Audio Books Podcasts

Librivox: Pélerinage d'un nommé Chrétien, Le : écrit sous l'allégorie d'un songe by Bunyan, John show

Librivox: Pélerinage d'un nommé Chrétien, Le : écrit sous l'allégorie d'un songe by Bunyan, JohnJoin Now to Follow

« Le pélerinage d'un nommé Chrétien » est un roman allégorique de John Bunyan, publié en 1678. L'auteur rédigea cet ouvrage en 1675, alors qu'il était emprisonné pour avoir violé le Conventicle Act, qui punissait les personnes coupables d'avoir organisé des services religieux non autorisés et sans supervision de l'Église anglicane. Le récit rapporte les aventures de Chrétien, un homme ordinaire tâchant de se frayer un chemin depuis la "Cité de la destruction" jusqu'à la "Cité céleste" de Sion. "The Pilgrim's Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come" by John Bunyan (published February, 1678) is a Christian allegory. It is regarded as one of the most significant works of English literature, has been translated into more than 200 languages, and has never been out of print. The allegory tells of Christian, an everyman character, who makes his way from the "City of Destruction" (Earth) to the "Celestial City" (Heaven) of Zion. (Summary from Wikipedia, adapted by Ezwa)

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Librivox: Early Kings of Norway by Carlyle, Thomas show

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"The Icelanders, in their long winter, had a great habit of writing; and were, and still are, excellent in penmanship. It is to this fact, that any little history there is of the Norse Kings and their old tragedies, crimes and heroisms, is almost all due. The Icelanders, it seems, not only made beautiful letters on their paper or parchment, but were laudably observant and desirous of accuracy; and have left us such a collection of narratives (Sagas, literally "Says") as, for quantity and quality, is unexampled among rude nations. Snorro Sturleson's History of the Norse Kings is built out of these old Sagas; and has in it a great deal of poetic fire,. . . and deserves to be reckoned among the great history-books of the world. It is from these sources that the following rough notes of the early Norway Kings are hastily thrown together." (Excerpted from Thomas Carlyle's preface by Karen Merline)

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Librivox: Road Builders, The by de Cleyre, Voltairine show

Librivox: Road Builders, The by de Cleyre, VoltairineJoin Now to Follow

LibriVox volunteers bring you 12 different recordings of The Road Builders, by Voltairine de Cleyre. This was the weekly poetry project for the week of June 29th, 2008.

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Librivox: Zhetvariat (The Reaper) by Yovkov, Yordan show

Librivox: Zhetvariat (The Reaper) by Yovkov, YordanJoin Now to Follow

In the tiny village of Lyulyakovo fiercely clash human greed, hate and lust for power. However, the souls of the adversaries are still open to the light of Jesus: the light which transfigures through the miracle of His Icon: who is the Reaper, Who blesses the harvesting of good grains in the souls and uproots the tares of evil from there: this is what the master of the Bulgarian literature, Yordan Yovkov, relates with words of golden wheat and azure skies, taking the reader beyond the passions and mundane dust, through the suffering of the awaken conscience to the final victory of truth and good. (Summary by Euthymius)

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Librivox: Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder, A by De Mille, James show

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"A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder" is the most popular of James De Mille's works. It was serialized posthumously in Harper's Weekly, and published in book form by Harper and Brothers of New York City in 1888. This satiric romance is the story of Adam More, a British sailor. Shipwrecked in Antarctica, he stumbles upon a tropical lost world of prehistoric animals, plants, and a cult of death-worshipping primitives. He also finds a highly developed human society which has reversed the values of Victorian society. Wealth is scorned and poverty revered; death and darkness are preferrable to life and light. Rather than accumulating wealth, the natives seek to divest themselves of it as quickly as possible. At the beginning of each year, the government imposes wealth (the burden of "reverse taxation") upon its unfortunate subjects as a form of punishment. A secondary plot about the four yachtsmen who find the manuscript forms a frame for the central narrative. [Condensed from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Strange_Manuscript_Found_in_a_Copper_Cylinder ]

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Librivox: ספר הקבצנים Fishke the Lame (The Book of Beggars) by מנדלה מוכר ספרים Mendele Mocher Sforim show

