Most of the stories in this collection attempt to present one or another of those problems of life or nature to which, as it appears to many of us, there is no adequate solution within sight. Others are the almost literal transcript of dreams which seemed to me to have a coherency, completeness, and symbolic significance sufficiently marked to justify me in setting them down. The rest are scenes from that simple life of Canadian backwoods and tide-country with which my earlier years made me familiar. - Summary by CHARLES G D ROBERTS
15 episodes
Here are six stories, each one describing a disaster afflicting London, that were popularly serialized during 1903-1904 in Pearson’s Magazine. The tales depict (1) a deep freeze and unprecedented snowfall; (2) a heavy, blinding, paralyzing blanket of fog; (3) a widespread killer virus; (4) a fraudulent scheme causing financial panic; (5) a minor electrical accident in a tunnel that spirals into catastrophe; and (6) most of the city’s water supply, reportedly contaminated with deadly bubonic bacillus, puts the population in great fear of plague. Is the word “doom” in the book's title accurate, or is it just hyperbole? (Lee Smalley)
6 episodes
Edward Sylvester Ellis was a major American author during the era of inexpensive fiction of the nineteenth century (dime novels). Because he wrote under dozens of pseudonyms, as well as under his own name, it is virtually impossible to know exactly how many books he wrote, but it is believed to be in the hundreds. He specialized in boys' stories, inspirational biography, and history for both children and adults. (From FictionDB.com)
This is a western, set in the Pecos River valley in the late 19th century, post Civil War era. This is the sequel to "In the Pecos Country", and the second half of the same story, begun in that book.
27 episodes
Child of Storm is a 1913 novel by H. Rider Haggard featuring Allan Quatermain. The plot is set in 1854-56 and concerns Quatermain hunting in Zululand and getting involved with Mameema, a beautiful African girl who causes great turmoil in the Zulu kingdom.
The novel is the second in a trilogy by Haggard involving the collapse of the Zulu kingdom and featuring the dwarf Zikali. The first book is Marie, and the third, Finished.
The story takes place against the real life struggle between Cetshwayo and Umbelazi, the two sons of the Zulu king Mpande (called "Panda" in the novel). The events culminate in the Battle of Ndondakusuka (here called the "Battle of the Tugela") in 1856. Real life people such as Panda, Cetshwayo, and John Robert Dunn appear as characters. - Summary by wikipedia
17 episodes
Mark Twain wrote this fairytale style story about 3 boys who meet Satan's cousin and they experience many things during this time. The story is narrated by one of the boys many years later. Mark Twain ends the story expressing the idea that will blow you away. Ideas that can be traced back thousands of years in many religions. What is existence really ... to quote that well known song by Eliphalet Oram Lyte ... Row, row, row your boat Gently down the stream, Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, Life is but a dream .... so dream on. - Summary by Patrick79
11 episodes
Khaled is a powerful jinn, or genius, but he has a good heart. When he sees that Zehowah, the beautiful, virtuous daughter of the king is about to accept a foreign prince as husband, who lied about converting to Islam, he takes the law into his own hands and kills the prince. When the pair is confronted by an Angel, Khaled begs to be made into a mortal man. His wish is granted, under one condition: Khaled must win the love of Zehowah... - Summary by Carolin
12 episodes
Written to complement Tales of Mean Streets and A Child of the Jago, and the final book in the trilogy, To London Town examines the mean streets and tough lives of the inhabitants of the East End of London. The novel described in graphic detail living conditions in the East End, including the permeation of violence into everyday life.
36 episodes
While visiting their friend, Florence, at her home in Mexico, Jo Ann and Peggy noticed a barred window which has no opening into any of the rooms of an ancient adobe house. Curious to find out what it is, the girls tried to investigate but no one seems eager to help them. Undaunted, the girls made plans to get there only to encounter dangers and find a thrilling discovery. - Summary by Mary Escano
17 episodes
Tarzan's amazing ability to establish kinship with some of the most dangerous animals in the jungle serves him well in this exciting story of his adventures with the Golden Lion, Jad-bal-ja, when the great and lordly animal becomes his ally and protector.
