Other books that might interest you

• 

  Head & Shoulders - A coming of...

  F. Scott Fitzgerald

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born on 24th September 1896 in Saint Paul, Minnesota into an upper-middle class family. Whilst his mother was pregnant with him, his two young sisters tragically died.  Fitzgerald once said this was when his destiny as a writer was ordained. 
   
  His intelligence and talent was recognised from an early age, with his first story, about a detective being published in the school magazine when he was just 13.   
   
  In 1913 he enrolled at Princeton but his devotion to his own literary pursuits resulted in him leaving and, rather bizarrely, joining the Army.  In 1918, stationed at Fort Sheridan near Montgomery, Alabama he met and became infatuated and then inseparable from Zelda Sayre.  Initially though she refused to marry him but with the success of ‘This Side of Paradise’, the fame and the flow of money enabled them both to begin a gilded life.  For them this was The Jazz Age.  For Fitzgerald he was already an alcoholic. 
   
  He continued to write with great mastery and the titles of his novels and many of his 164 short stories are household names.  The Great Gatsby, often cited as The Great American Novel was published to mixed reviews.  As America moved from the Great Depression to the slaughter of the Second World War his works and himself were seen as far too entwined with the decadent twenties. The world had moved on and he hadn’t.   
   
  Further tragedy was never far from his life. Zelda after years of erratic and now intolerable behaviour was committed to an institution in 1936.  His own sales began to decline and he became a hack for hire in Hollywood, dependent on increasing amounts of booze and the weekly pay check.  His drunken state had often resulted in arrest or hospitalisation, further imperiling his talents.   Despite his contribution to many MGM films he received only one credit. 
   
  The end came all too soon for one of America’s greatest ever writers.  On 21st December 1940, at only 44 years of age in Hollywood, F Scott Fitzgerald succumbed to a heart attack.

  Show book

• 

  The Old Woman Izergil - in English

  Maxim Gorky

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  "THE OLD WOMAN IZERGIL" is a short romantic story by Maxim Gorky. Originally published at the end of the nineteenth century, the book is composed of three chapters in the format of "a story within a story". The narration is done on behalf of the author and the heroine, the old woman Izergil. The book explores the ideas of freedom, the true meaning of life and of love. The first chapter contains the legend of Larra, the proud eagle-man rejected by human society for his egoism. In the second chapter, Izergil tells us about her many lovers and her very eventful life; including the act of throwing her lover (who verbally assaulted her) into the river and of murdering a sentinel in order to save her beloved one from possible death. The third chapter is devoted to the legend of Danko's flaming heart and explores human heroism and cowardice. This audiobook will help the listener to plunge into the bright and expressive world of Gorky's heroes. 
  Maxim Gorky (1868 - 1936) was a Russian writer and socialist political thinker. He was nominated five times for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Before his success as an author he travelled widely across the Russian Empire changing jobs frequently, experiences which would later influence his writing.

  Show book

• 

  Silence

  Edgar Allan Poe

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Silence: Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories.
  
  There are some qualities—some incorporate things,
  That have a double life, which thus is made
  A type of that twin entity which springs
  From matter and light, evinced in solid and shade.

  Show book

• 

  Persuasion

  Jane Austen

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Persuasion was the last novel completed by Jane Austen and was first published posthumously in December, 1817. 
  The story represents an interesting configuration of Austen’s characteristic narrative patterns. The heroine, Anne Eliot, is something of an old maid—she is twenty-seven years old, still single and is considered by family and friends to have lost her youthful beauty. Several years earlier, her engagement to Captain Frederick Wentworth had been broken off, due to the insistence of her family that the Captain lacked the wealth and status needed in a suitable husband. 
  Due to the improvidence of Anne’s snobbish father, Sir Walter Elliot, it becomes necessary to rent out the family estate at Kellynch Hall. The Elliots take up residence in Bath. Anne and Frederick meet again, and Anne is faced with a difficult choice between suitors: should she align herself with the honest and upright but socially awkward Frederick Wentworth? Or with her charming, wealthy, and devious cousin, William Elliot?

  Show book

• 

  White Heron A - and Other Stories

  Jack London, Edna Wahlert...

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Discover the Beauty of Classic Literature with A White Heron - and Other Stories 
   
  Immerse yourself in a collection of timeless tales that explore the depth of human experience and the wonders of the natural world. A White Heron - and Other Stories brings together captivating narratives by some of the most revered authors in American literature, each story brimming with emotion, adventure, and the spirit of life. 
   
  Highlights of the Collection: 
   
  "Love of Life" by Jack London: A gripping tale of survival that tests the limits of human endurance. London’s masterful storytelling will keep you on the edge of your seat as you follow the harrowing journey of a man battling the wilderness and his own inner demons. 
   
  "Captain and Miracle" by Edna Wahlert McCourt: Experience a heartwarming story of faith and resilience, where a young captain’s encounter with the miraculous leads to profound realizations and transformations. 
   
  "The Sun-Dog Trail" by Jack London: Venture into the icy wilderness of the Yukon with a riveting story of adventure and the relentless pursuit of survival, where every decision can mean life or death. 
   
  "A White Heron" by Sarah Orne Jewett: A gentle, poetic tale of a young girl’s deep connection with nature, and the poignant choice she must make between her love for the natural world and the allure of material gain.

  Show book

• 

  Far From the Madding Crowd -...

  Thomas Hardy

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Set in rural Victorian England, Far from the Madding Crowd describes the life and relationships of a woman Farmer, Bathsheba Everdene. First with the faithful shepherd Gabriel Oak, then her lonely neighbor William Boldwood, and finally, the prodigal soldier Sergeant Frank Troy. Set in Thomas’s imaginary county of Wessex, it deals with themes of love, honor, and betrayal, against a backdrop of the idyllic, though the idyllic was often harsh in a farming community in Victorian England. Far from the Madding Crowd is Thomas Hardy’s fourth published novel and his first major literary success. Published in 1874, he revised it extensively in 1895 (as the original appeared as a monthly serial in Cornhill Magazine, and he felt it needed altering to make it smoother and more of a continuous novel). In 1901 he revised it again. This recording is of the first 1895 revision. The novel has often been adapted for stage and screen, the most notable being the 1967 Oscar-nominated film directed by John Schlesinger. It is widely regarded as one of the most powerful romance novels of all time.

  Show book