Workers' Tales: Socialist Fairy Tales, Fables, and Allegories from Great Britain
Oddly Modern Fairy Tales, Book 12
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Workers' Tales: Socialist Fairy Tales, Fables, and Allegories from Great Britain
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About this listen
A collection of political tales - first published in British workers’ magazines - selected and introduced by acclaimed critic and author Michael Rosen
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, unique tales inspired by traditional literary forms appeared frequently in socialist-leaning British periodicals, such as the Clarion, Labour Leader, and Social Democrat. Based on familiar genres - the fairy tale, fable, allegory, parable, and moral tale - and penned by a range of lesser-known and celebrated authors, including Schalom Asch, Charles Allen Clarke, Frederick James Gould, and William Morris, these stories were meant to entertain readers of all ages - and some challenged the conventional values promoted in children’s literature for the middle class. In Workers’ Tales, acclaimed critic and author Michael Rosen brings together more than 40 of the best and most enduring examples of these stories in one beautiful volume.
Throughout, the tales in this collection exemplify themes and ideas related to work and the class system, sometimes in wish-fulfilling ways. In “Tom Hickathrift”, a poor little person gets the better of a wealthy gigantic one. In “The Man Without a Heart”, a man learns about the value of basic labor after testing out more privileged lives. And in “The Political Economist and the Flowers”, two contrasting gardeners highlight the cold heart of Darwinian competition. Rosen’s informative introduction describes how such tales advocated for contemporary progressive causes and countered the dominant celebration of Britain’s imperial values. The book includes biographical notes about the writers and details about the periodicals where the tales first appeared.
Provocative and enlightening, Workers’ Tales presents voices of resistance that are more relevant than ever before.
©2018 Michael Rosen (P)2018 Princeton University PressListeners also enjoyed...
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- By: John Steinbeck, Susan F. Beegel - introduction
- Narrated by: Ronan Vibert
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 131
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 117
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 117
From the mid-1650s through the 1660s, Henry Morgan, a pirate and outlaw of legendary viciousness, ruled the Spanish Main. He ravaged the coasts of Cuba and America, striking terror wherever he went. Morgan was obsessive. He had two driving ambitions: to possess the beautiful woman called La Santa Roja and to conquer Panama, the "cup of gold".
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4 out of 5 stars
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Not your usual Steinbeck novel
- By Andrew on 06-03-15
By: John Steinbeck, and others
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The Celtic Twilight
- By: William Butler Yeats
- Narrated by: Jack Chekijian
- Length: 4 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 116
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 105
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 102
One of the best-known collections of W. B. Yeats' prose, The Celtic Twilight explores the old connection between the Irish people and the magical world of fairies. Yeats, by traveling the land in the early 20th century and talking to the common people about their experiences with the creatures, yielded a colorful overview of Celtic fairy folklore.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A compilation of Irish folklore in prose
- By MolllyT on 07-26-16
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Les Miserables
- By: Victor Hugo
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 57 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,257
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,572
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,585
Set in the Parisian underworld and plotted like a detective story, Les Miserables follows Jean Valjean, originally an honest peasant, who has been imprisoned for 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister's starving family. A hardened criminal upon his release, he eventually reforms, becoming a successful industrialist and town mayor. Despite this, he is haunted by an impulsive former crime and is pursued relentlessly by the police inspector Javert.
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4 out of 5 stars
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one happy insomniac
- By Kathryn on 01-27-05
By: Victor Hugo
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The Princess and the Goblin with A Christian Readers' Guide
- Two Books in One!
- By: George MacDonald, Jonathan St. John
- Narrated by: Tamaryn Payne, Jonathan St. John
- Length: 7 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall0 out of 5 stars 0
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Performance0 out of 5 stars 0
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Story0 out of 5 stars 0
Dive into George MacDonald’s journey with Princess Irene through secret mazes, epic battles, and beautiful relationships as the insightful words of Jonathan St. John illuminate the many Christian themes, motifs, and character arcs in this beloved tale.
By: George MacDonald, and others
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Independent People
- By: Halldór Laxness
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 20 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 401
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 362
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 362
This magnificent novel - which secured for its author the 1955 Nobel Prize in Literature - is now available to contemporary American audiences. Although it is set in the early 20th century, it recalls both Iceland's medieval epics and such classics as Sigrid Undset's Kristin Lavransdatter. And if Bjartur of Summerhouses, the book's protagonist, is an ordinary sheep farmer, his flinty determination to achieve independence is genuinely heroic and, at the same time, terrifying and bleakly comic.
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2 out of 5 stars
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I am so confused about this introduction
- By George M on 09-10-18
By: Halldór Laxness
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Collected Stories
- By: Oscar Wilde
- Narrated by: Frank Muller
- Length: 4 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 146
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 130
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 129
Whether it's a 300-year-old ghost who's scared out of his wits, a tenderhearted statue with a mission of mercy, or the suave Lord Savile who cannot commit a crime, the characters in these stories by witty Oscar Wilde make the tales priceless delights. Absurd, ironic, poignant, or scathing, these small gems of the storyteller's art are sure to become favorites. This collection, narrated by Frank Muller, includes "Lord Arthur Savile's Crime," "The Model Millionaire," "The Nightingale and the Rose," and more.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Very Poor Recording
- By Anne in State College on 09-09-07
By: Oscar Wilde
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The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and The Marvelous Land of Oz Bundle (Annotated)
- By: Lyman Frank Baum
- Narrated by: Whitney Gardner
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 101
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 101
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Story5 out of 5 stars 101
Book 1: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, better known and loved today as simply The Wizard of Oz, is a tale that has been cherished by readers and listeners throughout the years. This timeless story has inspired Broadway shows, cartoon series, and many films over the past few generations. I hope that this book has inspired your sense of creativity and wonder as much as it has mine.
