Mosses from an Old Manse

By: Nathaniel Hawthorne

Narrated by: George Doyle

Many of the tales collected in "Mosses from an Old Manse" are allegories and, typical of Hawthorne, focus on the negative side of human nature. Hawthorne's friend Herman Melville noted this aspect in his review about Hawthorne and his "Mosses": "This black conceit pervades him through and through. You may be witched by his sunlight, transported by the bright gildings in the skies he builds over you; but there is the blackness of darkness beyond; and even his bright gildings but fringe and play upon the edges of thunder-clouds." William Henry Channing noted in his review of the collection that its author "had been baptized in the deep waters of Tragedy", and his work was dark with only brief moments of "serene brightness" which was never brighter than "dusky twilight".©2017 Audioliterature (P)2017 Audioliterature

Essential Hawthorne Collection, Excellent Narrator

STORY:
This audiobook includes all 23 of the stories and sketches published by Nathaniel Hawthorne in the collection "Mosses from an Old Manse" in 1846, plus three more added in the 1854 second edition. Many of these are famous in their own right, often appearing in anthologies of 'best' or 'favorite' short stories. This and Hawthorne's earlier collection "Twice-Told Tales" (many of which are likewise famous) are essential American literature for the quality of the writing and for their entertainment value.

PERFORMANCE:
The narrator, George Doyle (alias for Bob Neufeld), is an excellent story-teller. To me he is reminiscent of George Guidall -- both in the burnished quality of his voice and his engaged and eager phrasing without over-acting. This audiobook and his narration of the complete "Twice-Told Tales" are also available on YouTube (search for "George Doyle topic") and were originally recorded for LibriVox as free public domain audiobooks.

OVERALL:
The recorded sound is only mediocre but doesn't interfere with the listening experience. Inexplicably, the publisher does not provide the titles that are essential to a collection of individual stories, but merely Chapter 1, etc. I've supplied the story titles below:

1. The Old Manse: Part 1
2. The Old Manse: Part 2
3. The Old Manse: Part 3
4. The Birth-Mark
5. A Select Party
6. Young Goodman Brown
7. Rappaccini's Daughter: Part 1
8. Rappaccini's Daughter: Part 2
9. Mrs. Bullfrog
10. The Celestial Railroad
11. The Procession of Life
12. Feathertop
13. Egotism; or, The Bosom-Serpent
14. Drowne's Wooden Image
15. Roger Malvin's Burial
16. The Artist of the Beautiful: Part 1
17. The Artist of the Beautiful: Part 2
18. Fire-Worship
19. Buds and Bird-Voices
20. Monsieur du Miroir
21. The Hall of Fantasy
22. The New Adam and Eve
23. The Christmas Banquet
24. The Intelligence Office
25. P.'s Correspondence
26. Earth's Holocaust
27. Passages from a Relinquished Work
28. Sketches from Memory
29. The Old Apple-Dealer
30. A Virtuoso's Collection