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A Contented Man
LibriVox volunteers bring you 11 recordings of A Contented Man by Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev. This was the Weekly Poetry project for September 5, 2021. —— Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev was a Russian novelist, short story writer, poet, playwright, translator and popularizer of Russian literature in the West. Constance Clara Garnett was an English translator of nineteenth-century Russian literature. She was the first English translator to render numerous volumes of Anton Chekhov’s work into English. Altogether, she translated 71 volumes of Russian literature, many of which are still in print today. – Summary by Wikipedia
A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy
As a precursor to Capital, Marx outlines his analysis of capitalism and critiques classical economic theories. – Summary by Tray
A Country Doctor
A Country Doctor is a fiction novel by American author Sarah Orne Jewett. The book, which was first published in 1884, was based on the relationship between Jewett and her physician father. The main character of A Country Doctor, Nan, is a young woman who encounters much strife when she decides to go against the traditional values of the day and become a doctor. The book has been listed as an example of the shift in the perception of the role of women in society, with the main character of Nan choosing to pursue her career in medicine rather than a marriage and family – Summary by Wikipedia
A Country Doctor by Sarah Orne Jewett
A Country Doctor is a novel by American author Sarah Orne Jewett. The book, which was first published in 1884, was based on the relationship between Jewett and her physician father.
A Country Mouse
You could be forgiven upon reading that title, not to mention auditing the opening scene, for thinking that this is a play of a simple country girl fallen among aristocratic Victorian-era swingers in the big city. But this Country Mouse is anything but innocent. – Summary by Son of the Exiles Cast list: The Duke of St. Kitts (aged 65): Alan Mapstone Lord Robert Wyckham (aged 30): Greg Giordano John Bowlby, M.P. (aged 36): ToddHW The Hon. Archibald Vyse (aged 28): ksb013 Jephcot (a butler, aged 60): Wayne Cooke Servant: James R. Hedrick Lady Sylvia Bowlby (aged 26): Matea Bracic Violet Aynsley (aged 24): Jenn Broda Angela Muir (aged 18): TJ Burns Mrs. Cropper (aged 50): WendyKatzHiller Stage Directions: Michele Eaton Editing: Michele Eaton
A Course of Lectures on the Principles of Domestic Economy and Cookery
“This course of lectures is designed to meet the wants of two classes of persons: First?Those who are experienced housekeepers, familiar with the principles and practice of cookery, but who desire information concerning the preparation of the finer dishes of the modern school. Second?The young ladies in attendance at the University and others like them, who have had their time and attention so engrossed with studies and other duties that they have not had the opportunity to qualify themselves in this most important branch of a woman?s education.” – Summary by From the Introduction
A Cousin’s Conspiracy
Ernest Ray is a young boy who sets out to reclaim the inheritance that was unjustly with held from his father and given to a cousin. (Introduction by Abigail Rasmussen)
A Critical Examination of Socialism by W. H. Mallock
The Civic Federation of New York, an influential body which aims, in various ways, at harmonising apparently divergent industrial interests in America, having decided on supplementing its other activities by a campaign of political and economic education, invited me, at the beginning of the year 1907, to initiate a scientific discussion of socialism in a series of lectures or speeches, to be delivered under the auspices of certain of the great Universities in the United States. This invitation I accepted, but, the project being a new one, some difficulty arose as to the manner in which it might best be carried out—whether the speeches or lectures should in each case be new, dealing with some fresh aspect of the subject, or whether they should be arranged in a single series to be repeated without substantial alteration in each of the cities visited by me.
