Classic Archives - Page 3 of 3

Dracula [Audible Edition]

Written by: Bram Stoker

Narrated by: Alan Cumming, Tim Curry, Simon Vance, Katherine Kellgren, Susan Duerden, John Lee, Graeme Malcolm, Steven Crossley

Length: Length: 15 hrs and 28 mins

Unabridged Audiobook

Release Date: 02-20-12

Publisher: Audible Studios

About the author

Bram Stoker was an Irish writer and is best known for his novels and short stories. The Gothic horror novel Dracula is probably his most popular work. He lived during the Victorian and Edwardian Eras (1847 – 1912) and published Dracula in 1897.

What is Dracula about

Dracula is the original vampire story. It’s what got vampires into the public psyche, making them a subject of fascination and fear for years to come. It’s about Count Dracula’s attempt to move from Transylvania to England and the struggle of a small group led by Professor Abraham Van Helsing (no, not the one with ragged coat, long hair and crossbow) to prevent him from achieving his goal.

The Brothers Karamazov

Written by: Fyodor Dostoevsky

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 19 hrs and 12 mins

Unabridged Audiobook

Release Date: 01-15-09

Publisher: christianaudio.com

I’ve been thinking about reading some classic literature for some time now, and what better book to start with than The Brothers Karamazov. There’re multiple audiobook versions available, both abridged and unabridged, so you’ll have lots of choice of how to consume it. I went for the 2009 abridged edition narrated by Simon Vance. It’s almost 20 hours long which is the perfect sweetspot for me. The full version is something like 40 hours long, so…

Unlike your typical abridged audiobook, this one seems to shorten things on word and phrase level rather then cut out whole scenes or chapters. A word removed here, change of phrasing there and it all adds up with the end result being about 50% shorter than the original. It’s more of a compression than an abridgment. Sure, you’re loosing some of the feel of the original, but you’re presented with a carefully crafted piece, not some hack job. The famous The Grand Inquisitor chapter is still there in all of its glory, for example.