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The Winter of Our Discontent
- Narrated by: David Aaron Baker
- Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins
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The Winter of Our Discontent
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Cannery Row
- Written by: John Steinbeck
- Narrated by: Jerry Farden
- Length: 5 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 42
Published in 1945, Cannery Row focuses on the acceptance of life as it is: both the exuberance of community and the loneliness of the individual. Drawing on his memories of the real inhabitants of Monterey, California, Steinbeck interweaves the stories of Doc, Henri, Mack and his boys, and the other characters in this world where only the fittest survive, to create a novel that is at once one of his most humorous and most poignant works.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great
- By Roberta W on 2023-10-07
Written by: John Steinbeck
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East of Eden
- Written by: John Steinbeck
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 25 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 478
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 414
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Story5 out of 5 stars 412
This sprawling and often brutal novel, set in the rich farmlands of California's Salinas Valley, follows the intertwined destinies of two families - the Trasks and the Hamiltons - whose generations helplessly reenact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Worthy of its reputation
- By M on 2019-01-16
Written by: John Steinbeck
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The Grapes of Wrath
- Written by: John Steinbeck, Robert DeMott
- Narrated by: Dylan Baker
- Length: 21 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 325
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 283
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 281
Shocking and controversial when it was first published in 1939, Steinbeck's Pulitzer prize-winning epic The Grapes of Wrath remains his undisputed masterpiece. Set against the background of Dust Bowl Oklahoma and Californian migrant life, it tells of Tom Joad and his family, who, like thousands of others, are forced to travel west in search of the promised land. Their story is one of false hopes, thwarted desires, and broken dreams, yet out of their suffering Steinbeck created a drama that is intensely human, yet majestic in its scale and moral vision.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The harmonica was a bit much!
- By Amazon Customer on 2020-06-13
Written by: John Steinbeck, and others
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Tortilla Flat
- Written by: John Steinbeck
- Narrated by: John McDonough
- Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 12
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 9
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 8
Adopting the structure and themes of the Arthurian legend, Steinbeck created a Camelot on a shabby hillside above the town of Monterey, California, and peopled it with a colorful band of knights. At the center of the tale is Danny, whose house, like Arthur’s castle, becomes a gathering place for men looking for adventure, camaraderie, and a sense of belonging—men who fiercely resist the corrupting tide of honest toil and civil rectitude.
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5 out of 5 stars
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1920s trailer park boys
- By marian on 2022-09-10
Written by: John Steinbeck
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Of Mice and Men
- Written by: John Steinbeck
- Narrated by: Gary Sinise
- Length: 3 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 272
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 240
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 239
Celebrating its 75th anniversary, John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men remains one of America's most widely read and beloved novels. Here is Steinbeck’s dramatic adaptation of his novel-as-play, which received the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play in 1937-1938 and has featured a number of actors who have played the iconic roles of George and Lennie on stage and film, including James Earl Jones, John Malkovich and Gary Sinise.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Great listen, but intro/outro music needs to go
- By Amazon Customer on 2019-04-02
Written by: John Steinbeck
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Travels with Charley in Search of America
- Written by: John Steinbeck
- Narrated by: Gary Sinise
- Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 48
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 42
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 41
In September 1960, John Steinbeck and his poodle, Charley, embarked on a journey across America, from small towns to growing cities to glorious wilderness oases. Travels with Charley is animated by Steinbeck’s attention to the specific details of the natural world and his sense of how the lives of people are intimately connected to the rhythms of nature—to weather, geography, the cycles of the seasons. His keen ear for the transactions among people is evident, too, as he records the interests and obsessions that preoccupy the Americans he encounters along the way.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Entertaining and insightful
- By Michele Webb on 2022-10-30
Written by: John Steinbeck
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Cannery Row
- Written by: John Steinbeck
- Narrated by: Jerry Farden
- Length: 5 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 42
Published in 1945, Cannery Row focuses on the acceptance of life as it is: both the exuberance of community and the loneliness of the individual. Drawing on his memories of the real inhabitants of Monterey, California, Steinbeck interweaves the stories of Doc, Henri, Mack and his boys, and the other characters in this world where only the fittest survive, to create a novel that is at once one of his most humorous and most poignant works.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great
- By Roberta W on 2023-10-07
Written by: John Steinbeck
-
East of Eden
- Written by: John Steinbeck
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 25 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 478
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 414
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 412
This sprawling and often brutal novel, set in the rich farmlands of California's Salinas Valley, follows the intertwined destinies of two families - the Trasks and the Hamiltons - whose generations helplessly reenact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Worthy of its reputation
- By M on 2019-01-16
Written by: John Steinbeck
-
The Grapes of Wrath
- Written by: John Steinbeck, Robert DeMott
- Narrated by: Dylan Baker
- Length: 21 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 325
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 283
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 281
Shocking and controversial when it was first published in 1939, Steinbeck's Pulitzer prize-winning epic The Grapes of Wrath remains his undisputed masterpiece. Set against the background of Dust Bowl Oklahoma and Californian migrant life, it tells of Tom Joad and his family, who, like thousands of others, are forced to travel west in search of the promised land. Their story is one of false hopes, thwarted desires, and broken dreams, yet out of their suffering Steinbeck created a drama that is intensely human, yet majestic in its scale and moral vision.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The harmonica was a bit much!