A Crown for Joanna
She was born a princess, heir to her father?s kingdom of Portugal, and she might at will have reigned from almost any throne in Europe. But instead of this, she made what to her world seemed a thoroughly mad choice ? for she chose to have a throne in heaven. Today those scepters are dust which she would not accept, and as Blessed Joanna of Portugal she possesses a throne imperishable? This children?s biography of Blessed Joanna of Portugal was written by Sister Mary Jean Dorcy, a Catholic Dominican Nun. The author is probably best known for her exquisitely intricate paper cutting silhouettes, with which she illustrated her books. (Introduction from the original book and by Maria Therese)
A Cruise in an Opium Clipper
Eamont was an opium clipper built in Cowes. It was the subject of an 1891 book, A cruise in an opium clipper, by Captain Lindsay Anderson. Eamont was involved in the opening of Japan to foreigners in 1858, serving as a dispatch boat between Nagasaki and Shanghai, and was one of the first vessels to open up a trade with Formosa?. The Eamont was sent on some very dangerous trips. She was one of the first vessels to open up a trade with Formosa, and made the first survey of the port of Taku, which she entered by bumping over the reef in spite of a tremendous surf beating upon it at the time, a most daring performance. And in her efforts to trade with the Formosans she had to withstand the attack of hundreds of armed natives right on top of a typhoon, which she succeeded in riding out on her moorings. But the captain of the Eamont was a famous fighting man, as the Chinese pirates knew to their cost?. The Eamont was also employed in the negotiations for the first commercial treaty with Japan. (See Wikipedia article on Eamont (schooner)) – Summary by Wikipedia and david wales
A Cruising Voyage Around the World
First to the South-seas, Thence to the East-Indies, and Homewards by the Cape of Good Hope. Begun in 1708, and Finish’d in 1711. Containing a Journal of All the Remarkable Transactions; Particularly, of the Taking of Puna and Guiaquil, of the Acapulco Ship, and Other Prizes; an Account of Alexander Selkirk’s Living Alone Four Years and Four Months in an Island; and a Brief Description of Several Countries in Our Course Noted for Trade, Especially in the South-sea. With Maps of All the Coast, from the Best Spanish Manuscript Draughts. And an Introduction Relating to the South-sea Trade. (Woodes Rogers) The story of the first privateer and his adventures; including the account of Alexander Selkirk’s living alone on an island off Chile which formed the background to Robinson Crusoe. (Kim)
A Cry From An Indian Wife
LibriVox volunteers bring you 13 recordings of A Cry From an Indian Wife by E. Pauline Johnson,. This was the Fortnightly Poetry project for January 29, 2012. In 1892 the opportunity of a lifetime came to this young versifier, when Frank Yeigh, the president of the Young Liberals’ Club, of Toronto, conceived the idea of having an evening of Canadian literature, at which all available Canadian authors should be guests and read from their own works. Among the authors present on this occasion was Pauline Johnson, who contributed to the programme one of her compositions, entitled “A Cry from an Indian Wife”; and when she recited without text this much-discussed poem, which shows the Indian’s side of the North-West Rebellion, she was greeted with tremendous applause from an audience which represented the best of Toronto’s art, literature and culture. She was the only one on the programme who received an encore, and to this she replied with one of her favourite canoeing poems. The following morning the entire press of Toronto asked why this young writer was not on the platform as a professional reader; while two of the dailies even contained editorials on the subject, inquiring why she had never published a volume of her poems, and insisted so strongly that the public should hear more of her, that Mr. Frank Yeigh arranged for her to give an entire evening in Association Hall within two weeks from the date of her first appearance. It was for this first recital that she wrote the poem by which she is best known, “The Song my Paddle Sings.” ( Summary from the Biographical Sketch included in Flint And Feather, collected verse by E. Pauline Johnson )
A Crystal Age
A Crystal Age is a utopian novel written by W. H. Hudson, first published in 1887. The book has been called a “significant S-F milestone” and has been noted for its anticipation of the “modern ecological mysticism” that would evolve a century later. (Summary by Wikipedia)
A Cynic Looks at Life by Ambrose Bierce
“The question “Does civilization civilize?” is a fine example of petitio principii, and decides itself in the affirmative; for civilization must needs do that from the doing of which it has its name. But it is not necessary to suppose that he who propounds is either unconscious of his lapse in logic or desirous of digging a pitfall for the feet of those who discuss; I take it he simply wishes to put the matter in an impressive way, and relies upon a certain degree of intelligence in the interpretation.” -an excerpt
A Damsel in Distress by P. G. Wodehouse
Lady Maud, the spirited young daughter of the Earl of Marshmoreton, is confined to her home, Belpher Castle in Hampshire, under aunt’s orders because of an unfortunate infatuation. Enter our hero, George Bevan, an American who writes songs for musicals and is so smitten with Maud that he descends on Hampshire’s rolling acres to see off his rival and claim her heart. Meanwhile, in the great Wodehousian tradition, the Earl of Marshmoreton just wants a quiet life pottering in his garden, supported by his portly butler Keggs and free from the demands of his bossy sister and his silly-ass son.