By: Lyman Frank Baum
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The Fairy Tales of Herman Hesse
- By: Hermann Hesse, Jack Zipes - translator
- Narrated by: Donovan
- Length: 2 hrs and 53 mins
- Highlights
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 71
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 53
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 55
Step into a world of visions, philosophy, and passion in which dreamers, seekers, princesses, and wandering poets dwell. The 6 wonderful, romantic tales in this collection are reminiscent of ancient Oriental and German fairy tales. The selections, "The Poet," "The Flute Dream," "The Dwarf," "Faldum," "Ziegler," and "Dream of the Gods" were hand-picked by the narrator, legendary folk and rock musician Donovan.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The reading is quiet and heavenly
- By Atalante Lemuria on 11-12-20
By: Hermann Hesse, and others
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Les Misérables
- Penguin Classics
- By: Christine Donougher, Victor Hugo, Robert Tombs
- Narrated by: Adeel Akhtar, Natalie Simpson, Adrian Scarborough, and others
- Length: 65 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 221
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 194
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Story5 out of 5 stars 192
Victor Hugo's tale of injustice, heroism and love follows the fortunes of Jean Valjean, an escaped convict determined to put his criminal past behind him. But his attempts to become a respected member of the community are constantly put under threat: by his own conscience and by the relentless investigations of the dogged Policeman, Javert. It is not simply for himself that Valjean must stay free, however, for he has sworn to protect the baby daughter of Fantine, driven to prostitution by poverty.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great Book, Great Translation, 5 Great Narrators
- By Rain Wiegartner on 06-07-20
By: Christine Donougher, and others
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Kim
- By: Rudyard Kipling
- Narrated by: Sam Dastor
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,126
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 952
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 949
Kipling's masterpiece Kim is his final and most famous work and one of the first and greatest espionage stories ever written. It explores the life of Kimball O'Hara, an Irish orphan who spends his childhood as a vagrant in Lahore. When he befriends an aged Tibetan lama his life is transformed as he is requested to accompany him on a mysterious quest to find the legendary River of the Arrow and achieve Enlightenment.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Stunning Experience
- By Jeanie on 09-19-12
By: Rudyard Kipling
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The Jewel of Seven Stars
- By: Bram Stoker
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 8 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 740
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 635
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Story4 out of 5 stars 635
The warning was inscribed on the entrance of the hidden tomb, forgotten for millennia in the sands of mystic Egypt. Then the archaeologists and grave robbers came in search of the fabled Jewel of Seven Stars, which they found clutched in the hand of the mummy. Few heeded the ancient warning, until all who came in contact with the Jewel began to die in a mysterious and violent way, with the marks of a strangler around their neck.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Mother of all Mummy-Stories
- By Dorothea on 03-15-08
By: Bram Stoker
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A Christmas Carol
- By: Charles Dickens
- Narrated by: Benjamin May
- Length: 3 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 38
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 32
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 33
The timeless tale of Ebenezer Scrooge and his adventures on Christmas Eve continue to teach an important lesson, even to this day. Author Charles Dickens introduces us to the main character by painting him in a negative light, a selfish and miserly old man who will barely pay enough money to keep his office heated. When Scrooge returns home after work, the ghost of his former business partner, Jacob Marley, visits him and tells him that because of the wrongdoing he had done during his life, he has been condemned to walk in his ghost years shackled....
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Fine audio Interpretation
- By Lee Gregory Stewart on 02-03-23
By: Charles Dickens
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Jude The Obscure
- By: Thomas Hardy
- Narrated by: Stephen Thorne
- Length: 15 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 254
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 206
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Story4 out of 5 stars 205
This is the story of a young country workman obsessed by his ambition to become an Oxford student, interwoven with his fraught relationships with two women.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Staggering
- By Tad Davis on 02-16-10
By: Thomas Hardy
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Japanese Fairy Tales
- By: Yei Theodora Ozaki - translator
- Narrated by: Leslie Bellair
- Length: 6 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 589
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 498
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Story4 out of 5 stars 495
Here are 22 charming Japanese Fairy Tales, translated by Yei Theodora Ozaki, including "My Lord Bag of Rice", "The Tongue-Cut Sparrow", "The Story of Urashima Taro, the Fisher Lad", "The Farmer and the Badger", "The Shinansha, or the South Pointing Carriage", "The Adventures of Kintaro, the Golden Boy", "The Story of Princess Hase", "The Story of the Man Who Did Not Wish to Die", "The Bamboo-Cutter and the Moonchild", "The Mirror of Matsuyama", and more.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Nice book, wish the narrator spoke Japanese better
- By Ben on 01-31-17
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Wicked
- The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
- By: Gregory Maguire
- Narrated by: John McDonough
- Length: 19 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 10,170
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 7,276
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Story4 out of 5 stars 7,315
Heralded as an instant classic of fantasy literature, Maguire has written a wonderfully imaginative retelling of The Wizard of Oz told from the Wicked Witch's point of view. More than just a fairy tale for adults, Wicked is a meditation on the nature of good and evil.
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5 out of 5 stars
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It's not easy being green
- By PangaeaReads on 07-30-08
By: Gregory Maguire