Tarzan learns from the High Priestess, La, of a country north of Opar which is held in dread by the Oparians. It is peopled by a strange race of gorilla-men with the intelligence of humans and the strength of gorillas. From time to time they attack Opar, carrying off prisoners for use as slaves in the jewel-studded Temple where they worship a great black-maned lion.
Accompanied by the faithful Jad-bal-ja, Tarzan invades the dread country in an attempt to win freedom for the hundreds of people held in slavery there... - Summary by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Proof-listeners: softstepgd and Mark Nelson
21 episodes
Arthur West has been taken as a prisoner of war by Colonel Hetherhill of the Confederate States of America, and imprisoned at Fort Defiance, where an oddly small number of soldiers are stationed. More odd than the size of the fort's company, however, is the fact that the Civil War ended thirty years prior to West's capture. This is the story of West's attempts to regain his freedom. - Summary by David Gore
9 episodes
During an expedition in the Canary Islands, an archeologist discovers a cave containing tablets with unknown writing. When translated, they tell the tale of decline and fall of Atlantis, which for centuries had been the center of the world. The tablets’ author, Deucalion, chronicles the usurpation of Atlantis’ throne by force, the oppressive rule of Empress Phorenice, the inevitable rebellion and ultimate destruction of Atlantis, the Lost Continent. (summary by sjmarky)
21 episodes
El corsario es, ante todo, un poema autobiográfico que narra las aventuras de un tal Conrado, un corsario rechazado por la sociedad -no así por las mujeres- debido a su comportamiento escandaloso. Byron fue uno de los poetas que gozó en vida de más popularidad. Su existencia se enlazó con la historia política europea de un cuarto de siglo, y llegó a eclipsar en su patria y en su época la gloria de otros poetas. Byron fue un genial poeta romántico, que con sus obras y aun con su misma vida legendaria y anómala, era el prototipo del poeta romántico, hasta el extremo de asumir en él toda la escuela romántica que se designó con el nombre de byronismo. - Summary by Phileas Fogg
9 episodes
The Exciting adventures of a beautiful Texan debutante. She was raised in New York City high society and attended the best schools. When her mother died she felt the urge to go out west to join her father, whom she never knew, on their massive ranch. What followed were river boat journeys, steamboat gamblers, desperadoes, con artists, Mexican military and Indian attacks. She rode out west under the protection of the Texan Rangers and US military only to discover the ultimate deception when she reached the ranch! (Summary by johnb)
20 episodes
Wilbur Hawkes wakes with no memory of the last seven months. He knows he's in danger, but he doesn’t know why. No sooner does he leave his apartment than it explodes in flames, and, to escape, he must run through New York, not knowing where to run, or who he is running from.
With heat rays, disintegrating men, and exploding cats, how can this not involve aliens? What other explanation can there be?
- Summary by Dale Grothman
8 episodes
Staying at the red inn. Two army surgeons get caught up in a murder, intrigue and execution. - Summary by pmstrahm
3 episodes
Africa: The land of savagery and splendor. Where a marriage between an adventurer and a missionary's daughter is cut short by invading locals. A wife, forced to flee with her newborn daughter to the only family left. Young Virginia grows up until her grandfather's untimely death. An outcast nephew appears to contest the estate of the dead relative which forces an adventure into the heart of Central Africa in the hopes to find evidence of the marriage in the ruins of the mission. The nephew chasing after, to murder all who attempt to defy his inheritance. (Summary by Joe DeNoia)
11 episodes
Seine Bekanntheit verdankt Naturwissenschaftler David Friedrich Weinland seinem Jugendroman 'Rulaman', der das Leben in der 'Steinzeit' und die damit verbundenen Gefahren durch Flora und Fauna beschreibt. Weinland verwendet dabei Namen und Bezeichnungen, die er anderen Sprachen entlehnte. So heißt der Stamm Rulamans Aimats. Dieser Ausdruck ist wie viele andere dem lappländischen entnommen da Weinland davon ausging die Lappen hätten die Urbevölkerung Europas gestellt und seien später durch das Eindringen der Kelten und weiteren Völkern an den Rand gedrängt worden.
