Classics World Literature

Court roman, conte philosophique et récit de voyage, "Zadig" raconte de façon drôle et emportée les aventures d'un jeune homme voué à une destinée rocambolesque. L'histoire se déroule dans un Orient fantasmé, où le héros se retrouve confronté à des situations aussi loufoques les unes que les autres.

This varied, well-chosen selection brings onto one audiobook the best of Dylan Thomas. Here is the legendary recording of "Under Milk Wood", with Richard Burton and Richard Bebb as narrators; but here also are two radio productions he wrote before that great classic, and though interesting in their own right, they show how "Under Milk Wood" grew gradually in his imagination.

Le XIXe siècle en France est un âge d'or littéraire, marqué par des courants très affirmés comme le romantisme, le réalisme, le naturalisme ou le symbolisme, et une évolution moderne de la poésie et du roman qui donna naissance à des chefs-d’œuvre en nombre inégalé. Cette collection de citations présente la pensée de sept figures incontournables du XIXe siècle sous forme concise et accessible.

Madame de Clèves, jeune beauté parfaite en tout point, fait des débuts remarqués à la cour de la reine dauphine, belle-fille d'Henri II. Pour ce modèle de vertu, l'image de Diane de Poitiers plane tout au long du roman comme le contre-exemple absolu.

Frémeaux et Associés met à la disposition du public pour la première fois l'enregistrement inédit du deuxième ouvrage de "Souvenirs de mon enfance" : "Le Château de ma Mère". Le succès dans le monde francophone de l'édition de "La Gloire de mon Père" rappelle l'importance de cet héritage, désormais incarné par son auteur.

The night after a shooting star is seen streaking through the sky from Mars, a cylinder is discovered on Horsell Common in London. At first, naïve locals approach the cylinder armed just with a white flag - only to be quickly killed by an all-destroying heat ray, as terrifying tentacled invaders emerge. Soon the whole of human civilisation is under threat, as powerful Martians build gigantic killing machines, destroy all in their path with black gas and burning rays, and feast on the warm blood of trapped, still-living human prey.

Man has always wanted to travel into the unknown and encounter what he has not, and perhaps cannot, experience in the real world. The early 20th century witnessed an explosion of science fiction literature. Authors studied the wonders of scientific and technological progress and imagined worlds that had developed even greater advances. Jules Vernes' and H.G. Wells' fantastic tales well whetted the public's appetite for adventure tales.

Lady Isabel Carlyle leaves her husband and children for the aristocratic Francis Levison, who, as it turns out, has no intention of marrying her. Having been disfigured in a train accident, the unrecognizable Isabel then takes up the position of governess to her own children in the Carlyle household, with tragic consequences.

The story girl of the title is the 14-year-old Sara Stanley who weaves spellbinding tales that enchant her audience that comes from near and far. These 32 stories range from the humorous and satirical to exotic romances, Scottish folk tales, retellings of Greek myths and poems by Tennyson, to ghost stories. They include the scary "Tale of the Family Ghost", and the bittersweet "The Blue Chest of Rachel Ward".

During the first three decades of the 20th century, eugenics, the scientific control of human breeding, was a popular cause within enlightened and progressive segments of the English-speaking world. This prophetic volume counters the intellectual nihilism of Nietzsche, while simultaneously rebuking Western notions of progress - biological or otherwise. Chesterton expands his criticism of eugenics into what he calls "a more general criticism of the modern craze for scientific officialism and strict social organization."

Joshua Slocum was believed to be the first man to sail single-handed around the world. After a distinguished career, where he worked his way up from cabin boy to captain, Joshua Slocum wrecked his ship off the coast of Brazil. Turning this catastrophe to his advantage, he built a sailing canoe from the wreckage and sailed back to New York. Moreover, he wrote Voyage of the Liberdad, a chronicle of his trip, and earned some literary success.

