![]() And it’s a brilliant one, too, effortlessly pulling you into the character's mysterious world, and making you empathise with his struggle as the ultimate outsider from society. If the 2008 movie starring Brad Pitt went on too long for you, then good news: the original is actually a short story. Scott Fitzgerald and first published in 1992, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button tells the story of a man who ages in reverse: born with the appearance of an 80-year-old man, he then spends his life looking younger and younger. What's more, some of the social and political metaphors that passed over your head back then will probably gain new meaning now you're all grown-up. If you haven’t glanced at it since your own childhood, you’ve probably forgotten how brilliantly and wittily written it is, and how mindbogglingly surreal it gets in places. But if you’re looking for the ultimate escapism during lockdown, then you can’t do better than this weird and anarchic tale of a young girl’s nightmarish trip down a rabbit hole to a magical land. Yes, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a children’s book. Download from Audible (free trial)- narrated by Miriam Margolyes.Packed with twists and turns, emotion and tragedy, this romantic, but not sentimental story really packs a punch with a modern-day audience. From the first line to the last ("Reader, I married him"), the book's main character addresses us personally and intensely, and the potency of the effect remains strong even today, especially in audiobook form. Download from Audible (free trial) - narrated by Thandie NewtonĬharlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre might be an academic staple now, but on its publication in 1847, it was very controversial, due to its intimate, first person narrative.It’s told not as a straight narrative, but as a series of letters, diary entries, newspaper articles, and ships' log entries but once you get used to that, you’ll soon be hooked. The story tells the tale of Count Dracula's attempt to move from Transylvania to England to find new blood and spread the undead curse, and of the battle between Dracula and a group led by Professor Abraham Van Helsing. But in all that time, and despite spawning generations of questionable genre fare, this 1897 novel has never ceased to be a must-read. Download from Audible (free trial) - narrated by Alan Cumming & Tim CurryĪ century before Buffy and Twilight captured the hearts of emo kids everywhere, Irish author Bram Stoker’s novel first popularised vampires within the world of literature.DraculaĮnjoyed the latest BBC adaptation of Dracula, now available on Netflix? Then check out the audiobook of the original too (Image credit: BBC/Netflix) This is a beautifully written story embracing universal themes one which continues to entrance readers across the globe. Why? In part because, rather than being either pure fluffy romance or misery porn, there’s an underlying realism at its beating heart that reflects social relationships authentically.Īnd so while society may have changed over the years, the challenges and trials faced by the main character, Elizabeth Bennet, remain compelling. Pride and Prejudice is a romantic novel of manners written by Jane Austen in 1813 that still captivates audiences around the world today. Download from Audible (free trial) - narrated by Rosamund Pike.Gripping from start to finish, this chilling novel helped established Wells as "the father of science fiction". Published in 1897, this dark and punchy tale follows an optics scientist who turns himself invisible and then, despite his best efforts, can’t figure out how to reverse the experiment. Yet none save the 1933 black and white movie actually follow the original story by HG Wells, so if you haven’t read that yet, you’re in for a real treat. Also: Brooks’s 40 years with Anne Bancroft has always spelled real Hollywood romance for me - I know, I’m a meshugganah - and getting to hear him speak about their opposites-attract relationship is especially affecting.There have been lots of TV, comic and movie adaptations inspired by The Invisible Man, including the 2020 thriller that hit cinemas earlier this year. Could I have done without some of them? Yes! But he’s Mel Brooks, he’s 95, and I’d completely forgotten about Daphne Zuniga and the 1987 movie Spaceballs. Brooks takes things a step further and re-creates comedy schtick, songs from The Producers, full scenes from Blazing Saddles. Porter, for example, reenacts acceptance speeches from the Tonys and the Emmys. In a lot of celebrity memoirs these days, actors fully re-create the speeches they already gave when they win awards. Still, talking for 15 hours is a lot for anyone, let alone a 95-year-old. 95! It’s possible that he seemed younger to me because I doubled the speed of his audiobook. ![]() Listening to his spry narration, it’s hard to believe that Brooks is 95 years old.
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