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The Sun Also Rises
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A Farewell to Arms
- By: Ernest Hemingway
- Narrated by: John Slattery
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 296
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 220
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 224
The best American novel to emerge from World War I, A Farewell to Arms is the unforgettable story of an American ambulance driver on the Italian front and his passion for a beautiful English nurse.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Farewell to a good listen
- By James on 16-12-07
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A Moveable Feast
- By: Ernest Hemingway
- Narrated by: James Naughton
- Length: 4 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 104
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 90
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 88
Published posthumously in 1964, A Moveable Feast remains one of Ernest Hemingway's most beloved works. It is his classic memoir of Paris in the 1920s, filled with irreverent portraits of other expatriate luminaries such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein; tender memories of his first wife, Hadley; and insightful recollections of his own early experiments with his craft.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Movable Café
- By Apricot on 19-10-17
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For Whom the Bell Tolls
- By: Ernest Hemingway
- Narrated by: Campbell Scott
- Length: 16 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 535
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 436
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 432
In 1937, Ernest Hemingway traveled to Spain to cover the civil war there for the North American Newspaper Alliance. Three years later he completed the greatest novel to emerge from "the good fight", For Whom the Bell Tolls.
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5 out of 5 stars
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For whom the bell tolls
- By Martin on 17-10-10
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To Have and Have Not
- By: Ernest Hemingway
- Narrated by: Will Patton
- Length: 5 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 51
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 35
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Story4 out of 5 stars 35
To Have and Have Not is the dramatic story of Harry Morgan, an honest man who is forced into running contraband between Cuba and Key West as a means of keeping his crumbling family financially afloat. His adventures lead him into the world of wealthy and dissipated yachtsmen who throng the region, and involve him in a strange and unlikely love affair.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Loved the dialogue and incredible narration
- By juliana on 13-01-16
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The Old Man and the Sea
- By: Ernest Hemingway
- Narrated by: Donald Sutherland
- Length: 2 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 508
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 436
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 433
The Old Man and the Sea is one of Hemingway's most enduring works. Told in language of great simplicity and power, it is the story of an old Cuban fisherman, down on his luck, and his supreme ordeal, a relentless, agonizing battle with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream. Here Hemingway recasts, in strikingly contemporary style, the classic theme of courage in the face of defeat, of personal triumph won from loss.
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5 out of 5 stars
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great reading of greater work
- By Kindle Customer on 05-01-17
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The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories
- By: Ernest Hemingway
- Narrated by: Stacy Keach
- Length: 4 hrs and 54 mins
- Abridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 17
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 13
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Story4 out of 5 stars 13
The ideal introduction to the genius of Ernest Hemingway, The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories contains ten of Hemingway's most acclaimed and popular works of short fiction. Selected from Winner Take Nothing, Men Without Women, and The Fifth Column and the First Forty-Nine Stories, this collection includes "The Killers," the first of Hemingway's mature stories to be accepted by an American periodical.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Collossal
- By Mercadier on 07-04-13
-
A Farewell to Arms
- By: Ernest Hemingway
- Narrated by: John Slattery
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 296
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 220
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 224
The best American novel to emerge from World War I, A Farewell to Arms is the unforgettable story of an American ambulance driver on the Italian front and his passion for a beautiful English nurse.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Farewell to a good listen
- By James on 16-12-07
-
A Moveable Feast
- By: Ernest Hemingway
- Narrated by: James Naughton
- Length: 4 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 104
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 90
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 88
Published posthumously in 1964, A Moveable Feast remains one of Ernest Hemingway's most beloved works. It is his classic memoir of Paris in the 1920s, filled with irreverent portraits of other expatriate luminaries such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein; tender memories of his first wife, Hadley; and insightful recollections of his own early experiments with his craft.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Movable Café
- By Apricot on 19-10-17
-
For Whom the Bell Tolls
- By: Ernest Hemingway
- Narrated by: Campbell Scott
- Length: 16 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 535