- By Amazon Customer on 2020-06-13
Written by: John Steinbeck, and others
-
Tortilla Flat
- Written by: John Steinbeck
- Narrated by: John McDonough
- Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 12
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 9
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 8
Adopting the structure and themes of the Arthurian legend, Steinbeck created a Camelot on a shabby hillside above the town of Monterey, California, and peopled it with a colorful band of knights. At the center of the tale is Danny, whose house, like Arthur’s castle, becomes a gathering place for men looking for adventure, camaraderie, and a sense of belonging—men who fiercely resist the corrupting tide of honest toil and civil rectitude.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
1920s trailer park boys
- By marian on 2022-09-10
Written by: John Steinbeck
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Of Mice and Men
- Written by: John Steinbeck
- Narrated by: Gary Sinise
- Length: 3 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 272
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 240
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 239
Celebrating its 75th anniversary, John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men remains one of America's most widely read and beloved novels. Here is Steinbeck’s dramatic adaptation of his novel-as-play, which received the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play in 1937-1938 and has featured a number of actors who have played the iconic roles of George and Lennie on stage and film, including James Earl Jones, John Malkovich and Gary Sinise.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Great listen, but intro/outro music needs to go
- By Amazon Customer on 2019-04-02
Written by: John Steinbeck
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Travels with Charley in Search of America
- Written by: John Steinbeck
- Narrated by: Gary Sinise
- Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 48
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 41
In September 1960, John Steinbeck and his poodle, Charley, embarked on a journey across America, from small towns to growing cities to glorious wilderness oases. Travels with Charley is animated by Steinbeck’s attention to the specific details of the natural world and his sense of how the lives of people are intimately connected to the rhythms of nature—to weather, geography, the cycles of the seasons. His keen ear for the transactions among people is evident, too, as he records the interests and obsessions that preoccupy the Americans he encounters along the way.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Entertaining and insightful
- By Michele Webb on 2022-10-30
Written by: John Steinbeck
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The Log from the Sea of Cortez
- Written by: John Steinbeck
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 9
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 8
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Story5 out of 5 stars 8
The Log from the Sea of Cortez is the exciting day-by-day account of Steinbeck's trip to the Gulf of California with biologist Ed Ricketts. Drawn from the longer Sea of Cortez, it is a wonderful combination of science, philosophy, and high-spirited adventure.
Written by: John Steinbeck
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The Wayward Bus
- Written by: John Steinbeck, Gary Schamhorst - introduction
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 9
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 9
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 9
In his first novel to follow the publication of his enormous success, The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck's vision comes wonderfully to life in this imaginative and unsentimental chronicle of a bus traveling California's back roads, transporting the lost and the lonely, the good and the greedy, the stupid and the scheming, the beautiful and the vicious away from their shattered dreams and, possibly, toward the promise of the future. This edition features an introduction by Gary Scharnhorst.
Written by: John Steinbeck, and others
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To a God Unknown
- Written by: John Steinbeck, Robert DeMott - introduction
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5
Set in familiar Steinbeck territory, To a God Unknown is a mystical tale, exploring one man's attempt to control the forces of nature and, ultimately, to understand the ways of God.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Not my kind of book
- By pierrev on 2021-02-10
Written by: John Steinbeck, and others
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One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
- 50th Anniversary Edition
- Written by: Ken Kesey, Robert Faggen - introduction
- Narrated by: John C. Reilly
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 211
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 186
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Story5 out of 5 stars 185
Boisterous, ribald, and ultimately shattering, Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest has left an indelible mark on the literature of our time. Turning conventional notions of sanity and insanity on their heads, the novel tells the unforgettable story of a mental ward and its inhabitants, especially tyrannical Big Nurse Ratched and Randle Patrick McMurphy, the brawling, fun-loving new inmate who resolves to oppose her.
