Ernest Hemingway Audio Collection CD [AUDIOBOOK] [UNABRIDGED] (Audio CD)

~ Ernest Hemingway (Author), Charlton Heston (Narrator)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Nobel Prize-winning giant Ernest Hemingway is widely considered one of the greatest American authors of the Twentieth Century. Here, listeners can experience his riveting style both from his own voice and from one of America's most esteemed actors.

The Snows of Kilimanjaro: Performed by Charlton Heston, I this is a classic story of a hard-drinking, ruthless and womanizing world adventurer who comes face-to-face with the one antagonist he cannot conquer: his own ignoble and imminent death.

The Old Man and the Sea: Also performed by Heston and nominated for a Grammy, this recording of Hemingway's Pulitzer Prize-winning story is a perfect example of his literary I precision.

Ernest Hemingway Reads: A rich sampling of Hemingway's brilliant, multifaceted writing which the Nation said "provides his readers the opportunity to listen for and appreciate the Hemingway wit. " Includes: The Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech; Second Poem to Mary; In Harry's Bar in Venice; The Fifth Column; Work in Progress; Saturday Night at the Morehouse in Billings, Montana.

Read by Charlton Heston and Ernest Hemingway

About the Author

Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) was one of the expatriate writers of Paris along with F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gettrude Stein, and others. He fought in the Spanish Civil War and wrote A Farewell to Arms and other stories on war and its unseen costs, including For Whom the Bell Tolls. Other titles by Hemingway include A Moveable Feast and The Sun Also Rises.

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Caedmon; UNAbridged edition (May 8, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0694524980
• ISBN-13: 978-0694524983
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #608,686 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Resonant and Revelatory, November 2, 2005

By	Billyjack D'Urberville (USA) - See all my reviews

Of the Charleton Heston readings of The Old Man and Snows little need be said; they are professional in all respects and fine as they can be. It is good to hear Hemingway's deceptively simple prose read well, for it discloses the fundamental modern English architecture beneath it: decidedly tuned to the ear, with conscious attention to alliteration and repetition of sounds and words. The stories are two of the most carefully crafted in Hemingway's canon, and the resonant voice of Heston will gratify repeated listenings.

The addition of a rare disc of Hemingway's own voice will seem, in context, a throw-away or add-on. First of all, the listener will be startled by the high, occasionally hesitant pitch of the author's voice, simultaneously tentative and clipped, and heavily accented. It is no species of stereotyped tough guy one might have expected, neither Jimmy Cagney nor John Wayne. Nor is it one used to public performance. It is quite obviously private, and distinctly regional -- the timbre found in many great plains settlers, with a distinctly 19th century timbre that by now has all but vanished.

The occasion was Hemingway's pal A.E. Hotchner (author of Papa Hemingway) bringing a tape recorder down to Cuba in the 1950s. Set pieces of the public non-fiction voice were what the author obviously found most comfortable in this experiment: introductions to an obscure play and the collected stories, and finally a very moving performance of the short Nobel speech. There is also humor -- a self-parody of Across the River and Into the Trees harder on himself than any critic, and an outrageous improvised bawdy tale that sounds rather boozed. Yet there are two incredible, serious performances here: the wartime Second Poem to Mary, and the first chapter of book III of the then unreleased Islands in the Stream. In the world of audio literature, this is about as good as it gets. The poem eerily harks back to the horrors of the World War II Battle of Hurtgen Forest; it sounds as convincing as a battle report, and is an anguished, angry testament to bravery amidst death and monstrosity and the tactical errors of top brass, leaving fighting men in an impossible situation. The Islands reading describes Thomas Hudson amongst similar unspeakable things. If not for everyday or for cruising through town, this disc is certainly for sometimes, preferably late at night and perhaps aided by a shot of your favorite tonic to help you take the hit. In such a setting you will quickly understand how and why this unusual voice became a standard in the war-ravaged "American Century."

The thoughtful listener might aid appreciation by picking up Caedmon's Gertrude Stein Reading, and listening to it at the same sitting. Here is another classic, lost Midwestern voice -- and Hemingway's perhaps most important Paris teacher. The similarity of the diction between her Picasso and his Second Poem is a grand revelation, and the sort only possible through this aural dimension Stein thought so essential to her pioneering sandblast job honing our modern English tongue. Yeah kids, maybe you can do it now, perhaps even in your sleep. But only because they did it first.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Gem, August 12, 2006

By	L. Mark Robbins - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am compelled to add my thoughts because the average of the reviews that have come before suggest this is a mediocre recording. Nothing could be further from the truth. The story is a great work. The reading by Heston adds to the experience significantly. This recording is one of life's gems - to be treasured. I do not wish to seem conceited or trite, but perhaps the listner must be along to a certain point in life to recognize the symbolism, and appreciate this must have effort.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars to complete your Hemingway journey this is essential, March 9, 2006

By	jon (carlisle, PA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

I have read everything Hemingway wrote and visited his home in Key West, the man is a legend on many levels. In order complete one's Hemingway collection this CD is required. Enjoy the readings and the brief glances at the man's voice