Shakespeare's great festive comedy, probably written and first performed around 1601, follows the adventures of twins Viola and Sebastian, who are separated from each other by a shipwreck. Viola, believing her brother dead, disguises herself as a page in order to serve the lovesick Duke Orsino, who has been rejected by the Countess Olivia. The ensemble cast includes a roster of wonderfully comic characters: Olivia's drunken uncle Sir Toby Belch, his foolish friend Sir Andrew Aguecheek, the witty serving woman Maria, the social-climbing steward Malvolio, and the clever, riddling clown Feste. (Summary by Elizabeth Klett)...

Comedy, Play

Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts was first published in 1881 and staged in 1882, and like his earlier play A Doll's House, profoundly shocked his contemporaries. Dubbed a dirty deed done in public by one of its critics, the play focuses on (among other things) venereal disease, euthanasia, and incest. The original title literally means the ones who return, and the play is about how we can deal with the awful legacy of the past. (Summary by Elizabeth Klett)...

Play, Tragedy

Eight years ago, Anne Elliot fell in love with a poor but ambitious young naval officer, Frederick Wentworth. The Elliots were dissatisfied with Anne's choice, feeling he was not distinguished enough for their family, and her older friend and mentor, Lady Russell, acting in place of Anne's deceased mother, persuaded her to break off the match. Now 27 and considered a spinster, Anne re-encounters her former fiance, now a captain, as he courts her spirited young neighbour, Louisa Musgrove. The self-interested machinations of Anne's older sister Elizabeth, of Elizabeth's friend Mrs. Clay, and of Anne's father's heir, William Elliot, constitute an important subplot. (Summary from Wikipedia)....

Franz Graf von Pocci, der „Kasperlgraf“ verfasste mehr als 40 Kasperlstücke für das Marionettentheater mit Themen aus der Märchen- und Sagenwelt sowie Beiträge für die Münchener Bilderbogen. Seine Kasperlgeschichten ranken sich um den Kasperl Larifari, der jedoch kein netter Held, sondern eine eher ambivalente Figur ist. Larifari weist auch dunkle Seiten auf und ist als ein nie erwachsen gewordener Erwachsener zu verstehen. Er hat nie die Chance, in einer intakten Familie aufzuwachsen und wird zum Blender, Trickser und Narzissten. (Zusammenfassung von Wikipedia und Elli)...

Comedy, Play, Children

From the author of Peter Pan: Lord Loam, a British peer, considers class divisions to be artificial. He promotes his views during tea-parties where servants mingle with his aristocratic guests, to the embarrassment of all. Crichton, his butler, particularly disapproves of this. Loam, his family, a maid, and Crichton are shipwrecked on a deserted tropical island. The resourceful Crichton is the only one of the party with any practical knowledge. Eventually, social roles are reversed, and Crichton becomes the governor. (Intro from Wikipedia & TriciaG)...

Play, Comedy, Satire

This is the story of Rose, a rich but lonely and sickly girl who has been recently orphaned and sent to live with her maiden aunts. When Rose's guardian, Uncle Alec, returns from abroad he takes over her care. Through his unorthodox theories about child-rearing and her exposure to the exploits of her seven male cousins and numerous aunts, Rose becomes happier and healthier, cured of many of her fears and prejudices. She also makes friends with Phebe, her aunts' maid of her own age, whose cheerful attitude in the face of poverty helps to illustrate to Rose her own good fortune....

Children

’s Children’s Short Works Collection 002: a collection of 10 short works for children in the public domain read by a variety of members.

Children, Fairy tales

Mendele Mocher Sforim (Mendele Book seller, literary name for Shalom Jacob Abramovitsch) (1835 - 1917, b. Kapulye, Belorussia), one of the first modern Jewish writers, wrote in both Hebrew and Yiddish throughout his career. In his work he described with sharp satirical criticism the traditional life in small Jewish towns, as well as tendencies for assimilation of learned Jews at the time. He was regarded as the grandfather of Yiddish literature but the Hebraic-Zionist atmosphere in Odessa influenced him, and in 1886 he turned to writing Hebrew fiction. Being a Jew has never been easy, certainly not in the 19th century Eastern Europe. Mendele Mocher Sforim wrote with love, and bitterness, about the harsh conditions of Jewish life at the time. The book tells the story of Hershele who leaves the harsh conditions in Russia for Germany, there to become an educated man of the world, but at the same time remaining a committed Jew. The book was first written in Yiddish (Dos Vintshfingerl) and later translated by the author into Hebrew (Emek Ha-Bakha, the vale of tears). (Summary by Omri Lernau)...

