Classic Fiction 1
Talking Books
The titles in this booklist are just a selection of the titles available for loan from the RNIB National Library Talking Book Service.
Don’t forget you are allowed to have up to 6 books on loan. When you return a title, you will then receive another one.
If you would like to read any of these titles then please contact the Customer Services Team on 0303 123 9999 or email
If you would like further information, or help in selecting titles to read, then please contact the Reader Services Team on 01733 37 53 33 or email
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Austen, Jane
Pride and prejudice. 2005. Read by Emilia Fox, 12 hours 59 minutes. TB 13967.
When Elizabeth Bennett first meets eligible bachelor Fitzwilliam Darcy, she thinks him arrogant and conceited; he is indifferent to her good looks and lively mind. When she later discovers that Darcy has involved himself in the troubled relationship between his friend Bingley and her beloved sister Jane, she is determined to dislike him more than ever. TB 13967.
Austen, Jane
Emma. 1816. Read by Richard Baker, 17 hours 36 minutes. TB 1174.
Emma, a clever and very self-satisfied young lady, takes under her wing Harriet, a pretty but foolish girl of 17; this is a delightful account of Emma's injudicious schemes for Harriet's advancement. TB 1174.
Baldwin, James
Go tell it on the mountain. 1991. Read by David Graham, 9 hours 42 minutes. TB 10178.
A story of the guilt, bitterness and spiritual strivings of the Grimes family which is told as the son, John, faces the issue of religious conversion in the Temple of the Fire Baptised. TB 10178.
Balzac, Honore de
Old Goriot. 1834. Read by Robin Holmes, 12 hours. TB 763.
In a boarding house in Paris we meet old Goriot and his daughters and hear of the intrigues of the ambitious Rastignac and the criminal Vautrin. TB 763.
Beckett, Samuel
Molloy. 2003. Read by Sean Barrett, Dermot Crowley and Nigel Graham, 8 hours 41 minutes. TB 13920.
Molloy is divided into two sections. In the first section, Molloy goes in search of his mother. In the second, he is pursued by Moran, a private detective. Spoken in the first person, the novel raises the questions of being and aloneness that marks so much of Beckett's work. Molloy was written as a separate novel, but is often regarded as the first part of the Beckett trilogy, followed by Malone Dies and The Unnameable. TB 13920.
Bennett, Arnold
Anna of the Five Towns. 1936. Read by Ray Jones, 8 hours 31 minutes. TB 6867.
Anna is one of Bennett's "modern" heroines: brought up in a typical Potteries' town with its prayer meetings and rent collecting, stark Sunday schools and dark interiors, by a father who is a miser as well as a tyrant. Gradually her spirit expands until - at last - she manages to defy him. Almost a character in its own right, the community in which they live is shown as gossipy, myopic and uncaring. TB 6867.
Blackmore, R D
Lorna Doone. 1869. Read by Stephen Jack, 25 hours 15 minutes. TB 348.
Set in the times of Charles II and James II, this is the story of John Ridd, an Exmoor yeoman, and his revenge for the murder of his father by the Doones. His love for Lorna complicates the issue until it is discovered that she is the daughter of a Scottish noble, so that the impediment to the marriage becomes one of social situation. This is soon overcome by her fidelity and by his services to an old kinsman of Lorna and to the king. TB 348.
Borges, Jorge Luis
Fictions. 1962. Read by David Banks, 6 hours 8 minutes. TB 6541.
Seventeen stories from one of the greatest short story writers, a myth-maker who can build imaginary worlds and through them provide a new depth to reality. The author was born in Buenos Aires in 1899 and yet has so contemporary an appeal that his works have become best sellers in England as well as in native Latin America. The book is in two sections: "The Garden of Forking Paths" and "Artifies". TB 6541.
Bronte, Charlotte
Jane Eyre. 1994. Read by Lucy Scott, 20 hours 32 minutes. TB 14397.
A story of passionate love, travail and final triumph. The relationship between the heroine and Mr Rochester is only one episode, albeit the most important, in a detailed fictional autobiography in which the author transmuted her own experience into high art. TB 14397.
Bronte, Emily
Wuthering heights. 1847. Read by Robin Holmes, 12 hours 30 minutes. TB 283.
The story of a strange and terrible love, set on the wild Yorkshire moors. TB 283.
Buchan, John
The thirty-nine steps. 1915. Read by Andrew Timothy, 3 hours 56 minutes. TB 897.
