Showing results by narrator "Cate Barratt" in All Categories

Persuasion has certain similarities with Emma, another late novel by Jane Austen. In both stories, the heroine is a young woman who lives with her widowed father, and who has an enduring attachment to her eventual spouse from the opening of the action. Persuasion also incorporates certain elements common to Austen's earlier novels, such as characters from the military, visits to Bath and calculating and cynical suitors. In the end, Anne Elliot successfully combats the destructive vanity of her father and the machinations of her villainous cousin William.

Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin (1870-1953) was the first Russian author to receive the Nobel Prize for literature. The theme of the title story, which describes the death of a wealthy American in the island of Capri, has distinct links with the more famous treatment of this subject - "Death in Venice", by Thomas Mann. Bunin wrote: "The idea of a story [called initially] 'Death on Capri' came to me and in four days I finished the piece.

The novel traces the return of a young Englishwoman from several years of schooling abroad, to find that her life will not take up where she thought it would. Clarissa Lovel faced not only an emotionally and financially bereft father, but her first glimpse at love - and that not from the best vantage point.

Sandy Gutierrez wonders if she's in the midst of a lucid dream or perhaps a nightmare. As owner of the popular boutique Bathing Suits Galore in Somewhere, Oregon, she unexpectedly finds her orderly life shifted unimaginably when a handsome tourist enters her shop.

One of Canada's most cherished writers, British-born Stephen Leacock was probably best known and loved for his works of light humor. First published in 1912, Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town is one of his most popular and enduring pieces of fiction. This collection of short stories describes the people that comprise a typical but fictional small town in Ontario - Mariposa. The book's appeal lies in the universality of the characters Leacock describes so eloquently, they live out their 'large' lives in the little town.

The Circular Study By Anna Katharine Green Anna Katharine Green is considered a pioneer in American detective fiction, known for her legally accurate plots and the invention of the "girl detective" trope. Classic detective novel The Circular Study features New York Police Detective Ebenezer Gryce, who is drawn out of a melancholic pre-retirement by a bizarre murder. Set in a New York brownstone, a man is found stabbed in a secured, unique, circular study, involving a mute servant, hidden metal barriers, and a mysterious woman. BOOK I.

Russell once said, "Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric." His views on religion in general, and on Christianity in particular (as in this work), were considered "eccentric" by many of his contemporaries. So were his views on sex, which figures frequently as an example of the misery that Christian leaders and thinkers inflict, and for which he was often vilified. The lectures in this collection leave no doubt about his views on these and related subjects.

Hornung published this second volume of the adventures of genius cracksman A.J. Raffles in 1901. Raffles is always casing rich homes to burgle, and is always accompanied by his trusted friend and confidant 'Bunny.' While they generally score, their escapades are never without a certain degree of risk, but Raffles seems always prepared.

A Thief in the Night is the third book in the series, and the final collection of short stories. In it, Raffles, a gentleman thief, commits a number of burglaries in late Victorian England. Chronicler and accomplice Bunny Manders narrates additional adventures which he had previously omitted, from various points in their criminal careers.

An Englishman is enjoying his dinner at Stephano's, at which he is a regular diner. A man enters quickly, sits at his table, starts eating his food, and hands him a packet underneath the table! So begins Paul Walmsley's acquaintance - and adventures - with American adventurer Joseph H. Parker and his lovely daughter, Eve.

Romance and the French Revolution! Politics and love! Scaramouche, published in 1921, explores age-old tensions that continue into the present. “He was born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad …” So begins this historical tale of romantic adventure. Andre-Louis...

Anyone familiar with Russell's works will find a common theme running through the material: Despite being published over a century ago, his thoughts and philosophy remain remarkably a propos today. Russell argues AGAINST the possessive impulse that global capitalism stimulates in humans and which only benefits the possessor, and FOR the creative impulse, which benefits not only the creator but humankind as a whole. He also supports the establishment of an international parliament to address nation-to-nation conflicts—a palatable alternative to war.

In "Icarus; or, The Future of Science," Bertrand Russell explores the potential consequences of scientific advancement, drawing parallels between the myth of Icarus and the development of technology. He argues that while science can lead to progress, it also poses risks, particularly regarding power and societal structures. Russell suggests that scientific advancements, especially in the physical sciences, can increase power, lead to industrialism and war, and necessitate large-scale organization, which could potentially be used for oppressive purposes.

Volume V covers France’s history from the rise of Henry IV (Henry of Navarre) in 1589 to the death of Louis XIV in 1715.

Mathematician and philosopher Bertrand Russell was prompted to write and publish Why Men Fight (in 1917) as he and the world were experiencing the Great War. Russell shares his thoughts on how to end war - not just between states, but also between classes and individuals.

In his book Pragmatism, William James attacked the transcendental, rationalist tradition in philosophy and tried to clear the ground for the doctrine he called radical empiricism. The book caused an uproar; it was greeted with praise, hostility, and ridicule. Determined to clarify the pragmatic conception of truth, James collected nine essays he had written on this subject before he wrote Pragmatism and six written later in response to criticisms of that volume by Bertrand Russell and others. He published the collection under the title "The Meaning of Truth" in 1909, the year before his death.

Spend your next 30 minutes traveling to a future where first adopters have the most advanced robot butlers or where everyone has a superpower - except the young man you just met. Or perhaps you prefer a good hard-boiled detective story or one about a hardscrabble life in the Australian outback.

Early 20th-century philosopher, mathematician, historian, and social critic Bertrand Russell once again offers a refreshing and insightful look at the way in which we raise and educate our children and the effect it has on the kind of adults they become. Once again Russell demonstrates how timeless and unresolved some issues remain—be they war, religion, politics, or ... in this instance ... education.

This is final installment in Edith Nesbit's classic trilogy of time-traveling adventures by four enterprising children.

Volume I introduces the French history enthusiast to the author's beginnings, the king's unrelenting desire to establish his illegitimate children, his meddling in the lives of his court, and his successes and reverses on the battlefield.