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13/07/2024
H.M.S. Pinafore; Or, The Lass That Loved A Sailor cover

H.M.S. Pinafore; Or, The Lass That Loved A Sailor

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In this recording, one person reads the entire play, all parts, including the stage directions. Even without the support of Arthur Sullivan’s music and the interpretation of actors, the consummate silliness of Gilbert’s libretto entertains. H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, England, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, which was the second-longest run of any musical theatre piece up to that time. H.M.S. Pinafore was Gilbert and Sullivan’s fourth operatic collaboration and their first international sensation. The story takes place aboard the British ship HMS Pinafore. The captain’s daughter, Josephine, is in love with a lower-class sailor, Ralph Rackstraw, although her father intends her to marry Sir Joseph Porter, the First Lord of the Admiralty. She abides by her father’s wishes at first, but Sir Joseph’s advocacy of the equality of humankind encourages Ralph and Josephine to overturn conventional social order. They declare their love for each other and eventually plan to elope. The captain discovers this plan, but, as in many of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, a surprise disclosure changes things dramatically near the end of the story. Drawing on several of his earlier “Bab Ballad” poems, Gilbert imbued this plot with mirth and silliness. The opera’s humour focuses on love between members of different social classes and lampoons the British class system in general. […]

13/07/2024
Ralph the Heir cover

Ralph the Heir

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As usual, Trollope creates a nice variety of characters of different English classes, sentiments and positions. The primary themes are the inheritance of property, extravagance or reason in the spending of assets, the mating of young people, and the electoral practices of the time. The election chapters are based on Trollope’s own experiences when he ran for Parliament. There are, of course, many subplots which allow Trollope to express, through dialog, his opinions about greed, snobbery, work ethics and dandyism. Trollope probably regretted the duplicative naming of his characters after a while; we have two Gregory Newtons, uncle (and present Squire of Newton) and one of his nephews. Then there are several Ralphs: the (deceased) father, Ralph his son (the heir), and Ralph (not the heir) the son of the uncle Gregory! As they appear, Trollope has to interject “not the heir”, or “the other Ralph”. Ralph the heir is an extravagant, easy living young man who has spent himself into debt, and is faced with having to either sell his right to the family property, or marrying a wealthy tradesman’s (a breeches maker cutely named Mr. Neefit) daughter. Four young women are major characters, and these are sought by the two Ralphs, young Gregory, and a bootmaker, Ontario Moggs (don’t you love the names?). These include the fairly sedate daughters of the family lawyer, a ravishing West Indian beauty come to live with them, and the tradesman’s daughter. There are the classic novel “misunderstandings” from errors in communication; while […]

13/07/2024

Most Wanted poetry collection

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Ten early Public Domain poems by some of the authors mention of whose most popular works is most likely to come in close proximity to the word “sorry” in the LV forums. Included are: JRR Tolkien, Aldous Huxley, George Orwell, Dorothy L Sayers, CS Lewis, William Faulkner, Kahlil Gibran, DH Lawrence, Robert Graves and Ernest Hemingway.     [chương_files]  

13/07/2024
Short Nonfiction Collection, Vol. 096 cover

Short Nonfiction Collection, Vol. 096

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“Can we solve the problems confronting us? Well, the answer is an unequivocal and emphatic yes.” This quote, from U.S. President Ronald Reagan’s first inaugural address, captures the searching tone of many reader-chosen selections in vol. 096: The Peace Movement; Fortifications for Peace; An Effective Diplomatic Service; Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs; Bigamy Act; Trade in the Dead; Traffic in Women; Inaugural addresses of Presidents Carter and Reagan; and an essay “Have You an Educated Heart? Other readings highlight the arts: Parchment bindings; the Chinese Book; Folklore of Southern India; The Rosetta Stone; The WPA Art Collection; Jackie Coogan and the Kid; the Cradle of the Movies; and View of a City Sky Line. Rounding out the collection is a humorous piece, The Fatal Legs. Note: The missing part of “The Rosetta Stone (Except)” concerns the deciphering of hieroglyphs, which is difficult to convey in audio. Please see the text.” Summary by Sue Anderson     [chương_files]  

