While playing an erratic round of golf, Bobby Jones slices his ball over the edge of a cliff. His ball is lost, but on the rocks below he finds the crumpled body of a dying man. With his final breath the man opens his eyes and says, 'Why didn't they ask Evans?' Haunted by these words, Bobby and his vivacious...
This audiobook is an anthology of poems by WH Auden, TS Eliot, Philip Larkin, Emily Dickinson, Marianne Moore, Rudyard Kipling, Sylvia Plath and W B Yeats, introduced by Josephine Hart and read by a cast of famous actors: Ralph Fiennes, Edward Fox, Ian McDiarmid, Helen McCrory, Sir Roger Moore, Harold Pinter, Elizabeth McGovern...
An anthology of poetry accompanied by classical music, based on Lord Owen's "Seven Ages: Poetry for a Lifetime".
The CDs feature over 100 poems read by 40 actors.
They include: Michael Caine reading Rudyard Kipling's "If"; Ralph Fiennes reading Thomas Hood's "I Remember, I Remember"; John Cleese reading "The Owl and the Pussycat"; and Pete Postlethwaite reading "Kubla Khan".
Sir John Betjeman's unique relationship with the BBC left a lasting legacy of poetry, readings and performances. "A First Class Collection" features a selection of some of his most memorable and best-loved poetry.
A Genius Performance by David Rintoul! A brilliant selection of great poetry by some of the very best Scottish poets including Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott, James Thomson and Hugh MacDiarmid.
Writer, poet and broadcaster Pam Ayres has been making her fans smile for more than 30 years since her first television appearance on Opportunity Knocks. This audiobook contains a collection of her poetry.
There is in the eminently quotable lines of Kipling's poetry a varying shimmer of greatness. His poems convey strong emotions of bitterness, humanity and sentiment. They are poems of kinship with humankind, of nobility, of reflected glory and the futilities of our own time.
This new edition focuses on the Sonnets as poetry - sometimes strikingly individual poems, but often subtly interlinked in thematic, imagistic and other groupings.
Read by a dazzling cast of actors including Eileen Atkins, Nancy Carroll, Alan Cox, Charles Dance, Joanna David, Lindsay Duncan, Edward Fox, Emilia Fox, Robert Hardy, Tom Hollander, Jeremy Irons, Felicity Kendal, Elizabeth McGovern, Mark Strong, Dominic West, Greg Wise.
Which is the Best Performance of .......
Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol
As Christmas approaches thoughts turn to what has to be THE audiobook for this time of year.
If the media is a deciding factor, and you don't want to use our Audio Transfer service, then you may well be restricted to what are good performances but not the best. Again if you must have an Unabridged performance then, though the performances are excellent, the very best performance will not be available to you.
We will take a look at each performance and rate them on pace, passion and pizzazz!
Unabridged - CD
The choice here is between an old favourite Anton Lesser and Miriam Margolyes. After listening to both of these recordings I have to say there is little to separate them in terms of Pace. Both these massively experienced actors perform the book at almost exactly the same pace. Even the durations of the performances come in within 3 mins of each other. Anton Lesser is a trifle more staccato in has attack but both show their classical talents wonderfully well.
Passion is a critical factor in audiobook performance. With a story such as this, and an author such as Dickens, passion has to be controlled very precisely. Again there is little to divide the 2 performances in this regard. Though, it should not be forgotten that one's own experience with a performer can play a significant role. We are very aware that with Anton Lesser, current with over 20 performances in stock, we have a long standing admiration of his work. On the other hand we do have 10 titles performed by Miriam Margolyes and have, to this day, never found any of them less than excellent.
Finally we come to Pizzazz. This most subjective of aspects will be deeply influenced by our experience with the performer. With that aspect in mind we have to give Anton Lesser the edge. His characterisations, through changes in voice and pace, appear smoother and less forced that that of Miriam Margolyes.
Abridged - CD
In this classification there are again only two options. For those of us who want the gist of the story and have only 75 mins to spend, perhaps this is just long enough for younger children, David Jason does en excellent job. Anton Lesser's production is, almost the whole story, coming in at over 2 and a half hours, so a direct comparison is not appropriate. A real comparison with David Jason's performance needs to be with the other abridged performances and unfortunately this one is clearly not the best available. For that we must wait until the cassette versions. But, if time is limited and a packaged CD is required then David Jason's version will suit very well.
