Maison d'édition: 101 Seleções
Dive into the chilling depths of the unknown with this collection of short horror stories that will send shivers down your spine and leave you checking the dark corners of your room. Be prepared to face curses, ghosts and psychopaths.
Washington Irving's tales of romance, travel, biographical discourse, and literary musing introduced such classic characters as Rip Van Winkle, Ichabod Crane, and the Headless Horsemen of Sleepy Hollow. A sage, storyteller, and wit, Irving earned his preeminence in early American literature with these miniature masterpieces that have stood the test of time. This collection includes seven tales read by a variety of noteworthy actors and actresses: "Rip Van Winkle" read by Elliott Gould "The Legend of the Rose of the Alhambra" read by Eleanor Mondale "The Devil and Tom Walker" read by Efrem Zimbalist Jr. "Life Rural in England" read by Efrem Zimbalist Jr. "The Pride of the Village" read by Jamie Farr "The Widow and Her Son" read by Susan Anspach "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" read by Efrem Zimbalist Jr.Voir livre
Leo Tolstoy was born in 1828 in the Russian province of Tula to a wealthy noble family. As a child, he had private tutors but he showed little interest in any formal education. When he went to the University of Kazan in 1843 to study oriental languages and law, he left without completing his courses. Life now was relaxed and idle but with some writing also taking place. Gambling debts forced an abrupt change of path and he joined the army to fight in the Crimean War. He was commended for his bravery and promoted but was appalled at the brutality and loss of life. He recorded these and other earlier experiences in his diaries which formed the basis of several of his works. In 1852 ‘Childhood’ was published to immediate success and was followed by ‘Boyhood’ and ‘Youth’. His experience in the army and the horrors he witnessed resulted in ‘The Cossacks’ in 1862 and the trilogy ‘Sevastopol Tales’. After the war he travelled around Europe, visiting London and Paris and meeting such luminaries as Victor Hugo and Charles Darwin. It was now that Tolstoy began his masterpiece, ‘War and Peace’. Published in 1869 it was an epic work that changed literature. He quickly followed this with ‘Anna Karenina’. These successes made Tolstoy rich and helped him accomplish many of his dreams but also brought problems as he grappled with his faith and the lot of the oppressed poor. These revolutionary views became so popular that the authorities now kept him under surveillance. He led a life of asceticism and vegetarianism and put his socialist ideals into practice by establishing numerous schools for the poor and food programmes. He also believed in giving away his wealth, which caused much discord with his wife. His writing continued to bring forth classics such as ‘The Death of Ivan Ilyich’ and many brilliant and incisive short stories such as ‘How Much Land Does A Man Need’. In 1901 Tolstoy was excommunicated from the Church and controversially deselected for the Nobel Prize for Literature. Whilst undertaking a pilgrimage by train in October 1910 with his daughter Aleksandra he caught pneumonia in the nearby town of Astapovo. Leo Tolstoy died on November 9th, 1910, he was 82. In this much acclaimed short story Tolstoy’s characters are engulfed by a huge snowstorm which descends upon them and puts the successful conclusion of their journey into perilous doubt.Voir livre
Lafcadio Hearn was born on the 27th June 1850 on the Ionian isle of Levkás in Greece to a British Army officer and a Greek Mother. His father, fearing for his career prospects at being married to a Greek Orthodox wife, sent them to Dublin whilst he continued to advance his career with further postings. Life there was difficult for mother and son. His father returned, wounded and traumatised, when Lafcadio was three. He annulled the marriage and she remarried but had to give up care of Lafcadio to her sister-in law. After brief periods for Catholic education in England and France he emigrated to Ohio in the United States when he was 19, taking on a series of casual jobs before embarking on a career as a journalist, publishing poems and essays in Cincinnati. It was whilst here that he began a side-line in translating, starting with Gautier and Flaubert. He married in 1874 to a 20 year old African-American woman in violation of Ohio's anti-miscegenation law. The marriage soon failed. In 1877 he relocated to New Orleans to write on a variety of themes before picking up a two year assignment from Harper’s to write in the West Indies, where he also wrote his first novel. In 1890 Harper’s sent him to Japan. Here he left journalism and took the remarkable decision to become a schoolteacher in the north of Japan. Enraptured by the culture he was driven to explain it in various Western publications to those who had little, if any, knowledge of its culture. Within the year he had fallen in love with, and married, a high-born Japanese lady, together they would have four children. In 1895 he became a Japanese national and took the name Koizumi Yakumo, Koizumi being his wife’s family name. The following few years, whilst a professor of Literature at the Imperial University of Japan, were his most creative and admired period. Lafcadio Hearn died of heart failure on the 26th of September 1904, in Tokyo, Japan shortly before leaving to deliver a series of lectures at Cornell University in New York State. He was 54.Voir livre
In an innovative, fast-paced company, a man's job comes under threat when a team of robots are brought in to replace the HR department. A husband's search for shortcuts to his domestic tasks goes painfully wrong. Overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle of Tokyo, a foreigner takes a weekend break and discovers something other than solitude in the mountains. Marking Christopher Green's debut adult fiction and inspired by his own experiences, these whimsical slice-of-life tales are full of heart and humour − perfect for fans of Convenience Store Woman and Before the Coffee Gets Cold.Voir livre
LibriVox’s Short Story Collection 032: a collection of 10 short works of fiction in the public domain read by a group of LibriVox members.Voir livre
"The East Wing" by Saki is a short story that unfolds during a house party beset by a fire in the middle of the night. The narrative centers around Mrs. Gramplain, the hostess, who faces a dire situation as flames engulf the east wing of her home, where her imaginary daughter, Eva, is believed to be trapped.Voir livre
