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The Prince and the Pauper (Abridged) Audiobook
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(3.00) - 41,945 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
The Prince and the Pauper is a novel by Mark Twain and was published in 1881. It tells the story of two young boys (a prince and a pauper) who exchange their role temporally. They are the same age and exactly look alike. But they have a great difference: Tom Canty is a pauper who lives with his abusive, alcoholic father in Offal Court off Pudding Lane in London, Edward Tudor is Prince of Wales and son of Henry VIII of England. Prior to meeting each other, both boys have dreams of living the life of the other. Tom, dressed as Edward, tries to deal with court customs and manners. On the other hand, Edward forces to face the brutal life of a London pauper and then becomes aware of the stark class inequality in England. Mark Twain attacks upon social hypocrisy. Also, he exposes the concept that "clothes make the man" with his satiric and irresistible comedy. This version of the book is translated by Mohsen Soleimani to Persian (Farsi) and narrated by Noro-Al-Din Djavadian. The Persian version of The Prince and the Pauper’s audiobook is published by Maktub worldwide.
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"A great little book "for children of all ages," this classic tale provides a foundation for a series of adventures and character development for both Edward and Tom Canty, plus Twain's usual scathing satire leveled at the inequities of a classed society and the absurdity of what passed and passes for justice all over the world. The only flaw I could find in the plot was that, while Tom made a fine king and showed himself very wise in, for example, his handling of the accused murderer and witches, it did not occur to him to solve the mix-up by simply issuing the equivalent of an APB for one "Tom Canty." In any case, a fine piece of satire and a good story."
— Ensiform (4 out of 5 stars)
The Prince and the Pauper Listener Reviews
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" One of my sisters gave me a beautiful hardcover copy of this when I was in junior high - love it. "
— Janna, 2/19/2014 -
" I was surprised at how hard the language was for me to understand. I had to use my brain on this one. Mark Twain is a fabulous author. It is always good to walk in someone else's shoes before making judgments about them! "
— Kara, 2/13/2014 -
" Good book. Quick paced. And I'll be damned if there weren't some solid lessons and commentaries to consider. "
— Sara, 2/12/2014 -
" I really enjoyed this! The ending is obvious (in addition to the chapter titles giving one clues as to what is going to happen), but that part didn't matter. It was the substance of all of Edward's adventures and Tom's hesitance that is the most interesting. It seems like it would've appealed to a lot of children when it was written. I would like to hope it would still appeal to them today, but I feel like the way people talked in it would've confused me. "
— Susie, 2/10/2014 -
" This was recommended by my friend Jory. I loved it. Written in old English, but the story had lots of twists and turns and it kept me reading. "
— Lynette, 2/2/2014 -
" I'm a sucker for a good adventure, and especially if it's authored by one of the best stortellers to ever grace our planet - Mark Twain. I have a limp leather bound 1901 version of this book, so maybe that adds to the whole experience of reading it, but I just love to pick up this book from time-to-time and read one of my all-time favorite stories. "
— Dennis, 2/1/2014 -
" I really enjoyed this one as a young girl. I liked it more than Tom Sawyer. "
— Kecia, 1/29/2014 -
" One of my favorite books "
— Angela, 1/28/2014 -
" pagerunning...loved it , althouge some part are so predactable . "
— Fawaz, 1/19/2014 -
" All the cod Tudor English began a little wearing and the story itself is rather drawn out. Might have made a better long short story or novella. beginning to realise that twain's reputation rests on little of real substance other than sawyer/Finn and some good short stories "
— John, 1/16/2014 -
" A Mark Twain book I actually liked! Great Book. Two boys who look alike trade places and have learning experiences. Twain interjects little things here and there, I found a little annoying but not too disrupting. "