Italo Calvino was not only a prolific master of fiction, he was also an uncanny reader of literature, a keen critic of astonishing range. Why Read the Classics? is the most comprehensive collection of Calvino's literary criticism available in English, accounting for the enduring importance to our lives of crucial writers of the Western canon. Here - spanning more than two millennia, from antiquity to postmodernism - are 36 immediately relevant, accessible ruminations on the writers, poets, and scientists who meant most to Calvino at different stages of his life.

Young, impressionable Aubrey is fascinated by the enigmatic Lord Ruthven, and accompanies him on a tour to Europe. But Aubrey develops a growing distaste for Lord Ruthven’s sinister and grotesque conduct - especially as it concerns human blood. This novella, penned during that tempestuous night in Switzerland amongst such notables as Percy Shelley, Lord Byron, and Mary Shelley, served as the great inspiration for Bram Stoker to create Dracula.

David Hume (1711-1776) was the most important philosopher ever to write in English as well as a master stylist. This volume contains his major philosophical works. A Treatise of Human Nature (1739–1740), published while Hume was still in his twenties, consists of three books on the understanding, the passions, and morals.

Ces deux nouvelles furent écrites en 1896 et 1898, juste avant et pendant la relation amoureuse de Lou Andreas-Salomé avec Rilke. Un même thème les parcourt : le choix pour une femme de la liberté, sans réserve, au mépris du danger - liberté d'aimer ou de ne pas aimer, hors conventions, liberté de créer - et la traversée des chemins qui y mènent. Traversée de ce qui tue la passion et représente une tentation masochiste pour les femmes : le mariage. Antérieures à ses textes psychanalytiques maintenant bien connus, ces deux nouvelles sont les premiers textes romanesques de Lou Andreas-Salomé jamais publiés en France.

This heartwarming fictionalized autobiography tells the story of what it is like for a little girl to be growing up in an unfamiliar place. While other girls her age were enjoying childhood in America, Jean Fritz was in China in the midst of political unrest. During this time, foreigners were becoming more and more unpopular, and evacuation at a moment’s notice was imminent. Although Jean appreciated the beauty of China - the mountains, the countryside, the sea - she knew she belonged in America and longed to make her home there.

Sur le point d'épouser la plus belle fille de Babylone, jouissant de tous les privilèges de la jeunesse et de la fortune, vertueux de surcroît, Zadig se demande s'il est possible de vivre heureux ici-bas. Sa fiancée ne tarde pas à la trahir, des fanatiques le traînent en justice, on le menace du bûcher, on le vend comme esclave en Egypte et c'est par miracle qu'il retrouve sa patrie et triomphe de la laideur et de la bassesse du monde.

February, 1942: Singapore lies burning and shattered, defenceless before the conquering hordes of the Japanese Army. The last boat escapes out of the harbour into the South China Sea, and on board are a desperate group of strangers, each with a secret to guard, each willing to kill to keep that secret safe. Dawn sees them far out to sea but with the first murderous dive bombers already aimed at their ship. Thus begins a nightmare succession of disasters wrought by the hell-bent Japanese, the unrelenting tropical sun and, ultimately, by the survivors themselves, as they head south by Java Head.

Seth Kinnaman's dream has always been to become the best fighter the world has ever seen. After spending his entire life training, he's finally ready to test his skills in the biggest tournament on Earth, where hundreds of the fiercest competitors vie for the supreme title. In the semifinals, Seth is getting the upper hand when his opponent uses an illegal blow to take him out. Upon waking up from a coma, Seth finds out he's lost his sight. He's become blind, and he's completely devastated. All his dreams are now shattered, and he soon falls into depression.

Some folk stories endure generation after generation because, although they are not literal, they resound in truths on a human scale. Folktales remind us of wisdom so elemental it is often lost in the rush of everyday life, so that "sometimes common sense makes no sense at all." The six wonder tales on this audiobook are gems of the genre. They have a "long ago and far away" quality.