The Monster Audiobook By Stephen Crane cover art

The Monster

A Stephen Crane Story

Preview

Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Monster

By: Stephen Crane
Narrated by: Deaver Brown
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $4.89

Buy for $4.89

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

"The Monster" is considered one of Crane's top four stories, but is left out of many collections. Don't miss it. It's a wonderful telling about the town of Whilomville, in which Henry Johnson lives and other Crane stories are set as well, including "The Knife". Henry is a buddy of the Doctor's son, Jimmie. They mutually discuss the Doctor, his doings, and their shortcomings. Henry takes care of the Doctor's place, drives him on his country rounds, and serves as a mentor to Jimmie.

Henry is a handsome black man respected and watched in the community. He has style and panache. He struts like a lord in his finery while having a good word for everyone.

One night there is a terrible fire, which turns out to be at the Doctor's. Henry bravely saves Jimmie, but is permanently scarred in the process. The town is scarred of Henry because of his disfigurement. The Doctor stands up to him because he can. But the tragic last scene, as memorable as any disappointment in literature, is when his wife has invited 16 women over for her Wednesday tea and only one shows up. This one is the wife of the grocer who warns the Doctor that he better get Henry out of town or he will be ostracized. To console his wife he says, "Don't cry Grace. Don't cry." The story goes on with "As he sat holding her head on his shoulder, Trescott (The Doctor) found himself occasionally trying to count the cups. There were fifteen of them." Those 15 cups represent them being cast out of the town's center forevermore. Another Crane beauty.

As with all Simply audiobooks, we provide a commentary in an afterword for those interested.

Public Domain (P)2011 Christina Brown
Anthologies
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about The Monster

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    3
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 3 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    3
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

amateur reader

I have been spoiled by the great artists that Audible hires to read their books. This one is red by an amateur and it's unlistenable.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!