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  On the Nature of Things (Leonard...

  Titus Lucretius Carus

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  On the Nature of Things, written in the first century BCE by Titus Lucretius Carus, is one of the principle expositions on Epicurean philosophy and science to have survived from antiquity. Far from being a dry treatise on the many topics it covers, the original Latin version (entitled De Rerum Natura) was written in the form of an extended poem in hexameter, with a beauty of style that was admired and emulated by his successors, including Ovid and Cicero. The version read here is an English verse translation written by William Ellery Leonard. Although Leonard penned his version in the early twentieth century, he chose to adhere to both the vocabulary and meter (alternating between pentameter and hexameter) of Elizabethan-era poetry.While the six untitled books that comprise On the Nature of Things delve into a broad range of subjects, including the physical nature of the universe, the workings of the human mind and body, and the natural history of the Earth, Lucretius repeatedly asserts throughout the work that his chief purpose is to provide the reader with a means to escape the "darkness of the mind" imposed by superstition and ignorance. To this end he offers us his enlightening verses, that through them might be revealed to us "nature's aspect, and her laws". (Summary by Daniel Vimont)

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  The Judgement - A kafkaesque...

  Franz Kafka

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  Franz Kafka was born on 3rd July 1883 in Prague, then in Bohemia, the eldest of 6, into a middle-class Jewish family. 
   
  Life for the young Kafka and his passion for literature was often made an ordeal by his over-bearing and domineering entrepreneur of a father.   
   
  In 1889 Kafka was sent to the Deutsche Knabenschule, an elementary school in Prague. His father would only allow him to be educated in German-speaking schools and even went so far as to limit visits to the synagogue to four a year. 
   
  In 1901 he graduated from the classics-oriented Altstädter Gymnasium. Kafka did well there and across a large range of subjects.  He now enrolled at the Charles Ferdinand University, to study chemistry, but quickly switched to law for which he obtained his degree in June 1906 and then performed the mandatory year of unpaid service as clerk at the civil and criminal courts. 
   
  A job at an Italian insurance company left him little time to write and after a year he took another job with the Worker's Accident Insurance Institute for the Kingdom of Bohemia where he stayed until ill health led to his resignation in 1922. 
   
  Although he saw work as a means to pay the bills and to allow him time to write, he received several promotions and was noted as a good employee. 
   
  By 1917 Kafka was suffering from tuberculosis, which required frequent periods of convalescence. Interspersed with this, were several intense affairs before he settled in Berlin with Dora Diamant, a 25-year-old kindergarten teacher who herself having left the ghetto now influenced Kafka's interest in the book of Jewish law, the Talmud. 
   
  Kafka’s on-going health was littered with problems. Apart from TB there were several other ailments, including migraines, insomnia, boils, depression, all usually brought on by excessive stresses and strains. He attempted to counteract all of this by naturopathic treatments, a vegetarian diet and consuming large quantities of unpasteurized milk. 
   
  His tuberculosis still worsened. He returned to Prague, where he died on 3rd June 1924. He was 40. 
   
  His literary works are few in number but towering in influence.  His masterpieces include ‘The Trial’, ‘The Metamorphosis’ as well as a number of short stories which reveal facets of humankind that truthfully could only be born from Kafka’s brain and pen.

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  Pride and Prejudice

  Jane Austen

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  Love is in the air when five sisters discover that a wealthy and eligible bachelor is suddenly within reach. But it is his friend, the haughty Mr. Darcy, who becomes smitten. Unfortunately for him, the object of his affection is not so easily swayed. 
  One of the most popular characters in English literature, Elizabeth Bennet is intelligent, witty, well-spoken and ahead of her time. If the terrible rumors about Mr. Darcy are true, he doesn't stand a chance. Yet not all gossip is to be believed when marriage, money, and reputations are on the line. Will Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy circumvent her haste, his ego, and society's expectations to find love? 
  Written more than two centuries ago, Jane Austen's enduring story of manners, family, and love continues to delight new generations of readers.

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  The Brethren

  H. Rider Haggard

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  "The adventure begins when Rosamund is taken from England and carried to the East. The plot thickens as the two young knights follow her in hopes of rescuing her from the Muslim leader, Saladin. As the Cross and the Crescent face each other at the Battle of Hattin, the story of Rosamund is unfolded and the riddle is solved.    With dangerous lions, a moon light duel on a bridge, and beautiful Arabian horses, this book will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last page. "The Brethren" invites readers to witness the clash of swords, the fervor of the Crusades, and the passions that drive men to acts of valor and sacrifice. Whether you're drawn to historical fiction or tales of knights and damsels, these novel promises adventure and intrigue."

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  The Cattle-Dealers

  Anton Chekhov

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  The old man Malakhin, accompanied by his rather useless son Yasha, makes a journey to Saint Petersburg in a freight train with the view of selling his cattle. Everybody around is bent on extorting the money from him. The train driver simply refuses to move the train without being paid, and the uber-conductor has to have his reward too. Malakhin is so distressed as to file a written complaint to the police, still he throws his money around, even on the occasions when this does not seem necessary. Four days later, after having bribed his way to the capital, he sells his starved-out animals, loses a great deal of money but is greatly relieved to see his totally meaningless mission completed.

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  The Nightingale and the Rose

  Oscar Wilde

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  In a quiet garden beneath the silver light of the moon, a young student longs for a single red rose—believing it will win him love. But no such rose exists… and what follows is a tale not of romance fulfilled, but of sacrifice unseen. 
  In The Nightingale and the Rose, Oscar Wilde delivers one of his most haunting and lyrical works—a story where beauty and devotion meet indifference, and where love is measured not in words, but in what one is willing to give. 
  As the nightingale listens to the student’s sorrow, she undertakes a profound and irreversible act—one that transforms the natural world itself. Yet, in the cold light of day, her sacrifice goes unnoticed, dismissed, and ultimately forgotten. 
  Narrated with elegance and emotional restraint by Fiona Spreadborough, this timeless story explores: 
  The true cost of love 
  The divide between feeling and reason 
  The quiet tragedy of sacrifice without recognition 
  A deeply moving literary classic, The Nightingale and the Rose lingers long after the final word—like a song carried into the dark.

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