A Dangerous Flirtation by Laura Jean Libbey
Three young girls, as fair as youth and beauty could make them, stood with arms twined about one another on the sands of Newport one hot August afternoon.
Neither of the trio could have been over seventeen. All three were dressed in white, and looked as delightfully cool, sweet and airy, with their floating white ribbons and wind-blown curls, as summer maidens can possibly look.’ -an excerpt
Written in a style of narrative similar to Henry James, Laura Jean Libbey’s present novel ‘A Dangerous Flirtation’ is an engaging but longish romantic novel.
A Daughter of Jehu by Laura E. Richards
A daughter of Jehu by Laura Elizabeth Howe Richards. . From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be rea
A Daughter of the Snows by Jack London
A Daughter of the Snows is Jack London’s first novel. Set in the Yukon, it tells the story of Frona Welse, “a Stanford graduate and physical Valkyrie” who takes to the trail after upsetting her wealthy father’s community by her forthright manner and befriending the town’s prostitute.
A Day in a Colonial Home by Della R. Prescott
The average home to-day has conveniences to meet the demands of comfortable living. The heating and lighting are good. In nearly every home may be found a living room where the family assembles for rest and recreation. Here they read, sew, chat, and discuss the news. Similar scenes occurred in the colonial days, but in quite a different room. The kitchen took the place of our modern living room. The life of the colonists centered in it, for in the kitchen was the fireplace, often the one source of heat in the whole house. Its warmth and cheer and its use as a place for cooking made it the heart of the home. Here it was that the family interests and activities were centered; all the family group collected here to share the joys and sorrows of life.
A Day with a Tramp by Walter A. Wyckoff
The following narratives, like those published in the series of “The Workers,” East and West, are drawn from notes taken during an expedition made ten years ago. In the summer of 1891 I began an experiment of earning my living as a day laborer and continued it until, in the course of eighteen months, I had worked my way from Connecticut to California.
In justice to the narratives it should be explained that they are submitted simply for what they are, the casual observations of a student almost fresh from college whose interest in life led him to undertake a work for which he had no scientific training.
A Day With Great Poets
Who was John Milton? The author of Paradise Lost you say? Well, certainly, but he was also a man, going about his daily life like any of us in 17th century England, (except that he was a genius of course). Take time to read about a day in his life and learn more about him and his likes, dislikes, background and proclivities. Also, the same with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Walt Whitman, Lord Byron, Keats and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Each of them a man or woman of their times, living each day like us, but seeing shades and hues of life that we can only experience through their exquisite poetry. These are meant by the author to be brief biographies with examples of their works and some insights into their common foibles as humans in addition to human geniuses. If you love to read poetry, you will enjoy reading these short bios which contain much of their best poetry in them. The selections are from a number of stand alone sources but Browning is part of another book and the link below is to that directly. (Summary by phil chenevert)
A Day with William Shakespeare by Maurice Clare
The present book ‘A Day with William Shakespeare’ by Maurice Clare is written as part of a series in which each of the books is a fictional account of a day of the respective renowned writer, poet or dramatist based on the information available about them through their works.
A Desert Drama: Being The Tragedy of The “Korosko” by Arthur Conan Doyle
A Desert Drama: Being The Tragedy of The “Korosko”‘ is a novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It was first published in the year 1898. It narrated the adventures and thrill of a group of europeans on a trip to African deserts and their adbuction by an army of Dervish militants. What happens next, read!
