The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

WRITTEN BY:
F. Scott Fitzgerald

NARRATED BY:
Michael Scott

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” is a short story written by F. Scott Fitzgerald and published in 1922. The story is about a man named Benjamin Button who is born with the physical appearance and characteristics of an old man, but as he ages, he grows younger instead of older. As a child, he is rejected by his own father who believes he is a monster. As a young man, he falls in love with a young woman named Hildegarde, but their relationship becomes complicated as Benjamin grows younger and their ages begin to diverge. Eventually, Benjamin becomes a baby and is taken care of by his own son, who is now an old man.

The story is significant for its exploration of themes related to aging, mortality, and the passage of time. It is also an allegory for the human experience, as Benjamin’s unusual life journey reflects the inevitability of change and the impermanence of life. Fitzgerald’s use of magical realism in the story, in which a fantastical element is introduced into a realistic setting, serves to underscore the surreal and unsettling nature of Benjamin’s condition and to highlight the existential questions that arise as a result. Overall, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” is a powerful meditation on the human condition and a poignant commentary on the transience of life.

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ThoughtAudio PDF Transcript: 0TA0006_BenjaminButton_FScottFitzgerald.pdf

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F. Scott Fitzgerald

Scott Fitzgerald is considered one of the most important and influential American writers of the 20th century. His literary significance lies in his ability to capture the spirit of the Jazz Age, a period of post-World War I prosperity and excess, in his novels and stories. His writing explores themes of wealth, class, love, and loss, and his characters are often flawed and complex, struggling to find their place in a rapidly changing world.

Fitzgerald’s prose style is characterized by its lyricism, elegance, and vividness. His writing is known for its use of symbolism, metaphor, and imagery, which are often used to convey deeper meanings and to illuminate the psychological and emotional lives of his characters.

Some of Fitzgerald’s most famous works include “The Great Gatsby,” a novel that has become a cultural touchstone and is considered one of the greatest American novels of all time, and “Tender Is the Night,” a novel that explores the breakdown of a marriage and the disintegration of the American dream.

Fitzgerald’s writing continues to resonate with readers today, as it offers a powerful commentary on the human condition and the complexities of modern life. His legacy as a writer remains strong, and his work continues to be studied, analyzed, and celebrated by scholars, critics, and readers alike.

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The Nightingale and the Rose

WRITTEN BY:
Oscar Wilde

NARRATED BY:
Michael Scott

This story is from the book The Happy Prince and Other Stories by Oscar Wilde. In this series of sad short stories, Oscar Wilde looks for a way to save one’s soul in front of the misery of the world. The characters manage to obtain their salvation from their upper-class blindness, by opening their eyes to misery and suffering and by doing what they can to repair these pains and evils.

In this particular story, Oscar Wilde explores themes of love, sacrifice, and the price of beauty. Wilde uses the symbolism of the nightingale and the rose to explore the idea of true love and the sacrifices that one must make to achieve it. Through the story, Wilde highlights the lengths people will go to for love, emphasizing the idea that true love often comes at a great cost. Furthermore, the story touches on the idea of sacrifice, as both the nightingale and the rose make great sacrifices in the name of love and beauty.

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ThoughtAudio PDF Transcript: TA0036_TheNightingaleandtheRose_OscarWilde.pdf

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Oscar Wilde

Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Anglo-Irish playwright, novelist, poet, short story writer and Freemason. Wilde was one of the most successful playwrights of late Victorian London, and one of the greatest celebrities of his day, known for his barbed and clever wit.

Wilde wrote prose, his most famous collection of fairy tales being The Happy Prince and Other Tales. His only novel was The Picture of Dorian Gray. But his fame as a dramatist began with a string of successful plays and culminated with his masterpiece The Importance of Being Earnest. His final writing was the famous poem The Ballad of Reading Gaol.

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The Communist Manifesto

WRITTEN BY:
Karl Marx and
Friedrich Engels

NARRATED BY:
Michael Scott

The Communist Manifesto, written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in 1848, is considered one of the most influential political documents in modern history. The manifesto outlines the basic principles of communism, a political and economic ideology that advocates for a classless society in which the means of production are collectively owned and controlled by the workers.

