Robertson Dean

Short Review: A beautifully-read version of a book I don’t actually like very much.

Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson

Housekeeping: A Novel

Author: Marilynne Robinson

Read by: Becket Royce

Short Review: Robinson’s prize-winning, gorgeous, intricate novel about women and the fragility of family, and of sanity, and the need to create and maintain a sense of home, no matter what happens. It is read well, if not perfectly, by Beckett Royce.

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Lolita
Author: Vladimir Nabokov
Read by: Jeremy Irons

Short Review: Nabokov’s beautifully-written, disturbing story of a pedophile’s love for a young girl, read by the inimitable Jeremy Irons.