GREAT CLASSIC STORIES 3

A miscellany of 20 nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century works, some famous and some obscure, is read by a group of British narrators. The editors have chosen a preponderance of spooky tales, but they aren't the most successful segments. Most memorable is an essay rather than a story, the satirical "On Being in Love," by Jerome K. Jerome, deliciously read by Hugh Laurie. "The Disintegration Machine" is a clever science-fiction story by Arthur Conan Doyle, featuring the irascible Professor Challenger, hero of THE LOST WORLD. Maurice LaBlanc contributes the amusing "Mysterious Railway Passenger," in which charming gentleman thief Arsène Lupin is himself robbed aboard a moving train. All readers, though not equally skilled, have attractive, soothing voices that make the entire volume a pleasure. Y.R. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine [Published: JULY 2009]