Fiction

Childhood (Детство [Detstvo]; 1852) is the first novel in Leo Tolstoy’s autobiographical trilogy. They are the works that launched his writing career. These books earned him instant acclaim. This book describes the major physiological decisions of boyhood that all boys experience....

Biography

A funny collection of poems about bad children.

Another delightful and sharply pointed excursion into the topics of the day, and of this day as well, with Gilbert Keith Chesterton. These reprinted magazine articles are filled with his good natured wit, his masterful use of paradox, and devastating ability to use reductio ad absurdum to destroy the popular myths that drive a society driving full-speed into secular humanism. You will come away with a whole new collection of wonderful quotes. - Ray Clare...

Gordon Bottomley's verse drama in two scenes is a prequel to Shakespeare's Macbeth. He provides Lady Macbeth with a name - Gruach - and imagines her family life and how she meets Macbeth. (Summary by Elizabeth Klett)...

Play

A little boy, recuperating from a lengthy illness, is entertained by visits from the Counterpane Fairy, who treats him to stories associated with each of the squares in the counterpane (quilt) on his sickbed. She has him concentrate on one of the squares until it turns into something like a doorway into the story. Once inside the story, he becomes its lead character until it fades out as if he's awakening from a dream. (Summary by Lee)...

Children, Fairy tales

John Webster's The White Devil (1612) is a Jacobean revenge tragedy, replete with adultery, murder, ghosts, and violence. The Duke of Brachiano and Vittoria Corombona decide to kill their spouses, Isabella and Camillo, in order to be together, aided by the crafty and ambitious Flamineo, Vittoria's brother. Their actions prompt vows of revenge from Isabella's brother Francisco, the Duke of Florence, and Count Lodovico, who was secretly in love with her. The title refers to the early modern proverb that the white devil is worse than the black, indicating the hypocrisy practiced by many of the characters in the play. ( Summary by Elizabeth Klett )...

Play, Tragedy

This is the second installment in Sophocles's Theban Plays that chronicles the tragic fates of Oedipus and his family. After fulfilling the prophecy that predicted he would kill his father and marry his mother, Oedipus blinds himself and leaves Thebes, to wander in the wilderness accompanied by his daughters Antigone and Ismene. (Summary by Elizabeth Klett)...

Tragedy, Play

Headlong Hall is the first novel by Thomas Love Peacock, published in 1815 (dated 1816). As in his later novel Crotchet Castle, Peacock assembles a group of eccentrics, each with a single monomaniacal obsession, and derives humor and social satire from their various interactions and conversations. The setting is the country estate of Squire Harry Headlong Ap-Rhaiader, Esq. in Wales....

Play, Satire

Burmese Commisioner Nayland Smith and his faithful friend Dr Petrie continue their fight against the evil genius of Dr Fu-Manchu when they seek to save the good doctor's lost love and protect the British Empire from disaster when their malignant enemy returns to England. (Summary by Elaine Tweddle)...

Fiction, Adventure, Mystery

First released in 1893, Coffee And Repartee is a collection of breakfast chats at a gentlemans boarding house run by a Mrs. Smithers. Here these fellows repeatedly face questions and proclaimations of an inhabitant they call The Idiot. The discussions sound friendly under pretense, but are really sly battles of ribald wit and cunning charm, as well as rather offensive remarks during a time period considered by many to favour a height of refined etiquette. The Idiot spars well, but will the other residents get the better of him? (Summary by Morlock)...

Fiction, Humor

The Book of Revelation, also called Revelation to John or Apocalypse of John, (literally, apocalypse of John; Greek, Αποκαλυψις Ιωαννου, Apokalupsis Iōannou) (IPA: [əˈpɑkəlɪps]) is the last canonical book of the New Testament in the Bible. It is the only biblical book that is wholly composed of apocalyptic literature. The visions given in this book were future events for the understanding of the early church, primarily. (Summary from Wikipedia and Sam Stinson)...

Religion

volunteers bring you 14 recordings of Retort by Paul Laurence Dunbar. This was the weekly poetry project for August 23rd, 2009.

Poetry, Humor