Songs of Innocence and of Experience

WRITTEN BY:
William Blake

NARRATED BY:
Michael Scott

William Blake is known for some very mystical hard-to-understand poetry, but his “Songs of Innocence” and “Songs of Experience” is very different from his other work. Innocence was printed five years before Experience, but the books complement each other: the first consisting of poems telling of the innocence of the world, and the second tempering these poems with contrasting tales about experience. Here in beautiful, almost child-like simplicity, he describes childhood and purity, as well as the darker realities of corruption and disillusionment.

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ThoughtAudio PDF Transcript: TA0038_SongsofInnocence_WilliamBlake.pdf

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William Blake

William Blake was an English poet, painter, and print maker. Though largely unrecognized during his lifetime, today Blake’s work, produced in partnership with his wife Catherine, is widely known.

Blake was a strong libertarian, with a deep hatred of the tyranny that was rife during his lifetime. This is reflected strongly in his poems ‘Songs of Innocence and of Experience’, where he portrays upper class institutions and the Church of England as corrupt and exploiters of the weak in society. He dreamed of an idyllic England, free from corruption, which is mirrored in “The Echoing Green”. However, the impending tyranny in the poem shows that even he doubted that England would be free.

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The Monkey’s Paw

WRITTEN BY:
W.W. Jacobs

NARRATED BY:
Michael Scott

Like the genie of the lamp, the Monkey’s Paw holds a special ability to grant the owner of the relic three wishes. Listen to this short story unfold about a man and his wife and how they start off with a wish that they feel will bring their life more comfort – but in reality will turn it upside down.

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ThoughtAudio Transcript: TA0037_MonkeysPaw_WWJaobs.pdf

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W.W. Jacobs

Jacobs was an English author of both short stories and novels. While much of his work was humorous, he is most well-known for the story of the Monkey’s Paw, published in two different published collections of short story.

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The Wasteland

WRITTEN BY:
T.S. Eliot

NARRATED BY:
Michael Scott

The Wasteland is a highly influential and controversial 433-line modernist poem. It is perhaps the most famous and most written-about long poem of the 20th century, detailing the journey of the human soul searching for redemption, the decline of civilization, and the impossibility of recovering meaning in life. Despite the alleged obscurity of the poem — its shifts between satire and prophecy, its abrupt and unannounced changes of speaker, location and time, its elegiac but intimidating summoning up of a vast and dissonant range of cultures and literatures — the poem has nonetheless become a familiar touchstone of modern literature.

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ThoughtAudio Transcript: TA0032_WasteLand_TSEliot.pdf

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T.S. ELIOT

Thomas Stearns Eliot was one of the most distinguished literary figures of the 20th century, winning the 1948 Nobel Prize in Literature “for his outstanding, pioneer contribution to present-day poetry”. Although born in Missouri and attending Harvard, he lived most of his life in England. Eliot, while on a three month leave in the coastal resort of Margate for a period of convalescence possibly showed an early version of the poem to Ezra Pound. A year later Eliot had produced a 19-page version of the poem and Pound then made detailed editorial comments and significant cuts to the manuscript. Eliot dedicated the poem to Pound, referring to him as “il miglior fabbro”, Italian for “the better craftsman.”

Buffalo Bill Cody: Stories from the Old West

WRITTEN BY:
William Frederick Cody

NARRATED BY:
Michael Scott as
Buffalo Bill Cody

William Frederick Cody, known as Buffalo Bill, is one of the great icons of the pioneer years in the early American West. His exploits provide much insight into the life on the plains, with its Indians, cowboys, rough riders, and overall rugged existence. You are sure to enjoy this selection of entertaining stories from the Old West, written by the Honorable William F Cody.

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ThoughtAudio PDF Transcript: TA0025_BuffaloBillCody

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William Fredrick Cody, known as Buffalo Bill Cody

Buffalo Bill was an American soldier, bison hunter, and showman. He obtained his nickname after contracting to supply Kansas Pacific Railroad workers with buffalo meat. He associated with famous characters of the American Wild West and produced a variety show called Buffalo Bill’s Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders of the World, which had an international reputation and helped create a lasting image of the American West. His character appears in books and magazines from the era with entertaining stories from the Old West.

Japanese Fairy Tales

TRANSLATED BY:
Yei Theodora Ozaki

ADAPTATION WRITTEN BY:
Garcia Mann

NARRATED BY:
Michael Scott

These charming Japanese Fairy Tales were translated by Yei Theodora Ozaki in 1908. Although taken from actual Japanese folk stories, these Westernized versions are not literal translations. These stories combine fictitious creatures and magical animals with the lives of normal humans and provide an insight into a piece of ancient Japan.

