10 Masterpieces You Have To Read Before You Die, Volume 1

I can easily start this review simply stating that this audible deal is certainly for those looking for quantity over quality with their monthly credit. Most of these that I listened to the audio of were B-, and even sometimes, C-grade production values. Some to the point where the audio genuinely hurt my absorption and enjoyment of the stories they were performing. Also if you use audible for this on your phone it's so long that it breaks up into like 11 different 11 hour parts so the listed chapters below become completely meaningless for finding them and that rubbed me the wrong way as well. I've noticed while trying to look for the actual separate audio for each story that many of these are pulled out of actual complete editions (ie. The Complete World of Oz/The Complete Father Brown) which I found a little strange seeing that they aren't the best quality (unless this is unlicensed and they are ripped online or something).



Little women by Louisa May Alcott Start at Chapters 1: currently reading a physical. 4So I made the mistake of reading three books at once while also moving and reading far less than usual. But the last time a book took me a month to read I think I was still in the Kumon reading program in second grade. For me this book was really enjoyable and gripping, but it was just an incredibly slow burn. To speak to the edition I bought, I got the original novel with pictures from the new movie inside. The book itself is a hardcover that is modeled to look like the one Jo receives in the movie. I think it's a really nice edition overall, and although it isn't leather-bound like the one Jo gets, I found in while walking around Walmart after seeing the movie for $11. For a hardcover that's awesome.It was a slow burn particularly because this edition used like 10 or 11 point font and each page felt super long and I felt like I was carving out my reading time in two to three chapters instead of getting far more done like I always do. I was drawn to reading this classic by seeing the movie. I went in without any knowledge or expectations (I haven't seen any of the million other movies) simply because I liked the cast. Greta Gerwig did a fantastic job adapting this hefty family drama into a feature film. I think she did a good job of infusing more feminism into the feature and cutting out most of the religion, which was one of my only gripes with the novel. However, Alcott's inclusion of religion is very understandable for the time and subject matter involved, and I do not think it was overdone at all. I think the writing was elegant and beautiful, while still remaining easily legible and understandable. I think this is another one added to the list that continues my theory that Victorian era female writers were better than the incredibly famous men of the era. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Start at Chapters 48: 4 rating. Previously read, did not give the audio a shot...



Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain Start at Chapters 109: 4* rating. Previously read, did not give the audio a shot...



Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson Start at Chapters 152: 3* rating. Sam Taylor either narrated this while sick or has a serious deviated septum and honestly, it was very distracting for me. His voices for the pirates weren't particularly bad or anything but the quality of this audio was definitely lacking. There were multiple pauses/mistakes/repetitions that were minor, but should have been edited out. The story itself was definitely hurt by this audio for me personally. Plus, Muppet Treasure Island for life...



The Odyssey by Homer Start at Chapters 186: 4* rating. Previously read, did not give the audio a shot...



A Tales of Two Cities Start at Chapters 210: 2* rating. They did not edit out this narrator's inhales and it was so grating to hear a huge inhale after every sentence.

I have read more than one Dickens' novel and liked those much more so than this. I have also read many other novels of the period and had better or similar luck. However, I found this so longwinded as to not be the slightest bit enjoyable. At points the dialogue was so long and drab that I genuinely forgot who was speaking it in the first place. I didn't particularly enjoy these characters and I felt that I had to fight to absorb every single word. This sounds overly harsh, but as I've said, I have liked other works of his much more...



Meditations by Marcus Aurelius Start at Chapters 255: 3* rating. This was by far the best audio this collection has got to offer thus far...

I think this is one of the coolest things ever that in 2020 I can not only read something written by a Roman emperor, but can also listen to the audio recording of the translation. I've read that these were his own musings, that he never intended them to be published, so in that sense I give him/it even more credit. However, this was (one of?) the first (?) of it's kind and it lead pretty obviously to the genre of self-help books which are my absolutely enemies. It is in that sense that this falls short for me. Regardless if you're a philosopher-emperor or a modern celebrity or self-made millionaire, I just genuinely don't care for it. (But to my scaling a 3* is at the bottom of my “liked” grading, so this is not a fail.)



The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle Start at Chapters 268: Stephen Scalon gives a full performance in one of the only actual professional productions in this collection.

To be honest I did myself a disservice because this book is the third installment into Sherlock Holmes and I chose to listen to it anyway. Most of these stories lack in the same way the Poirot shorts do—their lack of description and exposition. Having known so little about the literature Holmes it definitely took my enjoyment down a notch.

4: A Scandal In Bohemia 3: The Redheaded League

3: A Case of Identity 3: The Boscombe Valley Mystery

3: The Five Orange Pips3: The Man with the Twisted Lip

4: The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle 4: The Adventure of the Speckled Band

3: The Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb3: The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor

3: The Adventure of the Beryl Coronet 5: The Adventure of the Copper Beeches: this one was so close to being scary/horror I wish it had gone even more so into it



The Innocence of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton Start at Chapters 288: 2* rating. As far as my mystery experience goes I've only recently gotten into some Hercule Poirot, and most recent, Sherlock Holmes through this collection. This audio was also done by Stephen Scalon, which on one of my good days may qualify as a full A-grade production.

I feel like this collection really lacks any guidelines and rule building for the Father Brown world. He is a practicing priest that also has a hand at detective work, but mostly he solves crime through his intuition rather than deductive work? I found that a lousy reasoning. And I'm sure in the character history there's more to it, but it certainly wasn't in this collection of stories.
Not to mention most of these stories jump directly into it without anything else and more than one ends with something along the lines of, “that's it, there's nothing more.” It is mostly for that reason that I found these lackluster and really struggled to enjoy.



The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by Lyman Frank Baum Start at Chapters 300: 4* rating. Charles Hubbell narrates this edition. His performance is quite good, especially his character voices, but there's still just something about the audio quality that's a little off.

The Wizard of Oz is one of my father's favorite movies, so it's something I've seen a million times since I was a kid. I feel like the first novel in the series, albeit missing all musical numbers (making me miss “if I only had a brain”), still holds that wonder and childlike naivety that has made people love the movie for so long.

I will say that some of it was pretty dark though, especially in the sense of what was acceptable back then for “children's stories.” Like the tin man describing each and every part of his body getting chopped off by his own axe slipping, just making me imagine his bleeding stumps gushing as he pleas for help from the tin maker.

Or how, due to his lack of heart, he finds it necessary to help and save all those who are in need of help. Therefore, he takes it upon himself to lop off the head of a wild cat simply for hunting... which is something the cowardly lion had already offered to do with a deer for Dorothy.

Or how Dorothy had to wake up to 40 shaggy, beheaded wolves?!!

I liked this book a lot though and I'm definitely going to continue on to the others at some point. Everyone gets there happy ending, so now I'm wondering if he goes back and takes it all away!