Librivox: ספר הקבצנים Fishke the Lame (The Book of Beggars) by מנדלה מוכר ספרים Mendele Mocher SforimJoin Now to Follow

Mendele Mocher Seforim (Literary name for Shalom Jacob Abramovitsch) (1835 - 1917, b. Kapulye, Belorussia), one of the first modern Jewish writers, wrote in both Hebrew and Yiddish throughout his career. In his work he described with sharp satirical criticism the traditional life in small Jewish towns, as well as tendencies for assimilation of learned Jews at the time. He was regarded as the "grandfather of Yiddish literature," but the Hebraic-Zionist atmosphere in Odessa influenced him, and in 1886 he turned to writing Hebrew fiction. The Book of Beggars, or Fishke the Lame, was one of the first romances written in Hebrew in Eastern Europe. It was published in Yiddish in 1869 and later translated into Hebrew by the author. Mendeli used a satirical style mixed with tears and compassion to describe Jews of the lowest classes in small poor communities in Eastern Europe of the second half of the 19th century, organized to look for food and charity. This was the background for an entangled story of theft, rape and sentimental love, with an emphasis on suffering and hardships of women. (Summary by Omri Lernau)

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Librivox: Short Poetry Collection 066 by Various show

Librivox: Short Poetry Collection 066 by VariousJoin Now to Follow

LibriVox's Short Poetry Collection 066: a collection of 20 public-domain poems.

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Librivox: Outline of Science, Vol. 1, The (Solo) by Thomson, J. Arthur show

Librivox: Outline of Science, Vol. 1, The (Solo) by Thomson, J. ArthurJoin Now to Follow

In The Outline of Science, Thomson gives us a window into scientific thinking as it stood in 1922 on the big, the little, and the biological. With straightforward language intended for a general audience, this book covers astronomy from the Solar System to the Milky Way, the submicroscopic makeup of matter from protons and electrons, and the evolution of simple living beings into the varied fauna of the world today. Thomson cites many examples that would have been familiar to his readers of the day and notes where scientific understanding leaves off and conjecture begins. He clearly shows how the accumulation of observation and experiment stacked up to form the body of knowledge reported in the book. For even the scientifically well-versed, there will be interesting nuggets, for investigation into how the world came to be as it was, was both wide and deep. To a modern listener, what was not known may be as interesting as what was. With the 100-inch Mt. Wilson reflector the largest telescope in the world, the existence of galaxies outside the Milky Way was suspected but not confirmed. Neutrons, soon to become important in the field of nuclear energy and atomic bombs, were as yet unguessed-at, yet the prospect of liberating the immense energy of the atom was already a keen interest. Although the famous Michaelson-Morley experiment had already been seen as disproof of an all-pervading "ether" which facilitated the flow of energy across empty space, scientists still retained ether as a place-holder for properties they could measure but not explain - an approach very similar to the "dark matter" of modern cosmology. Regardless of your personal sentiments on Darwin's theory of evolution, Thomson provides well-chosen examples that illustrate why this theory arose. He examines not only the fossil record but the evidences present in modern living beings that the process of evolution is by no means finished, but ongoing. Even at that time, Thomson worried over the future of energy sources. He contemplated the exhaustion of the coal fields and indeed, the eventual exhaustion of all usable energy in the universe, foreshadowing our concept of entropy. This book has been consistently among the "Top 100 E-Books" published by Project Gutenberg. Summary by Mark F. Smith.

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Librivox: Fables in Rhyme for Little Folks by La Fontaine, Jean de show

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Several of La Fontaine's fables, translated into English by W. T. Larned. (Summary by bge1234)

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Librivox: What Katy Did by Coolidge, Susan show

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What Katy Did is a children's book written by Susan Coolidge, the pen name of Sarah Chauncey Woolsey. It follows the adventures of Katy Carr and her family, growing up in America in the 1860s. Katy is a tall untidy tomboy, forever getting into scrapes but wishing to be beautiful and beloved. When a terrible accident makes her an invalid, her illness and recovery gradually teach her to be as good and kind as she has always wanted. (Summary by Wikiipedia)

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