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5 out of 5 stars
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fantastic
- By Anonymous User on 2022-01-13
Written by: Ken Kesey, and others
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The Passenger
- Written by: Cormac McCarthy
- Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews, Julia Whelan
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- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 50
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 42
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Story4 out of 5 stars 41
It is three in the morning when Bobby Western plunges from the Coast Guard tender into darkness. His dive light illuminates the sunken jet, nine bodies still buckled in their seats, hair floating, eyes devoid of speculation. Missing from the site are the pilot’s bag, the plane’s black box, and the tenth passenger. A collateral witness to machinations that can only bring him harm, Western is shadowed in body and spirit—by men with badges; by the ghost of his father, inventor of the bomb that melted glass and flesh in Hiroshima; and by his sister, the love and ruin of his soul.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Cormac McCarthy is poetic
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A Farewell to Arms
- Written by: Ernest Hemingway
- Narrated by: John Slattery
- Length: 8 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 152
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 131
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 131
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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5 out of 5 stars
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A satisfying story with great narration
- By Ellen Keith on 2018-09-19
Written by: Ernest Hemingway
Publisher's Summary
The final novel of one of America’s most beloved writers - a tale of degeneration, corruption, and spiritual crisis.
A Penguin Classic In awarding John Steinbeck the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature, the Nobel committee stated that with The Winter of Our Discontent, he had “resumed his position as an independent expounder of the truth, with an unbiased instinct for what is genuinely American". Ethan Allen Hawley, the protagonist of Steinbeck’s last novel, works as a clerk in a grocery store that his family once owned. With Ethan no longer a member of Long Island’s aristocratic class, his wife is restless, and his teenage children are hungry for the tantalizing material comforts he cannot provide. Then one day, in a moment of moral crisis, Ethan decides to take a holiday from his own scrupulous standards. Set in Steinbeck’s contemporary 1960 America, the novel explores the tenuous line between private and public honesty, and today ranks alongside his most acclaimed works of penetrating insight into the American condition. This Penguin Classics edition features an introduction and notes by leading Steinbeck scholar Susan Shillinglaw.
For more than 70 years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines.
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What listeners say about The Winter of Our Discontent
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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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
- Arthur Gruszko
- 2020-04-15
Great story...albeit a bit depressing.
The story really captures you and exposes the reader to the sad realities of life and human nature.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Olaf
- 2022-07-09
Sometimes hard to follow
I listened it because for some reason it was one of favorites of my mother. Not an easy book and it takes hours before important events of the story even start. Sometimes it was difficult to understand who was speaking.
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1 person found this 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
- Salina
- 2023-10-01
On par with animal farm by Orwell
A political fiction masterpiece that stabs at the flaws of capitalism. A read for reflection not a read for pleasure. Amazing performance, I felt that the narrator of the story was reading the book.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2023-02-04
To me, this is a masterpiece
I first read this book when I was around 14 years old, and it introduced me to the world of Steinbeck. Since then I have always felt a sense of being truly at home when I open his books and begin to read.
This book moved me the first time I read it, and it does so every time I read it. It is a poignant and sad story about the inner conflict of a good man as he begins to unravel the strings of his own morality and begins to consider the truth of his position in life, his relationships with those who love him, and the unsettled emotions that begin to arise as he begins to consider the roots of his discontentedness.
This story has a way of burrowing deep inside you, and with each reading it will not fail to touch another raw nerve and show a different side of itself to a different side of yourself.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sam D.
- 2016-05-18
Memorable characters, great narration, POOR AUDIO
Is there anything you would change about this book?
John Steinbeck? Are you kidding? I just wish it were twice as long.
Which character – as performed by David Aaron Baker – was your favorite?
Baker does a great job of bringing each character to life, distinctly voiced and infused with individual emotion. Very easy to listen to.
Any additional comments?
I'm giving this audiobook three stars instead of five because of Audible's sloppy, shoddy editing. Words are clipped off at the end of chapters, and there are jump cuts where the words have been lost. This poor quality work is a gross disservice to a master writer like Steinbeck, and to the paying customer expecting a professional, unabridged product. Get your act together, Audible!
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140 people found this helpful
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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
- eyeboxone
- 2017-06-26
A classic
Age old question. Can a person have a shifting moral compass and still be a good person? Decent narrator but the production quality was awful. Chapters end abrubtly.
