Self Help
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Self Help
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Narrated by:
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Walter Dixon
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By:
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Samuel Smiles
About this listen
Self Help was published in 1859 by Samuel Smiles. It has been called "the bible of mid-Victorian liberalism". Self Help sold 20,000 copies within one year of its publication. By the time of Smiles' death in 1904, it had sold over a quarter of a million. Self-Help elevated Smiles to celebrity status; almost overnight, he became a leading pundit and much-consulted guru.
Public Domain (P)2017 Gildan Media LLCListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about Self Help
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Peter
- 13-04-22
Outstanding...
If you'd like to know what made so many Victorians great, then this book exemplifies it. I'm still very surprised that this book is not better known, as it's teeming with advice and guidance on every conceivable aspect of self - help. It's very, very Victorian in its approach, which makes it all the more refreshing. It's the very opposite of all of the wishy-washy, self -pitying mindfulness you get nowadays. Some may feel that it requires a British narrator, but if Walter Dixon's excellent narration helps to encourage a wider, American, audience, then so much the better. Yes, some of the place names aren't pronounced in the exact same way as they are in the UK, but it really doesn't matter. You soon get used to it. Samuel Smiles has left us a great legacy with this and his other works, and would be justifiably proud that his books are still being enjoyed more than one-hundred-and-sixtyy years later.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer
- 27-11-17
Brilliant book, terrible narration!
An almost unbelievably brilliant book that seems to have been forgotten despite the fact that it remains as relevant today as it ever was.
The writing is excellent, inspirational, incredibly well researched and empowering. No wonder Samuel Smiles was a celebrity in his era.
Now, about the narration.
Whilst it is a good thing that this book is available on Audible, why the hell was a book written by a Scottish gentleman narrated by an American????!!!!
Not only does the American reading style (ignoring commas and semi colons) damage the flow and grace of the writing, but the fact that the narrator cannot pronounce most of the English town and village names (and that nobody corrected him) makes listening to this quite cringe-inducing.
Reading House of Leaves with a British voice does not work. Reading Victorian British prose in an American accent similarly does not work.
Anyway, love the book, everyone should read / listen to it. Ignore the title - no self-hugging, mediocrity-aspiring nonsense here!
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5 people found this helpful