— Robin, 1/6/2014 -
" This story has been covered in so many ways, it's easy to forget that it's a piece of classic literature. "
— John, 12/27/2013 -
" I like this book...its humorous,adventurous and sad...A great novel easy to read. "
— Cecy, 12/26/2013 -
" Cute book and morally intriguing. Very interesting if pondered in the historical standpoint. "
— Suzanne, 12/17/2013 -
" Two boys switch places, one a really poor boy living off money gotten from begging, the other a king. Both learn to accept where they are in life and realize that the grass isn't always greener on the other side of the fence. "
— Gillian, 11/26/2013 -
" I read this novel when I was in the 4th or 5th grade I think. This is one of my favorite children's books. The story was absolutely amazing. "
— Dina, 11/24/2013 -
" One of my best ever read books :) I truly Enjoyed it . It had a nice message and it wasn't boring at all "
— Najma, 11/20/2013 -
" Maybe I was too old to be reading this for the first time, but I found it slow and tedious. "
— Carrie, 10/7/2013 -
" Truly disappointing. Feels like Twain just doing the Twain thing instead of applying himself. "
— Brett, 9/3/2013 -
" I wrote a 10 page essay on this book my senior year of high school. I never thought my teacher would actually let me read it because it's a 'kid's book.' I just wanted to read something Mark Twain because he makes me laugh. No exception here. Good 'kid's book' and good 'adult's book.' "
— Kori, 7/15/2013 -
" A Twain I actually like. "
— Lindsay, 7/14/2013 -
" Mark Twain - great novelist. I learned the poetry of a novel. "
— Gregory, 6/13/2013 -
" This is a pretty famous and pretty fun historical fiction about Edward VI. Twain, master of American dialect, turns out to be pretty good at stilted English court speech as well. This plot works in the fine old tradition of mistaken identity. "
— J., 4/19/2013 -
" Opportunity is out there you don't need to be born rich. "
— Gustabo, 1/23/2013 -
" I really enjoyed this book - predictable as it was it still managed a few twists and was there are some very funny hidden gems within it. It has a hugely visual humour and needs time to imagine the situations as you read and it was well worth doing so. "
— Alasdair, 12/31/2012 -
" Everyone should at least read this book once. I rated it a 4/5 because it is a really good book, but I could put it down. "
— Whitney, 11/19/2012 -
" I really disliked this book, for some apparent reason. I do not enjoy reading in Shakespearan language, and the wording really confused me which distracted me to understand the concept of the story. "
— Alan, 8/3/2012 -
" The Prince and the Pauper was a beautiful and amusing classic by Mark Twain and I enjoyed it very much. "
— Veronica, 4/7/2012 -
" I like that this book shows the different ways that people treat others, just depending on who/what they think the other person is. "
— Swen, 4/6/2012 -
" Don't get me wrong - this is a wonderful book. I just didn't quite understand it. It had a language that didn't quite get through to my head. I really want to read it again sometime, when I'm older and actually get it. "
— Banana, 12/1/2011 -
" Excellent read! Get past the "Hollywood" chunk of it and it gets really good! "
— Laurie, 9/28/2011 -
" I was pleasantly surprised to see how much humor Mark Twain wrote with. I was also surprised to realize that this book is actually a historical fiction. That fact made the book super enjoyable for me. "
— Mashell, 9/16/2011 -
" Very intresting book with lots of action and fun but lacks in detail and the ending isn't anything special. "
— Waqar, 9/14/2011 -
" this book is not for me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "
— Danielle, 8/21/2011 -
" Love this book! Keep reading it over and over. "
— Eileen, 7/8/2011 -
" this is cool and nothing like the barbie version. LOL! "
— Jacqui, 5/25/2011 -
" I love this book because it reinforces what I've always thought about people being pretty much the same, whether rich or poor. "
— Paulette, 5/2/2011 -
" I love this book because it reinforces what I've always thought about people being pretty much the same, whether rich or poor. "
— Paulette, 5/2/2011 -
" Again, since I probably read this when I was 7 or 8 I don't think I truly appreciated it. I don't honestly remember if it was better than a 3/5. "
