Showing results by author "Audiobooks by Librivox" in All Categories

"Als Gregor Samsa eines Morgens aus unruhigen Träumen erwachte, fand er sich in seinem Bett zu einem ungeheueren Ungeziefer verwandelt..." So beginnt Kafka diesen Klassiker und beschreibt in seinem typischen Stil wie sich die plötzliche Verwandlung auf das weitere Leben Gregor Samsas auswirkt. (Zusammenfassung von Markus Wachenheim)

Life is difficult for The Mother, with a household of husband and children, when her crone of a mother-in-law comes to live with them. It is a life of drudgery and toil. But a mother will do anything to protect her children, despite the pain and suffering she may endure, when, without warning, her restless husband abandons her. The shame, the toil, the love... all demonstrate the resilience of a woman in the face of adversity. It has been described as one of the best works of fiction of the 20th century,This is in the Public Domain in the United States. - Summary by Lynne T.

Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species (publ. 1859) is a pivotal work in scientific literature and arguably the pivotal work in evolutionary biology. The book’s full title is On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. It introduced the theory that populations evolve over the course of generations through a process of natural selection. It was controversial because it contradicted religious beliefs which underlay the then current theories of biology. Darwin’s book was the culmination of evidence he had ...

The Book of Isaiah is one of the Major Prophets in the Old Testament. Jews and Christians consider the Book of Isaiah a part of their Biblical canon. Christians believe that Isaiah prophesied the virgin birth of Jesus Christ (Isaiah 7:14, KJV): "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." Many of the New Testament teachings of Jesus refer to the book of Isaiah.Gregory of Nyssa (c. 335–395), believes that the Prophet Esaias (Isaiah) "knew more perfectly than all others the mystery of the religion of the Gospel." Jerome (c. 342–420) also lauds the ...

Little Women is the classic story of The March family, which consists of Mr. and Mrs. March and their four girls--Practical, yet fashion conscious Meg, who longs for the nice things they used to have. Rambunctious, book worm, Jo, who wants to become a writer and wishes she were born a boy. Shy and quiet, home-loving Beth, who loves to play the piano and play with her kitties. Finally, the youngest, artistic Amy, who longs for an aristocratic nose!The story takes place during the American Civil War, and begins with Mr. March away from home as a chaplain to the Union army, while his wife and ...

The seventeenth book of the King James Bible, Esther recounts a tale of two queens. Queen Vashti is the loveliest woman in the land, but when she refuses to come to her husband's banquet, she is banished from the kingdom. Hadassah is called to take her place - a beautiful young woman with a secret. Hadassah is Jewish, but her guardian warns her to keep her identity hidden. Taking on the name Esther - which means "hidden" - she moves in to the palace, but when a wicked man hatches a plot to rid the land of Jews, her guardian asks her to take on a terrible job. Esther must go to the king unasked...

David Copperfield, like all of Dickens' novels, is filled with many memorable characters (because they are hyperbolic representations of character types) from all members of society. Here we have, for example, the virtuous, but relatively poor, Mr. Peggotty beside the grasping and greedy and vengeful and more middle-class Heep, but also beside Julia Mills whose only desire is also for money, which she possesses to excess (alluding to the capitalistic aggrandizement of European exploitation of foreign nations). And David Copperfield, like other of Dickens' works, emphasizes thematically that ...

The Gambler is a short novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky about a young tutor in the employment of a formerly wealthy Russian general. The novella reflects Dostoevsky's own addiction to roulette, which was in more ways than one the inspiration for the book: Dostoevsky completed the novella under a strict deadline so he could pay off gambling debts. (Summary from Wikipedia)

The Fortune of the Rougons (French: La Fortune des Rougon), originally published in 1871, is the first novel in Émile Zola's monumental twenty-volume series Les Rougon-Macquart. In his introduction Zola indicates that this series is intended to demonstrate the interaction of heredity and environment along the lines of natural selection and evolution. While Zola's metascience is questionable, this novel is successful in its analysis of the interaction of momentous social and political events and the everyday lives and aspirations of a provincial society. In a satisfyingly intricate, vast and ...

