Showing results by publisher "Phoenix Books" in Classics

Raised in the wild by the mighty ape Kala, Tarzan the ape-man must learn to talk with the animals, swing through the trees, and fight great predators to survive in the jungle. Along with him are his childhood friends, Tanto the elephant, Ska the vulture, and Numa the lion. When white men invade his paradise, Tarzan's life is forever changed, for it is then that he meets Jane Porter, the first white woman he has ever seen. Set amid the vibrant colors and sounds of the savage African jungle, Edgar Rice Burroughs' classic work takes listeners on a glorious, adventurous, and romantic journey.

A baffling series of incidents at the majestic Paris Opera sparks frightening rumors about a mysterious opera ghost. Performers are ill-at-ease when they sit alone in their dressing rooms, alleging to have seen the enigma in evening clothes moving about in the shadows. Then a young and beautiful prima donna is visited by a masked "Angel of Music" who teaches her to sing and jealously demands her devotion—but with a price. With an increasing pattern of fear and violence, the phantom of the opera begins to strike, but always with a beautiful young performer at the center of his deadly desires.

A masterpieces of horror literature, Dracula brilliantly evokes a nightmare world of vampires and vampire hunters and illuminates the dark corners of Victorian sexuality and desire. Count Dracula travels from his castle in the Carpathian Mountains to England on a ship in which the entire crew is lost. Upon his arrival, the count entrances Lucy Westenra and Mina Harker, both women doomed to become vampires—unless Jonathan Harker and Professor Abraham Van Helsing can stop the count.

This swashbuckling epic of intrigue, romance, and swordplay has earned a reputation as one of the most thrilling adventure novels ever written. A young Gascon nobleman, D'Artagnan, makes his way to Paris, hoping to join the Musketeers, a legion of heroes held in high esteem by the king. D'Artagnan quickly proves he has the heart of a Musketeer and earns himself a place beside Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. Relying on their wits and skills with the sword, the Musketeers set out to preserve the honor of the king and foil the nefarious schemes of the wicked Cardinal Richelieu.

Entranced by romantic tales of heroism and chivalry, Don Quixote—self-proclaimed knight errant—embarks on a delusional quest for fame and adventure. The eccentric Spanish country gentleman and his companion Sancho encounter an array of unforgettable characters and undertake some of the most famously foolhardy exploits in literature. Listeners will delight in following their chivalrous misadventures to right wrongs and punish evil in this timeless, laugh-out-loud tale.

This disturbing and insightful novel explores the question of morality when a man is free to do as he pleases without risk of being caught. This masterpiece of science fiction depicts the fascinating story of a young scientist's experiments that allow him to become invisible. Much to his anger and dismay, he realizes his condition is irreversible and descends into madness and brutality. Freed from the constraints of the law and rejected by a society that fears him, he takes advantage of the opportunity to terrorize a remote English village. Can an invisible criminal ever be stopped?

This is the story of a magnificent wolf-dog, born in the wild, who struggles to survive in the harsh Yukon. White Fang is the lone survivor of his family and soon learns to follow the brutal law of the North—kill or be killed. Isolated and mistreated, White Fang becomes a mortal fighter, feared by all. Only through kindness and gentleness is this killer transformed into an animal capable of great love.

Jean Valjean is one of society's victims. A poor but honest peasant, he is caught stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister's starving family and is sent to prison. By the time of his eventual release, he has become a hardened criminal, but his friendship with the saintly Monseigneur Bienvenu gives him another chance at life. This new, respectable life is precarious, for Valjean is still sought by the law, in the person of the implacable Inspector Javert.

A pauper's child reared in a workhouse, young Oliver Twist serves an apprenticeship in a loveless house. Despairing, he runs away and is befriended by a gang of young pickpockets who offer him the only welcome home he has ever known. Falling under the influence of villainous company, the young orphan struggles to escape from a life of poverty and crime, in search of the love he longs for. Oliver Twist is one of Dickens' greatest achievements, a vivid depiction of London's outlaw society with an array of memorable characters.

The welfare of children—a theme of many novels by Charles Dickens—is central to Nicholas Nickleby, the story of a fatherless young man, his mother, and his sister who find themselves at the mercy of a greedy and unscrupulous relative. Nicholas Nickleby is both a vivid indictment of the exploitive, brutal boarding schools of the late 19th century and a celebration of a little family's resilient generosity of spirit. Actor Paul Scofield's performance captures the warmth and charm of this story and its array of colorful characters.

