Showing results by author "Audiobooks by Librivox" in All Categories

The Grand Inquisitor is a parable told by Ivan to Alyosha in Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel The Brothers Karamazov (1879–1880). Ivan and Alyosha are brothers; Ivan questions the possibility of a personal, benevolent God and Alyosha is a novice monk. The Grand Inquisitor is an important part of the novel and one of the best-known passages in modern literature because of its ideas about human nature and freedom, and because of its fundamental ambiguity. In the tale, Christ comes back to earth in Seville at the time of the Inquisition. He performs a number of miracles (echoing miracles from the ...

Die Erzählung Ein Landarzt von Franz Kafka entstand im Jahr 1917 und wurde 1918 veröffentlicht. Im Jahre 1919 erschien das Buch Ein Landarzt mit der Erzählung gleichen Titels und dreizehn weiteren Prosatexten.Kafka selbst bezeichnete "Ein Landarzt" (die einzelne Erzählung, nicht die Sammlung) als eine der wenigen wirklich gelungenen Erzählungen von ihm. Zweifellos zeichnet sich diese Geschichte auch tatsächlich durch meisterliches dichterisches Können aus. Doch angesichts der zahlreichen anderen hervorragenden Erzählungen offenbart Kafkas Einschätzung von "Ein Landarzt" seinen hohen ...

The extraordinary child-adult Prince Myshkin, confined for several years in a Swiss sanatorium suffering from severe epilepsy, returns to Russia to claim his inheritance and to find a place in healthy human society.The teeming St Petersburg community he enters is far from receptive to an innocent like himself, despite some early successes and relentless pursuit by grotesque fortune-hunters. His naive gaucheries give rise to extreme reactions among his new acquaintance, ranging from anguished protectiveness to mockery and contempt.But even before reaching the city, during the memorable train ...

Libro de poemas de Federico García Lorca es una recopilación de 57 poemas escritos en diversos años, algunos dedicados a la naturaleza y otros a cuestionamientos de la naturaleza humana. (Summary by Kendal Rigans)

Camões (1524-1580) é o maior poeta da nossa língua, e Os Lusíadas a sua obra maior. Publicada em 1572, é poema épico em dez cantos, narrando os feitos dos Portugueses em suas guerras e descobertas marítimas, em uma visão maravilhosa e exaltada, grandiosa e de comovente patriotismo. Apesar das barreiras que se põem ao leitor moderno, as referências mitológicas às vezes recônditas, as menções a episódios e personagens históricos menos conhecidos, a sua modernidade é surpreendente e a pessoa do poeta se impõe admirável, concreta e única em sua genialidade. A força da ...

Volume 4 continues the story in epistolary form of the despoliation of Clarissa, as all the forces of society and the personal nefariousness of the devilish rake Lovelace conspire to overcome her virtue. One of the earliest and certainly the longest novel in the English language, with a wide-ranging influence not only on the English novel, but also on nineteenth century European literature at large, it is gripping, twisted and a magnificent dramatic soap opera. - Summary by Nicole Lee

¿Qué puede ser mejor que la descripción de viajes de exploración a tierras desconocidas escrito en verso? Esta clásica epopeya escrita por Luis Vaz de Camoens después de su viaje a Oriente en el siglo XVI, enaltece los descubrimientos y conquistas del naciente imperio portugués, incluído un viaje de Vasco da Gama. "Los Lusíadas" es considerado el primer texto literario del portugués moderno. Traducido por Luis Gómez de Tapia. (Introducción por Mario Pineda)

The extraordinary child-adult Prince Myshkin, confined for several years in a Swiss sanatorium suffering from severe epilepsy, returns to Russia to claim his inheritance and to find a place in healthy human society. The teeming St Petersburg community he enters is far from receptive to an innocent like himself, despite some early successes and relentless pursuit by grotesque fortune-hunters. His naive gaucheries give rise to extreme reactions among his new acquaintance, ranging from anguished protectiveness to mockery and contempt. But even before reaching the city, during the memorable train ...

Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s short masterpiece about a ranting, slightly mad civil servant. The stylistic inventiveness, and the insights into the absurdities and weakness of humans seem so fresh and incisive today that if published now (a century and a half later) Notes would be considered an avant-garde post-modernist triumph. In some ways this is a heavy text, laden with conversational philosophizing; but the vividness of the narrator make it a wonderful read, and funny.(Review by Hugh McGuire)

Lärm. Lärm. Lärm. Kaum, dass man sich konzentrieren kann, kaum, dass man ihm entfliehen. Lärm, der allgegenwärtige…

"Als Gregor Samsa eines Morgens aus unruhigen Träumen erwachte, fand er sich in seinem Bett zu einem ungeheueren Ungeziefer verwandelt..." So beginnt Kafka diesen Klassiker und beschreibt in seinem typischen Stil wie sich die plötzliche Verwandlung auf das weitere Leben Gregor Samsas auswirkt. (Zusammenfassung von Markus Wachenheim)

