Arts Podcasts
Librivox: Psmith in the City by Wodehouse, P. G.Join Now to Follow
Mike’s dream of studying and playing cricket at Cambridge are thwarted as his father runs into financial difficulties. Instead, Mike takes on the job of clerk at the “New Asiatic Bank.” Luckily, school friend Psmith, with his boundless optimism and original views, soon joins his department, and together they endeavour to make the best of their new life in London. (Summary written by Gesine)
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Piccadilly Jim by WODEHOUSE, P. G.Join Now to Follow
A young red-head plots to kidnap her irritating cousin with the help of a former boxer, her uncle, and a rogue who has his eye on her. Things don't work out exactly as planned, as criminals, detectives and cases of mistaken identity all get in the way. (Summary by Carrie Bradfield)
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Merchant of Venice, The by SHAKESPEARE, WilliamJoin Now to Follow
<br>William Shakespeare's <i>The Merchant of Venice</i> was probably written between 1596 and 1598, and was printed with the comedies in the First Folio of 1623. Bassanio, an impoverished gentleman, uses the credit of his friend, the merchant Antonio, to borrow money from a wealthy Jew, Shylock. Antonio pledges to pay Shylock a pound of flesh if he defaults on the loan, which Bassanio will use to woo a rich heiress, Portia. A subplot concerns the elopement of Shylock's daughter Jessica with a Christian, Bassanio's friend Lorenzo. In its focus on love and marriage, the play shares certain concerns with Shakespeare's other comedies. Yet its depiction of the tensions between Jews and Christians in early modern Venice - and its highly dramatic trial scene in Act 4 - create darker currents in the play. (Summary by Elizabeth Klett)<br><br><strong>Cast:</strong><br><br> Duke of Venice: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/2033">Filippo Gioachin</a><br> Prince of Morocco: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/204">Mark F. Smith</a><br> Prince of Arragon: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/2624">David Nicol</a><br> Antonio: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/2045">David O'Connell</a><br> Bassanio: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/1492">mb</a><br> Salanio: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/87">Rosalind Wills</a><br> Salarino: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/1066">Laurie Anne Walden</a><br> Gratiano: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/2827">David Leeson</a><br> Lorenzo: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/2110">Aaron Elliott</a><br> Shylock: etk<br> Tubal: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/1944">Carolyn Frances</a><br> Launcelot Gobbo: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/4808">L. Lambert Lawson</a><br> Old Gobbo: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/2911">David Lawrence</a><br> Leonardo: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/1066">Laurie Anne Walden</a><br> Balthasar: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/2911">David Lawrence</a><br> Stephano: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/3615">Lucy Perry</a><br> Portia: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/3536">Arielle Lipshaw</a><br> Nerissa: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/2270">Megan Kunkel</a><br> Jessica: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/1259">Elizabeth Klett</a><br> Clerk in court: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/2825">Ernst Pattynama</a><br> Portia's servant: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/1482">Joshua B. Christensen</a><br> Narrator: <a href="http://librivox.org/reader/26">Dennis Sayers</a><br><br>
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Librivox: King Lear by Shakespeare, WilliamJoin Now to Follow
King Lear is widely held as the greatest of Shakespeare's tragedies; to some, it is the greatest play ever written. King Lear abdicates the British throne, to divide his kingdom among his three daughters in proportion to their professed love of him. His plan misfires when Cordelia, his youngest and favourite daughter, refuses to flatter her father; she is disinherited and banished. This LibriVox recording marks the 400th anniversary of the first performance of the play, on December 26th 1606. (Summary by David Barnes).
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Librivox: Persuasion (version 4) by Austen, JaneJoin Now to Follow
Several years before the events of the novel, Anne Elliott fell in love with a young and handsome but poor naval officer. She was persuaded by her friends and family to refuse him when he asked her to marry him. Now she meets him again...
