Résultats lu par "Simon Hester" dans Toutes les catégories

"This is a history and not a glorification of Mr. Polly, and I tell of things as they were with him.” So writes H.G Wells toward the end of his story of Mr. Polly, and indeed, the narrator’s voice throughout the book leaves us altogether ambivalent about his protagonist. The diminutive Everyman of the story is neither fully hero nor villain.

One would think that after the momentous events of 1969 H.G Wells’ science fiction adventure The First Men in the Moon would have lost any fascination for the modern listener. Yet, of course, Wells is never concerned merely with the mechanics of science fiction. It is surely the human reaction to these events that grips us and causes us to return again and again to this story.

Jerome. K. Jerome allows us to laugh, with and at, both himself and ourselves, in his writing. As we peruse his “Idle Thoughts” on subjects ranging from babies to ambition, from dogs to poverty, we find that the dust of over a hundred years have not dimmed the mirror in which we look. Jerome, as in his other comic works, presents a seeming stream of consciousness that can shift in a moment from the ridiculous to the sublime, from self-deprecation to intense longing.

The Picture of Dorian Gray is a novel which shocks us still. The sensibilities of its original Victorian readership may have blanched at the exoticism and barely disguised eroticism which drip from Wilde’s prose, but for us today who barely look twice at such things, we find something much more horrific at the heart of the book.

It is all to easy to be familiar with Oscar Wilde the aesthete, the limpid sophisticate ever ready with a witty epigram designed to both shock and stimulate. However, here in this set of short stories Wilde, at least partly, lays aside his barbs and is careful to not let cynicism cloud the parable like innocence of these tales. There is an undeniable purity in these tales, which Wilde’s simple, lyrical style beautifully enhances. Narrated by Simon Hester with original music.

After first introducing Sherlock Holmes in "A Study in Scarlet", Sir Arthur Conan Doyle then began his series of shorter Holmes' adventures as chronicled by the famous detective's friend and companion Dr. John Watson. Here, we have many classics of the Holmes series. The gothic horror of "The Speckled Band", the bizarre and clever deception of "The Red Headed League", the unique and frightening experience of the "Engineer's Thumb", and the lofty client from "A Scandal in Bohemia", a case that finds Holmes up against "The Woman".

Here are 12 specially selected tales by one of the masters of this miniature art, Saki (H.H Munro). They range from the comic deception of "The Schartz Metterklume Method" to "The Cobweb", a subtle meditation on life, change and death. Also included is Munro's short essay "Birds on the Western Front", a poignant description of some of Nature's response to the devastation of war, written in the very place where Munro would tragically lose his life to a sniper's bullet in 1916.

John Buchan himself stated that he set out to write a book in the style of the ubiquitous American “Dime Novel”. What he actually succeeded in creating was a relatively unique and new genre for British literature, the Spy Novel. Those thrilling elements of the fleeing innocent man hunted through the wilds by sinister and undefined dark forces have been explored countless times in books and on screen ever since.

Initially when one thinks of the possibility of becoming invisible the potential results are both intriguing and faintly comical. For H.G Wells however the subject is developed into a narrative that takes the concept of invisibility to its disturbing conclusion. For the author it is always the impact of science upon the Human heart and mind which is of interest and here results in a classic of science fiction.

Once again, Alice enters into an imaginary world full of nonsense, color, and paradox. This time, she enters through a mirror and, as one might expect, everything becomes back to front. She is on a quest to become a queen in a fantastical game of chess meeting both help and hindrance in a cast of unforgettable characters such as Humpty Dumpty and the White Knight.

On the edge of the unknown, Oak Wilder is beckoned to defend his homeland from the darkness lurking at his doorstep. However, Oak is not keen on leaving his rich farmland in the western Sussex of England to chase folklore. With the help of the Steward, he finds his courage to embark on the adventure and discover the truth that lay beyond the hills.

First published in 1895 this classic tale of three friends taking a boating holiday on the Thames is as fresh as ever and creates a unique blend of humorous travelogue and historical information; even pausing at times, amidst the comedic mishaps, to reflect eloquently upon life and its sufferings.

Perhaps the most famous and most accessible of Dickens' stories, which can be enjoyed every year afresh at Christmastime, as we never tire of the inspirational story of Scrooge's redemption and transformation.

June 1813. As the Peninsular War edges toward its climactic battle at Vitoria, a well-bred, newly commissioned, and hopelessly incompetent officer arrives to take charge of a seasoned troop of British cavalry. The troop's eloquent but shifty corporal takes the officer under his wing, and thus begins a journey through the campaign with many laugh-out-loud moments as the less-than-upright members of the troop determine to turn the war against the French to their pecuniary advantage.

The epic tale of a major inter-war novelist whose work was lauded by the literary establishment of the 1930s - but overshadowed by his biggest hit. As a 10-year-old working in a Leeds knacker's yard, Eric Knight had a dream. Emigrating to the USA, he reinvented himself as artist, newspaper reporter, film critic, and best-selling novelist. His books were praised by Ernest Hemingway and H L Mencken and turned into Hollywood movies.

Once again Alice enters into an imaginary world full of nonsense, color and paradox. This time she enters through a mirror and, as one might expect, everything becomes back to front. She is on a quest to become a Queen in a fantastical game of chess meeting both help and hindrance in a cast of unforgettable characters such as Humpty Dumpty and the White Knight.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (commonly shortened to Alice in Wonderland) is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a young girl named Alice falling through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures. The tale plays with logic, giving the story lasting popularity with adults as well as with children.

In this 1914 collection of short stories by P.G. Wodehouse, listeners are beckoned into the whimsical universe of P.G. Wodehouse, where wit dances hand in hand with charm. Through these stories, Wodehouse showcases his mastery of the short form, offering vignettes that sparkle with his trademark humor and keen observation of human nature.

In the swirling mists of post-World War I England, a character emerged from the pen of "Sapper", (H.C.McNeile) whose adventures would captivate readers and endure through the ages. Bulldog Drummond, the invincible hero, burst onto the literary scene with a resounding force that echoed the sentiments of a society grappling with the aftermath of conflict and the winds of change.