It was written during a time of great political and economic change and helped to define and shape the communist movement that would go on to have a major impact on world events in the 20th century. The ideological influence of The Communist Manifesto has had a profound impact on political and economic thought and has inspired countless political movements and organizations around the world. It critiques capitalism and argues that it creates poverty, inequality, and exploitation. This critique remains relevant today as concerns about income inequality and the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few continue to be pressing issues and outlines a vision of a classless society in which everyone has equal access to resources and opportunities. This idea continues to inspire political and social movements aimed at creating a more equitable and just world.

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ThoughtAudio PDF Transcript: TA0028_TheCommunistManifesto_MarxEngels.pdf

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Karl Marx (1818-1883) was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. Born in 1818 in Trier, Germany, he is best known for his ideas about the nature of society and its relation to economics, which form the basis of Marxist theory. Marx’s most famous works include “The Communist Manifesto” (co-written with Friedrich Engels) and “Das Kapital”. He believed that history is shaped by class struggles and that capitalism, which he saw as a system of exploitation, would eventually give way to communism, a classless society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the workers. Marx’s ideas have had a significant impact on the political and economic landscape of the 20th century, particularly in countries such as the Soviet Union and China.

Friedrich Engels (1820-1895) was a German philosopher, economist, and political theorist. He was a close collaborator and friend of Karl Marx and co-wrote “The Communist Manifesto” with him in 1848. Engels was born into a wealthy family in Germany and initially worked in the family business, but he eventually became involved in political activism and writing. In addition to his work with Marx, Engels wrote several influential books, including “The Condition of the Working Class in England” and “Anti-Dühring”. His ideas and writings played a key role in the development of Marxist theory and the socialist movement.

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The Gospel of Judas

WRITTEN BY:
Based on the Coptic text of Codex Tchacos

NARRATED BY:
Michael Scott

The Gospel of Judas is a non-canonical Gnostic gospel. The content consists of conversations between Jesus and Judas Iscariot. Given that it includes late 2nd-century theology, it is widely thought to have been composed in the 2nd century by Gnostic Christians*, rather than the historic Judas himself. The only copy of it known to exist is a Coptic language text that has been carbon dated to 280 AD, plus or minus 60 years. It has been suggested that the text derives from an earlier manuscript in the Greek language.

*Addendum: Gnostic Principles PDF

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ThoughtAudio Transcript: TA0121_TheGospelofJudas.pdf

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Based on the Coptic text of Codex Tchacos

Codex Tchacos is an ancient Egyptian Coptic papyrus, which contains early Christian gnostic texts from approximately 300 AD: the Letter of Peter to Philip, the First Apocalypse of James, the Gospel of Judas, and a fragment of the Book of the Stranger.

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The Horse Stealers

WRITTEN BY:
Anton Chekhov

NARRATED BY:
Michael Scott

The Horse Stealer weaves a dark comedy tale about a drunken hospital assistant named Yergunov. On his return from getting supplies for the hospital he worked at, he gets caught in a wintery storm and loses his way, and ends up in a local tavern. The inhabitants of the tavern are Kalashnikov and Merik, well-known horse stealers, and a young woman name Lyubka. During the festivities, the story pivots around the conversations of the group, Yergunov’s exclusion from the inner circle, and the ultimate loss of his horse and hospital supplies. Chekhov weaves humor and tragedy to highlight the social divisions at the time, providing a provocative sense of who deserves societal privilege and value.

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ThoughtAudio Transcript: TA0124_TheHorseStealers_AntonChekhov.pdf

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Anton Chekhov (29 January 1860–15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced well-known classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics. Chekhov is referred to as one of the three seminal figures in the birth of early modernism in the theatre. Chekhov was a physician by profession. “Medicine is my lawful wife”, he once said, “and literature is my mistress.”