A Desperate Character and Other Stories by Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev
Pyetushkov is the work of a young man of twenty-nine, and its lively, unstrained realism is so bold, intimate, and delicate as to contradict the flattering compliment that the French have paid to one another—that Turgenev had need to dress his art by the aid of French mirrors.
Although Pyetushkov shows us, by a certain open naïveté of style, that a youthful hand is at work, it is the hand of a young master, carrying out the realism of the ‘forties’—that of Gogol, Balzac, and Dickens—straightway, with finer point, to find a perfect equilibrium free from any bias or caricature. The whole strength and essence of the realistic method has been developed in Pyetushkov to its just limits. The Russians are instinctive realists, and carry the warmth of life into their pages, which warmth the French seem to lose in clarifying their impressions and crystallising them in art. Pyetushkov is not exquisite: it is irresistible. Note how the reader is transported bodily into Pyetushkov’s stuffy room, and how the major fairly boils out of the two pages he lives in! (pp. 301, 302). That is realism if you like. A woman will see the point of Pyetushkov very quickly. Onisim and Vassilissa and the aunt walk and chatter around the stupid Pyetushkov, and glance at him significantly in a manner that reveals everything about these people’s world. All the servants who appear in the tales in this volume are hit off so marvellously that one sees the lower-class world, which is such a mystery to certain refined minds, has no secrets for Turgenev.
A Dictionary of Slang, Cant, and Vulgar Words by John Camden Hotten
“Gipseys follow their brethren by numerous marks, such as strewing handfuls of grass in the day time at a four lane or cross roads; the grass being strewn down the road the gang have taken; also, by a cross being made on the ground with a stick or knife, the longest end of the cross denotes the route taken. In the night time a cleft stick is placed in the fence at the cross roads, with an arm pointing down the road their comrades have taken. The marks are always placed on the left-hand side, so that the stragglers can easily and readily find them.”—Snowden’s Magistrate’s Assistant, 1852, p. 444.
A Dictionary of The English Language by Samuel Johnson
Orthography is the art of combining letters into syllables, and syllables into words. It therefore teaches previously the form and sound of letters.
A Dictionary of the First or Oldest Words in the English Language by Coleridge
he present publication may be considered as the foundation-stone of the Historical and Literary portion of the Philological Society’s proposed English Dictionary. Its appearance in a separate form has been necessitated by the nature of the scheme, on which that work is being constructed. Without entering into details, which will be found in the Society’s published Prospectus, it will be sufficient for the present purpose to mention, that the raw material of the Dictionary, the words and authorities, are being brought together by a number of independent collectors, for whom it is consequently necessary to provide some common standard of comparison, whereby each may ascertain what he is to extract, and what to reject, from the author, or work, he has undertaken.
A Digit of the Moon: A Hindoo Love Story by F. W. Bain
The better to illustrate how, in Hindoo mythology, the ideas of a beautiful woman, the Moon, and the Sea, dissolve and disappear into one another, I have placed on the fly-leaf of this edition a single stanza, drawn from another part of my MS., which characteristically exemplifies that dissolving view: subjoining here, for the benefit of the uninitiated, a literal translation:
A Discourse on Method by René Descartes
“If this Discourse appear too long to be read at once, it may be divided into six Parts: and, in the first, will be found various considerations touching the Sciences; in the second, the principal rules of the Method which the Author has discovered, in the third, certain of the rules of Morals which he has deduced from this Method; in the fourth, the reasonings by which he establishes the existence of God and of the Human Soul, which are the foundations of his Metaphysic; in the fifth, the order of the Physical questions which he has investigated, and, in particular, the explication of the motion of the heart and of some other difficulties pertaining to Medicine, as also the difference between the soul of man and that of the brutes; and, in the last, what the Author believes to be required in order to greater advancement in the investigation of Nature than has yet been made, with the reasons that have induced him to write.” -Preface
A Doctors Story of Life & Death by Dr Kakarla Subbarao, Arun K Tiwari
Kakarla Subbarao FRCR, FACR, FICP,FSASMA, FCCP, FICR, FCGP, is an eminent bone radiologist. He left for USA in 1951 and had a long medical career there retiring as a professor in radiology from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. He was also the founder president of Telugu Association of North America (TANA).
an umbrella organization for Telugu speaking people in America. He returned to India from in 1986 on call of Chief Minister N.T. Rama Rao and founded the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences in Hyderabad. The Indian Radiological and Imaging Association conferred upon him ‘Radiologist of the Millennium’ award in the year 2000. He
and converted his ancestral property in an international school for children and established KREST, a non-profit foundation to encourage research in Radiology in India.