Now we come to what may well be the best unabridged performance of this work. Geoffrey Palmer's performance is very good. In terms of his pacing, the duration of the recording comes in at around 3 hours 30 mins and his style is something to be enjoyed. This one is for those of us to want to be entertained for a whole afternoon. Geoffrey Palmer's reading is in equal part characterful, in the best sense, and almost musical in nature. The characters sound very distinctive and he navigates the story like a true maestro. It is only a shame that he performed so few audiobooks. To conclude this is the best recording when an unabridged performance is wanted.
Abridged - Cassette
There is a distinction required between "reading" performances and dramatisation performances. Patrick Stewart's work is rather more a dramatisation than a "reading". This lends the production to being perhaps the most accessible to the youngest of children. This work is less likely to please the adult listener as many of the characters are voiced rather over-emphatically. At just under 2 hours this one will suit the under 10 age group quite well.
Now to the reading performances.
John Gielgud's reading comes in at around 60 mins and would suit those looking for a great reading, with passion and lovely characterisations, all crammed into an hour. There is little time during this production for any pizzazz but it should be remembered that Gielgud's performance is never less than supremely entertaining so this should not be a problem.
Paul Scofield's production is, as always, beautifully rendered. The pace is never slow and time is given to each character. Passion is communicated with exceptional control - a true maestro working at near the top of his game. Pizzazz is not something that this great actor is associated with very often and this is no exception. This work is ideal for those of us who value and enjoy Mr Scofield's brilliant classical tone.
Now we come to a performance that we at Brainfood Audiobooks have come to rate as one of our Stamp of Genius series. After many 1000s of audiobooks there are very few that make it into our top 20 audiobooks ever and this is a long time member of that club.
What is it about this production that makes it so extra-ordinary? Well the pacing is just right. The reading comes in at just under 2 hours and the pacing is never pressured. There is in no way a lull in the performance. Every word is essential. Passion? The deftness of Mr Rossiter's performance is quite sublime. It is a terrible shame that he did so few audio productions as his talent for them is without doubt exceptional. Each character lives from beginning to end. The laughs are there as are the tears in the sadder moments. A great artist at work. Perhaps his comic timing is at the root of why this production is so wonderful? We can only conclude in saying that whenever this performance graces our audio player there is nothing to do but sit back and listen!
If you are interested in an atmospheric thriller of an extraordinary order - this is probably the Best Audiobook you will ever hear. A great book is transformed, by Sean Barrett, into a production of Genius! If you haven't heard it yet then you have an amazing journey before you......
Peregrine Roderick Clyde-Brown is a bumbling, naive and savagely dim-witted teenager, who, as his name reveals, cannot possibly be exposed to the evils of a comprehensive school. However, with his penchant for taking even the most innocent command literally, no reputable school will accept the boy...
This wonderful book is read by 2 of the very best audiobook readers bar none! Sean Barrett's Chapter 1 is pure genius! Writing of this quality combined with the reading of Mr Barrett and Teresa Gallagher is an absolute must! This one is a life-long keeper!! Naxos
A Genius Performance by Ian Holm, Robert Stephens, John Le Mesurier and Peter Woodthorpe! A true breakthrough for Tolkien and the BBC! Brian Sibley's dramatisation of the fantasy epic in 1981 is an essential listen for any audiobook listener.
Our gut is as important as our brain or heart, yet we know very little about how it works and many of us are too embarrassed to ask questions. In Gut, Giulia Enders breaks this taboo, revealing the latest science on how much our digestive system has to offer.
A Genius Performance by Ian Holm, Robert Stephens, Dame Peggy Ashcroft, Jeremy Brett, Michael York, Cyril Cusak and Nigel Davenport! This production of Shakespeare's classic tragedy is the best we have heard! In very short supply and only just in front of the Naxos - Kenneth Branagh production
This is a perfect example of why Brainfood Audiobooks exists! William (Willie) Rushton brings all of his comedic talent to bear on this wonderful tale. This audio set comes with a complimentary Audio CD version of this book.
