The Bright Book of Life
Novels to Read and Reread
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Narrated by:
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Stephen Mendel
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Written by:
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Harold Bloom
About this listen
America's most original and controversial literary critic writes trenchantly about 48 masterworks spanning the Western tradition — from Don Quixote to Wuthering Heights to Invisible Man — in his first book devoted exclusively to narrative fiction.
In this valedictory volume, Yale professor Harold Bloom — who for more than half a century was regarded as America's most daringly original and controversial literary critic — gives us his only book devoted entirely to the art of the novel. With his hallmark percipience, remarkable scholarship, and extraordinary devotion to sublimity, Bloom offers meditations on 48 essential works spanning the Western canon, from Don Quixote to Book of Numbers; from Wuthering Heights to Absalom, Absalom!; from Les Misérables to Blood Meridian; from Vanity Fair to Invisible Man. Here are trenchant appreciations of fiction by, among many others, Austen, Balzac, Dickens, Tolstoy, James, Conrad, Lawrence, Le Guin, and Sebald.
Whether you have already listened to these books, plan to, or simply care about the importance and power of fiction, Harold Bloom is your unparalleled guide to understanding literature with new intimacy.
©2020 Harold Bloom (P)2020 Random House AudioYou may also enjoy...
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- Length: 15 hrs and 8 mins
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Overall
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Written by: Fernando Cervantes
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- Narrated by: Skye C. Cleary
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Overall
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Performance
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In the 24 fascinating lectures of Existentialism and the Authentic Life, Professor Skye C. Cleary will lead you through the writings of many existentialists to help you understand how they addressed the biggest of all questions. Writing about love, death, sex, war, plagues, intrigue, murder, deception, and more, these thinkers guide you toward living an authentic and meaningful life in a world that often seems absurd.
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- Original Recording
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Overall
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Performance
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Written by: The Great Courses, and others
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Tripping on Utopia
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- Written by: Benjamin Breen
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
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The Berlin Wall
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- Length: 21 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Story
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Performance
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Performance
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Story
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Infuriating narrator can't say German names
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The Cemetery of Untold Stories
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- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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- Unabridged
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Performance
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Story
The struggle between Rome and Carthage in the Punic Wars was arguably the greatest and most desperate conflict of antiquity. The forces involved and the casualties suffered by both sides were far greater than in any wars fought before the modern era, while the eventual outcome had far-reaching consequences for the history of the Western World, namely the ascendancy of Rome. An epic of war and battle, this is also the story of famous generals and leaders: Hannibal, Fabius Maximus, Scipio Africanus, and his grandson Scipio Aemilianus, who would finally bring down the walls of Carthage.
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It's a basic outline of the 3 Punic wars
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Written by: Adrian Goldsworthy
What the critics say
"Fresh insights and renewed joys... fervent... dedicated... [Bloom] candidly analyzes what he considers a novel’s shortcomings and where he differs with other critics’ assessments. [His] ardent celebration of novels is tinged with the inevitable losses of old age... Warm recollections of a singular literary life." (Kirkus Reviews)