Listen to a sample
Zeno’s Conscience
- Author
- Italo Svevo
- Narrator
- Sean Barrett
- Publisher
- Naxos AudioBooks
- Publish Date
- 1 November 2019
- Run Time
- 17 hours 16 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
- Genre
- Classic fiction
What to expect
Critics Review
-
Zeno Corsini’s psychiatrist has encouraged him to write about his thoughts and feelings. Narrator Sean Barrett captures all the inwardness and intimacy of that writing in his admirable performance of this modernist classic. His subtly inflected accent gives a continental nuance to his speech, perhaps reflecting the dialect of Zeno’s native Trieste. Barrett’s voice is charcoal gray in tone and pleasantly gravelly, his expression well suited to the sense and feel of the character: weak, amiable, self-deluding, self-justifying, undependable, venal. Barrett takes him at his own, perhaps dishonest, estimation, recounting his stories, his self-examinations, and his long monologues seriously — but not too seriously. He delivers Zeno’s history of himself as Zeno might in a subtle and skilled performance of this ambiguous fiction.
W.M., AudioFile
User Reviews
No reviews yet.
Details
- Author
- Italo Svevo
- Narrator
- Sean Barrett
- Duration
- 17 hours 16 minutes
- Release Date
- 1 November 2019
- ISBN
- 9781781982204
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Naxos AudioBooks
- Genre
- Classic fiction
Synopsis
Known for inspiring James Joyce’s Leopold Bloom in Ulysses, Zeno Cosini is the bumbling yet charming alter ego of Italo Svevo, who here lays bare a hilarious litany of neuroticisms about his health, friendships, family and women. Having submitted himself to Freudian psychoanalysis, the narrator keeps a diary with the aim of conquering his addiction to smoking. He describes his marriage to the woman he didn’t want to marry, how he drives his business partner to despair, and how his ‘last cigarette’ turns out to be one of many. Zeno is the classic ‘schlemiel’; his erratic foibles, his questionable logic and his curious inclination to self sabotage help shine a light on human behaviour in general, and reveal the many subtle half-truths people may tell themselves in order to defend their own actions and egos.
About xigxag
xigxag is an independent, UK-based audiobook platform and the UK's only B Corp certified audiobook company. We offer nearly 150,000 audiobooks, all with professional human narration. No AI-generated voices. xigxag is rated an Ethical Consumer Best Buy for audiobooks and a top-rated ethical bookshop.
There is no subscription. You buy the audiobooks you want, you own them permanently, and prices start at $13.95. The more you listen over the year, the less you pay per book, and there is always a selection in Listen for Less from $7.95. You can also send audiobooks as gifts using our audiobook gift cards or in-app gifting.
Every audiobook on xigxag has honest reviews covering both the book and the narration, and our community features make it easy to share what you are listening to, discover what others recommend, and find your next listen.
Download or stream on iOS, Android, or in your browser. Browse the full catalogue at xigxag.co.uk.