Das Hörbuch entspricht der sechsten Auflage der Printausgabe von 1906 ohne Vorwörter und ohne Anhang mit den Begriffserklärungen. Meist werden die Bedeutungen aus dem Text selbst deutlich. Bei Interesse kann hier kostenlos und frei zugänglich das Buch in einer moderneren überarbeiteten Fassung nachgelesen werden und im Anhang die Begriffserklärungen eingesehen werden:
bitte hier klicken.
- Summary by Bernd Ungerer
32 episodes
The Queen's Necklace is historical fiction based on an actual scandal in the court of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI during 1784-85, "The Diamond Necklace Affair". The Diamond Necklace Affair contributed to the discrediting of the Marie Antoinette and the monarchy of Louis XVI prior to the French Revolution. The backdrop is the rebellious state of the French people due in part to adverse weather and crop failures affecting the food supply and price of bread during the 1780s, contrasted to the extravagance of the French monarchy. The Queen's Necklace is the 3rd novel in the Marie Antoinette series by Alexandre Dumas. (summary by Gail Timmerman-Vaughan)
94 episodes
Newport, of course, means aristocratic families and naval adventures. In this tale, we wonder if the heiress will actually marry the Russian prince, who is of questionable character, or the chauffeur, who would certainly be beneath her station, but maybe there's more to the stories of each of our wooers.
26 episodes
The Book of All Power by Edgar Wallace is set in London at the beginning, and then the action moves to Russia. The story covers the period from 1910 to 1919 during which the Russian Revolution takes place and this results in drastic changes to Russian society. This book could be described as a romantic adventure story and the main characters are a weird assortment - Malcolm Hay, a young Englishman, a beautiful Grand Duchess of the Russian Aristocracy, a Russian general, a Jewish bookbinder, and an American sharp shooter. Much happens, and the Russian characters, heavily influenced by their religion and politics, provide a fascinating insight into the mind of the Russian people, aristocrats and peasants, and all those in between. - Summary by Peter Thomlinson
20 episodes
Curlie Carson and Joe Marion are chasing a radio outlaw across the frozen Alaska territory. It should be a simple dogsled trip, especially with hints from the mysterious “whisperer.” But wolves, blizzards, reindeer rustlers, and more say otherwise. Can the boys safely cross treacherous sea ice, capture the outlaw, and rescue a stranded arctic expedition? Maybe. Maybe not. Listen and find out. - Summary by Tom Penn
27 episodes
La novel·la narra l'enfrontament entre dos joves a l'Alta Garrotxa catalana de mitjans del segle XIX. El conflicte arrossega tota la comarca en un enfrontament civil dins la complicada i abrupta geografia pirinenca. L'Ibo, un personatge maliciós i violent, s'uneix a una partida de bandits itinerants, trabucaires romanents de les guerres carlines. L'Ibo acaba liderant el grup i segresta la Coralí, promesa de l'Albert, que és un modest hereu rural de caràcter més aviat moix i que era antic amic de malifetes de joventut. L'Albert i els seu companys s'alien amb el cap dels mossos d'esquadra per endegar una guerrilla sagnant en persecució del bandoler. A mesura que el conflicte s'allarga per la dificultat del terreny, que permet als trabucaires d'amagar-se o maniobrar per múltiples valls, cingles, boscos i masos remots, l'Albert ens explica el procés que el porta de l'abatiment a la desesperació i a la demència, incapaç de trobar un agafall entre una societat que és tan feréstega i ferotge com el paisatge i els animals que l'envolten. La història l'explica el mateix Albert en primera persona, en forma d'unes memòries que hauria compartit amb l'autor de la novel·la poc abans de morir.