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 436
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 432
In 1937, Ernest Hemingway traveled to Spain to cover the civil war there for the North American Newspaper Alliance. Three years later he completed the greatest novel to emerge from "the good fight", For Whom the Bell Tolls.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
For whom the bell tolls
- By Martin on 17-10-10
-
To Have and Have Not
- By: Ernest Hemingway
- Narrated by: Will Patton
- Length: 5 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 51
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 35
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 35
To Have and Have Not is the dramatic story of Harry Morgan, an honest man who is forced into running contraband between Cuba and Key West as a means of keeping his crumbling family financially afloat. His adventures lead him into the world of wealthy and dissipated yachtsmen who throng the region, and involve him in a strange and unlikely love affair.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Loved the dialogue and incredible narration
- By juliana on 13-01-16
-
The Old Man and the Sea
- By: Ernest Hemingway
- Narrated by: Donald Sutherland
- Length: 2 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 508
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 436
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 433
The Old Man and the Sea is one of Hemingway's most enduring works. Told in language of great simplicity and power, it is the story of an old Cuban fisherman, down on his luck, and his supreme ordeal, a relentless, agonizing battle with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream. Here Hemingway recasts, in strikingly contemporary style, the classic theme of courage in the face of defeat, of personal triumph won from loss.
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5 out of 5 stars
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great reading of greater work
- By Kindle Customer on 05-01-17
-
The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories
- By: Ernest Hemingway
- Narrated by: Stacy Keach
- Length: 4 hrs and 54 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 17
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 13
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 13
The ideal introduction to the genius of Ernest Hemingway, The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories contains ten of Hemingway's most acclaimed and popular works of short fiction. Selected from Winner Take Nothing, Men Without Women, and The Fifth Column and the First Forty-Nine Stories, this collection includes "The Killers," the first of Hemingway's mature stories to be accepted by an American periodical.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Collossal
- By Mercadier on 07-04-13
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Islands in the Stream
- By: Ernest Hemingway
- Narrated by: Bruce Greenwood
- Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 39
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 24
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 24
First published in 1970, nine years after Hemingway's death, this is the story of an artist and adventurer, a man much like Hemingway himself. Beginning in the 1930s, Islands in the Stream follows the fortunes of Thomas Hudson, from his experiences as a painter on the Gulf Stream island of Bimini through his antisubmarine activities off the coast of Cuba during World War II. Hemingway is at his mature best in this beguiling tale.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Paradise.
- By Mercadier on 07-04-13
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Men Without Women
- By: Ernest Hemingway
- Narrated by: Stacy Keach
- Length: 4 hrs and 4 mins
- Abridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 17
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 15
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Story4 out of 5 stars 16
First published in 1927, Men Without Women represents some of Hemingway's most important and compelling early writing. In these 14 stories, Hemingway begins to examine the themes that would occupy his later works: the casualties of war, the often uneasy relationship between men and women, sport and sportsmanship.
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5 out of 5 stars
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overall an educational read
- By Bianca Lashley on 02-07-16
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On the Road
- By: Jack Kerouac
- Narrated by: Matt Dillon
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 451
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 343
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Story4 out of 5 stars 344
Sal Paradise, a young innocent, joins his hero Dean Moriarty, a traveller and mystic, the living epitome of Beat, on a breathless, exuberant ride back and forth across the United States. Their hedonistic search for release or fulfilment through drink, sex, drugs and jazz becomes an exploration of personal freedom, a test of the limits of the American dream.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Read this book and explode across the stars
- By Gabe Fleming (Audible staff) on 26-05-16
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True at First Light
- A Fictional Memoir
- By: Ernest Hemingway
- Narrated by: Brian Dennehy
- Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 17
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 5
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Story4 out of 5 stars 6
A blend of autobiography and fiction, the book opens on the day his close friend, Pop, a celebrated hunter, leaves Ernest in charge of the safari camp and news arrives of a potential attack from a hostile tribe. Drama continues to build as his wife, Mary, pursues the great black-maned lion that has become her obsession. Spicing his depictions of human longings with sharp humor, Hemingway captures the excitement of big-game hunting and the unparalleled beauty of the scenery.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Hemingway, I Presume?
- By Mercadier on 07-04-13
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Tender Is the Night
- By: F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Narrated by: Therese Plummer
- Length: 12 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 37
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 31
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 32
Set on the French Riviera in the late 1920s, Tender Is the Night is the tragic romance of the young actress Rosemary Hoyt and the stylish American couple Dick and Nicole Diver. A brilliant young psychiatrist at the time of his marriage, Dick is both husband and doctor to Nicole, whose wealth goads him into a lifestyle not his own, and whose growing strength highlights Dick's harrowing demise. A profound study of the romantic concept of character - lyrical, expansive, and hauntingly evocative.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Engaging story, beautifully crafted
- By Alexis Paladin on 23-05-18
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The Power and the Glory
- By: Graham Greene
- Narrated by: Andrew Sachs
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 103
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 91
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 90
In a poor Mexican state in the 1930s, the Red Shirts have viciously persecuted the clergy and murdered many priests. Yet one remains - the ‘whisky priest’ who believes he's lost his soul. On the run and with the police closing in, his routes of escape are being shut off, his chances getting fewer. But compassion and humanity force him along the road to his destiny…Andrew Sachs reads Graham Greene’s powerful novel about a worldly Roman Catholic priest and his quest for penitence and dignity.
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5 out of 5 stars
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No small entertainment
- By Aquilina Christophorus on 12-01-18
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Ulysses
- By: James Joyce
- Narrated by: Jim Norton
- Length: 27 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 440
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 305
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Story4 out of 5 stars 302
Ulysses is regarded by many as the single most important novel of the 20th century. It tells the story of one day in Dublin, June 16th 1904, largely through the eyes of Stephen Dedalus (Joyce's alter ego from Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man) and Leopold Bloom, an advertising salesman. Both begin a normal day, and both set off on a journey around the streets of Dublin, which eventually brings them into contact with one another.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Monumental Achievement
- By Antti on 19-03-14
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The Sound and the Fury
- By: William Faulkner
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 57
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 48
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Story4 out of 5 stars 49
First published in 1929, Faulkner created his "heart's darling", the beautiful and tragic Caddy Compson, whose story Faulkner told through separate monologues by her three brothers: the idiot Benjy, the neurotic suicidal Quentin, and the monstrous Jason.
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3 out of 5 stars
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William Faulkner Writes Well!
- By Annie on 12-01-17
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The Master and Margarita
- By: Mikhail Bulgakov
- Narrated by: Julian Rhind-Tutt
- Length: 16 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 399
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 316
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 316
The Devil comes to Moscow, but he isn't all bad; Pontius Pilate sentences a charismatic leader to his death, but yearns for redemption; and a writer tries to destroy his greatest tale, but discovers that manuscripts don't burn. Multi-layered and entrancing, blending sharp satire with glorious fantasy, The Master and Margarita is ceaselessly inventive and profoundly moving. In its imaginative freedom and raising of eternal human concerns, it is one of the world's great novels.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Splendid
- By Sydney on 19-11-09
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The Great Gatsby
- By: F. Scott Fitzgerald
- Narrated by: Jake Gyllenhaal
- Length: 4 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,559
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,424
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,418
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic American novel of the Roaring Twenties is beloved by generations of readers and stands as his crowning work. This new audio edition, authorized by the Fitzgerald estate, is narrated by Oscar-nominated actor Jake Gyllenhaal ( Brokeback Mountain). Gyllenhaal's performance is a faithful delivery in the voice of Nick Carraway, the Midwesterner turned New York bond salesman, who rents a small house next door to the mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby. There, he has a firsthand view of Gatsby’s lavish West Egg parties - and of his undying love....
