Showing results by author "Valerio Di Stefano" in All Categories

"Ho portato dentro di me questo libro per undici anni, prima di darlo alle stampe, ed evidenziare storture, contraddizioni e incertezze sull'omicidio di Ester Pasqualoni, amica, confidente e persona universalmente stimata, avvenuto in un parcheggio laterale di Sant'Omero (Teramo). Spero che questo testo, ormai libero, la raggiunga e la abbracci dovunque ella sia.,"(L'Autore)

The 1769 Oxford Edition. The King James Bible is one of the most important books in the English speaking world, so influential that its language permeates facets of society from religion, politics, literature, art, education and music. (Summary by Michael Armenta)

The American Minister and his family have bought the English stately home Canterville Chase, complete with the ghost of Sir Simon de Canterville - blood-stains, clanking chains and all. But these modern Americans will have no truck with ghostly goings-on, and set out to beat the spectre at his own game. (Summary by David Barnes)

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote their Manifesto in December 1847, as a guide to the fundamental principles and practices of Communists. The Manifesto also predicted the ultimate downfall of the capitalist system.(Summary written by Gesine) A recording in the original German language is available here

After a brief romance, the 17 year old Marya falls in love with the much older Sergyei Mikhailitch, an old family friend, and the two are married. They share an initially blissful life but after moving to St. Petersburg, Marya becomes enchanted with society and a rift opens between the two. (Summary by EvanJ)

In this book, Tolstoy seeks to condense the four Gospels of the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, into one, by looking along the lines of the teachings of Jesus Christ found in each book. In doing so, he discovers that the Lord's Prayer is the best summation of all that Christ taught in the Gospels. - Summary by KHand

Wilde’s meditation on capital punishment, the Ballad of Reading Gaol comes after he was convicted and imprisoned under charges of gross indecency. The charges stemmed from his affair with Lord Alfred Douglas, the son of the Marquis of Queensberry. It relates the story of an execution of a man who murdered his wife which Wilde witnessed during his internment. Published in 1898, it was Wilde’s last published poem as he would die in 1900 from cerebral meningitis, caused by syphilis.(Summary by John Gonzalez)

Originally written as a series of newspaper articles in 1847, Wage-Labour and Capital was intended to give an overview of Marx’s central theories regarding the economic relationships between workers and capitalists. These theories outlined include the Marxian form of the Labour Theory of Value, which distinguishes “labour” from “labour-power”, and the Theory of Concentration of Capital, which states that capitalism tends towards the creation of monopolies and the disenfranchisement of the middle and working classes. These theories were later elaborated in Volume 1 of Capital, ...

Lady Windermere's Fan: A Play About a Good Woman is a four act comedy by Oscar Wilde, published in 1893. As in some of his other comedies, Wilde satirizes the morals of Victorian society, and attitudes between the sexes.The action centres around a fan given to Lady Windermere as a present by her husband, and the ball held that evening to celebrate her 21st birthday. (Summary by Ruth Golding) Cast: Lady Windermere - Kristin Hughes Lord Windermere - Joe Earley Mrs. Erlynne - Elizabeth Klett Lord Darlington - Simon Taylor The Duchess of Berwick - Ruth Golding Mr. Cecil Graham - Chugosh Lord ...

The Douay Rheims New Testament, published in 1582, is a translation of St Jerome's Latin Vulgate which dates from the fourth century. It influenced production of the King James version of the Bible to come some years afterward, while being the only Roman Catholic authorized vernacular scriptures up until the middle twentieth century. Although updated linguistically in the 18th and 19th centuries to provide easier understanding by the laity and reduce its use of Latinized words, it strove to be faithful to the original translation. The work's importance is that it remains the scriptural texts ...

The Cossacks (1863) is an unfinished novel which describes the Cossack life and people through a story of Dmitri Olenin, a Russian aristocrat in love with a Cossack girl. This text was acclaimed by Ivan Bunin as one of the finest in the language.Additional proof-listening was done by mim@can & katzes.

