The Master Builder (Gosse & Archer Translation): Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

The Master Builder (Gosse & Archer Translation), credited to Henrik Ibsen, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of The Master Builder (Gosse & Archer Translation) by Henrik Ibsen. (Translated by Edmund Gosse; William Archer.) Read in English by Expatriate Halvard Solness is a master architect who has ruthlessly forged a preëminent career without regard for the feelings of those around him. In spite of this unscrupulous path of life, his conscience is still painfully alive, burdening him with guilt for past choices. He lives a tormented existence, fearful not only that he is going mad but also that he has unconsciously been in league with demonic powers in order to reach his present status. His long-suffering wife and his mistress try to deal with him in his fragile state while not being destroyed themselves. Into this fraught situation suddenly arrives the dangerous Hilda Wangel, an eldritch young woman claiming a special relationship with Solness from his past. One of the five great plays of Ibsen’s final period, “The Master Builder” is laden with layers of symbolic significance. Like most Ibsen works, it begins quietly with dialogue between quite ordinary people and only gradually reveals its depths of meaning and power. Summary by Expatriate

Recording facts

• Recording title: The Master Builder (Gosse & Archer Translation)
• Author credits: Henrik Ibsen
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 3
• Listed recording duration: 2:57:47

Catalogue topics

• modern drama
• Scandinavian literature
• henrik ibsen
• norwegian literature

Track guide

1. 01 - Act I — 1:08:00
2. 02 - Act II — 1:02:17
3. 03 - Act III — 47:30

Listen to this recording

Open the complete recording and player on Internet Archive. The player includes the full track list and available download formats.

Source and rights

This is a record from LibriVox's official Internet Archive collection, with a public-domain licence recorded in its metadata. LibriVox's policy includes its catalogue summaries as well as its recordings. Its public-domain assessment follows United States law; copyright status can differ elsewhere. The summary and track facts are reproduced and reformatted from that record. Dates attached to the archive upload are not treated as original book publication dates.