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5 out of 5 stars
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Could be a better investment than the movie
- By Anthony on 02-06-13
![The Trial [Naxos AudioBooks] cover art](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41jUc3YoPZL._SL320_.jpg)
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The Trial [Naxos AudioBooks]
- By: Franz Kafka, David Whiting (translator)
- Narrated by: Rupert Degas
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 147
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 100
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Story4 out of 5 stars 99
The Trial is one of the great works of the 20th century - an extraordinary vision of one man put on trial by an anonymous authority on an unspecified charge. Kafka evokes all the terrifying reality of his ordeal.
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5 out of 5 stars
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a dull life brought to insanity
- By GenKaan on 27-03-15
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The Grapes of Wrath
- By: John Steinbeck
- Narrated by: John Chancer
- Length: 19 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,126
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 928
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 933
Shocking and controversial when it was first published, Steinbeck's Pulitzer prize-winning epic remains his undisputed masterpiece. Set against the background of Dust Bowl Oklahoma and Californian migrant life, it tells of the Joad family, who, like thousands of others, are forced to travel west in search of the promised land.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A book with a great voice
- By James on 16-04-11
Summary
Follow the flamboyant Brett and the hapless Jake as they journey from the wild nightlife of 1920s Paris to the brutal bullfighting rings of Spain with a motley group of expatriates. It is an age of moral bankruptcy, spiritual dissolution, unrealized love, and vanishing illusions. First published in 1926, The Sun Also Rises helped to establish Hemingway as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century.
Critic reviews
- Audie Award Finalist, Classic, 2007
"An absorbing, beautifully and tenderly absurd, heart-breaking narrative....It is a truly gripping story, told in lean, hard athletic prose...magnificent." (The New York Times)
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What members say
Average customer ratings
Overall
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4 out of 5 stars
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5 Stars105
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4 Stars85
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3 Stars41
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2 Stars16
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4 out of 5 stars
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5 Stars99
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4 Stars49
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3 Stars27
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4 out of 5 stars
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5 Stars92
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4 Stars59
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3 Stars34
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2 Stars15
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1 Stars4
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Lukas
- 07-10-17
Excellent story, mediocre narrator
The narrator made this a little bit of a suffering to listen to this story
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- NP
- 04-05-14
Hemingway again but not Hurt
Would you try another book written by Ernest Hemingway or narrated by William Hurt?
This was my first encounter with Hemingway, and threatened to be my last. If I had been listening to an author without such a pedigree, and therfore couldn't go online and be reminded by all and sundry that this is a defining novel, I suspect I would have walked away. This is undoubtedly partly my own fault - I came at the novel cold, without any reading about the context or themes, which at the distance of years would have been extremely useful. However, I believe much of the problem was the narration, which frequently irritated enough to distract concentration from the story. I'm a Scot, so Mike was a bad start - a cartoon character, sounding like a drunken Shrek. The other Brits had accents equally comic-book ridiculous, Brett's variable and often grating American take on Brit upper class just about killing her characterisation. Add in some Fawlty Towers Spaniards and only the Americans sound in any way true. In addition the narrator seems to eschew any flowing sentence structure, pausing where (I presume?) there is no punctuation in the novel, and sometimes grinding almost to a halt before jolting off. Again, perhaps my lack of familiarity with Hemingway is to blame, and he is supposed to be read in the form of heroic poetry, but I found it another layer of distraction.
Any additional comments?
Having read a number of online notes about the book since listening, I would certainly revisit it, as clearly I missed much of what makes this novel stand out. However, that will be a different narrator or a hard copy. Meanwhile I will buy another Hemingway on Audible, and watch Shrek again, where a stereotyped Scottish accent can be appropriately enjoyed.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Daria
- budapestHungary
- 19-01-10
Excellent Book.
A classic novel that stay forever. Fantastic narrator. Enjoyed it very much!
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ariel
- United Kingdom
- 14-02-19
Great book but not the best Hemingway
I like Hemingway’s style. Some snobs will call it simplistic but it works and, if you compare it with the writing in some modern best sellers, it is actually a great style.
If you want to learn about bullfights from someone who loved them, this is a great book. I have miss feelings about bullfights. I used to hate them but I’m starting to see why someone like Hemingway liked them. It also paints a fantastic picture of the Spanish landscape.