The first of the famous Richard Hannay spy stories; a web of international intrigue spun in London and Scotland. TB 897.
Bunyan, John
Pilgrim's progress. 1678. Read by Eric Gillett, 12 hours 15 minutes. TB 792.
The dream allegory of Christian's flight from the City of Destruction towards the Celestial City. TB 792.
Butler, Samuel
The way of all flesh. 1903. Read by John Richmond, 18 hours 15 minutes. TB 1639.
In the form of a novel, brilliant with wit and irony, the author presents a study of his favourite theme, the relations of parents to children. The idiosyncrasy of the Pontifex family is traced from father to son through several generations: old John Pontifex, the village carpenter, George, the domineering publisher, Theobold his son, who is bullied into taking orders and jockeyed into marriage with the smug Christina, and Ernest, their child, who in turn suffers cruelly from the pharisaical tyranny of his father during childhood and schooldays. TB 1639.
Camus, Albert
The plague. 2002. Read by Steve Hodson, 11 hours 6 minutes. TB 13857.
The townspeople of Oran are in the grip of a deadly plague, which condemns its victims to a swift and horrifying death. Fear, isolation and claustrophobia follow as they are forced into quarantine, each responding in their own way to the lethal bacillus: some resign themselves to fate, some seek blame and a few, like Dr Rieus, resist the terror. Unsuitable for family reading. TB 13857.
Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel de
The adventures of Don Quixote. 1950. Read by Eric Gillet, 21 hours 45 minutes. TB 2230.
In this classic among comic novels, Don Quixote sets out to roam the world, imitating the knights-errant of whom he had read. Only his practical and trusty servant Sancho Panza brings him down to earth and saves him from the danger to which he exposes himself on all occasions. TB 2230.
Chekhov, A P
The shooting party. 1986. Read by Robert Gladwell, 9 hours 12 minutes. TB 6651.
This is Chekhov's only novel and was written in serial form for St Petersburg newspaper when he was 24 years old. It is a steamy story of murder and betrayal on a decaying estate in provincial Russia where the local landowner, a bored and extravagant Count, organizes senseless parties to pass the time. The story is told by a dissolute magistrate, seducer of a few lonely local women, one of whom is fated to die at the shooting party... TB 6651.
Collins, Wilkie
The woman in white. 1860. Read by Gabriel Woolf, 25 hours. TB 1651.
Late one night, a drawing teacher has a midnight encounter on a lonely road with a mysterious and agitated woman dressed entirely in white, whom he helps to escape from pursuers. Who is she, and what is her connection to the teacher's new pupil, a beautiful heiress? TB 1651.
Compton-Burnett, Ivy
The mighty and their fall. 1990. Read by Gretel Davis, 7 hours 41 minutes. TB 8328.
With his wife's death, Ninian Middleton turned to his eldest daughter, Lavinia, as a companion. When, some years later, he decides to marry again, a chasm opens in the life of the young girl. TB 8328.
Conrad, Joseph
Lord Jim. 1900. Read by Nigel Graham, 14 hours 15 minutes. TB 8199.
In this, another of Joseph Conrad's historical adventure tales, the central figure is Jim, the sensitive first mate of the Patna. Conrad is at great pains to show the reader that beneath such adventure there is a powerful psychological element. "Lord Jim" traces the development of this character as he moulds himself and the society in which he is marooned. Plain Jim becomes Tuan or "Lord Jim". TB 8199.
Conrad, Joseph
Youth: a narrative; Heart of darkness; and! The end of the tether. 1967. Read by Alistair Maydon, 13 hours 19 minutes. TB 5404.
Three of Conrad's most well-known stories in one book. In "Youth" he explores a boy's reactions to his first sea-voyage. "Heart of Darkness" describes the search for a long-lost explorer in the depths of the jungle. In the final story, "The End of the Tether", an honourable sea-captain discovers that he can be as corrupt as his crew and in so doing commits the unpardonable sin of endangering his ship. TB 5404.
Cooper, James Fenimore
The last of the Mohicans. 1990. Read by Jonathan Oliver, 16 hours 53 minutes. TB 8856.
This is a fictional novel with a factual core, namely, the massacre of the British by the Indians at Fort William Henry in 1757. This fictional aspect involves romance, sexuality and heroism, but within the placid character of the novel there lurks a dramatic and violent inner part, which reflects the hatred felt between the two warring factions. TB 8856.