The novel narrates the confrontation between two young men in the Catalan Alta Garrotxa region during the mid-nineteenth century. The conflict drags the whole region into civil strife on the abrupt and bewildering Pyrenean geography. Ibo, a malicious and violent character, joins a pack of marauding bandits, trabucaires from the Carlist wars. Ibo ends up leading the group and kidnaps Coralí, the fiancée of Albert, a modest rural heir of a rather meek character who also was an old accomplice of misdeeds in their youth. Albert and his teammates ally themselves with the local police squadron to start a bloody guerrilla war in the pursuit of the bandits. As the conflict drags on due to the difficulty of the terrain, which allows trabucaires to hide themselves or maneuver through multiple valleys, cliffs, forests and remote farms, Albert tells us his own debasement from despondency to despair and into dementia, as he is unable to find a foothold amidst a society that is as wild and ferocious as the landscape and the animals that surround him. The story is narrated by Albert himself in the first person, in the form of memoirs that he would have shared with the author of the novel shortly before his own death. - Summary by Joan Pujolar
27 episodes
Mary Louise Gay decided to spend the summer holiday in her family's cottage at Shady Nook. But an unknown arsonist has been setting the cottages on fire and it's up to Mary Lou, her best friend Jane, and their loyal pup Silky, to find out who the culprit is and save the houses and their summer holiday. - Summary by Mary Escano
19 episodes
This thrilling novel teems with intrigue and unforgettable characters. It opens during WWI with a few allied soldiers lost at night behind German lines. One of them shoots at another in the darkness. Members of a criminal gang before the war, the men resume their unlawful activities when peacetime returns. The gang’s leader receives a letter that results in his leaving London for a small island off the Florida Keys. He is “as clever a scoundrel and as miserable, inhuman and unscrupulous a one as ever blasphemed the image in which God made him… He is without conscience, ruthless, a fiend who would do honour to hell itself."
Frank L. Packard authored many popular novels, several of which were made into movies, including a series in which he originated the idea of a heroic crime fighter with a secret double identity. --Lee Smalley
19 episodes
"Mother Earth was an American anarchist journal that described itself as "A Monthly Magazine Devoted to Social Science and Literature". Founded in early 1906 and initially edited by Emma Goldman, an activist in the United States, it published articles by contemporary activists and writers in Europe as well as the US, in addition to essays by historic figures." (Wikipedia) This is Volume 1 of the series. This is the third number of the magazine.
16 episodes
This is final volume of the Mabinogion. As with the other volumes, these Arthurian tales are translated from Welsh manuscripts and largely represent an earlier and more pagan period.
7 episodes
Sabotage accidentally takes Earth's first manned interplanetary expedition to the Moon, where a sublunar adventure ensues, involving two intelligent species and a good deal of fighting as well as romance. The perceptive reader will perceive the author's peculiar notions concerning the behavior of volcanos, an offense against scientific fact that is hard to pardon in a writer of science fiction, but if it can be overlooked, the variety of incident and the fast pace of the action, full of surprises, amply repay the reader's generous indulgence. (Summary by Thomas A. Copeland)
15 episodes
The work, which was admired by Herman Melville and Joseph Conrad for its authentic portrayal of a seafaring life and takes place during the American Revolution, launched a whole genre of maritime fiction. It features a mysterious and almost superhuman American sea pilot (based on the American hero John Paul Jones) who fights battles off the coast of England against the British and American loyalists. One of the book’s themes is the ambiguous nature of loyalty. Although often bogged down by complicated nautical terminology and intrusive philosophical dialogue, the novel is nevertheless noted for its spiritual and moral dimensions. - Summary by The Encyclopedia Britannica
36 episodes