Over all I do not regret purchasing this book although if I have to pick only one book by the author I’d go for For Whom The Bell Tolls.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Ms AC Blundy-Mortimer
- 21-07-18
The Redemption of a Great Last Line
If anyone but Hurt had read it I think I'd have given up. It's sexist and all the posturing and macho drinking just pretty dull. Empty people being empty, but a very good depiction of that. He can write. All very vivid. And the last line is so wonderful I forgave him for being Hemingway.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Cristina
- 13-06-18
William Hurt is superb
The painful fall of a war-struck generation that has lost its path to the future, which really looks like our deprived, disorientated young generation.
Jake and Brett's true love is breathtaking.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Bob Seabrook
- 17-05-18
I long for a time...
I long for a time when such things, and such people, are possible...sadly I feel that I missed it, and them.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- rebecca ward
- preston, lancashire United Kingdom
- 13-03-18
The Lost Generation
I love being immersed in Hemingway’s world, and feeling part of the Lost Generation.
However, the book lost 1 star due to William Hurt’s awful Scottish accent which seemed to morph from vaguely Scottish, to Welsh, to Russian.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- M
- 17-01-18
Sad for it to come to an end
Thougherly enjoyed this adaptation. I was especially impressed with the narrators repertoire of accents, which seems to be an issue in some other reviews, but not for me. I felt like I was transported back to the 1920s and really got a feel for the characters.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- E. Clarke
- 13-10-17
Wonderful if listened to at 1.5x speed!
Loved it so much but my oh my is his performance ssssslllooooooooowww.
Was great when I listed sped up 1.5 x
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mary Jo Ignoffo
- 17-04-15
Disappointed with narration
Wished I had read rather than listened. Very weak narration as compared to other audible books. Hemingway no problem.... Weak acting
26 of 26 people found this review helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kerry
- 14-09-14
Great actor, terrible reader, kills classic
What didn’t you like about William Hurt’s performance?
His foreign accents are abominable. Even his performance of the main character is completely flat. Frankly, I didn't even finish listening because the accents were so distracting!
22 of 22 people found this review helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Katie
- 10-01-14
WORST preformance of an audio book! Ever!
Would you try another book from Ernest Hemingway and/or William Hurt?
Ernest Hemmingway - yes. William Hurt - never again.
Would you be willing to try another one of William Hurt’s performances?
No. No. No. Such a boing performance. I've read this story 2 times and thought I'd try listening to my (once) favorite story. Almost abandoned listening to the story multiple times. No tone change in the character's voice. It was like listening to a teenager tell a story he really doesn't want to tell. Monotone and boooreing!
You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?
The story is fantastic.
Any additional comments?
If you're a fan of Ernest Hemmingway, stick to the printed version of this book and try For Whom the Bell Tolls in audio version.
10 of 10 people found this review helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Darryl
- 28-08-13
love Hemingway, not Hurt
I'm sorry but William Hurt hurts this novel. He does fine with the dialogue passages which makes sense i guess as an actor, but his voice and bored rendition of the narrative passages is just plain poor. At times as he's reading it seemed that he was seeing the text for the first time, his emphasis and inflection is off all over the place.
This is a great novel and I wish they would get the reading by Adams that Books on Tape had that I bought the cassettes of years ago. Much better reading. Adams did many of EH's novels and did them well, and though then I may have wished for variety in voices, I'd take those now.
Nice idea to have distinctive voices for EH, but you need some more dynamic readers, not ones that sound bored by the project. Donald Sutherland is a great actor, but a terrible reader of Old Man. Get the Charlton Heston versions of Old Man and Snows if you can and Scourby's reading of Macomber is awesome, Heston and Scourby are perfection.
25 of 27 people found this review helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Just this guy
- 27-10-14
Utterly painful droning narration.
This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?
Insomniacs. People who unreservedly love William Hurt
What was one of the most memorable moments of The Sun Also Rises?
