Great Classics

Tales of the frozen North and the men and women who dared to challenge it, by the author of The Call of the Wild.

Based on a series of lectures by Leonard Peikoff and edited by Marlene Trollope, Discovering Great Plays provides the ability to understand, judge, and savor the values offered by great drama. Listeners will discover plot-theme as the key to a play; see Antigone as a great heroine and Iago as the darkest villain in literature; learn about the Cornelian hero; see how Schiller's "Grand Inquisitor" scene is the most dramatic and philosophic in all of theater; and discover Shaw's brilliance in presenting the genius against society.

These treasured stories from the most influential authors of the 19th and early 20th centuries are selected for their literary importance as well as their dramatic, oral qualities. Listen to these 10 unabridged classics by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, O. Henry, and Willa Cather.

Follow the spirited and self-assured Emma Woodhouse as she navigates matchmaking misadventures, class dynamics, and the gentle unraveling of her own heart. From her misguided attempts to pair her friend Harriet Smith with the wrong suitor to the slow realization of her feelings for Mr. Knightley, this edition retains the sharp humor and emotional insight that have made Emma a literary classic for over two centuries.

This second collecton of great American short stories includes titles by Mark Twain, O. Henry, and Nathaniel Hawthorne.

One of the great literary classics of Western literature and the only published novel written by Oscar Wilde. The Picture of Dorian Gray created great controversy on publication because of its homosexual undertones, and was later used as evidence against him at his trial at the Old Bailey in 1895. "If it were I who was to be always young, and the picture that was to grow old...I would give my soul for that!" The wish uttered by Dorian Gray as he gazes on his portrait forms the basis of this story.

Three professional narrators, Mike Vendetti, Kathy Verduin, and Stephen Jay Cohen, lend their voices to what is considered by many to be one of F. Scott Fitzgerald's greatest novels, The Great Gatsby. Travel back with them to the Jazz Age, where the wealthy and entitled collide with pretenders and common citizens.

Elliott Gould, Burt Reynolds, Meryl Streep, and a host of other celebrities read over 100 poems by four of America's greatest poets. Walt Whitman celebrates the brash and rugged individualism of his country in exuberant language. The spare, precise language of Emily Dickinson conveys her penetrating vision of the natural world and an acute understanding of the most profound human truths.

In this, perhaps Dickens' most profound and personal novel, we are invited to share in the sentimental education of Pip, the poor boy from the village forge who risks losing himself in snobbery and selfishness when he mysteriously inherits a fortune. The story moves from the bleak Kentish marshes of Pip's childhood to a thrilling climax that mingles tragedy and triumph.

Classical Greece is a period of only 200 years, but it is filled with exciting events that shaped the political thought of modern Western civilization. In these 200 years, the idea of democracy was born and developed, although their concept of democracy was much different than in modern times. Through the development of the polis, the ancient Greek society developed into its recognizable form of those with political rights and those without them.

The young John Updike’s portrayal of a haughty seminary student working as a lifeguard is witty and poetic, as the naïve hero surveys the beachgoers in his care, and contemplates a future of saving souls as well as bodies.

"Someone will be born hereabouts who will look just like the Great Stone Face, and he will be the noblest person of his time." This is the age-old prophecy that lies at the heart of the titular short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne of his remarkable collection, centering on tales situated in the White Mountains region. The hero in the first tale turns out to be the actual Great Stone Face, but it will take the villagers and himself a lifetime to realize this!

Just as the lovely Alvina Houghton comes of age, her widowed father’s business starts to dry up. In a drastic effort to regain his fortune and secure his daughter’s standing in society, James Houghton buys, of all things, a theater. Her father’s plans and dreams go misunderstood in the town, but the theater itself does quite well...for a time. One of the traveling players employed at the theater, a sensual Italian man named Ciccio, catches Alvina’s eye, and she finds herself intensely attracted to him.

it is unquestionable that Plato's understanding of education has had a profound impact on the development of educational theory and practice around the world for nearly two-and-a-half millennia. The study of his views is thus greatly beneficial, both as a means of examining fundamental questions about the nature of education addressed in his work, and also as a means of better understanding the historical roots of the western educational tradition.

Ever since the suspense and horror writer Chet Williamson read The Great Gatsby in his youth, it has been his favorite novel. Indeed, he considers it The Great American Novel, and, in this new collection of F. Scott Fitzgerald's work, he presents the original first edition text along with six hilarious stories that show the lighter side of the writer's work, and reveal why Fitzgerald was one of the most popular authors of the Roaring Twenties, and remains so today.

Book number 15 of the Tom Swift series finds our hero pursuing smugglers across the Canadian border. In his friends and a custom agent had to Canada in Tom's mighty airship equipped with the world's greatest Searchlight in search of smugglers were using Shopton as a destination. Of course along the way, Tom and his friends have several hair-raising experiences. This book was originally published in 1912, and attitudes and expressions were different from today, and some may find the language in this material offensive.

Bel Ami: La traducción del título en inglés es bastante elocuente: Historia de un sinvergüenza. George Duroy está dispuesto, caiga quien caiga y le cueste lo que le cueste, a ser alguien importante. En su concepto de moralidad, cualquier medio es aceptable para conseguir el fin propuesto. Las convenciones sociales no están hechas para él. Acaba de llegar a París, sin un céntimo, pero sabe que gusta a las mujeres y está decidido a utilizarlas de la forma que haga falta en su camino al éxito.

C.S. Lewis's dazzling allegory about heaven and hell - and the chasm fixed between them - is one of his most brilliantly imaginative tales, as he takes issue with the ideas in William Blake's ‘The Marriage of Heaven and Hell'. In a dream, the narrator boards a bus on a drizzly afternoon and embarks on an incredible voyage through Heaven and Hell. He meets a host of supernatural beings far removed from his expectations.

Sherlock Holmes! The very name of the world's greatest detective conjures up images of Victorian London, gaslit streets, hansom cabs, and dense fogs. But there was a time, a dark three-year period, when London had to make do without Sherlock Holmes. From 1891 to 1894, he was presumed dead, having perished during the epic struggle with that infamous Napoleon of crime, Professor Moriarty, atop the Reichenbach Falls. But unknown to most, even his friend Dr. Watson, Holmes survived.

This collection provides a wide selection of literary masterworks by authors of numerous nationalities. Included are: "The Father" and "Railroad and Churchyard" by Bjornstjerne Bjornson; "The Outlaws" and "A Christmas Guest" by Selma Lagerloff; "The Lover" by Maxim Gorky; "The Fountain of Youth" by Rudolf Baumbach; "The 47 Ronins" by Takashi Takamya; "Patient Griselda" by Giovanni Boccaccio; "The Distracted Preacher" by Thomas Hardy; "The Lady of Launay" by Anthony Trollope; and more.