The charming story of “Gudrun” is a romance of the old heroic period, written by some unknown poet of Austria or Bavaria in the thirteenth century. Next to the "Nibelungen Lied," it is the most important of the German epic poems...The same elemental passions are depicted. The men are brave, vigorous heroes, rejoicing in battle and feats of prowess; the women are beautiful, constant, and courageous. There are many fine delineations of character in the original, as well as vigorous sketches of northern scenery. The figure of Gudrun stands out in bold relief among the maidens. There are few more beautiful characters, indeed, in the poems of the old heroic period...Gudrun’s name is always spoken by her people with reverence. "Her courage and constancy were extolled by them, and in after days her fame was as radiant as the stars in the heavens." (George P. Upton, Translator's Preface)
24 episodes
Nach dem großen Erfolg von ‚Rulaman‘ schrieb David Friedrich Weinland ein weiteres Buch. Diesmal spielt die Geschichte in der Zeit der Römer und Germanen und erzählt von Kuning Hartfest und seinem Leben. Diesmal dient als Vorlage für das Hörbuch die 3. Auflage des Spamer Verlages Leipzig von 1905. Im Hörbuch nicht enthalten sind die Vorwörter und die Anmerkungen zu den einzelnen Kapiteln mit Worterklärungen und geschichtlichen Hintergründen zu den einzelnen Personen insbesondere Hartfest selbst, der bei Tacitus mit dem Namen Ariovist geführt wird. Die Anmerkungen sind in dem eingescannten Text bei archive.org einsehbar für die, die es interessiert. - Summary by Bernd Ungerer
31 episodes
Fred Jane, who later went on to publish his famous "Jane's Fighting Ships", doubtless was noting the success of other books that forecast a British defeat in the event of war in the late 19th century when he wrote this fictional account of "The Man Who Saved England." Jane tells of a possible war against both France and Russia with plenty of verve and derring-do amid naval battles, both small and large. - Summary by Mark
17 episodes
“No good deed goes Unpunished”, as the saying goes.
A wealthy Egyptian leaves millions of buried treasure on an island and sends the location to the Captain that saved him while fleeing certain death from Napoleon Bonaparte. However the Egyptian does not leave the entire location: only the Latitude. The Longitude will be made known to him in time.
Decades pass before a shifty notary from Alexandria arrives with the necessary Longitude, and now the lust for greed has passed from Captain to Son.
Thus begins the tale of this treasure hunt, taking use from St. Malo, France to the shores of Arabian Coast and beyond. Follow this tale of strangers in strange lands, greedy third parties attempting to get the treasure for themselves, and the patience of the travels being wracked and tested from all ends on the traveling party.
Summary by Joseph DeNoia
32 episodes
A rollicking juvenile adventure tale, this historical fiction book received the Newbery Honor award in 1922. Set in England during the early 1200s, the scion of a Western Marches noble family relates the many encounters and battles that he faces with the Saxon yeoman who becomes his fast friend. This yeoman, great of cross-bow skill and strategy, often saves the day, and after earning knighthood, becomes instrumental in the making of the Magna Carta. - Summary by Lynette Caulkins
15 episodes
Esther Cripps, the younger sister of the Carrier, Zacchary Cripps, witnesses the disposal of what appears to be the body of the only daughter, Grace, of Squire Oglander of Oxford. Grace's suitor, Russell Overshute, is not convinced with the Coroner's inquiry, and enlists the Carrier to help him investigate the situation. - Summary by Keith Salis
56 episodes
This Verne adventure is indeed a mystery and also a satire on the Crusoe genre. Our characters are larger than life, as well they should be - Verne expects Americans to perform epics. Young Godfrey goes to sea for adventure before settling down with his bride to be. His incredibly wealthy uncle sets him aboard one of his steamers which founders some days out, leaving Godfrey and his companion, a dance and comportment instructor, near the shore of a uninhabited island. They set up residence, benefiting from livestock, some supplies and tools which apparently also wash ashore. Later, a canoe full of savages land in order to cook up a prisoner. Godfrey helps the latter escape, and the grateful native becomes a "Friday". While the island initially seems free from any predators, it is not long before Friday saves Godfrey from a bear, a tiger and a poisonous snake. But when swarms of lions, tigers, hyenas and crocodiles attack it is more than they can handle. Where do all the beasts come from? What is the cause of the occasional plume of smoke Godfrey notes on the island? Those are some of the mysteries about which the reader will be enlightened. (A. Banner )
22 episodes
Young naive sailor Billy Budd is impressed into military service with the British navy in the 1790s, framed for conspiracy to mutiny, summarily convicted in a drum-head court martial, and hanged. Billy Budd is the final published work by Herman Melville, discovered in his personal papers three decades after his death. (Summary by ScientificMethodist)
