Аудиокниги
"Thomas Stearns Eliot OM (26 Sept 1888 – 4 Jan 1965) was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, and literary and social critic. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, to a prominent Boston Brahmin family, he moved to England in 1914 at the age of 25 and went on to settle, work and marry there. He became a British subject in 1927 at the age of 39, subsequently renouncing his American citizenship. Considere…
"A Changed Man is a collection of twelve tales written by Thomas Hardy. The collection was originally published in book form in 1913, although all of the tales had been previously published in newspapers or magazines from 1881 to 1900. There are eleven short stories and a novella The Romantic Adventures of a Milkmaid. At the end of the book there is a map of the imaginary Wessex of Hardy's novels …
"Utopia (Libellus vere aureus, nec minus salutaris quam festivus, de optimo rei publicae statu deque nova insula Utopia, «„A little, true book, both beneficial and enjoyable, about how things should be in the new island Utopia“») is a work of fiction and socio-political satire by Thomas More (1478–1535), written in Latin and published in 1516. The book is a frame narrative primarily depicting a fi…
Thomas Paine was born in Great Britain; he came to America at the age of 37 for the first time. He is rightly considered to be the Anglo-American writer, philosopher, publicist, as well as «American godfather» for supporting separatist spirits and inspiring Americans to fight for their independence (at that very moment, the break between America and England was imminent). He described his thoughts…
"The State and Revolution (1917), by Vladimir Lenin, describes the role of the State in society, the necessity of proletarian revolution, and the theoretic inadequacies of social democracy in achieving revolution to establish the dictatorship of the proletariat. Lenin began the composition of an early draft of State and Revolution while in exile in Switzerland in 1916, under the title «„Marxism on…
""«The Monkey's Paw»" is a supernatural short story by author W. W. Jacobs, first published in England in the collection The Lady of the Barge in 1902. In the story, three wishes are granted to the owner of The Monkey's Paw, but the wishes come with an enormous price for interfering with fate. It has been adapted many times in other media, including plays, films, TV series, operas, stories and com…
""«Rip Van Winkle»" is a short story by the American author Washington Irving, first published in 1819. It follows a Dutch-American villager in colonial America named Rip Van Winkle who falls asleep in the Catskill Mountains and wakes up 20 years later, having missed the American Revolution. Irving wrote it while living in Birmingham, England, as part of the collection The Sketch Book of Geoffrey …
"The Dream of a Ridiculous Man" (Russian: Сон смешного человека, Son smeshnovo cheloveka) is a short story by Fyodor Dostoyevsky written in 1877. It chronicles the experiences of a man who decides that there is nothing of any value in the world. Slipping into nihilism with the “terrible anguish” he is determined to commit suicide. A chance encounter with a young girl, however, begins the man on a …
The Christmas Tree and the Wedding" is a short story written by Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky published in 1848. The piece is narrated by an awkward outcast attending a Christmas party. He observes the party's guest of honour and takes special interest in one of the children. The narrator begins by mentioning to the reader that he had just been to a wedding but recalls a Christmas party that h…
Notes from Underground also translated as Notes from the Underground or Letters from the Underworld, is an 1864 novella by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Notes is considered by many to be one of the first existentialist novels. It presents itself as an excerpt from the rambling memoirs of a bitter, isolated, unnamed narrator (generally referred to by critics as the Underground Man), who is a retired civil ser…
For a while, the famous writer Irving Washington was an employee of the American diplomatic mission in Spain. He spent three months in the famous Alhambra Palace. This acquaintance with the historical relic inspired him to write this book. In addition to historical descriptions and essays the book contains many magnificent legends that have become loved by millions of readers. By the way, Irving's…
The Metamorphosis (German: Die Verwandlung) is a novella written by Franz Kafka which was first published in 1915. One of Kafka's best-known works. Gregor Samsa wakes up one morning to find himself transformed into a «monstrous vermin». He initially considers the transformation to be temporary and slowly ponders the consequences of this metamorphosis. Unable to get up and leave the bed, Gregor re…
Nobody loves Mary – the heroine of the famous story of Francis Burnett «The Secret Garden.» However, she does not burn with love for others, and moreover – she can not stand the whole world. And then her parents are passing away prematurely. There is an impression that nothing good can happen to her in this life. But there is a miracle: the fate itself extends the heroine of the book to the saving…
Folk art – Russian fairy tales is a wonderful collection of the most famous Russian fairy tales. The “Russian skazki” (“skazatz” means to tell) are the mass of folk-tales distributed widely throughout all the Russias. Handed down, by constant repetition, from generation to generation, a possession common to peasant's hut and Prince's palace from a time when history did not exist, they are to-day, …
"Songs of Innocence and of Experience is an collection of poems by William Blake. It appeared in two phases. A few first copies were printed and illuminated by William Blake himself in 1789; five years later he bound these poems with a set of new poems in a volume titled Songs of Innocence and of Experience Shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul. William Blake was also a painter before …