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LibriVox volunteers bring you 18 recordings of "The Visionary" by Ellis Bell (Emily Brontë). This was the weekly poem for January 1, 2012. The first 12 lines originally appeared in one of a large group of Gondal poems, the word coming from the name of a fictitious island kingdom in a fantasy created by Emily and her sister Anne. When Emily finally consented to have some of her poems published in 1846, along with those of sisters Charlotte and Anne, she selected parts of the Gondal poems and removed all reference to the fantasy land. However, this poem first appeared in a new, expanded edition...

Don Quijote de la Mancha (ortografía y título original —1605—, El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha) es una de las obras cumbre de la literatura española y la literatura universal, el libro más traducido después de la Biblia, escrito por Miguel de Cervantes.La novela consta de dos partes: la primera, El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha, fue publicada en 1605; la segunda, El ingenioso caballero don Quijote de la Mancha, en 1615. La primera parte se imprimió en Madrid, en casa de Juan de la Cuesta, a fines de 1604. Salió a la venta en enero de 1605 con numerosas ...

Don Quixote is an early novel written by Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. Cervantes created a fictional origin for the story in the character of the Morisco historian, Cide Hamete Benengeli, whom he claims to have hired to translate the story from an Arabic manuscript he found in Toledo's bedraggled old Jewish quarter. The protagonist, Alonso Quixano, is a minor landowner who has read so many stories of chivalry that he descends into fantasy and becomes convinced he is a knight errant. Together with his companion Sancho Panza, the self-styled Don Quixote de la Mancha sets out in ...

Black Beauty is a fictional autobiographical memoir told by a horse, who recounts many tales, both of cruelty and kindness. The title page of the first edition states that it was "Translated from the Original Equine by Anna Sewell." After its publication in 1877, Sewell lived just long enough to see her first and only novel become an immediate bestseller, as well as it encouraging the better treatment of many cruelly-treated animals. Although initially intended for people who work with horses, it soon became a children's classic. While outwardly teaching animal welfare, it also contains ...

A Christmas Carol is a novella by English author Charles Dickens first published by Chapman & Hall on 17 December 1843. The story tells of sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge's ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation after the supernatural visitations of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present, and Yet to Come. (Summary by Wikipedia)CastEbenezer Scrooge: Andy MinterFred: mbBob Cratchit: David RichardsonGentleman: Martin LangerJacob Marley: Algy PugGhost of Christmas Past: Tricia GFan/Tiny Tim: rashadaYoung Scrooge/Peter Cratchit: Paul AndrewsSchoolmaster/Man 2: Peter ...

Courage follows the story of Courage, a young 12-year-old orphaned girl, who adapts to to meeting and living with new people. She lives up to her name . . . but, what becomes of her in the end? - Summary by bhavyaCourage: Elsie SelwynLarry: Larry WilsonSylvia: LikeManyWatersMiss Julia: Beth ThomasMary Duff: FoonGentleman/David/Mr. Everett: TriciaGJohn: Josh KibbeyCelia Thaxter: Leanne YauBig Bob: Campbell SchelpMan, Captain, Man 2: BhavyaBoy: William WhiteDick, Father, Bruce: Elijah FisherMrs. Everett: Anita Sloma-MartinezBig Girl: Evie MariaSmall Girl: Zoe TrangIrishman: ChadH94Narrator: ...

Venus and Adonis is Shakespeare's narrative poem about the love of the goddess Venus for the mortal youth Adonis, dedicated partly to his patron, the Earl of Southampton (thought by some to be the beautiful youth to which many of the Sonnets are addressed). The poem recounts Venus' attempts to woo Adonis, their passionate coupling, and Adonis' rejection of the goddess, to which she responds with jealousy, with tragic results. This recording features three different readers performing the narration, Venus, and Adonis. (Summary by Elizabeth Klett)Read by Elizabeth Klett, Arielle Lipshaw, Bob ...

The Age of Innocence centers on an upper-class couple's impending marriage, and the introduction of a woman plagued by scandal whose presence threatens their happiness. Though the novel questions the assumptions and morals of 1870s' New York society, it never devolves into an outright condemnation of the institution. In fact, Wharton considered this novel an "apology" for her earlier, more brutal and critical novel, The House of Mirth. Not to be overlooked is Wharton's attention to detailing the charms and customs of the upper caste. The novel is lauded for its accurate portrayal of how the ...

A collection of short Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Dedicated to Beth Thomas. Summary by kathrinee. Cast List: Cast Sherlock Holmes: Peter Yearsley Dr. John Watson: johnnyenglish, and Tomas Peter Various other roles read by: Larry Wilson, Beth Thomas, Amelia Chesley, Adrian Stephens, Algy Pug, Lola Janie, Leanne Yau, Max Körlinge, chuckconvr, Bernd Ungerer, Nemo, Rafe Ball, Foon, KHand, Rob Marland, TJ Burns, Zames Curran, and thestorygirl. Edited by: Peter Yearsley and johnnyenglish Proof listeners: Beth Thomas, johnnyenglish, Peter Yearsley, and Linette.