The Festival

WRITTEN BY:
H.P. Lovecraft

NARRATED BY:
Michael Anthony Scott

The Festival is a short story by the American author H.P. Lovecraft, written in 1923 and published by Weird Tales in 1925. It is significant within the context of Lovecraft’s body of work and the broader genre of horror fiction. The story showcases Lovecraft’s distinctive writing style, characterized by its imaginative use of horror, the occult, and supernatural elements, as well as its rich descriptions of ancient and otherworldly settings.

The Festival is representative of Lovecraft’s concept of “cosmic horror,” which involves a sense of awe and terror inspired by the realization of the insignificance of humanity in the face of an uncaring and monstrous universe. The story draws upon the extensive mythology that Lovecraft created over the course of his writing, which includes the Ancient Ones, a group of powerful extraterrestrial beings who predate humanity and threaten its existence. Overall, The Festival is considered a classic of horror fiction and a seminal work in the development of the cosmic horror genre. It continues to be widely read and appreciated by fans of horror and weird fiction.

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ThoughtAudio PDF Transcript: TA0128_TheFestival_HPLovecraft.pdf

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H.P. Lovecraft

Howard Phillips Lovecraft (August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American writer of supernatural horror fiction. He was born in Providence, Rhode Island, and began writing fiction as a teenager.

He is best known for his works of cosmic horror, in which humanity is threatened by beings and forces beyond its understanding or control. Some of his most famous works include “The Call of Cthulhu” and “At the Mountains of Madness.” Lovecraft’s writing has had a profound and lasting impact on the horror genre, and he is considered one of the most important authors of weird fiction of the 20th century.

Despite his lack of recognition and financial success during his lifetime, Lovecraft’s works have been widely influential. They have been adapted into various media, including films, comic books, and video games.

HE

WRITTEN BY:
H.P. Lovecraft

NARRATED BY:
Michael Anthony Scott

HE is a short story by American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft, written in August 1925, and first published in Weird Tales, in September 1926. The story HE was written after an all-night tour of the remnants of Old New York. By 7 a.m. the next morning, Lovecraft had reached Elizabeth, New Jersey by ferry, where he bought a dime composition book and wrote the story in Elizabeth’s Scott Park. The court off Greenwich Village’s Perry Street actually exists. Lovecraft learned of its existence in a New York Evening Post article of August 29, 1924. The stranger’s house is apparently based on a mansion on the block bounded by Perry, Bleecker, Charles, and West 4th streets, built as early as 1744 and demolished in 1865.

Lovecraft had moved to New York City in March 1924 for his short-lived marriage to Sonia Greene. He moved back to Providence, Rhode Island in April 1926, having developed a thorough aversion to New York. The opening paragraphs of HE are believed to be largely autobiographical, expressing Lovecraft’s own feelings about the city.

A suggested literary model for “He” is Lord Dunsany’s The Chronicles of Rodriguez, in which a wizard displays visions of past and future wars in successive windows.

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ThoughtAudio PDF Transcript: TA0127_He_HPLovecraft.pdf

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H.P. Lovecraft

Howard Phillips Lovecraft (August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American writer of weird, science, fantasy, and horror fiction. He is best known for his creation of the Cthulhu Mythos.

He became active in the speculative fiction community and was published in several pulp magazines. and later became the center of a wider group of authors known as the “Lovecraft Circle”. They introduced him to Weird Tales, which would become his most prominent publisher. Lovecraft’s literary corpus is based on the idea of cosmicism, which was simultaneously his personal philosophy and the main theme of his fiction. Cosmicism posits that humanity is an insignificant part of the cosmos, and could be swept away at any moment. He incorporated fantasy and science fiction elements into his stories, representing the perceived fragility of anthropocentrism. This was tied to his ambivalent views on knowledge. His works were largely set in a fictionalized version of New England.

Civilization’s decline also plays a major role in his works, as he believed that the West was in decline during his lifetime. Lovecraft’s early political opinions were conservative and traditionalist. Following the Great Depression, Lovecraft became a socialist, no longer believing a just aristocracy would make the world a fairer place.

