Showing results by narrator "A. Norton" in All Categories

Three men, Kevin, Dermot and Joe, stand and tell their stories on a bare stage. They never meet. Or do they? From this simplest of dramatic devices emerges a rounded tale of Irish life across the generations, accurate and poignant and therefore unforgettable: The poetry of ordinary life.

Acclaimed author JG Farrell came to fame with his Empire Trilogy, exploring the collapse of British colonialism and its repercussions in three different countries. The first book in the series, Troubles, won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize and the Lost Man Booker Prize, while the second, The Siege of Krishnapur, was awarded the Booker Prize for Fiction. Included here are three BBC Radio adaptations of the trilogy, plus an edition of Witness History exploring Farrell's tragic accidental death.

Ulysses is regarded by many as the single most important novel of the 20th century. It tells the story of one day in Dublin, 16 June 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.

Although Lawrence of Arabia died in 1935, the story of his life has captured the imagination of succeeding generations. The Seven Pillars of Wisdom is a monumental work in which he chronicles his role in leading the Arab Revolt against the Turks during the First World War.

Comedian Jim Norton is dirty...really dirty...the kind of dirty that makes The Aristocrats look like a knock-knock joke. Fortunately for him, his kind of dirty humor has earned him the distinction of being third microphone on the immensely popular Opie & Anthony syndicated radio show. In Happy Endings, Jim brings his raw, hilarious, and offensively honest comedy to Audible® listeners.

What if the smartest people in the world understand something that the rest of us don't? (They do.) What if they know that in order to achieve success, they will sometimes have to do things that others may initially perceive as stupid? The fact of the matter is that the smartest people in the world don't run from stupid, they lean into it (in a smart way). In The Power of Starting Something Stupid, Richie Norton redefines stupid as we know it, demonstrating that life-changing ideas are often tragically mislabeled stupid.

The inevitable is understood by each and every one of us who faces the final calling. So too are the effects on those left behind. The memories are there but the empty space, the void can never be refilled. It remains a dark, unreliable pit of loneliness. The sadness and often depression, the lack of will to continue may swamp us all. Unquenchable, undeniable. But loss can, after mourning, give the opportunity to reappraise the lost and how we can each move forward. In the literary world an accessible balance can be given.

Holding none of the difficulties of Joyce's most powerful and moving prose. Holding none of the difficulties of Joyce's later novels, such as Ulysses, Dubliners is, in its way, just as radical. These stories introduce us to the city which fed Joyce's entire creative output, and to many of the characters who made it such a well of literary inspiration.

There is never enough time in Kinvara. When Helen Liddy is asked what she wants for her birthday, she says, "Time. That's what I want. Time." Fifteen-year-old JJ is continuing the Liddy family tradition with his fiddle-playing. But one day, he discovers that music might not be the only thing that runs in his veins. Was his great-grandfather was a murderer? When JJ sets out to buy his mother some time, he discovers the answer, as well as some truly remarkable things about music, myth, and magic.

Two joyous archive celebrations of Doctor Who's 50th anniversary presented by Russell Tovey and Graham Norton. November 2013 marked 50 years since Doctor Who first arrived on BBC television, and Radio 2 marked the occasion with two very special programmes. Who Is The Doctor? Russell Tovey takes an epic journey through five decades of Doctor Who history and charts the fortunes of the series, from its origins in the 1960s and growing popularity in the 1970s, through the onset of stormy waters in the 1980s, to its triumphant rebirth and second golden age in the 21st Century. 

In Unfamiliar Fishes, Sarah Vowell argues that 1898 might be a year just as crucial to our nation's identity, a year when, in an orgy of imperialism, the United States annexed Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Guam, and invaded Cuba and then the Philippines, becoming a meddling, self-serving, militaristic international superpower practically overnight. Of all the countries the United States invaded or colonized in 1898, Vowell considers the story of the Americanization of Hawaii to be the most intriguing.

In A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Joyce describes the early life of Stephen Dedalus: significant memories from infancy, schooldays, family life, his first taste of sin, guilt, repentance - and his passage to freedom as he elects to leave Ireland forever. This is, in effect, an autobiography. Dedalus is Joyce; every person he encounters and every incident he experiences, is drawn from life. The writing, though, displays the colour and imagination of the very finest fiction.

An old man looks back on a chequered life, concealing truths he will not reveal until the end. Fire in the Blood starts quietly, lyrically, but then races away with narrative twists and surprise revelations. A young man, newly married, is found drowned in the mill stream; an old man is more concerned about the repayment of a debt than with his young wife; a young woman asks Silvio to plead her case; no-one is quite as they seem.

Though Ulysses is widely regarded as a "difficult" novel, this fresh and lively reading shows its comic genius as well as its great moments of poignance, making it more accessible than ever before.

Flann O'Brien's most popular and surrealistic novel concerns an imaginary, hellish village police force and a local murder. Weird, satirical, and very funny, it is read by Irish master reader Jim Norton.

The great explorers were the celebrities of their day - the romance and danger of their daring expeditions captured the public imagination and the world's headlines to an extraordinary degree. Not all of them lived to tell the tale, of course, but those who emerged triumphant from jungle, desert, or polar wasteland were hailed as if returning from beyond the grave. Journalists vied for their stories and publishers rushed their firsthand accounts of exciting and dangerous journeys into print for a wide and voracious readership.

Barbara Ann (Barbie) as her friends know her, is the CEO of her parents toy company Up, Up, Away toys. All Barbie wants to do is pop a bottle of champagne, create and sell the best toys in the world and maybe forget about the girl who broke her heart. Kenzie might be one of the world’s top models right now but under the lipstick and dresses, all she can think about is her first love. She left Barbie years ago to pursue her career in modeling and has been lonely ever since.

In over an hour of side-splitting 'Norty' laughs and razor sharp wit Graham reveals all and will leave you panting for more!

Ever since he was young, Tom's biggest dream was to become an astronaut. Follow along as he learns about space, attends astronaut camp, studies hard, and perseveres through years of intense training to make his wish come true.

A simple question. A simple answer. I didn't think much of it until he followed through. Now I'm here. Suspended in the living room with a whole host of men around me. All eyes on me. Centerpiece for the party.