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Short Stories

The Thoroughly Modern Collection

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Short Stories

By: Doris Lessing, Haruki Murakami, A. S. Byatt
Narrated by: Harriet Walter, Walter Lewis, Roslaind Eyres
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About this listen

 23 stories, all unabridged, from a diverse group of star writers and readers. A truly memorable collection with a wide appeal.

The stories in this superb collection are as follows:

Mothers and Fathers - Angela Huth, Read by Janet McTeer
Shared Credit - Frederic Raphael, Read by Martin Jarvis
The Year�s Midnight - Helen Simpson, Read by Harriet Walter
A Place for Everything - Barry Unsworth, Read by Janet McTeer
The Ghost of the Rain Forest - Barry Unsworth, Read by Rosalind Ayres
A Feeling for Birds - Lisa St Aubin de Teran, Read by Janet McTeer
Battlefields - Alan Sillitoe, Read by Janet McTeer
Who? - Fay Weldon, Read by Julie Christie
Mrs Alcott Dances Naked in the Rain - Rosie Thomas, Read by Janet McTeer
Presto Barbaro - Ronald Frame, Read by Janet McTeer
Sea Lion - Douglas Hurd, Read by Martin Jarvis
The Sons of Upland Farm - George Mackay Brown, Read by Martin Jarvis
Dressing Up - Angela Huth, Read by Rosalind Ayres
Twenty Years - Doris Lessing, Read by Rosalind Ayres
Humphrey's Mother - Penelope Mortimer, Read by Martin Jarvis
The Hero - Joanna Trollope, Read by Martin Jarvis
Shreds and Slivers - Ruth Rendell, Read by Martin Jarvis
Brut Millésimé - Ludovic Kennedy, Read by Rosalind Ayres
On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning - Haruki Murakami, Read by Walter Lewis
Baglady - A.S. Byatt, Read by Rosalind Ayres
Hotel des Voyageurs - William Boyd, Read by Martin Jarvis
Toy Boy - Edwina Currie, Read by Rosalind Ayres
Simon - Patrick O�Brian, Read by Martin Jarvis

Public Domain (P)2006 CSA Telltapes Ltd. Anthologies Anthologies & Short Stories Classics Short Story Short Stories

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Critic reviews

"A different league...The readers grab your attention at the start of every tale and never let go." ( The Guardian)
All stars
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These stories are delectable. They got me through baking, ironing and tidying! But they ended far too soon - please can we have more modern short story collections such as these!

Fantastic Collection

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Enjoyable and entertaining selection of tales spoilt by the lack of pauses between them. One story ends and immediately the next one starts. One or two don't even tell you the title and author.

Great storytelling, poor editing.

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The stories are very good but the experience of listening was spoiled. This is because the compilation has been made by jamming all 23 stories together with no space at all between them. The next story starts without a breath being taken!

This is very annoying, as especially with a short story, the final line is important and needs to be digested. This is impossible when the next one begins immediately.

This spoiled them so much I would hesitate to recommend. Yet it could have been so good as the choice of stories and the reading of them is perfect!

Great Stories But Recording Disapointing

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Agree with another reviewer - the stories are varied and all well worth listening to. Janet Mcteer is an incredible actor and reader, so am really drawn to her stories in particular.

But, each ending is ruined by going straight (as if in the same sentence) to another story with no chance of savouring the final sentence. Initially it was very confusing as though the story suddenly took a new direction! I’ve had to put on the sleep timer just to really enjoy this collection.

Great stories, poor editing

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These made good bedtime stories for me. Most were the same length. Only one was distressing so that I had to skip over it.

Interesting tales

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