Showing results by narrator "John van Stan" in All Categories

A compelling argument for the necessity for art in life, Nietzsche's first book is fuelled by his enthusiasms for Greek tragedy, for the philosophy of Schopenhauer and for the music of Wagner, to whom this work was dedicated. Nietzsche outlined a distinction between its two central forces: the Apolline, representing beauty and order, and the Dionysiac, a primal or ecstatic reaction to the sublime. He believed the combination of these states produced the highest forms of music and tragic drama, which not only reveal the truth about suffering in life, but also provide a consolation for it.

Embark on a swashbuckling adventure with "The Three Musketeers," a captivating part of "The d'Artagnan Romances" by Alexandre Dumas. This audiobook transports you to 17th-century France, where the heroic d'Artagnan joins forces with the charismatic musketeers to protect the throne and navigate a world of intrigue and swordplay. Dumas' rich narrative weaves together action, humor, and romance, bringing to life unforgettable characters and daring escapades. With its themes of loyalty, honor, and friendship, the story resonates across generations.

Part local legend of a dark and dangerous Wolf-Leader, part childhood memories of his home near Villers-Cotterets, in Aisne, Dumas here penned a chilling supernatural encounter between man and the devil. Our hero, Thibault the shoemaker, is beaten on the orders of the Lord of Vez for hunting in the lord's forest. With Thibault's resentment at his treatment by the world at its height, the devil sees his chance and, in the guise of a wolf, proposes a deal which Thibault accepts; the ever available trade of one's soul for evil power.

The essays contained in this volume treat of various subjects. With the exception of perhaps one we must consider all these papers as fragments. Written during the early Seventies, and intended mostly as prefaces, they are extremely interesting, since traces of Nietzsche's later tenets - like Slave and Master morality, the Superman - can be found everywhere. But they are also very valuable on account of the young philosopher's daring and able handling of difficult and abstruse subjects.

In 1869, at the age of twenty-five, the precociously brilliant Friedrich Nietzsche was appointed to a professorship of classical philology at the University of Basel. He seemed marked for a successful and conventional academic career. Then the philosophy of Schopenhauer and the music of Wagner transformed his sense of purpose. The genius of such thinkers and makers - like the genius of the ancient Greeks - was the only touchstone for true understanding. How then was education to answer to such genius? Something more than sturdy scholarship was called for.

This 5th volume of the Marie Antoinette Romances begins after the fall of the Bastille and the March on Versailles, which forced Louis XVI and his court to be escorted back to Paris. In Paris, political factions battle over the fate of the nation, the royal family, and anyone with royalist sympathies. Our heroes (like Ange Pitou) and our anti-heroes (like Gilbert) must navigate the blood-streaked landscape while keeping their necks out of the guillotine. All the while, the prophetic Balsamo urges on the revolution.

This 4th volume of the Marie Antoinette Romances begins several years after the close of "The Queen’s Necklace". It describes the events leading up to and including the storming of the Bastile. Past plots of Count Balsamo (aka, Cogliostro) to destroy the French monarchy are resurrected by the mysterious Dr. Gilbert - a student of Balsamo’s occult arts and the Enlightenment philosopher, Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Considered by many critics to be a highlight of the Marie Antoinette Romances, Dumas tells this quintessential story of the French Revolution through the lens of the people.

Coffee Chats with a Future-Person is speculative fiction for listeners who have thought about what "home" means when the universe is very large. It is warm, wry, and hopeful, even when the topics are not. Listen to one chatter, look out the window, and notice the world again.

Pompiety: A Dialogue of the Damned is a satirical graveyard exchange between contemporaries, Mark Twain and Friedrich Nietzsche, resurrected for one last reckoning on progress, piety, and the fate of a bruised planet. Through sharp dialogue and ecological critique, the two probe the limits of technooptimism, dismantle the determinism inherent to science worship, and wrestle with the moral debris of modernity.