Showing results for "John Owen" in Literature & Fiction

Of all of John Irving's books, this is the one that lends itself best to audio. In print, Owen Meany's dialogue is set in capital letters; for this production, Irving himself selected Joe Barrett to deliver Meany's difficult voice as intended. In the summer of 1953, two 11-year-old boys – best friends – are playing in a Little League baseball game in Gravesend, New Hampshire. One of the boys hits a foul ball that kills the other boy's mother. The boy who hits the ball doesn't believe in accidents; Owen Meany believes he is God's instrument. What happens to Owen after that 1953 foul ball is extraordinary and terrifying.

In World War I, possibly the most horrific modern war, two soldier poets put down their thoughts in poetry telling us much about wars and the people who fight them. This is a wonderful production with a very timely subject.

Victor Hugo's tale of injustice, heroism and love follows the fortunes of Jean Valjean, an escaped convict determined to put his criminal past behind him. But his attempts to become a respected member of the community are constantly put under threat: by his own conscience and by the relentless investigations of the dogged Policeman, Javert. It is not simply for himself that Valjean must stay free, however, for he has sworn to protect the baby daughter of Fantine, driven to prostitution by poverty.

When action movie star Thor Lobo thwarts a gang of car-jackers on a dark highway near Nero, Florida, he vows to make a movie of his heroics. But before the cinematic blockbuster can show Nero as more than a boring beach town, Thor is killed, struck by lightning on the golf course. The people of Nero insist that since God took their leading man, The Almighty owes them something of comparable greatness.

C. S. Lewis is the 20th century's most widely read Christian writer and J. R. R. Tolkien its most beloved mythmaker. For three decades they and their closest associates formed a literary club known as the Inklings, which met weekly in Lewis' Oxford rooms and a nearby pub. They read aloud from works in progress, argued about anything that caught their fancy, and gave one another invaluable companionship, inspiration, and criticism.

The finest voices reading a wonderful selection of poetry accompanied by selected classical music.

An English poet and soldier, Owen depicted more graphically and effectively than any poet before him the horrors and realities of fighting in the trenches. His poignant verse has made him one of the greatest voices to emerge from World War I.

Usually, former Delta Force soldier John Powers is delighted to hear from Casey McBride, the widow of John's brother-in-arms Braden and mother of John's five-year-old godson Ian. But Casey is calling because she has just killed two of three intruders to her Boulder, Colorado home. And when John hears that Ian, under hypnosis to find a cure for his acute aqua phobia, has claimed to be the reincarnation of an assassinated US senator, he tells Casey to get out of the house, now.

In the aftermath of the horrifying attacks of September 11, 2001, a second wave of attacks is expected to hit the US mainland. The year is 2002. A cabal of elite one-world proponents, in conspiracy with members of the Chinese government, has developed an operation to spark the birth of their new world order. John Powers, ex-Delta Force sniper and CIA operative and the Alpha Team, must act now.

Sometimes we just want the best. But that involves choices, judgements, decisions. And that all depends on our feelings, our mood at the time. Even more so with poetry. Would we like a little more pathos, or love, or humour with that? Can we only choose one Keats? And ’If’? Surely Kipling wrote something else? So difficult to decide. This one or that? Is it easier to choose your 50 favourite poets or your 50 favourite poems?

Audible presents an original dramatisation of Charles Dickens' Dombey and Son, first published as Dealings with the Firm of Dombey and Son: Wholesale, Retail and for Exportation. A literary masterpiece in which Dickens' gift for vivid characterisation is at its best, this is the story of a powerful man whose inability to appreciate those around him leads to his lonely demise and, later, his possible redemption.

Martha Walters won’t chance another broken heart. But after escaping from the brothel her ex-fiancé sold her to, she believes only marriage can keep her safe. On the run and desperate to find a potential husband, she takes a risk on a handsome cattle rancher 10 years her senior. Gray Jenkins worries he’s too old to attract a wife. Now in his 40s, the wisecracking farmer with the soft heart takes a longshot and places an ad for a mail-order bride. But he’s stunned when a charming woman a decade younger shows up on his doorstep.

A selection of classic poetry beautifully enhanced by classical music. Poets include Keats, Wordsworth, and Owen.

The writers group of Ballymun Library in Dublin, Ireland, are publishing some representative samples of their members' work. All the pieces in this abridged version were written (and narrated) by members of the writing group.

When young Matthew starts talking to himself, and introduces his invisible friend, Chocky, to the family, his parents decide it's just a phase he is going through. But when Matthew starts explaining binary maths and anti-gravity propulsion, they begin to worry. Is Chocky really just the product of an over-inactive imagination, or something more?

A collection of the greatest war poetry ever written, read by some of the 20th century’s most renowned actors. Tragedy, war and humanity are played out in these timeless readings of poetry written about, or on, the battlefield.

The lure of the American West is in the spirit of adventure, in the majestic expanse of unconquered wilderness and in rugged individuals on a quest for identity and sometimes for survival. Owen Wister's unsmiling Virginian... Dorothy M. Johnson's, "A Man Called Horse": These are a few of the colorful, even legendary characters who populate The American West in Fiction, a collection of stories edited by Jon Tuska.

When marriage-shy Mason Crawford and spitfire Jenny Carson meet, their unexpected attraction is undeniable. The road ahead looks promising until storm clouds of anger and pride roll in. Can they weather the tempest, or will it dash their hopes for love and acceptance?

Irish beauty Lucy Magee fears she’ll never shake her bad luck. As though to prove her right, a trip to Montana to meet a dashing doctor results in the accidental death of her coach driver. But when the mail-order bride finally sets sight on her potential husband’s kind face, she’s sure her fortunes have turned.

Of the three range-riding, cattle-busting sisters, only Allegra remains in the saddle, herding the stock to water at the river and protecting them from marauding predators. Now, the moment of Allegra’s destiny is at hand. The decision she made nine months ago, when Bruce Manfield defeated Jude McCann to seal the sisters’ right to run their own ranch, is coming to fruition. The day of her mail-order wedding draws near.