Nearly two centuries after The Pickwick Papers first appeared in 1837, listeners continue to enjoy the vigorous humor and heartwarming optimism of Dickens' first great literary achievement. Actor Paul Scofield evokes all the warmth and laughter of the unlikely adventures of the immortal Samuel Pickwick, Esq., and the other members of the Pickwick Club. Abetted by Pickwick's faithful manservant, Sam Weller, the Pickwickians bumble through hilarious misadventures, romantic escapades, and other twists of plot, encountering many delightfully Dickensian characters along the way.

Pip—the orphaned hero of Great Expectations—is one of Charles Dickens's best-loved characters. Young Philip Pirrip—nicknamed Pip—is apprenticed to his blacksmith brother-in-law, but an anonymous benefactor changes the boy's future. After he is lifted to what seems a higher station in life, Pip shuns his kind friends and slips into debt. But as he matures, he progresses from thoughtless selfishness to humble industry.

In London, Little Nell lives in The Old Curiosity Shop with her grandfather, who has a weakness for gambling. Hoping to mend his finances, the old man borrows money from Quilp, a moneylender and swindler. After losing that money as well, the grandfather flees to the country with Nell in a desperate attempt to escape the clutches of Quilp, who has designs on Nell and believes that the grandfather is secretly a rich miser. Out of devotion to Nell, Kit Nubbles, the shop's errand boy, pursues the pair and in the process earning the wrath of Quilp.

In the squalor of a textile town, successful businessman and arch-pragmatist Thomas Gradgrind, proclaiming that he is a self-made man, teaches his children to suppress their imaginations and embrace hard facts. He arranges the marriage of his daughter Louisa to Josiah Bounderby, an unattractive, boastful manufacturer who is thirty years older her senior, and Gradgrind's son Tom goes to work in Bounderby's bank. But after Tom steals from his employer and Louisa flees the horrors of her marriage, Gradgrind must reconsider his lifelong devotion to facts and utility.

Jim Hawkins, the son of an innkeeper, longs for adventure. One of the inn's guests, a coarse old bully named Billy Bones, reveals a map showing the whereabouts of buried treasure. After Bones dies, Jim and his mother flee with the map to Squire John Trelawney, outwitting other pirates who were chasing Bones. With Trelawney's friend Dr. Livesey, the squire charters a schooner carrying a band of pirates led by Long John Silver. Excitement and heroic action await Jim Hawkins as he seeks to foil the pirates, find the buried gold, and bring Long John Silver to justice.

This classic adventure story chronicles a fantastic voyage from the lost continent of Atlantis to the South Pole. Professor Aronnax begins his incredible underwater journey with his faithful servant Conseil and a Canadian harpooner, Ned Land. They set out on a hazardous voyage to rid the seas of a little-known and terrifying sea monster. After discovering that the “monster” is actually a giant submarine, they are captured by the vessel's mysterious commander, Captain Nemo.

Falsely accused of a crime and betrayed by his closest friend, the weaver Silas Marner has been hoarding his earnings for 15 years. Distanced from his religious community, he has devoted himself to his work and taken pleasure only in counting his coins. Then in a single day, his gold is stolen and a lovely child appears on his doorstep. As he changes his life to meet the irresistible needs of the child, Marner accepts that the loss of the gold was a necessary exchange for the child.

From Edgar Allan Poe—the master of the short story and lyric poem—comes this rare treasury of classics. The outstanding works "A Descent into the Maelstrom," "Annabelle Lee," "Eldorado," "The Bells," and "The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall," illustrate Poe's meticulous sense of construction, with signature themes of romance and melancholy that characterized his short and troubled life.

At the end of the 19th century, fourteen-year-old Ántonia Shimerda has realized the immigrant's dream. She has just arrived in rural Nebraska with her Bohemian (Czech) family at the same time as ten-year-old Jim Burden, an orphan sent to live with his grandparents. While Jim's family is prosperous and steady, the Shimerdas quickly find themselves mired in poverty and struggle to make ends meet. But they live near to each other (by pioneer standards), and the two youngsters become close. Ántonia's warmth belongs to the land and the people who love her. For Jim, Ántonia is home.

On Christmas Eve, miser Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley, who warns Scrooge that three more ghosts will visit him before the night is over—the ghost of Christmases Past, the ghost of Christmas present, and the ghost of Christmas yet to come. One of the greatest Christmas stories ever written comes to life in this performance by Academy-award winning actor, Paul Scofield.