Showing results by narrator "Kevin Gilhooley" in All Categories

The novella The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy was published in 1886 and is considered a masterpiece of his late-period fiction. It tells the story of a high-court judge in 19th-century Russia. He lives a simple, carefree life with his family until he is diagnosed with a terminal illness. Confined to bed, he is disgusted that his family avoids the subject of his death by pretending that he is only sick and not dying. He finds comfort only in Gerasim, the peasant boy who does not fear death.

Hermann Karl Hesse (1877-1962) was a German-born poet, novelist, and painter who received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1946. His best-known works include Demian, Steppenwolf, and Siddhartha, a novel that deals with the spiritual journey of self-discovery of a man named Siddhartha during the time of the Gautama Buddha. The structure of the novel reflects three of the traditional stages of life for Hindu males (student, householder, and recluse) as well as the Buddha's four noble truths and eight-fold path.

George Washington's Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation is an amazing book composed by Washington. It is based on a set of rules put forth by French Jesuits in the late 16th century.