Collection of children’s stories written in 1888, dealing primarily with love and selfishness. These stories are generally sad, with a moralistic message. The collection includes: The Happy Prince, The Nightingale and the Rose, The Selfish Giant, The Devoted Friend, and The Remarkable Rocket. (Summary written by Joy Chan)

An Ideal Husband is an 1895 comedy by Oscar Wilde which revolves around blackmail and political corruption, and touches on the themes of public and private honor. The action is set in London, in "the present", and takes place within a single day. "Sooner or later," Wilde notes, "we shall all have to pay for what we do." But he adds that, "No one should be entirely judged by their past." (Summary from Wikipedia) Characters:Narrator – Read by Alex FosterThe Earl Of Caversham, K.G. – Read by LintonViscount Goring, his son – Read by John GonzalezSir Robert Chiltern, Bart., Under-Secretary ...

A House of Pomegranates is a collection of fairy tales, written by Oscar Wilde, that was published as a second collection for The Happy Prince and Other Tales (1888). Wilde once said that this collection was "intended neither for the British child nor the British public." The stories included in this collection are as follows: The Young King The Birthday of the Infanta The Fisherman and his Soul The Star-Child (Summary by Wikipedia)

What can be said? It's the ASV Bible, copyrighted 1901 by Thomas Nelson & Sons. I have previously recorded the New Living Translation of the Bible and would now like to do this version in order to make the Holy Scriptures more available on LibriVox. (Summary by the reader)

Publication of The Kreutzer Sonata in 1889 was a significant intellectual event worldwide. Censored in Russia, it set off an explosive debate in Europe, America, and Asia on matters relating to sexual abstinence and the hypocrisy of marriage. The novella emphasizes Tolstoy's controversial view on sexuality, which asserts that physical desire is an obstacle to relations between men and women and may result in tragedy. The Kreutzer Sonata has been recognized as among the best examples of Tolstoy's art of storytelling.(Introduction by Dorlene Kaplan)

Guido Ferranti, a young man, travels to Padua with his friend Ascanio after receiving a mysterious letter from a stranger, claiming to know the true secret of Guido's birth. His plan of revenge goes awry, however, when he falls in love with his enemy's beautiful wife, the Duchess of Padua. (Summary by Wikipedia and wildemoose) Cast:Simone Gesso, Duke of Padua; Hugo the Headsman: Algy PugBeatrice, Duchess of Padua: Arielle LipshawAndreas Pollajuolo, Cardinal of Padua: ToddHWMaffio Petrucci; Servant; First Soldier; Usher: Charlotte DuckettJeppo Vitellozzo; Count Moranzone: Martin GeesonTaddeo ...

Few things, even in literature, can really be said to be unique — but Moby Dick is truly unlike anything written before or since. The novel is nominally about the obsessive hunt by the crazed Captain Ahab of the book’s eponymous white whale. But interspersed in that story are digressions, paradoxes, philosophical riffs on whaling and life, and a display of techniques so advanced for its time that some have referred to the 1851 Moby Dick as the first “modern” novel. (Summary by Stewart Wills)

In 1894, Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900) published two collections of aphorisms: A Few Maxims For The Instruction Of The Over-Educated, in the Saturday Review newspaper, and Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young, in the Oxford student magazine The Chameleon. By turns witty, intellectual, counter-intuitive and obtruse, the collections came to be seen by many as emblematic of Wilde's style, and countless collections of Wildean aphorisms have since been published. (Summary by Carl Manchester)

Prince Stepan Kasatsky experiences a disappointment with his fiancé and decides to become a monk! There is a story line, but beneath it, Father Sergius struggles to find peace and, if not happiness, then at least contentment. But he is always disillusioned and ultimately unsatisfied. Only in the end does he find his way by letting go of what he struggled to attain all his life, i.e. to be better than everyone else in whatever he did, and settle for the mundane. (Summary by JCarson)