This short poem explores the death of a woman that the narrator loved so much that even the angels envied their love. This was the last complete poem written by Poe before his death.
This American poet and writer is best known for his tales of mystery, horror and sheer terror, at least for the Victorian Age of the mid-1800s, which was his early audience.
This is a tale of an old man, Roderick Usher, who is being driven mad after his sister died and was entombed in a vault in the basement. Over the course of the story the unraveling of a terrible atrocity comes to light and threatens to avenge everyone dwelling in the House of Usher.
This American poet and writer is best known for his tales of mystery, horror and sheer terror, at least for the Victorian Age of the mid-1800s, which was his early audience.
The Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment?
WRITTEN BY: Immanuel Kant
NARRATED BY: Michael Scott
In the modern era, we take the concept of Enlightenment for granted. The concepts of personal freedom, liberty and the ability to think for one-self have become a personal choice and fundamental to our everyday lives. Yet in 1784, when the essay was written, the concept of Enlightenment was an emerging idea and still a vague notion to most people. What is important for the modern listener in this essay is how Kant outlines those things that discourage enlightenment as well as those things that can enhance it on a personal and social level. The WIKIPEDIA link below provides a more detailed analysis of the essay, although the listener will appreciate how many of the issues defined by Kant are still relevant in today’s world.
Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher of the 18th Century, regarded as one of the most influential thinkers of modern Europe and of the late Age of Enlightenment.
This poem marks the beginning of T.S. Eliot’s career as one of the twentieth century’s most influential poets. As it shows only surface thought and images, it is considered difficult to interpret exactly what is going on in the poem, but there are a number of speculations on the interpretations.
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.”
Appearance and Reality: Excerpt from The Problems of Philosophy
WRITTEN BY Bertrand Russell
NARRATED BY Michael Scott
Appearance and Reality is the first chapter in the book The Problems of Philosophy, in which Bertrand Russell attempts to identify philosophical problems for the sake of discussion and discourse.
Bertrand Russell was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, atheist, socialist, pacifist and social critic. He is considered one of the founders of analytic philosophy, and is widely held to be one of the 20th century’s premier logicians. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1950 in recognition of his varied writings. Read more on Wikipedia.
This story is from the book the Happy Prince and other Stories. In these tales, most of them being sad and even very sad, Oscar Wilde looks for a way to save one’s soul in front of the misery of the world. In these tales the character will 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.
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 culminating with his masterpiece The Importance of Being Earnest. His final writing was the famous poem The Ballad of Reading Gaol.
While at college, Wilde became particularly well known for his role in the aesthetic and decadent movements. He began wearing his hair long and openly scorning so-called “manly” sports, and began decorating his rooms with peacock feathers, lilies, sunflowers, blue china and other objets d’art. He suffered a dramatic downfall and was imprisoned after being convicted in a famous trial for gross indecency, a term at the time that referred to homosexual acts. Wilde died in November of 1900.
Kahlil Gibran (author of The Prophet) was a Lebanese-American philosophical essayist, novelist, mystical poet and artist. During the last 20 years of his life, he lived in the United States, where his works gained recognition and influence within the American popular culture.
This abridged audio of The Madman communicates in stories and metaphors Gibran’s belief that if a sensible way of living and thinking could be found, people would have mastery over their lives.
This Lebanese-American writer, poet, and painter, is primarily known for his 1923 book The Prophet. Many of Gibran’s writings deal with Christianity, especially on the topic of spiritual love. During the last 20 years of his life, he lived in the United States, where his works gained recognition and influence within the American popular culture.
________________________________________ The Red Badge of Courage
WRITTEN BY: Stephen Crane
NARRATED BY: Michael Scott
This story is about a young soldier, Henry Fleming, fighting in the American Civil War. It is a vivid and stark portrayal of war on the human psyche, interspersed with symbolic imagery and biblical metaphors. The story realistically portrays the young soldier’s physical and psychological struggles after fleeing from his first encounter with a battle. He returns to his regiment to become a strong soldier and even taking on the task of the flag bearer in the final battle. Though Stephen Crane had never been in any combat situations, his interviews with a wide number of veterans enabled him to create this novel, widely regarded as a unusually realistic depiction of a young man in battle.
This well-known short story tells of an adulterous affair between a Russian banker, Dmitry Gurov and a young lady he meets while vacationing in Yalta, Anna Von Diederitz. The couple spend much time together but since Anna is married and lives far away, Gurov has obstacles to overcome in formalizing this relationship.
This Russian writer and playwright is considered to be one of the greatest short-story writers in world history. His prolific bibliography includes plays, short stories, novellas, non fiction and letters.
In this classic short story, Chekhov takes a snapshot of the Russian life, illuminating the harsh complexities and yet subtle simplicities that interact seamlessly together. The cold and gloom of the Russian environment cannot compare to the relationship that Pavel Andreitch, a rich aristocratic, has with his wife, who is no longer in love, or even tolerant of her husband, although helplessly reliant on his financial support. Their disintegrating relationship is set to the backdrop of the starving peasants of the lower classes, illuminating the perennial tension of an egotistical, self-centered man and the struggling goodness of a woman who cares about more than just herself.
This Russian writer and playwright is considered to be one of the greatest short-story writers in world history. His prolific bibliography includes plays, short stories, novellas, non fiction and letters. Chekhov was a bachelor until age 41 and shortly before his own marriage he is quoted in a letter as saying, “By all means I will be married if you wish it. But on these conditions: everything must be as it has been hitherto—that is, she must live in Moscow while I live in the country, and I will come and see her… give me a wife who, like the moon, won’t appear in my sky every day.”
Edgar Allan Poe
Kahlil Gibran