A misfit at an exclusive New England college, Richard finds kindred spirits in the five eccentric students of his ancient Greek class. But his new friends have a horrific secret. When blackmail and violence threaten to blow their privileged lives apart, they drag Richard into the nightmare that engulfs them.
Whether you listen to this on a dark winter's night of a sunny summer morning Leonard Rossiter's performance will take you on a journey. This is a perfect combination of text and performer. Leonard Rossiter makes this text his own and with such a quality of delivery that, if you close your eyes, you are there!
Includes The Hitch-hiker's Guide, The Resaurant at the End of the Universe, Life, The Universe and Everything, So Long and Thanks for All the Fish and Mostly Harmless! All read by the Master Himself!
This is a perfect example of why Brainfood Audiobooks exists! William (Willie) Rushton brings all of his comedic talent to bear on this wonderful tale. This audio set comes with a complimentary Audio CD version of this book.
This is a selection of readings from Shakespeare. Selected by HRH Prince of Wales, the cast includes Robert Stephens, Richard Briers, John Gielgud, Juliet Stevenson, Glenda Jackson, William Hurt and John Sessions. Brilliant performances by these wonderful actors!
** We currently have 2 of these in stock. They BOTH come with a FREE copy of this wonderful recording on Audio CD. The Acceptable copy has been graded due to a 30 sec dropout after 15 mins of side 1. Rest assured that in the Audio CD copy, that comes FREE with this title, the audio plays perfectly **
Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. Performed with exceptional color by Robert Sean Leonard!
These are masterly readings, by renowned thespian Paul Scofield, of two substantial works of poetry by T.S. Eliot. They form the core of Eliot's later work and, with Scofield's wonderful interpretation have been a regular visitor to the Brainfood Audiobooks cassette player over the last 20 years!
Richmal Compton's Williams Stories read by Kenneth Williams on two cassettes. Side 1 The Show, Side 2 William the Invisible, Side 3 A Witch in Time, Side 4 William's Day Off. Sometimes people are made to perform certain works - this combination is exceptional!
One of Our Stamp of Genius audibooks! For years actor and author Brian Blessed had an impossible dream - to follow in the footsteps of his childhood hero, George Leigh Mallory, who disappeared near the summit of Mount Everest in 1924. Finally in 1990, aged 53, Brian Blessed...
Terry Jones, Joan Greenwood, Michael Hordern, Bob Hoskins, Helen Mirren and Tim Rice read of a collection of original fairy tales for 8 to 11-year-olds, written by master storyteller Terry Jones, introducing such bizarre creatures as the fly-by-night, the rainbow cat, and the wonderful cake-horse.
Girls, memory, parenting, millennial fear - all served Coupland-style. Karen, an attractive, popular student, goes into a coma one night in 1979. Whilst in it, she gives birth to a healthy baby daughter; once out of it, a mere eighteen years later, she finds herself .....
An account of the relationship between Simon Callow and the play agent, Peggy Ramsay. Despite an age difference of over 40 years, Peggy and Callow enjoyed an 11-year relationship conducted in meetings and passionately unbridled letters until Peggy's
In clinical trials, it's called the placebo effect. But patients treated with placebos don't just feel better. It's not just 'in their heads'. They can heal their bodies by healing their thoughts. For years, pioneers in the medical community have been extolling the virtues of the mind's power to heal the body.
The award-winning author of A Stone Boat offers a deeply personal look at depression in which he draws on his own battle with the illness and interviews with fellow sufferers, researchers, doctors, and others to assess the vast complexities of the disease, its causes and symptoms, available therapies ..
The first title of the GORMENGHAST trilogy of fantasy novels. Titus groan is born the heir to Gormenghast castle, and finds himself in a world predetermined by complex rituals that have been made obscure by the passage of time. Along the corridors of the castle, the child encounters some of the dark characters who will shape his life.
He says he loves you. So...why does he do that? You've asked yourself this question again and again. Now you have the chance to see inside the minds of angry and controlling men-and to change your life. In this groundbreaking book, a counselor who specializes in working with abusive men shows you...
An exciting historical adventure from War Horse author and former Children's Laureate Michael Morpurgo. Gracie and her friend Daniel have always been warned to stay away from the Birdman and his side of the island. But then they find a message in the sand and discover the Birdman is not who they...
