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The World's Best Classic Short Stories cover art

The World's Best Classic Short Stories

Written by: O. Henry,Edgar Allan Poe,Oscar Wilde,Saki,Kate Chopin,Thomas Hardy,Rudyard Kipling
Narrated by: Cathy Dobson
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Publisher's Summary

A glittering collection of some of the world's finest short stories, including:

  • 'The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe
  • 'The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant
  • 'The Mezzotint' by M. R. James
  • 'The Phantom Rickshaw' by Rudyard Kipling
  • 'The Withered Arm' by Thomas Hardy
  • 'The Model Millionaire' by Oscar Wilde
  • 'The Monkey’s Paw' by W. W. Jacobs
  • 'An Uncomfortable Bed' by Guy de Maupassant
  • 'The Mortal Immortal' by Mary Shelley
  • 'The Black Cat' by Edgar Allan Poe
  • 'Sredni Vashtar' by Saki
  • 'The Nose' by Nicolai Gogol
  • 'Regret' by Kate Chopin
  • 'One Thousand Dollars' by O. Henry
  • 'The Fly' by Katherine Mansfield
  • 'A Descent into the Maelström' by Edgar Allan Poe
  • 'The Sphinx Without a Secret' by Oscar Wilde
  • 'The Inconsiderate' Waiter by J. M. Barrie
  • 'The Black Poodle' by F. Anstey
  • 'The Quest' by Saki
  • 'The Three Strangers' by Thomas Hardy
  • 'Oil of Dog' by Ambrose Bierce
  • 'The Oval Portrait' by Edgar Allan Poe
  • 'Markheim' by Robert Louis Stevenson
  • 'Fear' by Guy de Maupassant
  • 'The Belated Russian Passport' by Mark Twain
  • 'The Changeling' by W. W. Jacobs
  • 'The Pit and the Pendulum' by Edgar Allan Poe
  • 'The Eyes of the Panther' by Ambrose Bierce
  • 'The Dead' by James Joyce
  • 'The Secret Sharer' by Joseph Conrad
  • 'The Story of an Hour' by Kate Chopin
  • 'The Telltale Heart' by Edgar Allan Poe
  • 'My Favorite Murder' by Ambrose Bierce
  • 'The Premature Burial' by Edgar Allan Poe
  • 'Tobermory' by Saki
  • 'Memoirs of a Yellow Dog' by O. Henry.
  • Public Domain (P)2013 Red Door Audiobooks

    What listeners say about The World's Best Classic Short Stories

    Average Customer Ratings
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    • Overall
      3 out of 5 stars
    • Performance
      3 out of 5 stars

    The narrator spoiled it for me

    I had to stop halfway through the first story because I couldn't listen to the narrator anymore. I don't know if she does it on purpose or if that's just her reading voice but it's hard to pay attention to the story. She has this not quite sing-songy, not quite monotone, I don't know what. Like it has a haunting, droll tone to it. I can't listen it anymore, regardless of my inability to accurately describe it. You would think it would serve Edgar Allan Poe well, but no. I'll have to return this book since she narrates the whole thing. Pity.

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    1 person found this helpful

    • Overall
      4 out of 5 stars
    • Performance
      4 out of 5 stars
    • Story
      3 out of 5 stars

    Good compilation, very dramatic narrator

    Loved some of the short stories, didn't love some other, but that was okay, The narrator was very dramatic I found, which distracted a little from each story. I like how the chapters were broken up into the short stories, very helpful.

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    1 person found this helpful

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    • Overall
      2 out of 5 stars
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    • Jennifer Greenberg
    • 2016-09-04

    I just can't listen to this narrator

    I love these stories but just I could not bear this narrator. I tried - I really tried.

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    18 people found this helpful

    • Overall
      1 out of 5 stars
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      1 out of 5 stars
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      1 out of 5 stars
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    • Amber
    • 2015-12-23

    Annoying

    Annoying and melancholic narration. The accent drives me nuts. Worst purchase ever. Very monotone. Would like my money back.

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    17 people found this helpful

    • Overall
      5 out of 5 stars
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      5 out of 5 stars
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      5 out of 5 stars
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    • Ken Larsen
    • 2015-02-04

    Wonderful group of short stories

    A wonderful group of intriguing short stories, written by world class authors and performed with great enthusiasm which one can enjoy anytime.

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    12 people found this helpful

    • Overall
      3 out of 5 stars
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      3 out of 5 stars
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    • Stephen O. Meredith
    • 2017-02-25

    Narration is annoying

    The sing-song voice of the British narrator was fine for the first story or so but was highly annoying in its sameness over time.

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    9 people found this helpful

    • Overall
      1 out of 5 stars
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      1 out of 5 stars
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      1 out of 5 stars
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    • Rebekah Collins
    • 2021-01-17

    Terrible Narration . . .

    I wish I had read the other reviews before purchasing this as I love short stories. Also there are no chapter titles and the narrator does not announce the author's name for each story either.

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    4 people found this helpful

    • Overall
      2 out of 5 stars
    • Performance
      2 out of 5 stars
    • Story
      5 out of 5 stars
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    • Gerald Brissette
    • 2020-10-03

    Tough listen

    The content appeals to me greatly. I just didn't like listening to the reader. It didn't seem genuine to me.

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    3 people found this helpful

    • Overall
      5 out of 5 stars
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      1 out of 5 stars
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    • Some
    • 2022-03-23

    Fire this narrator!

    This narrator nearly ruined the whole thing. Her predictable and repetitive tone, especially over-emphasized sentence endings made this a chore rather than a pleasure to get through.

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    1 person found this helpful

    • Overall
      1 out of 5 stars
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    • Jana
    • 2023-12-09

    she just drones on and on and on....

    I simply couldn't continue on. I stopped on Chapter 28. Maybe that is an err on my end. But it, to me was akin to finger nails dragging across a chalk board.

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    • Overall
      1 out of 5 stars
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      2 out of 5 stars
    • Story
      4 out of 5 stars
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    • Moon
    • 2022-11-29

    Impossible to navigate

    There are no titles in the chapters to find a particular story, therefore I don't listen as I don't know what it is.

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    • Overall
      1 out of 5 stars
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    • Anthony
    • 2022-11-19

    Hard to understand

    The narrator is very difficult to understand. She is speaking formally and making the plain text more complicated than necessary.

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