Arts Podcasts

Librivox: Life of the Spirit and the Life of Today, The by Underhill, Evelyn show

Librivox: Life of the Spirit and the Life of Today, The by Underhill, EvelynJoin Now to Follow

Underhill emphasizes the practical, here-and-now nature of spiritual life. She argues that spirituality is a genuine and abiding human fact, and that any complete description of human life must find room for the spiritual factor, and for the religious life in which it finds expression.

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Librivox: Adventures of Paddy Beaver, The by Burgess, Thornton W. show

Librivox: Adventures of Paddy Beaver, The by Burgess, Thornton W.Join Now to Follow

The Adventures of Paddy Beaver is another in the long list of children’s books by the conservationist, Thornton W. Burgess. In this book, the industrious and clever Paddy Beaver, a newcomer to the Green Forest, has encounters with Sammy Jay, Jerry Muskrat, Ol’ Man Coyote and other inhabitants of the Green Forest. Along the way, we learn how Paddy builds his dam and his house, and how he stores his food. We also learn little lessons about life, such as the importance of planning before doing, caring for Nature, trusting others, the benefits of working together and how wonderful it is to have a job one can sink one’s teeth into. (Summary by John Lieder.)

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Librivox: War and Peace, Book 05: 1806-1807 by Tolstoy, Leo show

Librivox: War and Peace, Book 05: 1806-1807 by Tolstoy, LeoJoin Now to Follow

War and Peace (Russian: Война и мир, Voyna i mir; in original orthography: Война и миръ, Voyna i mir") is an epic novel by Leo Tolstoy, first published from 1865 to 1869 in Russki Vestnik, which tells the story of Russian society during the Napoleonic Era. It is usually described as one of Tolstoy's two major masterpieces (the other being Anna Karenina) as well as one of the world's greatest novels. War and Peace offered a new kind of fiction, with a great many characters caught up in a plot that covered nothing less than the grand subjects indicated by the title, combined with the equally large topics of youth, age and marriage. While today it is considered a novel, it broke so many novelistic conventions of its day that many critics of Tolstoy's time did not consider it as such. Tolstoy himself considered Anna Karenina (1878) to be his first attempt at a novel in the European sense. (Summary by Wikipedia)

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Librivox: Riders of the Purple Sage by Grey, Zane show

Librivox: Riders of the Purple Sage by Grey, ZaneJoin Now to Follow

The year is 1871, and wealthy ranch owner Jane Withersteen is in trouble. She has incurred the displeasure of her Mormon church leaders by refusing to marry a church elder and by befriending Gentiles (non-Mormons). In rides Lassiter, the quintessential Western hero: mysterious, purposeful, a deadly gunslinger, but with an unexpected streak of gentleness. While Lassiter is assisting Jane at the ranch, her friend and rider Bern Venters is having an adventure of his own in the Utah canyonlands. Riders of the Purple Sage is a story of heroism, love, brave men and strong women, good dogs and fast horses. And who is that Masked Rider? (Summary by Laurie Anne Walden)

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Librivox: Rookwood by Ainsworth, William Harrison show

Librivox: Rookwood by Ainsworth, William HarrisonJoin Now to Follow

A rich and complex Gothic-Romance centring on the murky deeds of an ancient family. It is a wonderfully atmospheric piece that combines narrative, poetry, song, and descriptive writing to great effect. The character of Dick Turpin that we know today - the dashing highwaymen and unmatched horseman - can be said to stem directly from this novel, as the most famous part of the book (often published on its own in the past), Turpin's Ride To York, is devoted to him. Although seemingly little known to a modern audience, Ainsworth's 'Rookwood' gave the world the image of the highwayman with which we are all so familiar. (Summary by paulc)

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Librivox: Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, A (version 2) by Twain, Mark show

Librivox: Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, A (version 2) by Twain, MarkJoin Now to Follow

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court is an 1889 novel by American humorist and writer Mark Twain. The work is a very early example of time travel in literature, anticipating by six years H. G. Wells' The Time Machine of 1895 (however, unlike Wells, Twain does not give any real explanation of his protagonist's traveling in time). Some early editions are entitled A Yankee at the Court of King Arthur. (Summary by Wikipedia)

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Librivox: Vaihdokas by Reijonen, Juho show

Librivox: Vaihdokas by Reijonen, JuhoJoin Now to Follow

Vaihdokas on tarina yhden pojan, Jerikon, kasvamisesta aikuiseksi 1800-luvun Suomessa, eräässä itäisessä kirkonkylässä. Hänen elämansä alkaa äärettomässä köyhyydessä, taikauskoisten kyläläisten syrjimänä. He uskovat etta Saatana otti vastasyntyneen ja jätti Jerikon tilalle, koska vauvalla ei ollut ristin merkkiä päällään syntymän ja ristimisen välisenä aikana. Jeriko menettää äitinsä, ainoan joka häntä rakastaa, jo nuorena lapsena. Han etsii omaa arvoansa luonnosta ja musiikista. (Summary by Maire Rhode)

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Librivox: Eine Mont-Blanc-Besteigung by Verne, Paul show

Librivox: Eine Mont-Blanc-Besteigung by Verne, PaulJoin Now to Follow

Paul Verne war der Bruder von Jules Verne. Er verfaßte für die Buch Reihe seines Bruders zwei Reiseberichte, die zusammen mit Jules Verne Romanen in Sammelbänden erschienen sind. Der vorliegende Bericht schildert die Mont-Blanc-Besteigung von Paul Verne im Jahr 1871.(Summary by Wassermann)

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Librivox: Aphorisms by Wilde, Oscar show

Librivox: Aphorisms by Wilde, OscarJoin Now to Follow

In 1894, Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900) published two collections of aphorisms: "A Few Maxims For The Instruction Of The Over-Educated", in the Saturday Review newspaper, and Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young", in the Oxford student magazine The Chameleon. By turns witty, intellectual, counter-intuitive and obtruse, the collections came to be seen by many as emblematic of Wilde's style, and countless collections of Wildean aphorisms have since been published. (Summary by Carl Manchester)

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Librivox: Captains Courageous by Kipling, Rudyard show

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Real men don't take guff from snotty kids. Neither does Disko Troop, skipper of the "We're Here", a fishing schooner out of Gloucester, Massachusetts, when his crew fishes Harvey Cheyne out of the Atlantic. There's no place on the Grand Banks for bystanders, so Harvey is press-ganged into service as a replacement for a man lost overboard and drowned. Harvey is heir to a vast fortune, but his rescuers believe none of what he tells them of his background. Disko won't take the boat to port until it is full of fish, so Harvey must settle in for a season at sea. Hard, dangerous work and performing it alongside a grab-bag of characters in close quarters is a life-changing experience. And when Harvey at last is reunited with his parents, who have thought him dead for months, he must face the hard decisions of how he will allow his experience to change his life. (Summary Mark F. Smith)

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