Patricia Routledge and Prunella Scales star in Ladies of Letters and Ladies of More Letters, the two popular BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour series. Patricia Routledge is Vera Small and Prunella Scales is her friend (or maybe enemy), Irene Spencer. The two pass their time in regular correspondence and not an event goes by that is left unrecorded by the ladies of letters. Firstly there are the usual family problems to...
In the winter of 1873, a small band of prospectors lost their way in the frozen wilderness of the Colorado Rockies. Months later, when the snow finally melted, only one of them emerged. His name was Alfred G. Packer, though he would soon become infamous throughout the country under a different name: 'the Man-Eater.' After the butchered remains of his five traveling companions were discovered in a secluded...
From Snuff: 'Vimes looked at the cover. The title was The World of Poo. When his wife was out of eyeshot he carefully leafed through it. Well, okay, you had to accept that the world had moved on and these days fairy stories were probably not going to be about twinkly little things with wings. As he turned page after page, it dawned on him that whoever had written this book, they certainly knew what would make kids...
It is August in Edinburgh and the Festival is in full swing. A brutally tortured body is discovered in one of the city's ancient subterranean streets and marks on the corpse cause Rebus to suspect the involvement of sectarian activists. The prospect of a terrorist atrocity in a city heaving with tourists is almost unthinkable. When the victim turns out to...
Winner of the Booker Prize, 1982. During the Holocaust at the German concentration camp near Plaszow, thousands of Jews lost their lives at the hands of the Nazis. More than a thousand others were spared thanks to a womanizing, heavy-drinking, German-Catholic industrialist and Nazi Party member named Oskar Schindler. One of the most remarkable narratives of the Holocaust, Schindler's List masterfully...
Read by the inimitable Christopher Lee, this audio-book contains four short stories from the great detective’s case book. Four demanding, even life-threatening, adventures for the much-loved amateur detective, who, with the faithful Watson by his side, has earned his place in our national life and social history. This collection of short stories, taken from The Case Book of Sherlock Holmes, sees Baker Street’s most...
The Battle of Britain paints a stirring picture of an extraordinary summer when the fate of the world hung by a thread. Historian James Holland has now written the definitive account of those months based on extensive new research from around the world, including thousands of new interviews with people on both sides of the battle.If Britain's defenses collapsed, Hitler would have dominated all of Europe.
When Jules Bright hears a knock on the door, the last person she expects to find is a detective bringing her the news she's feared for the last three years. Amelia Quentin is being released from prison. Jules' life is very different now from the one she'd known before Amelia shattered it completely. Knowing the girl is coming back, she needs to decide what to do. Friends and family gather round, fearing for Jules' safety.
In a fit of drunken anger, Michael Henchard sells his wife and baby daughter for five guineas at a country fair. Over the course of the following years, he manages to establish himself as a respected and prosperous pillar of the community of Casterbridge, but behind his success there always lurk the shameful secret of his past and a personality prone to self-destructive pride and temper.
Shipwrecked on a remote island in the Dutch East Indies, Captain Aubrey, surgeon and secret intelligence agent Stephen Maturin, and the crew of the Diane fashion a schooner from the wreck. A vicious attack by Malay pirates is repulsed, but the makeshift vessel burns, and they are truly marooned. Their escape from this predicament is one that only the whimsy and ingenuity of Patrick O Brian or Stephen Maturin...
It was the most renowned and respected shrine in the Roman Empire, the object of veneration by Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, Octavian, and a host of other luminaries. It stood for centuries within a sacred precinct the size of a large town at the heart of the greatest Greek city in the world. Yet it disappeared without a trace, creating the greatest archaeological enigma of the ancient world. What became of the tomb of...
1553. Hannah Green, the young daughter of a Jewish bookseller, is forced out of Spain by the Inquisition, and becomes an unlikely player at the fractious Tudor Court. Her gifts of foresight mean that she is given as a Holy Fool to the newly crowned Mary I. But as Mary’s grip on the throne loosens, threatened by the ambitions of her sister, Elizabeth, Hannah is trapped in the deadly rivalry between the daughters of Henry VIII.
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