Arts Podcasts

Librivox: Case of Jennie Brice, The by Rinehart, Mary Roberts show

Librivox: Case of Jennie Brice, The by Rinehart, Mary RobertsJoin Now to Follow

The flood brings in not only the muddy waters but a series of suspicious clues that convinced Mrs. Pitman, a boarding house keeper, that a murder has been committed at her boarding house. Jennifer Ladley aka Jennie Brice is missing and with the help of Mr. Holcombe, a quirky gentleman with a passion for mysteries, they embark on a quest for the truth behind the disappearance of Jennie Brice. (summary by Wina Hathaway)

By LibriVox

Librivox: Golem, Der by Meyrink, Gustav show

Librivox: Golem, Der by Meyrink, GustavJoin Now to Follow

"Der Golem" von Gustav Meyrink gilt als ein Klassiker der phantastischen Literatur. Es handelt sich dabei nicht um eine Adaption der jüdischen Golem - Sage, sondern um ein impressionistisches Traumbild vor dessen Hintergrund. Der Erzähler träumt Ereignisse, die sich 30 Jahre zuvor im Prager Ghetto zugetragen haben. Er träumt sich dabei in die Rolle des Athanasius Pernath, der um 1890/91 dort lebte. Pernath erhält von einem mysteriösen Auftraggeber ein Buch zur Reparatur. Bald hat er den Verdacht, es könnte sich bei diesem Unbekannten um den Golem handeln, der 1580 von Rabbi Löw erschaffen worden sein soll und nun alle 33 Jahre in Prag umgehe. Von nun an gerät Pernaths Leben durcheinander. Er wird von Halluzinationen geplagt, die er nicht versteht, und in Intrigen verwickelt, deren Mittelpunkt der Trödler Aaron Wassertrum ist und die Pernath für ein paar Monate ins Gefängnis bringen. Der Archivar Hillel wird ihm Freund und Mentor und Pernath verliebt sich in dessen Tochter Mirjam. Auf der Spur des Golem findet er durch eine Falltür den Weg in ein "Zimmer ohne Zugang" und erkennt es als die Behausung des Golems. Als er aus dem Gefängnis entlassen wird, ist der Teil des Ghettos, in dem er bisher gewohnt hat, abgerissen und seine früheren Freunde sind gestorben oder fortgezogen. Als er sich vom Dach eines brennenden Gebäudes abseilt, stürzt er ab. Hier erwacht der Erzähler aus seinem Traum und entdeckt bei Nachforschungen Spuren der geträumten Gestalten und seines "Traum Doppelgängers" in der wirklichen Welt. (Summary by Wikipedia and Hokuspokus)

By LibriVox

Librivox: Around the World in Eighty Days (version 2) by Verne, Jules show

Librivox: Around the World in Eighty Days (version 2) by Verne, JulesJoin Now to Follow

Mysterious Phileas Fogg is a cool customer. A man of the most repetitious and punctual habit - with no apparent sense of adventure whatsoever - he gambles his considerable fortune that he can complete a journey around the world in just 80 days... immediately after a newspaper calculates the feat as just barely possible. With his excitable French manservant in tow, Fogg undertakes the exercise immediately, with no preparations, trusting that his traveling funds will make up for delays along the way. But unbeknownst to him, British police are desperately seeking to arrest him for the theft of a huge sum by someone who resembles him, and they will track him around the world, if necessary, to apprehend him. This is an adventure novel of the first water, with wholly unexpected perils, hair-breadth escapes, brilliant solutions to insoluble problems, and even a love story. And can this be? - That he returns to London just five minutes too late to win his wager and retain his fortune?

By LibriVox

Librivox: Recordings on MP3 players and other portable devices by Wordsworth, William show

Librivox: Recordings on MP3 players and other portable devices by Wordsworth, WilliamJoin Now to Follow

This is a project which will allow us to compare recording quality of different mp3 players and portable recording devices.