A Doll’s House: A Play by Henrik Ibsen
First published in the year 1879, the present book ‘A Doll’s House: A Play’ is a Norwegian play by Henrik Ibsen. This three act play is set in a Norwegian town circa 1879. The play is significant for the way it deals with the fate of a married woman, who at the time in Norway lacked reasonable opportunities for self-fulfillment in a male dominated world. It aroused a great sensation at the time, and caused a “storm of outraged controversy” that went beyond the theatre to the world newspapers and society.
A Dreamer’s Tales by Lord Dunsany
I hope for this book that it may come into the hands of those that were kind to my others and that it may not disappoint them.
To the Editor of the Saturday Review my thanks are due for permission to republish here those of the following tales which have appeared in his columns, and, more than that, for the opportunity afforded me by his review of reaching a wider public than my books have attained to yet.
A Fable for Critics by James Russell Lowell
A Fable for Critics is a book-length poem by American writer James Russell Lowell, first published anonymously in 1848. The poem made fun of well-known poets and critics of the time and brought notoriety to its author.
A Fair Barbarian
The setting is a small English village in the 19th century. When her niece shows up on her doorstep unexpectedly, a quiet spinster finds her life turned upside down. (Summary by Linda Andrus)
A Fair Barbarian by Frances Hodgson Burnett
A Fair Barbarian by Frances Hodgson Burnett It was Miss Belinda Bassett who received the first shock. Miss Belinda Bassett was a decorous little maiden lady, who lived in a decorous little house on High Street.
A Fair Mystery
(Written by Charlotte M. Brame under the pen name Bertha M. Clay.) Honest Mark Brace is about to lose his farm, land of his ancestors, home to his wife, Patty, and small daughter, Mattie, when out of a dark and stormy night comes the answer to his prayers. A tiny babe, tender and fair, left on their doorstep with a note asking Mark and Patty to bring the child up as their own, to raise it to be good, like themselves, and to accept for their troubles a hundred pounds a year. The farm is saved, and all is peaceful for a while as the beautiful baby, Doris, grows into an even more beautiful child. But as she grows, so too grows her awareness of her own loveliness, of her difference from the humble farmers who raise her. Doris hungers for luxury, jewels and velvet, bright fetes and ardent admirers. Confident that her ethereal beauty and native wit will bring her everything she deserves, she focuses her energies on obtaining these things and sets in motion a chain of events that will break hearts, rip at the mystery surrounding her birth, and culminate in the greatest tragedy of them all. A story of love in many forms, A Fair Mystery is part romance, part tragedy, and part social commentary, one which asks us to pause a moment and reflect on what it is that is truly worth having in this life. (Summary by Elanor Sakamoto)
A Fairy Glee
This poem is taken from Volume X, A Library of American Literature: An Anthology in Eleven Volumes. 1891. Vols. IX?XI: Literature of the Republic, Part IV., 1861?1889
A Family Man
John Builder is a solid, middle-class Englishman. He is very domineering but finds that the women around him are insistent on living their own lives. They will not let him take control. His world begins to fall apart around him. Summary by Michele Eaton Cast: Stage Directions: MichaelMaggs Mr Builder: Adrian Stephens Maud: Jenn Broda Guy: John Payton Topping: Alan Mapstone Harris: Andrew Kennedy Camille: JennPratt Mrs Builder: WendyKatzhiller Annie: Michele Eaton Mayor: ToddHW Athene: Diana Helen Kennedy Ralph: Anthony Joseph Sergeant: David Purdy Moon: James R. Hedrick Chantrey: Mark Kilkelly Boy’s Voice: ksb013 Journalist: Sonia
A Family of Noblemen
