Showing results by author "Valerio Di Stefano" in All Categories

The American Minister and his family have bought the English stately home Canterville Chase, complete with the ghost of Sir Simon de Canterville - blood-stains, clanking chains and all. But these modern Americans will have no truck with ghostly goings-on, and set out to beat the spectre at his own game. (Summary by David Barnes)

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote their Manifesto in December 1847, as a guide to the fundamental principles and practices of Communists. The Manifesto also predicted the ultimate downfall of the capitalist system.(Summary written by Gesine) A recording in the original German language is available here

After a brief romance, the 17 year old Marya falls in love with the much older Sergyei Mikhailitch, an old family friend, and the two are married. They share an initially blissful life but after moving to St. Petersburg, Marya becomes enchanted with society and a rift opens between the two. (Summary by EvanJ)

Lady Windermere's Fan: A Play About a Good Woman is a four act comedy by Oscar Wilde, published in 1893. As in some of his other comedies, Wilde satirizes the morals of Victorian society, and attitudes between the sexes.The action centres around a fan given to Lady Windermere as a present by her husband, and the ball held that evening to celebrate her 21st birthday. (Summary by Ruth Golding) Cast: Lady Windermere - Kristin Hughes Lord Windermere - Joe Earley Mrs. Erlynne - Elizabeth Klett Lord Darlington - Simon Taylor The Duchess of Berwick - Ruth Golding Mr. Cecil Graham - Chugosh Lord ...

Collection of children’s stories written in 1888, dealing primarily with love and selfishness. These stories are generally sad, with a moralistic message. The collection includes: The Happy Prince, The Nightingale and the Rose, The Selfish Giant, The Devoted Friend, and The Remarkable Rocket. (Summary written by Joy Chan)

The 1769 Oxford Edition. The King James Bible is one of the most important books in the English speaking world, so influential that its language permeates facets of society from religion, politics, literature, art, education and music. (Summary by Michael Armenta)

An Ideal Husband is an 1895 comedy by Oscar Wilde which revolves around blackmail and political corruption, and touches on the themes of public and private honor. The action is set in London, in "the present", and takes place within a single day. "Sooner or later," Wilde notes, "we shall all have to pay for what we do." But he adds that, "No one should be entirely judged by their past." (Summary from Wikipedia) Characters:Narrator – Read by Alex FosterThe Earl Of Caversham, K.G. – Read by LintonViscount Goring, his son – Read by John GonzalezSir Robert Chiltern, Bart., Under-Secretary ...

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)

The Douay Rheims New Testament, published in 1582, is a translation of St Jerome's Latin Vulgate which dates from the fourth century. It influenced production of the King James version of the Bible to come some years afterward, while being the only Roman Catholic authorized vernacular scriptures up until the middle twentieth century. Although updated linguistically in the 18th and 19th centuries to provide easier understanding by the laity and reduce its use of Latinized words, it strove to be faithful to the original translation. The work's importance is that it remains the scriptural texts ...

Dick Sands, a youth of fifteen, must assume command of a ship after the disappearance of its captain. Nature’s forces combined with evil doings of men lead him and his companions to many dangerous adventures on sea and in Central Africa.

Robert Sherard was Oscar Wilde's friend of 20 years and first biographer. The Life of Oscar Wilde was the second of his four biographies of the Irish playwright and wit. - Summary by Rob Board

This little book shows, in a short, clear, and systematic manner, how the principle of Non-Resistance, about which Tolstoy has written so much, is related to economic and political life. (Summary by Aylmer Maude, Translator)

The Divine Comedy (in Italian, Divina Commedia, or just La commedia or Comedia) is an epic poem written by Dante Alighieri in the first decades of the 14th Century, during his exile from his native Florence. Considered the most important work of Italian literature, the poem has also has enormous historical influence on western literature and culture more generally. Dante represents the three realms of the afterlife in his three canticles (Inferno--Hell; Purgatorio--Purgatory; Paradiso--Paradise) in a way that reflects and, at the same time, goes beyond Christian tradition of the 14th Century. ...

The Cossacks (1863) is an unfinished novel which describes the Cossack life and people through a story of Dmitri Olenin, a Russian aristocrat in love with a Cossack girl. This text was acclaimed by Ivan Bunin as one of the finest in the language.Additional proof-listening was done by mim@can & katzes.

Despite its optimistic title, Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well has often been considered a "problem play." Ostensibly a comedy, the play also has fairy tale elements, as it focuses on Helena, a virtuous orphan, who loves Bertram, the haughty son of her protectress, the Countess of Rousillon. When Bertram, desperate for adventure, leaves Rousillon to serve in the King's army, Helena pursues him. (Summary by Elizabeth Klett) Cast:Bertram: David NicolClown: Denny SayersCountess of Rousillon: Ruth GoldingDiana: Arielle LipshawDuke of Florence: Robert FletcherFirst Gentleman: Brett W. ...

Edgar Allan Poe's telling of Arthur Pym's narrative is shown to be true as events come together that bring out clues that help Captain Len Guy trace the fate of his brother's ship the Jane; the very ship that Arthur Pym was on board at the time of his disappearance. Through the efforts of Mr. Joerling, the crew of the Halbrane is enticed to make the trip to Antarctica to search for any survivors of the Jane. (Summary from Wikipedia)

Childhood is the first published novel by Leo Tolstoy, released under the initials L. N. in the November 1852 issue of the popular Russian literary journal The Contemporary. It is the first in a series of three novels and is followed by Boyhood and Youth. Published when Tolstoy was just twenty-three years old, the book was an immediate success, earning notice from other Russian novelists including Ivan Turgenev, who heralded the young Tolstoy as a major up-and-coming figure in Russian literature. Childhood is an exploration of the inner life of a young boy, Nikolenka, and one of the books in ...

This work is a scathing criticism of the economic and philosophical arguments of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon's The Philosophy of Poverty. (Summary by TriciaG)

Wilde’s meditation on capital punishment, the Ballad of Reading Gaol comes after he was convicted and imprisoned under charges of gross indecency. The charges stemmed from his affair with Lord Alfred Douglas, the son of the Marquis of Queensberry. It relates the story of an execution of a man who murdered his wife which Wilde witnessed during his internment. Published in 1898, it was Wilde’s last published poem as he would die in 1900 from cerebral meningitis, caused by syphilis.(Summary by John Gonzalez)

In this book, Tolstoy seeks to condense the four Gospels of the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, into one, by looking along the lines of the teachings of Jesus Christ found in each book. In doing so, he discovers that the Lord's Prayer is the best summation of all that Christ taught in the Gospels. - Summary by KHand