Giving up and turning the awful droning off.
Who would you have cast as narrator instead of William Hurt?
I cant stay awake through the "Hurt" I realize there are all different tastes and people prefer different narrational styles. However William Hurt to my ears is so painfully flat, droning, and lacking any real character depth in his narration as to make this book listenable. I have had this book for over 6 months and have tried to listen to is many times without success. This is very rare for me to be unable to listen to a story (especially a well written story) due to the narrator. I have narrators I prefer not to listen to (Scott Brick) however I still managed to listen through a @40 hour book (The Company) multiple times in the years it has been in my library. This book however is possibly the first time in my @15 years as an Audible subscriber I can't manage to finish to a book I purchased. Hell I doubt I have managed to stay awake through more than the first couple of hours. As for who to read this story, I would say Campbell Scott. He did a fantastic job on For Whom the Bell Tolls. For me Campbell Scott just gets the Hemingway pacing, cool and tonality.
What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?
Hugely disappointed by the monotone narration. Such a waste of a good story and a credit.
Any additional comments?
Listen to the sample very carefully, It doesn't get any better and probably gets much worse. ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz Can I get a refund for this wasted credit?
14 of 15 people found this review helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Kathleen
- 28-01-15
Meh
Narrator seems unmotivated by the story and so was I. Not sure why this is a classic. Maybe better in text.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- ChrisMac
- 07-04-14
Great story badly read.
Would you consider the audio edition of The Sun Also Rises to be better than the print version?
William Hurt's bizarre phrasing of the narrative portions was a Major distraction. His rendering of Spanish and French accents was very good, but Bret's English accent was truly bizarre.
What was one of the most memorable moments of The Sun Also Rises?
The bullfights, beautifully, graphically, tragically described mirrored the encounters of the main characters, always coming closer to each other, to love or to fight, and then backing away, a tangled dance like that of matador and bull, dodging, feinting, charging and ending, not in death, but still with a sense of tragedy.
Would you be willing to try another one of William Hurt’s performances?
No. Not ever.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mary
- 18-06-13
Awful reader.
Would you try another book from Ernest Hemingway and/or William Hurt?
Yes I would read another book by Ernest Hemingway, and no, I will never buy a book read by William Hurt. He was awful. I couldn't get past ch. 1.
Who was your favorite character and why?
I don't have one. I only got through chapter one because William Hurt was awful at the reading. He read so slow and deliberate; I couldn't stand it.
What didn’t you like about William Hurt’s performance?
I felt like he was reading to a Kindergartner. He read so slow and he enunciated too much. Even during dialogue, he didn't have any personality.
If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Sun Also Rises?
I don't know....didn't hear much.
Any additional comments?
I wish there were another version with another reader.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- SailingTs
- 17-01-14
Dry reading of a story that seems stuck
What did you like best about The Sun Also Rises? What did you like least?
I liked the characters and the story setting. The descriptions of bullfighting and scenery were great. Really got a feeling I was there. On the bad side, I did not know why I was there. The whole story kind of seemed aimless.
Would you recommend The Sun Also Rises to your friends? Why or why not?
No. The reading of the story was too lethargic. Made the whole story just seem listless. I much prefer the other Hemingway books. For Whom the Bell Tolls was fantastic.
What didn’t you like about William Hurt’s performance?
Too lethargic. Seemed like all the characters were William Hurt. Other narrators seem to do a better job making the characters more unique in the reading.
If this book were a movie would you go see it?
Yes. I would like to see the scenery in a movie. Despite the light plot, Hemingway paints with his words and the beauty of the places shine through.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- William
- 27-09-13
Narration just does not give the story a chance
What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?
I have always enjoyed and respected William Hurt as a very professional actor. I feel as though he failed miserably in narrating this novel. He just does not seem to get Hemingway. He does not come close to the excellent narration Stacey Keach provides in the short stories or the narrator in For Whom the Bell Tolls.
Who would you have cast as narrator instead of William Hurt?
Stacey Keach
3 of 3 people found this review helpful