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46 people found this 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
- Sarah N
- 2020-02-27
Audio problems.
Love this book!! I’ll be listening to it again.
Issue: the ends of some of the chapters are cut too soon and may be missing some of the words entirely.
A re edit is needed
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32 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2019-10-24
Lazy Editing
This book was excellent and the performance was top notch as well. My only critique is in the editing of the audiobook. On several chapters there was basically no gap between the last word of the previous chapter and the announcing of the new chapter. It made it feel like the listener had skipped ahead and it didn’t flow well at all. For such a classic book and lovely performance by the narrator, I found this editing error to be annoying and have a hard time understanding how no one in the editing department caught and corrected this before release.
Beyond the less than perfect chapter transitions, this audiobook and its performance were a joy.
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20 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Wonder Wachara
- 2017-05-28
Beautifully Written and Skillfully Nuanced
Short of reading the book itself, few words can justly capture the masterful command of the English language and narrative of human experience Steinback demonstrates in this book. To express the cognitive process and self awareness of a protagonist such that he and the reader become one in a literary world, and yet, stay true to the character's nature is inexplicably difficult, and Steinbeck does so effortlessly. The author has earned his place among literature's greats and even that might be selling him short.
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18 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- J.B.
- 2017-11-05
Much to Lean About Life When Steinbeck Writes
The Winter of Our Discontent, written by: John Steinbeck, and narrated by: David Aaron Baker. In this magnificent work of art, Steinbeck provides us a tableau to consider materialism. He does so by asking (through his characters problems and resolutions); what is right and what is evil, where do I stand in the scheme of things, and how do I make it through life, given the evils that lay in wait of my efforts to do good. If I can prevail? Is there such a concept as prevailing? All this wonderful metaphysics arises because Mr. Steinbeck, needed a setting from which to criticize the materialism that pervaded North America in the 1950s and into the early 1960s.
Our hero is, Ethan Allen Hawley, a scion, from a New England (actually eastern Long Island), whaling family of renown. He has been unfortunate in that his family wealth was lost by his father and he now suffers the shame of lower middle class. As a grocer in a store he once owned he earns just enough to make it through life but no money for anything else. Opportunity comes to Ethan, if he is willing to forsake his values. Steinbeck though does not lead us directly into a binary choice. Do wrong or do good. Ethan takes off on his own scheme against the good and the bad. How it works out makes for a good story that marvels the metaphysical mind.
Does this story involve the reader? Yes. As all Steinbeck’s involve the reader. He is a master and this, his last novel, may be among his better works. Mr. Baker, delivers this difficult experience in perfect tone and cadence.
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15 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Kelly
- 2020-01-18
love Steinbeck!
Steinbeck has a BEAUTIFUL mind. He makes me think, and cry. He is masterful -- telling stories through rich and interesting characters. He illustrates the hard parts of life by showing us how we feel when those things happen. He makes the reader question their own responses to the things that happen around us. He shows us how we feel about prejudice (like in The Grapes of Wrath), poverty and homelessness (like in Of Mice and Men), and even family discord (like in East of Eden). He is a man that I wish I had known... I have a literary crush!
The Winter of Our Discontent is his last book. Thankfully though it is not my last book of his. I have at least 8 or 10 more to read. And, I know that I will revisit many of them many more times.
Update -- reread Jan 2020. I found the book to be even better on a second read. This time I really picked up on the details of life in the time and place, and I got into the thoughts of Ethan more.
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12 people found this helpful
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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
- Shawn
- 2012-11-17
Do the Ends Justify the Means?
Where does The Winter of Our Discontent rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
I love the book and really enjoyed listening to this audio versions.
What did you like best about this story?
It is a classic snapshot of society. Though the story is 50 years old people still value position and money in society in the same manner.
What about David Aaron Baker’s performance did you like?
He did a great job with the voices.
If you could rename The Winter of Our Discontent, what would you call it?
Revenge for the Belle Adair
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11 people found this 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
- Greg
- 2017-03-11
Funny, wise, great piece of literature.
This is my favorite of Steinbeck's works. The narrator is great. The production would be perfect if one or two seconds of silence was left at the end of each chapter.
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10 people found this 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
- A Snider
- 2017-03-03
Classic Steinbeck
Engaging, entertaining, mysterious. The direction of the story, well told and well read, was unpredictable and layered. Steinbeck was a most excellent writer.
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10 people found this helpful