Faust Audiobook By Johann Wolfgang von Goethe cover art

Faust

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Faust

By: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Narrated by: Tim Habeger
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Goethe's masterpiece and perhaps the greatest work in German literature, Faust has made the legendary German alchemist one of the central myths of the Western world. Here indeed is a monumental Faust, an audacious man boldly wagering with the devil, Mephistopheles, that no magic, sensuality, experience or knowledge can lead him to a moment he would wish to last forever.

Public Domain (P)2012 Audible, Inc. Classics

Editorial reviews

The protagonist of Goethe's masterpiece has become one of the most enduring and well-known characters in Western literature. Faust, in his ambition, makes an arrangement with the devil Mephistopheles: Mephistopheles will do everything Faust desires while the alchemist lives, and in exchange, Faust will serve the devil in Hell after his death. The arrangement hinges on the catch that if Faust encounters a moment that he wishes will last forever, he will die in that moment. Narrator Tim Habeger's Faust is world-weary and cynical, and Habeger's low-key performance avoids theatrics, instead providing a solid interpretation of Goethe's work.

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The classic story is more easily- followed in this format. Narrator is a little too theatr

A good read

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What did you love best about Faust?

This is such a deep, architectonic work for Western civilzation -- and at the same time filled with wonderful humor. Goethe was a master.

What didn’t you like about Tim Habeger’s performance?

It was laborious and monotonic. I can understand that there would be difficulties dealing with the poem's meter and rhyme, but frequently I had the sense that he hadn't practiced and was just reading it through for the first time -- strange, misplaced pauses, inadequate differentiation of mood and tone. The reading did nothing to illuminate the text -- quite the opposite.

Great work, decent translation, poor narration

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Now if only the name of Mephostophiloes in The Key or Lessers Key of Solomon’s or even the Geimorium Verum was to be found or anything similar.

Interesting to say the least

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Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, because it delves into the human dichotomy of good and evil.

What did you like best about this story?

How Faust finally repents his miserable treatment of Gretchen.

Which character – as performed by Tim Habeger – was your favorite?

Faust.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, mostly because I needed to. I think the book could be listened to in parts because the story has natural breaks of time in it that would do well as listening breaks.

Any additional comments?

There is a reason this is a classic in world literature - read it to see.

German Gothic at its finest

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The narration is difficult to follow and the concepts do not feel particularly eye opening

Not great

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I've been wanting to read Faust forever, but this performance was extremely hard to listen to. I had to give up. They Read stage directions out loud...

Painful to listen to

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reader is great. poem is great...but the description leads you to believe it is both parts, and it is not.

Would have been nice if it was both parts

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Any additional comments?

This audio book is advertised as unabridged, and true it is the unabridged recording of Part I of George Madison Priest's excellent translation of Goethe's classic story, but where is Part II? I feel that calling this an unabridged version is very misleading - in fact I feel cheated out of hearing the centuries long controversial redemption of Goethe's Faust at the end of Part II. Hope Audible corrects this and publishes Part II - unabridged.

Where's Part II???

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... Than is a devil who despairs.

Sitting on the shelf with the children of Homer, Virgil, Dante, Shakespeare, Milton and Coleridge, Goethe's Faust is amazing in its poetry and depth. There are parts of this play/poem which seem to capture the whole drama of Man's fall and redemption within a single rhyming couplet.

David Constatine's translation modernizes this amazing piece of High German lit, but George Madison Priest's translation (THIS translation) seems, at least to me, to have a more seductive flow and more tempting poetry. Tim Habager's rnarration flirts with Priest's translation with a musical, clear and headlong force.

Naught more absurd in this world can I find ...

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What did you love best about Faust?

Faust is Faust, there's rich character in the exchanges.

What did you like best about this story?

I love the story, I didn't like anything at all about this performance of it, except that it was an excellent sleep-aid.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Quite monotone, listless pace. He has a great voice but the performance he gave here was not easy to endure.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

No

Lifeless performance of a classic - waste of time!

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