10 episodes
Britt Hunter is a small fish in a big pond. His little ranch, the Quirt, has a few hundred head of cattle; the neighboring ranch, the Sawtooth, has tens of thousands. Britt and the other small timers manage to scrape by, but only at the sufferance of the Sawtooth. And the Sawtooth is always interested in expanding. When Britt’s city-bred daughter comes for a visit and witnesses a murder, she inadvertently puts the Quirt and the Sawtooth on a collision course. ( Tom Penn)
24 episodes
A romance, a shipwreck and a hunt for buried Portuguese treasure in the Transvaal. All the ingredients of an imperial adventure that made Haggard one of the best-selling authors of the early years of the twentieth century. Also published as Benita: An African Romance, The Spirit of Bambatse has been reprinted several times, notably as the 22nd volume of the celebrated Newcastle Forgotten Fantasy series in 1979. - Summary by Phil Benson
25 episodes
In Spanish California, a troubling pattern had developed. The natives were reduced to peasants, the Franciscan friars that ministered to them were derided, and the only people who mattered were the caballeros – who styled themselves as knights of the New World. These men strutted about in elegant clothes, riding magnificent horses, and sporting rapiers at their sides that they were quick to draw if they felt their honor was affronted.
Into this world burst Zorro (Spanish for “fox”). A later-day Robin Hood, he stole from the rich and gave to the poor, but he also took it upon himself to punish men who had notably abused others. Cloaked and masked, appearing suddenly from the dark, he always stayed ahead of the manhunt launched at his heels.
The authorities called him a highwayman.
And when the doings of a corrupt governor began to affect the good people around the pueblo of early Los Angeles, Zorro responded – vigorously. Summary by Mark Smith
39 episodes
Guy Fenwick is a bright boy of 16 who lives with his clergyman father near New Bedford, Massachusetts. Guy receives permission from his father to examine the contents of an old chest in the attic where Guy discovers clues to the location of a pirate treasure buried on a remote island in the Indian Ocean. Guy would dearly love to find the treasure to help financially support his father. Luckily, Guy’s father has a friend who is a sea captain and happens to be heading to Bombay. Guy travels to Bombay as a passenger and, while in Bombay, a life-changing event occurs. Will Guy’s honesty, righteousness and business acumen help him to foil bullies and win the respect of those who could aid him in his quest? Will some of these men turn on him? Join Guy on his journey in search of treasure. (Warren Kati)
38 episodes
"A gripping, thrilling, uncanny tale about the frightful fate that befell a yachting party on the dreadful island of living dead men." - Summary from Weird Tales, Volume 28, Issue 3, October 1936
5 episodes
The Three Hostages is the fourth of five Richard Hannay novels. The Richard Hannay novels are action/mystery/spy novels with a James bond feel. This book starts out with Richard Hannay married to Mary Lamington living in Fosse Manor. He is asked to work undercover and figure out who kidnapped three children of prominent people, while Scotland Yard investigate the abductions officially. Different friends help him solve the mystery. It's suspenseful and a fun action packed mystery!
- Summary by Kimberly Shoemaker
23 episodes
A genuine cowboy who speaks a bit of Greek? Ditto a bit of The Litany? And more than a little verse, including (would you believe?) Alice In Wonderland. What kind of young man do we have here? And a young woman who matches him without effort? And a definitely literate narrator with his tongue firmly inserted in cheek. There’s a bank robbery and an attempted murder. A desperate ride across the desert and a warm welcome by good Mexican friends. It’s all a great deal of fun. Eugene Manlove Rhodes (1869 – 1934) was an American writer, nicknamed the "cowboy chronicler". He lived in south central New Mexico when the first cattle ranching and cowboys arrived in the area; when he moved to New York with his wife in 1899, he wrote stories of the American West that set the image of cowboy life in that era. Originally Published under the title of Bransford In Arcadia Or The Little Eohippus (1913). Note: eohippus, which plays a part all through the story, is the small prehistoric five-toed ancestor of the modern-day horse. - Summary by david wales
19 episodes
Smoke Bellew, or really Jack London, leaves his less than satisfying writing job in San Francisco for the opportunity to search for gold in the Klondike region while writing about his adventures there. Smoke Bellew is the collection of the resulting twelve essay / stories.