Defoe, Daniel
Moll Flanders. 1722. Read by Robert Gladwell, 13 hours 25 minutes. TB 1485.
A moral comedy of low life set in the reign of Charles II. TB 1485.
Dickens, Charles
Tale of two cities. 2005. Read by Anton Lesser, 14 hours 56 minutes. TB 14956.
A story of the French Revolution set in London and Paris. Sydney Carton sacrifices his life on the guillotine for the happiness of Lucie Manette, the French girl he loves. TB 14956.
Dickens, Charles
Oliver Twist. 1994. Read by Peter Wickham, 16 hours 53 minutes. TB 14480.
The famous story of the workhouse boy and his adventures with Fagin, Bill Sykes, the Artful Dodger, and many other well-known characters, showing many of the social evils of the 19th century. TB 14480.
Dickens, Charles
David Copperfield. 1994. Read by Nigel Carrington, 34 hours 16 minutes. TB 14499.
David Copperfield relates the story of his life - transmuting many of the early experiences of his creator - right from his birth to his attainment of settled maturity and successful authorship. On his journey, David encounters a gallery of memorable characters, kind, cruel or grotesque: Mr Micawber, Uriah Heep and Steerforth are among the many who shape his development. TB 14499.
Dickens, Charles
Bleak House. 1852. Read by Maurice Turner, 36 hours 15 minutes. TB 756.
The tragic results of Esther's discovery that she was not an orphan, as she had supposed, and the story of her friend Ada, ward and victim with her cousin Richard, of the Court of Chancery. TB 756.
Dickens, Charles
Great expectations. 1861. Read by Andrew Timothy, 17 hours 35 minutes. TB 315.
Tells of Pip and his encounter with a convict, of his friendship with the eccentric Miss Havisham and adopted daughter, and of his life as a young man of great expectations. TB 315.
Dickens, Charles
A Christmas carol. 1843. Read by Maurice Turner, 3 hours 15 minutes. TB 896.
Ebenezer Scrooge is a heartless old miser who doesn't enjoy Christmas and doesn't think anyone else should, either. But, one Christmas Eve, some ghostly visitors take Scrooge on a journey that changes his mind for ever. TB 896.
Dostoevskii, F M
Crime and punishment. 1866. Read by Corbett Woodall, 23 hours 50 minutes. TB 1507.
A psychological study of a young student who kills an old money-lender and his subsequent fear and remorse. TB 1507.
Dostoevskii, F M
The brothers Karamazov. 1958. Read by Gabriel Woolf, 38 hours 29 minutes. TB 4770.
Fydor Karamazov, a mean and disreputable landowner, has three sons, Dmitry, a profligate army officer; Ivan, a writer with revolutionary ideas; and Alexey, a religious novice. A drama of patricide and fraternal jealousy unfolds, involving the questions of anarchism and atheism, and giving a portrait of Russian society in the turbulent 1870's. TB 4770.
Doyle, Arthur Conan
The complete Sherlock Holmes. 1992. Read by Robert Gladwell, 77 hours 28 minutes. TB 10083.
The only complete, definitive edition of the authoritative text of every Sherlock Holmes story ever written, this volume contains all four novels and all fifty six short stories. TB 10083.
Dumas, Alexandre
The three musketeers. 1844. Read by Andrew Timothy, 26 hours 45 minutes. TB 3153.
A historical romance, this novel tells of the adventures of the hot-headed young Gascon, d'Artagnan and his three companions Athos, Porthos and Aramis as they gallantly defend the Queen of France, using their wit and their swords. Set in the seventeenth century. TB 3153.
Dumas, Alexandre
Count of Monte Cristo. 1909. Read by Andrew Timothy, 51 hours 5 minutes. TB 2354.
Falsely condemned to life imprisonment, Dantes escapes to Monte Cristo and sets out to avenge himself on all who have wronged him. TB 2354.
Eliot, George
Adam Bede. 1859. Read by John Richmond, 23 hours 54 minutes. TB 1394.
Adam Bede loves Hetty Sorel, who is seduced by the young squire, convicted of the murder of her child, and transported. He finds ultimate happiness with Dinah Morris, a young Methodist preacher. TB 1394.
Eliot, George
The mill on the Floss. 1860. Read by Gabriel Woolf, 21 hours. TB 1118.
Maggie Tulliver is deeply attached to her brother Tom, but their conflicting temperaments and outlook produce only stress and misunderstanding until they are finally reconciled in a moment of revelation before tragedy overtakes them. TB 1118.