A Christmas Carol (Scrooge)

WRITTEN BY:
Charles Dickens

NARRATED BY:
Michael Scott

The path to redemption is intricately told in this beloved and well-known holiday story by Charles Dickens. Ebenezer Scrooge is a tight-fisted old man, with not a bit of kindness in his icy heart. But one night Scrooge is visited by his dead partner, Jacob Marley who foretells the visits of three spirits. These three spirits visit Scrooge in succession to show him a glimpse of his own Christmas past, Christmas present, and Christmas future. Listen to this wonderful and heartwarming tale to see if the supernatural visits change the heart of Scrooge and save him from the chains that grip Marley.

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ThoughtAudio PDF Transcript: TA0093_AChristmasCarol_CharlesDickens
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Charles Dickens

This English novelist is considered one of history’s greatest novelists, known for his rich storytelling and memorable characters. He is a rare form of writer that actually achieved massive worldwide popularity in his own lifetime. Some of his other famous novel works include David Copperfield, A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, and the Adventures of Oliver Twist.

The Gift of the Magi

WRITTEN BY:
O. Henry

NARRATED BY:
Michael Scott

The Gift of the Magi is a short story by O. Henry first published in 1905. The story tells of a young husband and wife and how they deal with the challenge of buying secret Christmas gifts for each other with very little money. As a sentimental story with a moral lesson about gift-giving, it has been popular for adaptation, especially for presentation at Christmas time. The plot and its twist ending are a classic example of irony in literature, a technique in which an expectation of what is supposed to occur differs greatly from the actual outcome.

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ThoughtAudio PDF Transcript: TA0012_GiftoftheMagi_OHenry.pdf
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O. Henry  (William Sydney Porter)

William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910), better known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American writer known primarily for his short stories, though he also wrote poetry and non-fiction. His works include “The Gift of the Magi”, “The Duplicity of Hargraves”, and “The Ransom of Red Chief”, as well as the novel Cabbages and Kings. Porter’s stories are known for their naturalist observations, witty narration, and surprise endings.

The Night Before Christmas

WRITTEN BY:
Clement Clarke Moore

NARRATED BY:
Michael Scott

The Night Before Christmas has been called arguably the best-known verse ever written by an American. It is the quintessential holiday poem telling of a visit from Santa Claus, complete with eight reindeer and a bundle of presents, and is largely responsible for some of the conceptions of Santa Claus from the mid-nineteenth century to today. The Santa Clause concept has had a massive effect on the history of Christmas gift-giving. Before the poem gained wide popularity, American ideas had varied considerably about Saint Nicholas and other Christmastide visitors.

Clement Clarke Moore composed the poem for his children on a snowy winter’s day during a shopping trip on a sleigh. His inspiration for the character of Saint Nicholas was a local Dutch handyman as well as the historic Saint Nicholas. Moore originated many of the features that are still associated with Santa Claus today while borrowing other aspects, such as the use of reindeer. The poem was first published anonymously in the Troy, New York Sentinel on 23 December 1823, having been sent there by a friend of Moore, and was reprinted frequently thereafter with no name attached. It was first attributed in print to Moore in 1837. Moore himself acknowledged authorship when he included it in his own book of poems in 1844.

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ThoughtAudio PDF Transcript: TA0052_NightBeforeChristmas_ClementClarkeMoore.pdf

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Clement Clarke Moore

Clement Clarke Moore (July 15, 1779 – July 10, 1863) was an American writer and Professor of Oriental and Greek Literature as well as Divinity and Biblical Learning at the General Theological Seminary of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in New York City.

He is credited and is most widely known as the author of the Christmas poem originally known as A Visit from St. Nicholas, first published anonymously in 1823. It later became widely known as ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas and has been published in numerous illustrated versions in various languages.

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The Night Before Christmas  (A Visit from Saint Nicholas)
by Clement Clarke Moore

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter’s nap,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,
When what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;
“Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!”

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my hand and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
His eyes — how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night.”

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