European Comedy

"Coleshanger people are pretty bad," said Uncle Edward. "They won't cross water after sunset. And they have to be in bed by midnight, otherwise they think that they'll be turned into baboons and apes. They also worship the flea." Written in 1952, Coleshanger is a humorous, whimsical, and charming recount of English village life in the early part of the last century, a tale waiting 70 years to be heard but still very much the story of us today.

Ferdinand Brun hasn't always been a grumpy old man. Many years ago, he was a grumpy young man. Now he'd much rather spend time with his canine companion, Daisy, than any of his nosy neighbors. But as his behavior becomes increasingly peculiar, his daughter grows concerned and begins to consider moving him into a retirement home.

Rosie Maldonne thought she hit it big when she stumbled upon an envelope of cash in Queen of the Trailer Park. But with a nasty flu keeping her laid out, school fees due, and Christmas on the way, she finds herself back in the red. Time to find a real job. After weeks of searching, Rosie is losing hope when the man of her dreams happens to post a new position: cleaning for an elderly person. Perfect! She lands the job, but the new role brings more than the promise of romance.

Things are finally looking up for Rosie: she's debt-free, or at least almost, her trailer is in great condition, and she even has time to take her three kids on a Christmas vacation. But she knows the smooth sailing can't last. Rosie is always there for a friend in need, and before she knows it, she has her hands full. Again. To cover for her best friend, Véro, she fills in as housekeeper for a renowned psychoanalyst.

Fifteen years ago in the colourful bustle of Vietnam, Celine and Patrick met and shared four blissful days together. It felt like true love, but soon reality tore them apart and Celine moved on. But now, when she sees him unexpectedly on a busy London street, suddenly nothing else matters. As she deals with the mixed emotions of an amicable divorce, Celine becomes preoccupied with her daughter and the dating agency she founded - not least when her ex-husband, Mike, asks her to find him someone new.

Adam Gorozpe, a respected businessman in Mexico, has a life so perfect that he might as well be his namesake in the Garden of Eden - but there are snakes in this Eden too. For one thing, Adam's wife, Priscila, has fallen in love with the brash director of national security - also named Adam. Another unlikely snake is the little Boy-God who's started preaching in the street wearing a white tunic and stick-on wings, inspiring Adam's brother-in-law to give up his job to follow this junior deity and implore Adam to do the same.

Le banquier allemand Hermann, de passage à Paris, dîne en compagnie de la haute société. Il raconte à la fin du repas une étrange histoire qu'il a entendue lors de son emprisonnement à Andernach, au moment des guerres napoléoniennes.

Dame Edith Evans, Sir John Guilgud & Anthony Quayle perform a selection of 18th century comedy.

When Gustavus Pulvertoft finds himself saddled with a horse with the power of human speech, he little imagines how quickly he will come a cropper. His courtship of the horse-loving Diana Chetwynd goes swimmingly so long as his talking horse is on good terms with Miss Chetwynd's grey mare... but when their trusty mounts fall out, a series of terrible events ensues which Pulvertoft is powerless to prevent. His determination to get revenge on the horse leads to his ultimate downfall.

La vida de Lazarillo de Tormes y de sus fortunas y adversidades, de autor anónimo, es una de las mejores obras de la picaresca española. En ella, Lázaro de Tormes nos relata su niñez y su adolescencia, los diferentes amos a los que sirvió, y lo que aprendió en su lucha por sobrevivir. Una novela llena de crítica a la sociedad de su tiempo, de penas y alegrías...y, sobre todo, de ingenio. Literaudio te ofrece las obras cumbres de la literatura española e hispanoamericana en formato audiolibro.

Yegor could not imagine his future works, but he could see distinctly how the papers would talk of him, how the shops would sell his photographs, with what envy his friends would look after him.

"The Conscript" is one of the stories from the great collection making up "The Human Comedy"; it captures the human cost of revolution in a terribly touching way. Madame de Dey is a noble, rich widow whose son, an officer in the dragoons, has chosen to follow the princes into exile. She remains behind in a precarious position to look after his fortune. She is now awaiting her son's arrival in disguise.

Ces trois nouvelles, "Mademoiselle Fifi", "L'odyssée d'une fille" et "L'armoire", mettent en scène des "filles publiques" - leurs peines, leurs joies, leurs obligations. Maupassant décrit, avec l'ironie qu'on lui connaît, une société du libre-échange dont le moteur est l'argent et où circulent les corps, les pulsions, les désirs. Au-delà du réalisme cru, ces nouvelles ont le charme particulier des histoires sombres, tendres et édifiantes.

Egon Friedell, vor 1916 Egon Friedmann, war ein echtes Universalgenie. Er war Journalist, Schriftsteller, Dramatiker, Kritiker, Schauspieler, Kabarettist - und Philosoph! Seine Werke zur Kulturgeschichte sind wunderbar zu lesende Perlen der Literatur. Friedell stürzte sich, verfolgt von den Nazis, aus dem Fenster seiner Wiener Wohnung - er mochte nicht fliehen. Eines seiner berühmtesten Bühnenwerke ist: "Goethe. Eine Groteske in zwei Bildern", in der er den Schulbetrieb aufs Korn nimmt - und Goethe mit Frankfurter Dialekt sprechen lässt.

Esta novela constituye un momento afortunado del Siglo de Oro de la literatura espanola. No solo fue uno de los mas apreciados logros en la literatura picaresca, sino tambien una de las obras fundadoras del genero novelistico. Por medio de la narracion de simples travesuras, el autor dio a su personaje Lazaro, la voz adecuada para retratar los defectos y las miserias de los grupos y clases sociales espanolas de la epoca.

This is a story from the "Great Ghost Stories" collection.