This classic tale by Lewis Carroll has delighted children for generations. Alice falls down a rabbit hole and encounters a wide variety of strange and wonderful creatures in all manner of bizarre situations. Join Alice as she journeys through Wonderland, trying to make sense of what she finds there. This version is read dramatically, with different readers voicing the different characters. (Summary by Lucy Perry) CastNarrator: David GoldfarbAlice: Miss AvariceThe White Rabbit: BellonaTimesMouse: cher0520Lory: AvailleDuck: Jessamy GloorDodo: Tim FerreiraEaglet: Dennis D.Old Crab: Joshua ...

In order to escape his cruel father, and led by a thirst for adventure, Huck Finn sets off down the Mississippi River with Jim, an escaped slave. But trouble is never far behind them, and their adventures are only beginning when they meet up with two men who claim to be a duke and a king! And that’s before Jim gets captured by none other than Tom Sawyer’s aunt and uncle… who mistake Huck for Tom. The hilarious adventures and scrapes of Huck, Jim, Tom, and others are brought to life in this dramatic reading. - Summary by Rachel Cast Huckleberry Finn: Patrick Saville Tom Sawyer: TenorBoy ...

Growing up on the banks of the Mississippi river, a mischievous boy named Tom Sawyer spends his days getting into one scrape after another. Tom's constant cleverness, superstition, trickery, and daring make him a handful to raise, and his Aunt Polly declares that she has "never seen the beat of that boy!" Tom is essentially good-hearted, however, but when he is witness to a horrible crime, his courage and integrity are tested beyond anything he ever expected. A note to parents: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is considered a children's classic, but contains racial slurs which, although "...

The book examines the role of education in the lives of the characters and how such education and study has affected the characters. Rosamond Vincy's finishing school education is a foil to Dorothea Brooke's religiously-motivated quest for knowledge. Rosamond initially admires Lydgate for his exotic education, and his intellect. A similar dynamic is present in Dorothea and Casaubon's relationship, with Dorothea revering her new husband's intellect and eloquence. In both cases, however, the young wives' expectations of their husbands intellects are not reflected in reality. Despite extreme ...

The novel details the lives of Tom and Maggie Tulliver, a brother and sister growing up on the river Floss near the village of St. Oggs, evidently in the 1820’s, after the Napoleonic Wars but prior to the first Reform Bill (1832). The novel spans a period of 10-15 years, from Tom and Maggie’s childhood up until their deaths in a flood on the Floss. The book is fictional autobiography in part, reflecting the disgrace that George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) herself had while in a lengthy relationship with a married man, George Henry Lewes. Maggie Tulliver holds the central role in the book, as ...

The full title of the novel is Roxana: The Fortunate Mistress Or, a History of the Life and Vast Variety of Fortunes of Mademoiselle de Beleau, Afterwards Called the Countess de Wintselsheim. The novel concerns the story of an unnamed "fallen woman", the second time Defoe created such a character (the first was a similar female character in Moll Flanders). In Roxana, a woman who takes on various pseudonyms, including "Roxana," describes her fall from wealth thanks to abandonment by a "fool" of a husband and movement into prostitution upon his abandonment. Roxana moves up and down through the ...

Robinson Crusoe, único superviviente de un naufragio, es arrastrado por las olas a la playa de una isla desierta. Robinson, confiando en su ingenio, hará de todo para poder sobrevivir. Pero un día descubre que no está completamente solo en la isla... (Tux)

Defoe wrote this novel after his work as a journalist and pamphleteer. By 1722, Defoe had become recognized as a novelist, with the success of Robinson Crusoe in 1719. His political work was tapering off at this point, due to the fall of both Whig and Tory party leaders with whom he had been associated. - Defoe's Whig views are nevertheless evident in the story of Moll. The full title of the novel tells part of its story: "The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders, Etc. Who was born in Newgate, and during a life of continu'd Variety for Threescore Years, besides her Childhood, ...

This fragment of a novel was written by Jane Austen in 1804 and remained untitled and unpublished until her nephew James Edward Austen-Leigh printed it in his A Memoir of Jane Austen in 1871. The title is from him. Mr Watson is a widowed clergyman with two sons and four daughters. The youngest daughter, Emma, has been brought up by a wealthy aunt and is consequently better educated and more refined than her sisters. But when her aunt contracts a foolish second marriage, Emma is obliged to return to her father's house. There she is chagrined by the crude and reckless husband-hunting of two of ...

Jane Austen demonstrated her mastery of the epistolary novel genre in Lady Susan, which she wrote in 1795 but never published. Although the primary focus of this short novel is the selfish behavior of Lady Susan as she engages in affairs and searches for suitable husbands for herself and her young daughter, the actual action shares its importance with Austen’s manipulation of her characters' behavior by means of their reactions to the letters that they receive. The heroine adds additional interest by altering the tone of her own letters based on the recipient of the letter. Thus, the ...

This book draws together some of Jane Austen's earliest literary efforts. It includes "Love & Freindship" and "Lesley Castle" both told through the medium of letters written by the characters. It also contains her wonderful "History of England" and a "Collection of Letters" and lastly a chapter containing "Scraps". In these offerings, we may see the beginnings of Miss Austen's literary style. We may also discern traces of characters that we encounter in her later works. G. K. Chesterton in his preface, for example, says of a passage in Love and Freindship; "... is there not the foreshadowing ...