By LibriVox

Librivox: Shakespeare's Sonnets (version 3) by Shakespeare, William show

Librivox: Shakespeare's Sonnets (version 3) by Shakespeare, WilliamJoin Now to Follow

Shakespeare’s Sonnets , or simply The Sonnets , comprise a collection of 154 poems in sonnet form written by William Shakespeare that deal with such themes as love, beauty, politics, and mortality. The poems were probably written over a period of several years. (Summary from wikipedia)

By LibriVox

Librivox: Worldwide Effects of Nuclear War: Some Perspectives by United States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency show

Librivox: Worldwide Effects of Nuclear War: Some Perspectives by United States Arms Control and Disarmament AgencyJoin Now to Follow

This is a concise yet thorough explanation of what might happen to our world in the aftermath of a nuclear war. The myriad of potential effects will be global and wide-spread. (Summary by Allyson Hester)

By LibriVox

Librivox: Dead Men Tell No Tales by Hornung, E. W. show

Librivox: Dead Men Tell No Tales by Hornung, E. W.Join Now to Follow

Ernest William Hornung (June 7, 1866 – March 22, 1921) was an English author. Hornung was the third son of John Peter Hornung, a Hungarian, and was born in Middlesbrough. He was educated at Uppingham during some of the later years of its great headmaster, Edward Thring. He spent most of his life in England and France, but in 1884 left for Australia and stayed for two years where he working as a tutor at Mossgiel station. Although his Australian experience had been so short, it coloured most of his literary work from A Bride from the Bush published in 1899, to Old Offenders and a few Old Scores, which appeared after his death. After he returned from Australia in 1886, he married Constance Doyle, the sister of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1893. (Wikipedia)

By LibriVox

Librivox: First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians, The by Clement I, Pope show

Librivox: First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians, The by Clement I, PopeJoin Now to Follow

"First Clement is one of the oldest Christian documents outside the New Testament canon. The epistle was written by Clement, one of the elders of the church of Rome, to the church in Corinth, where it was read for centuries. Indeed, historians generally hold First Clement to be an authentic document dating from the first century. From the fifth century to the eighth century, many of the eastern churches accepted the First Epistle of Clement as canonical scripture as it is clearly listed among the canonical books of the New Testament in "Canon 85" of the Canons of the Apostles. However, by the end of the eighth century, none of the ancient churches, eastern or western, included First Clement in any official listing of the canonical New Testament" (From Wikipedia, modified by Sam Stinson)

By LibriVox

Librivox: Short Mystery Story Collection 002 by Various show

Librivox: Short Mystery Story Collection 002 by VariousJoin Now to Follow

LibriVox’s Short Mystery Story Collection 002: a collection of 10 short works of mysterious fiction in the public domain read by a group of LibriVox members.

By LibriVox

Librivox: Reflections on War and Death by Freud, Sigmund show

Librivox: Reflections on War and Death by Freud, SigmundJoin Now to Follow

Anyone, as Freud tells us in Reflections on War and Death , forced to react against his own impulses may be described as a hypocrite, whether he is conscious of it or not. One might even venture to assert—it is still Freud's argument—that our contemporary civilisation favours this sort of hypocrisy and that there are more civilised hypocrites than truly cultured persons, and it is even a question whether a certain amount of hypocrisy is not indispensable to maintain civilisation. When this travesty of civilisation, this infallible state that has regimented and dragooned its citizens into obedience, goes to war, Freud is pained but not surprised that it makes free use of every injustice, of every act of violence that would dishonour the individual, that it employs not only permissible cunning but conscious lies and intentional deception against the enemy, that it absolves itself from guarantees and treaties by which it was bound to other states and makes unabashed confession of its greed and aspiration to power. For conscience, the idea of right and wrong, in the Freudian sense, is not the inexorable judge that teachers of ethics say it is: it has its origin in nothing but "social fear," and whereas in times of peace the state forbids the individual to do wrong, not because it wishes to do away with wrongdoing but because it wishes to monopolise it, like salt or tobacco, it suspends its reproach in times of war. The suppression of evil desires also ceases, and men, finding the moral ties loosened between large human units, commit acts of cruelty, treachery, deception and brutality the very possibility of which would have been considered incompatible with their degree of culture. (Summary by J.C. Grey, from The Bookman: A Review of Books and Life , v.47: Mar-Aug 1918. First sentence edited for clarity.)

By LibriVox