— Amy, 4/22/2011 -
" Again, since I probably read this when I was 7 or 8 I don't think I truly appreciated it. I don't honestly remember if it was better than a 3/5. "
— Amy, 4/22/2011 -
" Funny, this one I was rereading from my childhood. I am in a group of women and we decided to read something that we had read and enjoyed as a child, but as I read it this time, I found myself skimming through it, not really enjoying the old English language used in the book. "
— Donna, 4/8/2011 -
" To be honest I don't remember what exactly it was about, having read it quite a while ago... "
— Sofia, 4/8/2011 -
" Funny, this one I was rereading from my childhood. I am in a group of women and we decided to read something that we had read and enjoyed as a child, but as I read it this time, I found myself skimming through it, not really enjoying the old English language used in the book. "
— Donna, 4/8/2011 -
" To be honest I don't remember what exactly it was about, having read it quite a while ago... "
— Sofia, 4/8/2011 -
" (Audio book)<br/><br/>It took a while to warm up to it, but once I did I found it very enjoyable. "
— Camilla, 3/31/2011 -
" (Audio book)<br/><br/>It took a while to warm up to it, but once I did I found it very enjoyable. "
— Camilla, 3/31/2011 -
" I saw a play adapted from the book and was inspired to read it. "
— Robert, 3/28/2011 -
" I saw a play adapted from the book and was inspired to read it. "
— Robert, 3/28/2011 -
" Imaginative story. Makes me glad to middle class and living in the 21st century. "
— Nadine, 3/11/2011 -
" Imaginative story. Makes me glad to middle class and living in the 21st century. "
— Nadine, 3/11/2011 -
" Mark Twain's wit and timeless insights on the inequities of society ring true today. This is a delightful book. "
— Brittany, 3/7/2011 -
" Mark Twain's wit and timeless insights on the inequities of society ring true today. This is a delightful book. "
— Brittany, 3/7/2011 -
" I always get so bogged down by the language of the book that it takes me a while to remember why I love this one so much. A great story where good always triumphs. A great read. "
— Heather, 3/6/2011 -
" I always get so bogged down by the language of the book that it takes me a while to remember why I love this one so much. A great story where good always triumphs. A great read. "
— Heather, 3/6/2011 -
" Big Toe Books. Lovely book. "
— Laura, 2/24/2011 -
" Regretfully I suspect that very soon some *great* and *creative* mind, will be *inspired* to write a sequel to this truly great story, depicting prince William's experience of spending night on the street with homeless folks (I do sympathize with those, perhaps even more so than William himself) "
— Alex, 2/23/2011 -
" Regretfully I suspect that very soon some *great* and *creative* mind, will be *inspired* to write a sequel to this truly great story, depicting prince William's experience of spending night on the street with homeless folks (I do sympathize with those, perhaps even more so than William himself) "
— Alex, 2/23/2011 -
" asal pengarangnya mark twain, pasti semangat bacanya! "
— Trisha, 2/18/2011
About Mark Twain
Mark Twain, pseudonym of Samuel L. Clemens (1835–1910), was born in Florida, Missouri, and grew up in Hannibal on the west bank of the Mississippi River. He attended school briefly and then at age thirteen became a full-time apprentice to a local printer. When his older brother Orion established the Hannibal Journal, Samuel became a compositor for that paper and then, for a time, an itinerant printer. With a commission to write comic travel letters, he traveled down the Mississippi. Smitten with the riverboat life, he signed on as an apprentice to a steamboat pilot. After 1859, he became a licensed pilot, but two years later the Civil War put an end to the steam-boat traffic.
In 1861, he and his brother traveled to the Nevada Territory where Samuel became a writer for the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, and there, on February 3, 1863, he signed a humorous account with the pseudonym Mark Twain. The name was a river man’s term for water “two fathoms deep” and thus just barely safe for navigation.
In 1870 Twain married and moved with his wife to Hartford, Connecticut. He became a highly successful lecturer in the United States and England, and he continued to write.