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Librivox: Leviathan (Books I and II) by Hobbes, ThomasJoin Now to Follow
Leviathan, or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Common Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil, commonly called Leviathan, is a book written in 1651 by Thomas Hobbes. It is titled after the biblical Leviathan. The book concerns the structure of society (as represented figuratively by the frontispiece, showing the state giant made up of individuals), as is evidenced by the full title. In the book, Thomas Hobbes argues for a social contract and rule by a sovereign. Influenced by the English Civil War, Hobbes wrote that chaos or civil war - situations identified with a state of nature and the famous motto Bellum omnium contra omnes ("the war of all against all") - could only be averted by strong central government. He thus denied any right of rebellion toward the social contract. However, Hobbes did discuss the possible dissolution of the State. Since the social contract was made to institute a state that would provide for the "peace and defense" of the people, the contract would become void as soon as the government no longer protected its citizens. By virtue of this fact, man would automatically return to the state of nature until a new contract is made. Summary from Wikipedia.
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Librivox: Pickwick Papers, The by Dickens, CharlesJoin Now to Follow
The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, better known as The Pickwick Papers, is the first novel by Charles Dickens. Written for publication as a serial, The Pickwick Papers consists of a sequence of loosely-related adventures. Its main literary value and appeal is formed by its numerous unforgettable heroes. Each personage in The Pickwick Papers (just as in many other Dickens' novels) is drawn comically, often with exaggerated features of character. (Wikipedia)
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Librivox: Magic of Oz, The by Baum, L. FrankJoin Now to Follow
L. Frank Baum's last beloved Oz book before his death, this story deals with the discovery of a powerful magic word by a young boy from Oz, who immediately is plunged head-first into adventure through his discovery. (Summary by Piper Hale)
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Nicomachean Ethics, The by ARISTOTLEJoin Now to Follow
<p>The work consists of ten books, originally separate scrolls, and is understood to be based on notes said to be from his lectures at the Lyceum which were either edited by or dedicated to Aristotle's son, Nicomachus. In many ways this work parallels the similar Eudemian Ethics, which has only eight books, and the two works can be fruitfully compared. Books V, VI, and VII of the Nicomachean Ethics are identical to Books IV, V, and VI of the Eudemian Ethics. Opinions about the relationship between the two works, for example which was written first, and which originally contained the three common books, is divided. Aristotle describes his ethical work as being different from his other kinds of study, because it is not just for the sake of contemplating what things are, but rather to actually become good ourselves. It is therefore practical rather than theoretical in the original Aristotelian senses of these terms. (Summary from Wikipedia)</p>
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Foxe's Book of Martyrs Vol 2, A History of the Lives, Sufferings, and Triumphant Deaths of the Early Christian and the Protestant Martyrs by FOXE, John and FORBUSH, William ByronJoin Now to Follow
<p>The Book of Martyrs, by John Foxe, is an English Protestant account of the persecutions of Protestants, many of whom had died for their beliefs within the decade immediately preceding its first publication. It was first published by John Day, in 1563. Lavishly illustrated with many woodcuts, it was the largest publishing project undertaken in Britain up to that time. Commonly known as, "Foxe's Book of Martyrs", the work's full title begins with "Actes and Monuments of these Latter and Perillous Days, Touching Matters of the Church." There were many subsequent editions, by Day, and by other editors down through the years. Foxe's original work was enormous (the second edition filling two heavy folio volumes with a total of 2,300 pages, estimated to be twice as long as Edward Gibbon's "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire." This edition is much abridged from Foxe's original.<br><br> This book was first published shortly after the death of Queen Mary. During Mary's reign, common people of Protestant Christian faith were publicly burned at the stake in an attempt to eliminate dissension from Catholic doctrines.<br><br> Foxe's account of Mary's reign and its martyrdoms form a significant part of the work. Foxe intended to justify the foundation of the Church of England as a continuation of the true and faithful ancient church, rather than as a new denomination.<br><br> The work has a historic perspective. It begins with early Christian martyrs, and continues with the Inquisition, Wycliffe, and the Marian Persecutions.<br><br> For the English Church, Foxe's book remains a fundamental witness to the sufferings of faithful Christian people at the hands of the anti-Protestant Roman Catholic authorities, and to the miracle of their endurance unto death.<br><br> Roman Catholics often view Foxe's record of this period as extremely partisan and the primary propaganda piece for English anti-Catholicism. Among other objections, the accuracy of Foxe's claims regarding martyrdoms under Mary ignore the mingled political and religious aspects of the time period. Some of the victims may have been intent on removing Mary from the throne. Although the work is more accurate when dealing with events during Foxe's time, it is generally not a correct or impartial account of the period, and includes occasional "willful falsification of evidence" (Summary abridged from Wikipedia by Karen Merline)</p>
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