19 episodes
"Kangaroo" is the nickname of a character in this novel, Benjamin Cooley, who was a charismatic leader in the fascist movement of ex-soldiers who fought in the Australian army in WWII.
The story's main character is an international journalist, Richard Lovat Somers who, with his wife, comes to rent a house next door to Jack Calcott and his wife who are natural-born Australians through-and-through. Jack is in league with Kangaroo and tries to persuade Lovat to join their political movement conflicting with the Socialist political faction in the country.
Throughout this book, there is an undercurrent of vaguely defined "Generalized Love" which borders closely on homosexuality between the otherwise testosterone-saturated Australian men.
Action-wise: There are riots and gunfights; but there are also moments of great tenderness of the men for their wives. Both Jack and Lovat dearly want to become "leaders of men", but Lovat backs away when he is recruited to join in an espionage campaign against the Socialists. Another undercurrent which muddies the waters for Lovat is that he is a true British citizen and thus resented by the Australians. (Summary by williamjones)
38 episodes
Lord Greystoke, Tarzan of the Apes, is embroiled in thrilling adventures among the tiny, warlike Minunians. (Summary by Matthew Reece)
22 episodes
This is the thrilling tale as told by Allan Quatermain of events in his life, or should we say his lives? By the use of a mystical herb, he is transported to a time when he was an Egyptian hunter and warrior fighting to free Egypt from the bonds of the Easterns and to win the heart of the lovely Amada. We learn with him the importance of honor and truthfulness in all our dealings. We also see the necessity of bravery in dealing with enemy forces as well as our love interests. - Summary by Keith Salis
17 episodes
As the title suggests, this work does flirt with the supernatural. Yet it is essentially a political novel—a utopian experiment in a fictitious Balkan country, the Land of the Blue Mountains. The story spans the years from 1892 to 1909. It includes a beautiful love story and an adventure tale—a double rescue requiring strength, cunning, and cutting-edge technology. These various aspects are unified by the character of the hero, a purely admirable individual whom we love and admire from the very first and who acquires immense power. How he uses this power is, of course, the test of his worth. Writers of fiction find it much easier to create evil or despicable characters than admirable ones, and Stoker does include one splendid portrait of an individual we love to despise, but the good characters predominate, each one unique and cherished in a different way by the reader.
The pace of the narrative varies greatly from section to section because the author includes business meetings and legal documents in their entirety, his obsessive attention to minutiae slowing down the action for long stretches. Moreover, the mystery surrounding the shroud is drawn out almost to the point of tedium. However, when there is action, it rushes forward. The great diversity of character also enlivens the text, especially since the epistolary form allows us to hear each voice.
For a political interpretation, see Matthew Gibson's Dracula and the Eastern Question (Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2006).
15 episodes
Buck, a magnificent mix of St. Bernard and Scotch shepherd dog, rules contentedly at Judge Miller’s place in California’s Santa Clara Valley. But 1897 brings the Klondike Gold Rush, and Buck is the perfect kind of dog to service sleds—so he is stolen and spirited away to the Northland. There he learns a hard life at the hands of tough men and competing sled dogs, which sharpen his instincts and survival skills. Thousands of miles of grueling sled travel and toil nearly wear Buck out, until chance in the form of John Thornton saves him. This “ideal master” proves the only man worthy of Buck’s unconditional love. Despite his newfound companionship, however, the growing lure of Buck’s primitive ancestral heritage, the “song of a younger world” awakened by the wild harsh beauty of his environment, vies for that love. Only chance once again resolves the tension between love and nature… and allows Buck to fulfill his glorious, bittersweet destiny.
A personal note from the reader: I think that my characterization of this book follows the way I found myself reading it. For best listening experience, use headphones. (Not earbuds, unless they are of high quality!) - Summary by Jeff Clark
7 episodes
