Verlag: Project Gutenberg
Emma, by Jane Austen, is a novel about the perils of misconstrued romance. The novel was first published in December 1815. As in her other novels, Austen explores the concerns and difficulties of genteel women living in Georgian-Regency England; she also creates a lively 'comedy of manners' among her characters.
Bram Stoker was an Irish author and Dracula is his most famous book. Dracula was published in 1897. It was not the first vampire novel. For example, it draws on Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu, who at one time was Stoker's employer in Dublin. But Dracula is without doubt the most famous vampire novel. It is narrated here by Tony Walker, producer and narrator of The Classic Ghost Stories Podcast.Zum Buch
LibriVox volunteers bring you 9 recordings of It Couldn't Be Done by Edgar A. Guest. This was the Weekly Poetry project for June 29th, 2010.Zum Buch
Elizabeth Stern was two and a half years old, when her family emigrated from Poland to Pittsburgh. My Mother and I is the story of Stern's Americanization and how it ultimately alienated her from her parents. Stern's father had been a small village rabbi. Strict and traditional in his views, he sends Elizabeth to learn Hebrew at age four, so she can fulfill her destiny "as the wife of a rabbi or scholar," but he opposes letting her attend high school. Stern's mother tries fitfully to pry open doors for her daughter. When Stern's father finds Elizabeth reading a secular book, and, in a fit of rage, flings the offending novel onto the top of a tall bookcase, her mother climbs on a chair and retrieves it for her. But Stern's mother never learns English even as it becomes her daughter’s primary language--and she is burdened by endless pregnancies (she ultimately bears 11 children, only the first 4 of whom survive). Stern's relationship with her mother is loving, but when Elizabeth goes to college, they draw apart. Her mother becomes a "shadowy figure," standing with "questioning, puzzled eyes", eyes in which there is love, "but no understanding, and always an infinite loneliness." - Summary by Sue AndersonZum Buch
The unnamed narrator of Henry James’ novella is an editor and literary critic obsessed with the life and work of Jeffrey Aspern, a long-deceased American poet, who died at an appropriately Romantic and tragic young age. No one is going to prevent him from bringing the secrets hidden in the paper to light for a curious public, least of all an old world spinster living out her last days in Venice, and her mousy young niece, Miss Tina. This cat-and-mouse game continues, detailed in James’ inimitable manner, until it culminates in a single withering glance.Zum Buch
Hundreds of books and articles have been written about Edgar Allan Poe. Even so, no one is really sure who Poe was. Many people say that he was as crazy as the characters he wrote about. Others say that Poe was a driven man with a simple wish. He wanted to write and to make a living by his writing. Even though Poe lived a miserable life, he wrote some of the most interesting and original literature ever created.Edgar Allan Poe was born in January of 1809, the son of Boston actors. He was orphaned before he was three and was taken in by his godfather, John Allan, a merchant of Richmond, Virginia. After incurring gambling debts at the University of Virginia, he joined the army where, at eighteen, he published his first poems. He was dismissed from West Point, and then worked for various literary magazines. In 1836, while living in Baltimore, he married his fourteen-year-old cousin. He achieved acclaim for the Raven in 1845; two years later his wife died. In October of 1849, shortly after his engagement to a love of his youth, Poe was found semiconscious in the streets of Baltimore. He died days later. Stories and poems included in this collection are: "The Raven", "The Cask of Amontillado", "The Tell-Tale Heart", "The Black Cat", "The Bells", The Fall of the House of Usher", "Manuscript Found in a Bottle", "The Sleeper", "The Man of the Crowd", "The Pit and the Pendulum", "Annabel Lee", "The Man That Was Used Up", "The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether", "The Oval Portrait", "Eleonora", "The Facts in the Case of Monsieur Valdemar", "Berenice", and "The Murders in the Rue Morgue".Zum Buch
"Far from the Madding Crowd," published in 1874, is one of Thomas Hardy's most celebrated novels and the first to introduce readers to the fictional county of Wessex. The story follows the independent and headstrong Bathsheba Everdene, who inherits her uncle's farm and decides to manage it herself, which was unusual for a woman of her time. Throughout the narrative, Bathsheba attracts three very different suitors: the loyal shepherd Gabriel Oak, the mature and prosperous farmer Mr. Boldwood, and the dashing but reckless Sergeant Troy. As the story unfolds, it delves deep into themes of love, honor, and betrayal against the backdrop of the pastoral English countryside.Zum Buch
