Showing results by narrator "Peter Batchelor" in All Categories

Born to an unmarried woman who dies after giving birth, orphan Oliver Twist seems destined to slog through a dismal life in the workhouse. A rebellious cry for more gets Oliver banished, and ultimately lands him on the dismal streets of London. The young outcast finds refuge with Fagin and his band of thieves before fate intervenes and puts Oliver in the hands of a kindly benefactor. It is likely that Dickens's own early youth as a child labourer contributed to the story's development.

Using, or rather mimicking, traditional forms of storytelling, Gogol created stories that are complete within themselves and only tangentially connected to a meaning or moral. His work belongs to the school of invention, where each twist and turn of the narrative is a surprise unfettered by obligation to an overarching theme.

In the scorched lands of the Maharaan lives a dark-skinned girl soon to become a woman. Capable and strong, confident and caring; all she has known is peace, all she has known is purpose. All she will bring: Death. On the icy plains, beyond the Gadori forests, lies a dead boy. Forgotten by the world and himself, he is about to be given the hardest challenge of all: Life. In the center of Kasmah one sits above all, the Integra Divinitas. Beyond the trappings of the common, bound to mankind by responsibility.

Although Stoker did not invent the vampire, the novel's influence on the popularity of vampires has been singularly responsible for many theatrical, film, and television interpretations since its publication. Required listening for any fan of the genre!

With well over 200 million copies sold, it ranks among the most famous works in the history of fictional literature. The novel depicts the plight of the French peasantry demoralized by the French aristocracy in the years leading up to the revolution, the corresponding brutality demonstrated by the revolutionaries toward the former aristocrats in the early years of the revolution, and many unflattering social parallels with life in London during the same time period.

The Book of the Courtier remains the definitive account of Renaissance court life. Because of this, it is considered one of the most important Renaissance works. The book is organized as a series of fictional conversations that occur between the courtiers of the Duke of Urbino in 1507 (when Baldassare was in fact part of the Duke's Court). In the book, the courtier is described as having a cool mind, a good voice (with beautiful, elegant and brave words) along with proper bearing and gestures.

Listen to the story of Pip, an English orphan who rises to wealth. After he deserts his true friends, he becomes humbled by his own arrogance. Great Expectations is Dickens at his finest.