The Gambler is a short novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky about a young tutor in the employment of a formerly wealthy Russian general. The novella reflects Dostoevsky's own addiction to roulette, which was in more ways than one the inspiration for the book: Dostoevsky completed the novella under a strict deadline so he could pay off gambling debts. (Summary from Wikipedia)

Noches blancas es una novela corta escrita por el autor ruso Fiódor Dostoyevski. Fue publicada en 1848, al inicio de la carrera del escritor, bajo el subtítulo Novela sentimental: De las memorias de un soñador.Como muchas de las historias de Dostoyevski, Noches blancas está contada en primera persona por un narrador sin nombre. El narrador es un joven residente en San Petersburgo que sufre de soledad. Conoce a una joven y se enamora de ella, y a partir de ello el autor construye una historia de un triangulo amoroso. El narrador es equisciente o bien llamado narrador personaje. El cuento es...

Ana Karenina es una mujer rusa que siente un amor incontenible por el conde Vrosnky estando ella ya casada. Conoce a su amante en un viaje de visita a su hermano, cuando se dirige a solucionar algunos problemas familiares. Además se desarrolla la historia de Kitty, quien comienza amando a Vrosnky pero al darse cuenta de que la ignora termina enamorándose de Levin, un hombre de campo y muy diferente a ella. Mientras Ana y sus pasiones la hacen volverse cada vez más enfermiza, Levin y su relación con la tierra van avanzando hacia un lugar más filosófico y bello. Los problemas de Ana se ...

The Lusiads (Os Lusíadas) is a Portuguese epic poem, written in the 16th century by Luis Vaz de Camões. The poem tells the tale of the Portuguese discoveries in the 15th and 16th centuries, specially the voyage to India by Vasco da Gama. Modelled after the classic epic tradition, Camões' Lusiads are considered not only the first literary text in Modern Portuguese, but also a national epic of the same level as Vergil's Aeneid. In the 19th century, Sir Richard Francis Burton translated Camões' Lusiads, in what he considered "the most pleasing literary labour of his life". (Summary by Leni)

In der Strafkolonie ist eine Erzählung von Franz Kafka, die im Oktober 1914 entstand und 1919 veröffentlicht wurde. Einem Forschungsreisenden wird das Rechtssystem einer Strafkolonie vorgeführt. Es besteht darin, dass jeder Angeklagte unabhängig von seiner Schuld von einem Apparat in minutiösem Ablauf stundenlang gefoltert und dann getötet wird. Den Apparat beschreibt Kafka als überdimensionalen Parlograph in der Funktionsweise eines Phonographen mit vibrierender Metallplatte und Nadel. Dieser Apparat ist der Hauptgegenstand der Erzählung, er repräsentiert die Einheit von Schrift und ...

Aus heiterem Himmel sieht sich der Prokurist Josef K. eines Verbrechens angeklagt. Die Art der Anklage wird ihm nicht mitgeteilt, auch nähere Einzelheiten über das Gericht erfährt er nicht, außer, dass es auf den Dachböden heruntergekommener Vorstadthäuser tagt. Dennoch wird von ihm erwartet, dass er seinen Prozess ordentlich führt. Bekannte, die von seinem Prozess erfahren, bieten ihre Hilfe an, aber im Endeffekt kämpft K. praktisch alleine gegen ein übermächtigen und unbekannten Gegner, und der Ausgang des Prozesses bleibt im Dunkeln... Der Process ist ein Romanfragment von Franz ...

In this classic novella, the life of a drab office clerk named Golyadkin begins to be haunted by his "doppelgänger," a man identical to him possessing all the charm and charisma Golyadkin lacks. This double shows up over and over again, succeeding in the things Golyadkin has failed to do throughout his life. As this double infiltrates himself more and more into Golyadkin's life, the reader is left wondering who he is and what his purposes might be. - Summary by Magda Wilde

Notes from Underground is an 1864 novella by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Notes is considered by many to be the first existentialist novel. It presents itself as an excerpt from the rambling memoirs of a bitter, isolated, unnamed narrator (generally referred to by critics as the Underground Man) who is a retired civil servant living in St. Petersburg. The first part of the story is told in monologue form, or the underground man's diary, and attacks emerging Western philosophy, especially Nikolay Chernyshevsky's What Is to Be Done?. The second part of the book is called "Àpropos of the Wet Snow," and ...

Described as the Great Book of Wonders by Arthur Miller, this everyday tale of fraternal affection, sibling rivalry, obsession, lust, parricide, family intrigue, spiritual faith, death by economic deprivation and ultimate salvation in the soul, boasts (among other wonders) the perfect role for Marilyn Monroe, had Arthur only ever written the play. Madness, murder, mayhem and the courtroom drama to end all courtroom dramas it may be, but it is also (strangely) hilariously funny. It's all in the point of view. - Summary by Tony Addison