13/07/2024
Juggernaut: A Veiled Record cover

Juggernaut: A Veiled Record

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Edgar Braine was consistently successful at all he set out to accomplish. He went through life with goals and worked diligently and with ethical purity in reaching those goals, from becoming editor of the local newspaper on up to his political aspirations. That was how his mother, in her waning years, had advised him to reach his goals, and Edgar was determined to honor her advice. There was one caveat in his mothers advice however, and it is for Edgar to determine exactly what she meant by it. Is success measured by the interactions between business, politics, and marriage? (Summary by Roger)     [chương_files]  

13/07/2024
Christmas Carol (version 06) cover

Christmas Carol (version 06)

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The tale begins on a Christmas Eve exactly seven years after the death of Ebenezer Scrooge’s business partner. Scrooge has no place in his life for kindness, compassion, charity or benevolence. He hates Christmas, calling it “humbug”, refuses his nephew Fred’s dinner invitation, and rudely turns away two gentlemen who seek a donation from him to provide a Christmas dinner for the Poor… (Summary by Wikipedia and Kara)     [chương_files]  

13/07/2024
Happiness: Essays on the Meaning of Life cover

Happiness: Essays on the Meaning of Life

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A series of essays based on Christian doctrines on how to attain true happiness. – Summary by Lynne T     [chương_files]  

13/07/2024
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Songs of Innocence and Experience

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William Blake’s volume of poetry entitled Songs of Innocence and Experience is the embodiment of his belief that innocence and experience were “the two contrary states of the human soul,” and that true innocence was impossible without experience. Songs of Innocence contains poems either written from the perspective of children or written about them. Many of the poems appearing in Songs of Innocence have a counterpart in Songs of Experience, with quite a different perspective of the world. The disastrous end of the French Revolution caused Blake to lose faith in the goodness of mankind, explaining much of the despair found in Songs of Experience. Blake also believed that children lost their innocence through exploitation and from a religious community which put dogma before mercy. He did not, however, believe that children should be kept from becoming experienced entirely. In truth, he believed that children should indeed become experienced but through their own discoveries, which is reflected in a number of these poems. (Summary adapted from Wikipedia by Annie Coleman)     [chương_files]  

13/07/2024
Morality of Marriage and Other Essays on the Status and Destiny of Woman cover

Morality of Marriage and Other Essays on the Status and Destiny of Woman

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In this series of essays, British feminist and novelist Mona Caird discusses marriage customs at various points in history, offers thoughtful and informed criticisms of the state of marriage in the Victorian era, and debunks prevailing sexist beliefs of her time. She advocates for an equal partnership between wives and husbands and calls for the reform of the relations between the sexes, sharing her vision of a future society that affords women greater dignity and freedom. (Summary by Scarbo)     [chương_files]  

13/07/2024
Ukrainians and the European War cover

Ukrainians and the European War

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The WWI (European war) for Ukrainians was the hope of its nation unity and freedom from Austria-Hungary but mostly from Russian Empire. Galicia was the bone in the throat for Russian government because Austria-Hungary provided Ukrainians with permission for their national development on its territory. Thanks to this Ukrainian patriotic literature spread all over the Ukrainian territories. Ukrainians who were trapped under Russian regime were inspired by the thought of their independence. Russia, fearing of riots and protests, pushed their propaganda about oppression of the Russians by Austria-Hungary in Galicia to annex it. This was the threshold of the European war. Meanwhile, realizing the inevitability of the war between Russian Empire and Austria-Hungary, Ukrainian people all as one started to prepare for the struggle for their freedom. (Summary by Anastasiia Solokha)     [chương_files]