Short Classics

Chinese literature offers the most satisfying glimpse into the mysterious and beautiful civilization of China of any of the means at our disposal. But we discover in its pages the same human conditions which color our own cultures today. Love, revenge, betrayal, honor...they all bring our humanity into sharper focus, cutting through the confusion of nationality and time to draw us closer together with a celebration of our own similarities.

Young Zaya was very sad and lonely when her mother died, but she eventually found solace in the company of birds, who proved to be her only friends. When Zaya sees the form of the Giant-Plague, she immediately tries to warn her the people in her city about what is coming, but almost everyone disregards her as crazy. The only who doesn't is a kind old man, Knoal, who believes Zaya and joins her cause of trying to warn about the Giant. Zaya's birds help protect her and Knoal from the Giant, but they can't stay safe forever.

On an early October morning, Psyekoff, the right hand-man to Lieutenant Marcus Ivanovitch Klausoff, informs the inspector of police that he suspects Klausoff has been murdered. Immediately, the inspector and his team head to Klausoff’s home to investigate the matter. After examining the outside of the house, the inspector sends word to the magistrate, asking him to come investigate the case. When the magistrate and his assistant arrive, they check Klausoff’s room, only to find that he is not in there.

The diary is that most intimate of journals, of records. Within its pages the writer records and gives expression to their thoughts, their feelings, their emotional state on all the things that make up and surround them in this world. With authors of the calibre of Bulgakov, Woolf, Tolstoy, Twain and many others this volume explores characters whose lives seem dominated by these diaries, and the events that unfold are both compelling and literary journeys into the very personal and intimate side of their characters’ lives.

Groundbreaking for the time in which they were written, the vampire stories of the 1800s have inspired many modern writers. Enjoy the thrilling stories that originated the genre of vampire fiction.

Rainer Maria Rilke war nicht nur meisterhafter Poet, der in seinen Gedichten ganze Welten erschuf – er konnte auch mit dem größeren Pinsel malen. Seine Erzählungen lassen – trotz ihrer Kompaktheit – den Hörer eintauchen in eine neue Welt. Und nach dem Hören ist man noch lange in Nachdenken versunken.

Five tales which range from the jungles of India to the frozen emptiness of the North... In all of them, Kipling's extraordinary powers of description and ability to identify with human aspiration and animal survival are vividly shown. Rikki-Tikki-Tavi must battle with Nag, the cobra, in his territory; Toomai has a unique glimpse of the elephant world, Kotick, the White Seal, searches for sanctuary, while Kotuko has to find food for his starving Eskimo village. Above all, Kipling's love of life in all its variety shines through.

Witches and pixies abound in this magical selection of 30 short stories, perfect for seasonal listening and sharing. Each story stands alone and is the perfect length for listening to at bedtime or in the classroom. Enid Blyton remains one of Britain's favourite children's authors, and her bumper short-story collections are perfect for introducing her to the latest generation of listeners.

All human foibles can be found in these classic short stories. Great stories, simply told with fresh voices. Shortalk - moving words off the page.

"Пиковая дама" - повесть Александра Сергеевича Пушкина, жанр русская классика. Сюжет повести обыгрывает излюбленную Пушкиным тему непредсказуемой судьбы, фортуны, рока.

“The Thing Invisible” is a story featuring Thomas Carnacki, a detective who investigates cases of an occult or supernatural nature. It is one of five tales of Carnacki's ghost hunting exploits that first appeared serially in The Idler magazine in 1910 and were published together with one more as a collection Carnacki the Ghost-Finder in 1913. After a good dinner, Mr. Carnacki relates his experiences of ghost-finding to his limited circle of four friends whom he has summoned to his home in Chelsea.

Tolstoy brings to these brief tales the same psychological depth and spiritual insight found in his larger works. In fact, his short stories are an excellent place to begin reading this great author. In them, you will find the same challenging themes of morality, forgiveness, redemption and more.

Willa Cather was perhaps most famous for her great novels such as My Antonia and Death Comes to the Archbishop. However, her short stories were enchanting and practical, local and cosmopolitan. Of the great American writers of the early part of the twentieth century she stood alone in her vision. No American writer ever had her breadth of experience and knowledge of people and places, relating to farmers in Nebraska, to barons in New York, and artists in Paris.

A collection of ten classic short stories including "Lost Hearts", "Miss Brill", "The Yellow Paint", "An Encounter", and "The Phantom Coach".

Few ghost stories are as chilling as the ones written by Victorian writers. Featuring work by H.G. Wells, Edith Wharton, F.G. Loring and Florence Marryat, this second volume of eight enduring stories, some well-known, others less familiar, transport you to a cosy fireside to hear tales of disembodied voices, haunted objects and unknown entities lurking in the shadows cast by candlelight.

A collection of some of the greatest short stories ever written, including works by Kate Chopin, Franz Kafka, Saki, and Katherine Mansfield. Includes: 'A Pair of Silk Stockings', 'A Hunger Artist', 'The Yellow Paint', 'The Model Millionaire', 'The Singing Lesson', 'The Ambitious Guest', 'Tobermory', 'Up in the Gallery', 'Wakefield', and 'The Quince Tree'.

From a wizard on the moon to midnight fairy parties, there's a dreamy story for everyone in this short story collection by Enid Blyton. Drift off to dreamland with these starlit adventures!

Here are the greatest stories of one of the greatest writers working in any genre today. All ten of the stories gathered here are Hugo or Nebula award winners - some even have the distinction of winning both. With a new Introduction by the author and personal afterwords to each story, plus a special look at three of Willis' unique public speeches - this is unquestionably the collection of the season, an audiobook that every Connie Willis fan will treasure.

These novelists burst with a literary energy that is hard to contain. They cover a myriad of styles and themes, narratives packed full of fully-formed characters in powerful tales that have become an essential and integral part of our literary heritage.

The Chuzzlewits are a family divided by money and selfishness; even young Martin, the eponymous hero, is arrogant and self-centred. He offends his grandfather by falling in love with the latter’s ward, Mary, and sets out to make his own fortune in life, travelling as far as America - which produces from Dickens a savage satire on a new world tainted with the vices of the old. Martin’s nature slowly changes through his bitter experience of life and his enduring love for Mary.