Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Earthly Powers

By: Anthony Burgess
Narrated by: Gordon Griffin
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £23.99

Buy Now for £23.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

Kenneth Toomey is an eminent novelist of dubious talent; Don Carlo Campanati is a man of God, a shrewd manipulator who rises through the Vatican to become the architect of church revolution and a candidate for sainthood.

These two men are linked not only by family ties but by a common understanding of mankind's frailties. In this epic masterpiece, Anthony Burgess plumbs the depths of the essence of power and the lengths men will go for it.

©1980 Anthony Burgess (P)2014 Audible Studios
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Human Factor cover art
Silence cover art
The Immigrants cover art
Inside, Outside cover art
Devil in a Blue Dress cover art
Vera cover art
Rogue Male cover art
Midnight Cowboy cover art
The Spire cover art
The New York Trilogy cover art
The Black Obelisk cover art
Nothing Like the Sun cover art
Staying On cover art
The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution cover art
Between the Bridge and the River cover art
Victorious Century cover art

Critic reviews

"Crowded, crammed, bursting with manic erudition, garlicky puns, omnilingual jokes... which meshes the real and personalised history of the twentieth century." (Martin Amis)

What listeners say about Earthly Powers

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    68
  • 4 Stars
    35
  • 3 Stars
    17
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    7
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    71
  • 4 Stars
    32
  • 3 Stars
    8
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    5
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    65
  • 4 Stars
    31
  • 3 Stars
    15
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    6

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful capolavoro.

I read this when it was first published. Loved it then, maybe more so now.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Wonderful

To start with I wasn’t keen, but once we got going it turned into a riveting yarn. So good to read a properly grown up book ably read by a serious narrator. Bravo,

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book, but it has proven to be one of the finest audiobooks that I have ever listened to - in both content and performance. I saw a couple of poor reviews and feel that these critiques are persnickety and do not give credit to the outstanding performance and pacing of the speaker. Absolutely fantastic.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing story and performance

I read this book in the late 80s, I think, and it became one of my favourite books. I’m weaved historical events with a fictional life in literature. When I saw it available as an Audible title I eagerly purchased it. The reader captured perfectly my idea of the protagonists’ voices. I enjoyed every minute of this title. It is long, involved and thought-provoking but worth it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful and utterly brilliant in parts

This book has sat on my shelves unread for decades, until I succumbed to the Audible reading.

Many people will know the infamous opening sentence, which I was aware of beforehand. I wonder if Mr Bugess threw it in there to shock, drawing in some readers and putting off others.

The opening is set in the present day, while the story then relates matters chronologically of a small group of characters throughout the 20th century, It throws in real-life political and literary persons, which I imagine gave Mr Burgess great pleasure.

It must take great imagination to create such a work and it is testament to the author that you are sad to reach the end.

I thought the most brilliant sections dealt with both world wars and their aftermaths. The rest of it is "only" wonderful.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Indefinable

A classic writer who presents the fragility, capriciousness and beautiful complexities of human nature without inhibition. All our vulgarities and beauties are laid bare and with both humour and empathy the life of an imagined human is presented for our consideration.
It is hard to comprehend the controversial nature of Burgess’ writing now - clearly an author before his time: the bravest type of author there is.
The narrator is also a craftsman who is able to bring this piece of art to life.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Poorly read

Sadly, the reader is appalling. If I had not read the book already and did not know how good it is I should have turned it off. Painful.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Fine work beautifully performed

Fine, thought provoking novel. Beautifully written and beautifully read. I totally disagree with the previous reviewer who castigates the narrator. To my ear he was clear, all words pronounced according to Received Pronunciation, except for dialect, and foreign words annunciated correctly: just perfect!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Utter Waffle

Horrendously dull. Badly paced. Nothing worthwhile happens in terms of events, exchanges, or internal monologue.

I love literary fiction. I love satire. I hate this book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Spoiled pleasure

The book is excellent; the reader spoils it. There is much Italian,french, Latin and other languages in the text, a great deal of it haltingly and horribly mispronounced. Unfortunately the reader also mispronounces a large number of English words as well. This and some mangled attempts at various accents spoils the pleasure of hearing the book
reaf

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

19 people found this helpful