Sherlock Holmes uses his amazing brain to unravel another strange occurrence. A mysterious lodger in his own building who remains locked away and is very secretive, causes fear and agitation in his landlady who brings her concern to him. At first reluctant to get involved in such a petty matter, he is persuaded at last and proceeds to unravel a mystery that spans the Atlantic and involves a secret Italian society of murderers and blackmailers. And it has a satisfying conclusion where the killer is actually congratulated. (Summary by philip chenevert)

Eric Arthur Blair (George Orwell) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to all totalitarianism (both authoritarian communism and fascism), and support of democratic socialism.

Nineteen Eighty-Four (also published as 1984) is a dystopian speculative fiction novel by the English writer George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final completed book. Thematically, it centres on totalitarianism, mass surveillance and repressive regimentation of people and behaviours.

Fresque sociale qui décrit les conditions de vie des mineurs au XIXème siècle, Germinal est le treizième roman de la série des Rougon-Macquart. Le roman retrace la vie d'Etienne Lantier, jeune mineur amoureux de Catherine Maheu, et de son combat pour une société plus juste. (résumé par Nadine) Germinal is the main book in the series "Rougon-Macquart" and describes the inhumane conditions in French mines in the 19th century.NOTE: Due to a recording issue in the original file, file 6 was replaced August 19, 2024 and has a different voice for part of the recording.

The Odysseys are a collection of stories about Ulysses' journey home from the war at Troy purportedly written in the 8th century BCE by Homer, a blind poet thought to have lived in the Greek colonies in Asia Minor, possibly at Smyrna. The events described are thought to have occurred centuries before being recorded by Homer, handed down orally since the twelfth century BCE, the golden era of the Greek Bronze Age when the world was populated by heroic mortals and often visited by the Gods. This verse translation in couplets by George Chapman was originally published in 1616, the first ...

The Murders in the Rue Morgue" is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe in 1841. Poe referred to it as a "tale of ratiocination" featuring the brilliant deductions of C. Auguste Dupin; it is today regarded as one of the first detective stories and is almost certainly the first locked room mystery. (Summary from Wikipedia)

Compilation of 20 Science Fiction Short Stories - Summary by Kirk Ziegler

Una de las novelas famosas de Jane Austen. - Summary by kathrinee

This recording includes a selection of Jane Austen's letters, edited by Susan Coolidge and chosen from the collection of Austen's great-nephew, Edward, Lord Brabourne. The letters are mostly addressed to Austen's sister Cassandra, with whom she was very close. There are also some letters written to two of her nieces, Anna Austen Lefroy and Fanny Knight. They include some references to her published work, including Sense and Sensibility (abbreviated "S and S"), Pride and Prejudice (also called First Impressions, or P and P), Mansfield Park ("MP") and Emma. They are also replete with details ...

Chaucer's famous and important work is predicated upon the premise that a group of Christian folks from various occupations, familiar in the Middle Ages and a goodly number of them in the Church, are on a pilgrimage to worship at the burial site of Thomas Becket in the Cathedral at Canterbury. The host suggests that to pass the time each traveler tell a tale. So, we are entertained by quite a variety of stories, almost all of which, though, have a moral purpose. Of course, Chaucer and his folk spoke an English that is between the Anglo-Saxon beginnings, which is totally foreign to us, and the ...

Ulysses is a groundbreaking novel in which Irish author James Joyce explores realism through stream-of-consciousness technique and shifting narrative styles. It was published in serial form between 1918-1920 and first published in book form in 1922. The story follows Leopold Bloom through Dublin during the course of one day: June 16, 1904. The events and characters of Ulysses parallel those of Homer's Odyssey, with Bloom corresponding to Odysseus. Although the book was the subject of early obscenity prosecutions, was banned in several countries, and has been considered unreadable by many, it ...