The stories in this volume include:

• My Lord Bag of Rice
• The Tongue-Cut Sparrow
• The Story of Urashima Taro, the Fisher Lad

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ThoughtAudio PDF Transcript: TA0021_JapaneseFairyTales_YeiTheodoraOzaki.pdf
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Yei Theodora Ozaki

Ozaki was an early 20th-century translator of Japanese short stories and fairy tales. She was born in London and later was sent to live with her father in Japan, where she received an education. Yei enjoyed popular Japanese fairy tales like those of Hasegawa Takejirō and began to write down and translate smaller stories and fairy tales. Some of these were accepted for publication by English magazines and were ultimately published in London in 1903. Her collection was not translated from formal Japanese but were reworded by her into everyday language.

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On The Decay of the Art of Lying

WRITTEN BY:
Mark Twain

NARRATED BY:
Michael Scott as Mark Twain

This humorous short essay is written with all the wit and biting sarcasm that is one of the trademarks of Mark Twain. The Decay of the Art of Lying does not reveal why one should not lie, but reveals in detail the proper way to lie – told from a true expert.

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ThoughtAudio PDF Transcript: TA0016_ArtofLying_MarkTwain.pdf

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Mark Twain

Mark Twain has been one of the most widely loved and celebrated American writers since his books were released in the late 1860’s. 

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The Stolen White Elephant

WRITTEN BY:
Mark Twain

NARRATED BY:
Michael Scott as Mark Twain

While many elements of civilized culture provided much comic fodder for Mark Twain, detectives occupied a portion of his observations and writing for a time. The story of the Stolen White Elephant, though entirely preposterous, is rumored to be modeled after real life efforts of an actual police department who misplaced the body of a deceased victim. This audio story will leave you laughing out loud.

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ThoughtAudio PDF Transcript: TA0015_StolenWhiteElephant_MarkTwain.pdf

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Mark Twain

Mark Twain has been one of the most widely loved and celebrated American writers since his books were released in the late 1860’s.

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Tao Te Ching

WRITTEN BY:
Lao Tzu

NARRATED BY:
Michael Scott

Like many other philosophical writings, the Tao Te Ching is a timeless Chinese treasure. These ancient writings are credited to Lao Tzu, although some believe them to be authored by a number of persons writing under the Lao Tzu pen name. Nevertheless, this audio gives the listener a taste of the wisdom of age and the important values of human existence.

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ThoughtAudio Transcript: TA0010_TaoTeChing_LaoTzu.pdf

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Lao Tzu

Also known as Laozi, and Lao-Tze, was an ancient Chinese philosopher and writer. He is the reputed author of the Tao Te Ching, the founder of philosophical Taoism, and a deity in religious Taoism and traditional Chinese religions.

A semi-legendary figure, Lao Tzu is usually portrayed as a 6th-century BC contemporary of Confucius in the Spring and Autumn period. A central figure in Chinese culture, Laozi is claimed by both the emperors of the Tang dynasty and modern people of the Li surname as a founder of their lineage. Laozi’s work has been embraced by many cultures and religions.

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The Judge’s House

WRITTEN BY:
Bram Stoker, author of Dracula

NARRATED BY:
Michael Scott

The Judge’s House recounts the tale of a young student, looking for a remote location to study for his college exams. But the house he rents in the quiet town of Benchurch, delivers much more excitement than he ever could have imagined. Though Bram Stocker is inextricably linked with his infamous vampire novel – Dracula, he wrote many novels, essays, and short stories during his life such as this one.

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ThoughtAudio Transcript: TA0008_JudgesHouse_BramStoker.pdf

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Bram Stoker

Stoker was an Irish author, best known today for his 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula. Before writing Dracula, Stoker worked as a theatre critic for an Irish newspaper and wrote stories.

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The Book of Revelation 

AUTHOR:
From the Holy Bible

NARRATED BY:
Michael Scott

No book from the Bible is more controversial than the Book of Revelation. For many, the purpose of the book of Revelation is a message of comfort during a time of conflict, which ultimately results in a conquest and a victory over the oppressor. Although directly written to the Christians of the First Century, the message is applicable throughout the ages.

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John of Patmos

Saint John of Patmos is generally recognized as the author of the Book of Revelation. The text of Revelation states that John was on Patmos, a Greek island where he was exiled as a result of anti-Christian persecution under the Roman emperor Domitian.