Meet the Golovliovs, the ultimate dysfunctional family. In the difficult transition years before and after the liberation of Russia?s serfs, the Golovliovs are a gentry family ill-equipped to face the adaptations necessary in the new social order. Petty, back-biting, greedy, rigid, ignorant, and cruel, their personalities are captured in the array of nicknames they themselves give each other: The Hag, Little Judas, Simple Simon, Pavel the Sneak, the Orphans, the Blood-Sucker. They hate each other ferociously and utterly despise the peasants around them, who are gradually awakening to the potentialities of their new freedoms. In this most famous of Saltykov-Shchedrin?s novels, there is a keen sympathy toward the plight of women caught in the complexities of social change: Anninka and Lubinka, the aristocratic orphans who, seeking independence, recklessly cast themselves into the bohemian life; the matriarch Arina Petrovna, whose desperately vigorous administration of the estate leads to an exhilarating but only temporary stability; the peasant girl Yevpraksia, who is resistlessly taken by the loathsome Porfiry Vladimirych as his mistress. Far from a piece of social propaganda, A Family of Noblemen shows a subtle portraiture of the complex characters and convoluted circumstances of the time. (Expatriate)
A Far Country
The book follows the career of Hugh Paret from youth to manhood, and how his profession as a corporation lawyer gradually changes his values. The book received positive reviews, and was the second best-selling novel in the United States in 1915. – Summary by Wikipedia
A Fatal Message
Nick Carter is a fictional detective who first appeared in 1886 in dime store novels. Over the years, different authors, all taking the nom de plume Nicholas Carter, have penned stories featuring “America’s greatest detective”. This tale opens with Nick eavesdropping on two strangers in the next booth as he finishes his lunch. One of the men works at the telegraph office and is discussing an unusual wire he received. Nick’s interest is aroused.
A Father’s Advice by E. P. Miller
You are now old enough to know- good from evil; you are old enough to understand what sin means; you know that when you tell a lie, or take what is not your own, you commit a sin; but do you know that sin means disobedience to God’s laws of every kind?
A Few Facts about British Rule in India by The Hindustan Gadar
In 1893 the PIONEEE sums up Mr. Grierson’s facts regarding the various sections of the population in Gaya: “Briefly, it is that all the persons of the labouring classes, and 10 per cent of the cultivating and artisan classes, or 45 per cent of the total population, are insufficiently clothed, or insufficiently fed, or both. In Gaya district this would give about a million persons without sufficient means of support. If we assume that the circumstances of Gaya are not exceptional — and there is no reason for thinking otherwise — it follows that nearly 100,000,000 of people in British India are living in extreme poverty.”
A Few More Verses
Susan Coolidge was the pen name of Sarah Chauncey Woolsey, who is best known for her What Katy Did series. This is the second of three volumes of her verse. (Summary by Rachel)
A Field Study of the Kansas Ant-Eating Frog, Gastrophryne olivacea by Fitch
HENRY S. FITCH’s book ‘A Field Study of the Kansas Ant-Eating Frog, Gastrophryne olivacea’ is a detailed, well researched scientific work around animal habitat and life sciences. This book will interest those who wish to study about different strange species of various animals and living organisms with their different behaviors effected by their surrounding climate.
A Fleece of Gold; Five Lessons from the Fable of Jason and the Golden Fleece by Charles Stewart Given
Among the smaller forces, which operate upon the mind and tend toward strengthening and exalting the best ideals, are little books like this. They are especially valuable when so much of the author’s own experience forms a thread upon which are suspended jewels of thought and illustration serviceable to those who would see and know the best things.
The book is recommended to all those who would become more familiar with “the key to that cabinet of character, in which nature conceals not only the motive power of every-day life but those latent talents and energies that through a knowledge of self can bear upon our lives.” This book will help many who have small opportunities in the form of time and money to expend in larger volumes.
-Preface by Charles Stewart Given