Showing results by narrator "Paul Spera" in All Categories

The myth of Echo and Narcissus appears in Ovid's "Metamorphosis", a Latin mythological epic from the Augustan Age. It is one of the most touching stories ever written and has inspired countless works of art through the centuries. The nymph Echo angers Hera, queen of the gods, who curses her: henceforth, Echo will only be able to repeat the last words that struck her ears. One day, the beautiful Narcissus, son of a nymph and a river god, passes through the forest.

"Zadig" is a work of philosophical fiction by the famous Enlightenment writer Voltaire. It is a delightful mix of political satire and insightful challenge of religious and metaphysical orthodoxy, with its main character undergoing a complete moral revolution while human life is presented as in the hands of a destiny beyond human control. Along with absolute stylistic mastery, Zadig provides insight into the nature of free will, in a story whose fast pace follows the highs and lows bestowed by Fortune on the hero.

"Philosophy in the Bedroom" ("La philosophie dans le boudoir") was written in 1795 by the Marquis de Sade, while imprisoned in the Bastille. It is a work of erotism, laced with socio-political subversion. The main characters are libertines, who decided to give a young maiden their own brand of sex education. They explain to her that pleasure is the most important goal of all, and then proceed with affirming that she will not be able to feel "true pleasure" without pain.

"The Last of the Mohicans" is a historical novel set during the Seven Years' War, when France and Great Britain battled for control of North America. It is striking, suspenseful and fast-paced, and has been widely considered the first Great American Novel. James Fenimore Cooper's classic follows an intrepid group of frontiersmen and Native Americans as they navigate the rugged terrain of both the landscape and their racial differences, striving together to deliver Colonel Munro's two daughters to safety.

The classical poetry of Japan focuses on direct experience of fleeting moments, in total contrast with its Occidental counterpart. These seminal poems were passed down orally, before great collections assembled works of art spanning several centuries in written form as early as the 8th century, from the Kojiki to the Kokinshu.

"Herbert West Reanimator." Howard Phillips Lovecraft (1890-1937) is a novelist famous for his horror stories, fantasy and science fiction. Although he was not famous during his lifetime, his work is now considered a classic of literature. Lovecraft's work has influenced many authors, including Stephen King, who considers him "the greatest craftsman of the classic horror story of the 20th century."

Among his many feats, Lincoln is widely remembered for having paved the way for the abolition of slavery, before his assassination in 1865. These 100 quotes have been selected to introduce you to one of the greatest political minds that lived, in an efficient and convenient format.

The fictional gentleman thief is a master of disguise, a criminal genius and a moral figure well-set in righting a few wrongs himself when Justice can't be bothered. Arsène Lupin is traveling under an alias when he gets attacked and robbed by a mysterious thief. The police is under strong suspicion that the thief is the wanted Lupin. The real one will have to go along with the detectives in search of the impostor.

Mark Twain is one of the wittiest and most prolific writers of all time. He is mostly known for "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and its sequel, "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", which is often called the Great American Novel.

"Thérèse and Germaine" is a short story in the"The Eight Strokes of the Clock" collection of eight short stories by Maurice Leblanc. Their main character: Arsène Lupin, the beloved gentleman thief, one of the most famous characters of the detective genre. All eight stories are independent but brought together by a leading thread. Posing as Prince Rénine, Lupin uses his legendary wit to free a young woman from a tedious destiny before having her make him a promise: she will become his bride if together, they manage to solve seven other mysteries before the eighth stroke of the clock, three months from then.

In this audiobook, read by Paul Spera, each historical event is replaced into context and presented in clear and easy-to-read snippets, so that younger and older readers can deepen their understanding of how modern France came to be and broaden their culture.

"Justine, or The Misfortunes of Virtue", is an early work by the Marquis de Sade. It is a novella, written in two weeks while he was imprisoned in the famous Bastille. Unlike some of his other works, it is not just a catalogue of sadism. It is meant to bring new life to an old genre, which had the reader accustomed to see virtue eventually triumph after trials only meant to bring out its value. Sade would have none of that in Justine: in her quest for virtue, the main character keeps falling into terrible situations, which humiliate her and present her with sexual lessons hidden under the mask of virtue.

"The Art of War", by the Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu, was written in fifth century BC and remains one of the most influential strategy treatises of all time. It was held as the most important military treatise for 1500 years, and has now a pervasive influence on Eastern and Western military thinking, business tactics, legal strategy and beyond. The ancient wisdom of this ultimate guide to combat strategy is indeed applicable in all areas of life by anyone willing to ensure every kind of victory.

Baruch Spinoza was one of the most important and controversial thinkers of the 17th century. He rejected both the mind-body dualism of Descartes and traditional religious views, which got him violently attacked for atheism while he was actually seeking to redefine God as the whole of the laws of Nature. His metaphysics are a brilliant attempt to reconcile human freedom with a belief in scientific explanation, and his Theological-Political Treatise, the first argument for democracy by a major philosopher, contributed as much as the Declaration of Independence or Thomas Paine's Common Sense to modern liberal, secular, and democratic thinking.

Ten mythological heroes and stories from Greek mythology, for a delightful overview of the fundamentals of our culture. This is a selection of the most touching and inspiring stories from Ancient Greece; they have all inspired countless works of art through the centuries, often come from even more ancient myths, and are here retold in a detailed and lively manner.

In this audiobook, read by Paul Spera, each historical event is replaced into context and presented in clear and easy-to-read snippets, so that younger and older readers can deepen their understanding of how modern France came to be and broaden their culture.

"The Death of Adonis" is a fundamental part of Greek mythology and one of its most touching stories. Accidentally wounded by one of Eros' arrows, the goddess Aphrodite falls desperately in love with the handsome Adonis, son of a king and a beauty among mortals. Yet his only passion is hunting and he refuses to take her warnings seriously when he hears about a great boar he would love to slay. There is something of the idea of coming of age in this tale, when the moment of realisation brings forth the understanding of what could have been and where the real beauty lays.

Beatrice Clay's retelling of Arthurian tales remain as vibrant today as when they first became a popular success eighty years ago. Sir Galahad, Sir Launcelot, Queen Guenevere and Morgan Le Fey, all these beloved characters are brought together for a vibrant recreation of life in the Middle Ages. This great treasure-house of stories is to English culture what the stories of Ulysses and Aeneas were to the Greeks and Latins, a national inheritance of which they should be, and are, proud.

Alongside Baudelaire, Mallarmé, and Rimbaud, with whom he had a stormy relationship, Paul Verlaine is one of the most influential poets of the "fin de siècle". He was one of the greatest representatives of the Decadent movement that began in the 1870s, and a leader of the "Symbolists". His stylistic innovations brought a new musicality to French poetry; it was he who paved the way for modern poetry with its experiments in free verse and new techniques.

Ten grippling short stories of Arsène Lupin: one of the most famous and intriguing figures of French detective literature. He was created by Maurice Leblanc, a brilliant journalist, writer and storyteller, and is the hero of a total of 24 books, novels and short stories alike. The fictional gentleman thief is a master of disguise, a criminal genius and a moral figure well-set in righting a few wrongs himself when Justice can't be bothered.