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Don Juan, Cantos 13 – 16

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Epics
Chapter: 4 | Listen: 1

These are the last four Cantos of his mock epic that Byron completed in the year before his death at the age of 36 in Messolonghi, Greece, where he had gone to fight for the nationalists against the Ottoman Empire. Juan, now in England, is invited to spend the autumn with a hunting party at the ancient country seat of Lord Henry and Lady Adeline Amundeville. There, he meets the most intriguing of the Byronic heroines, Aurora Raby, and is visited by a ghost with ample breasts (!). That is the narrative outline but hardly the focus of the last Cantos. Byron is more interested satirizing the frailty of faith, the fecklessness of the English aristocracy, the futility of English pastimes and the fawning of elected Members of Parliament over their middle-class constituents. Booze, banquets, belles and bishops are given the Byronic treatment, while his spleen is reserved for his critics and for “tyranny”. (Summary by Peter Gallagher) [chương_files]

Milton: a Poem

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Epics, Poetry
Chapter: 6 | Listen: 2

Milton: a Poem is an epic poem by William Blake, written and illustrated between 1804 and 1810. Its hero is John Milton, who returns from heaven and unites with Blake to explore the relationship between living writers and their predecessors. While on earth, Milton also unites with his feminine aspect, Ololon. The poem describes progress toward the apocalyptic union of living and dead, internal and external reality, and male and female. (Summary from Wikipedia). [chương_files]

Eirik the Red’s Saga

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Epics, Nautical & Marine Fiction, Poetry
Chapter: 6 | Listen:

In this saga, the events that led to Eirik the Red’s banishment to Greenland are chronicled, as well as Leif Eirikson’s discovery of Vinland the Good (a place where wheat and grapes grew naturally), after his longboat was blown off-course. By geographical details, this place is surmised to be present-day Newfoundland, and is likely the first European discovery of the American mainland, some five centuries before Christopher Columbus’s journey. (Summary from Wikipedia.) [chương_files]

Mahabharata by Vyasa: The epic of ancient India condensed into English verse

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Epics, Poetry
Chapter: 15 | Listen: 3

The Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India. Traditionally, the authorship of the Mahabharata is attributed to Vyasa. With more than 74,000 verses, Mahabharata is said to be the longest poem. Mahabharata tells the story of the epic Kurukshetra War and the fates of the cousin brothers Kauravas and the Pandavas. But more than that the Mahabharata contains much philosophical and devotional material, such as a discussion of the four “goals of life” or ‘purusharthas’. The latter are enumerated as dharma (right action), artha (purpose), kama (pleasure), and moksha (liberation). (Introduction by om123) [chương_files]

Paradise Lost

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Epics, Poetry
Chapter: 20 | Listen: 2

Paradise Lost is the first epic of English literature written in the classical style. John Milton saw himself as the intellectual heir of Homer, Virgil, and Dante, and sought to create a work of art which fully represented the most basic tenets of the Protestant faith. His work, which was dictated from memory and transcribed by his daughter, remains as one of the most powerful English poems. (Summary by Caeristhiona) This is a recording of the text of Milton’s first edition of 1667, which had ten books, unlike the second edition (1674) which was redivided into twelve books in the manner of Virgil’s Aeneid. See Wikipedia entry. [chương_files]

Iliad

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Epics
Chapter: 24 | Listen: 2

The Iliad, together with the Odyssey, is one of two ancient Greek epic poems traditionally attributed to Homer. The poem is commonly dated to the 8th or 7th century BC, and many scholars believe it is the oldest extant work of literature in the Greek language, making it the first work of European literature. The existence of a single author for the poems is disputed as the poems themselves show evidence of a long oral tradition and hence, multiple authors. The poem concerns events during the tenth and final year in the siege of the city of Iliun, or Troy, by the Greeks. (Summary adapted from Wikipedia by Karen Merline.) [chương_files]

Letters to a Daughter

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Epistolary Fiction
Chapter: 15 | Listen: 4

Letters to a Daughter is a collection of essays proffering ‘fatherly advice’ in the form of a one-sided correspondence. Each of these takes the form of a response to a question that a young woman who is about to enter adult society might pose. The fictional daughter in Letters to a Daughter is named ‘Alexa.’ The author, Hubert Bland, a columnist and political activist, dedicated the book to his daughter, Rosamund Edith Nesbit Bland. While married to the author Edith Nesbit, Mr. Bland had a lifelong extramarital relationship with Alice Hoatson, the birth mother of Rosamund – Edith, Alice and Hubert lived together ‘openly’. Rosamund wrote The Man in the Stone House, a novel about a young woman’s relationship with her parents, and the children’s book Moo Cow Tales; she also wrote the children’s book Cat Tales with her adoptive mother, Edith Nesbit – Summary by Brian Fullen [chương_files]

Nuoren Wertherin kärsimykset

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Epistolary Fiction, General Fiction
Chapter: 13 | Listen:

Nuoren Wertherin kärsimykset (saks. Die Leiden des jungen Werthers, 1774) on Johann Wolfgang von Goethen kirjoittama kirjeromaani. Löyhästi omaelämäkerrallisesta romaanista kehkeytyi saksalaisen Sturm und Drang -liikkeen tärkeimpiä teoksia. Sillä oli myös vaikutusta myöhempään romantiikan kirjallisuuteen. Romaanin ansiosta Goethesta tuli yksi ensimmäisistä kirjallisuuden tähdistä jo elinaikanaan. – Summary by Wikipedia [chương_files]

Eclogae (Eclogues)

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Epistolary Fiction, Single Author
Chapter: 8 | Listen:

Dante’s short correspondence in verse with Giovanni del Vergilio was only published in 1719, but is believed to have been written at some point in the last years of the poet’s life. What we have are two poems by Dante and the answers by Iohannes (Giovanni’s Latin name), all in Latin hexameters, emulating the style of Vergil. Even though the works were named after Vergil’s bucolic poetry, the poems also echo the Georgics and the Aeneid, and are truly a masterpiece by a master of poetry. In this audiobook, we present the four poems in the original Latin, each followed by its translation by H.E. Plumptre. – Summary by Leni [chương_files]

Biter Bit

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Epistolary Fiction
Chapter: 5 | Listen: 2

“The Biter Bit” is a humorous short story by British writer Wilkie Collins. Originally published as “Who is the Thief?” in the April 1858 issue of The Atlantic Monthly, it was retitled and published with nine other short stories in the 1859 book, The Queen of Hearts. The tale is told in epistolary form, recounting a comedy of errors involving a young wannabe police detective — with an exaggerated sense of his own investigatory skills — and a minor theft of banknotes. Can you spot the guilty party before the rookie figures it out? – Summary by Louise J. Belle [chương_files]