The Destructors and Other Stories cover art

The Destructors and Other Stories

Preview

£0.00 for first 30 days

Try for £0.00
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.

The Destructors and Other Stories

By: Graham Greene
Narrated by: Stephen Thorne
Try for £0.00

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

Buy Now for £11.99

Buy Now for £11.99

Confirm Purchase
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.
Cancel

About this listen

From a childish fear of the dark in "The End of the Party" to the chilling conclusion of the "Destructors" and the all-consuming selfishness of "May We Borrow Your Husband", this collection opens with three of Greene's most disturbing stories. Things take a surreal turn in "Under the Garden" before finally blossoming for a moment in "Two Gentle People", then there's a detective story and a brush with Greene's sardonic wit to finish.

Extremely enjoyable and easy to dip in and out of...

  • "The Destructors"
  • "The End of the Party"
  • "Under the Garden"
  • "A Discovery in the Woods"
  • "May We Borrow Your Husband"
  • "Mortmain"
  • "The Invisible Japanese Gentleman"
  • "Two Gentle People"
  • "Murder for the Wrong Reason"
  • "The Man Who Stole the Eiffel Tower"
©2012 Estate of Graham Greene (P)2013 Spoken Ink
Anthologies Classics Witty Marriage
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

The Captain and the Enemy cover art
Stamboul Train cover art
The Heart of the Matter cover art
The Human Factor cover art
Orwell: The Essays cover art
Rain and Other Stories cover art
Strange Meeting cover art
Ubik cover art
The Complete Short Stories cover art
Plain Tales from the Hills cover art
Hero: A Simon Serrailler Short Story cover art
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said cover art
The Untouchable cover art
Sunburn cover art
The Lemon Table cover art
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch cover art

What listeners say about The Destructors and Other Stories

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    28
  • 4 Stars
    23
  • 3 Stars
    11
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    32
  • 4 Stars
    13
  • 3 Stars
    8
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    25
  • 4 Stars
    17
  • 3 Stars
    9
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    1

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

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

I always forget how brutal and vulgar Graham Greene can be

I was introduced to GG when doing O level Eng Lit (exam June 1978) we read Brighton Rock which to my 16 year old mind even back then was the most lowbrow of our 3 books.
In some ways GG though thought of as a classic modern literary author and born the son of schoolmaster and related to wealthy business people he never got beyond basic school boy mindset. Almost like he was pushing boundaries with vulgar language.
He did have good observational skills however and a good mind was buried beneath the schoolboy smut and vulgarity so though like I did as a teenager I have come away from these stories conflicted and I will probably again try to find out why people think he’s such a good writer at some point I currently think my then 3 year old grandson dictating Nana’s a poopoo head to my notes app was more mature than GG in some of these stories.
The highlights (most mature stories) were the one involving the murder of a blackmailer, and the one about twins where one was afraid of the dark.
Personally I feel I wasted a credit.

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

great selection of weird short stories.

Enjoyed this, a selection of weird and weirdly humourous stories, I forgot how good Greene was at dark humour, recommended.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Different from Graham Greene

Not read any of his short stories before only his full length novels. Didn’t like how they ended abruptly. Wanted to know what happened next. Can see why in the movie Donnie Darko, the PTA woman got so upset at the English teacher having this as the set text

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

Brilliant. Enjoyable

Greene is a great writer. His short stories do not disappoint..Recommended.
Murder for the wrong reason is particularly intriguing

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful

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

Dated and weak. A man out of ideas.

Big fan of most of GGs work but this just felt like floor-sweepings compared to masterpieces such as end of the affair. Time to let this one go out of print.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful