検索キーワード： ナレーター "Peter Joyce" すべてのカテゴリー

This is Volume Four of the greatest romantic narrative novel of the early 19th century. John Halifax, Gentleman, tells the story of an orphan boy whose first words in the story are “Sir, I want work; may I earn a penny?” By hard work, diligent study and an unshakeable faith in his God John attains wealth and happiness, despite much hardship and heartbreak throughout his life. The story chronicles the class movement of the time and gives us a remarkable description of social, political, and industrial change.

Dr. Wortle's School... is Trollope's most merciless attack on the false moralising and hypocrisy of the Victorian age. When Dr. Wortle, in good faith, hires a couple as teacher and matron at his school, scandal about their marriage is subsequently brought to light. Will the doctor submit to the social pressures brought to bear on him by the gossip, the local newspaper and the bishop or hold true to his humanism, perhaps losing his respect, school and livelihood as a result?

Arthur Morrison... grew up in the East End of London and was familiar with life on the dockside. He tells the story of ‘The Hole in the Wall’ through the eyes of young Stephen Kemp, taken to live with his grandfather after the death of his mother. Nat Kemp is determined to keep his grandson apart from the seamier side of the Docklands but Stephen has a natural inquisitiveness that will not be quelled.

An exciting... adventure indeed as the Seagrave family, en route to Australia, are shipwrecked and become castaways on a desert tropical island. Thankfully Masterman Ready, a good man to have in a crisis, is on hand to build shelter and solve the many problems they encounter- to build a fish pool, catch turtles and how to cultivate the available resources .

Timothy, at just over 100 years of age, is the last survivor of the 10 siblings of Superior Dosset Forsyte. In this latest volume we are introduced to the grandchildren of those Forsytes who first began the Saga. Soames’s daughter Fleur is 20 at the start of the 1920s, a bright, wilful and independent spirit who can twist her father around her little finger. There is also Jon, the offspring of Jolyon and Irene, a sensitive and intelligent, though slightly naïve, young man of the same age.

In a fit of drunken bitterness, a young hay trusser, Michael Henchard, sells his wife, Susan, to Mr. Newson, a sailor, at a country fair. The transaction also includes their daughter, Elizabeth Jane. When sober the next day, he regrets his action but looks for them in vain and is eventually told they may have emigrated. Eighteen years later Henchard is the Mayor of Casterbridge, and the people of the town believe him to be a widower.

John Buchan's hero Edward Leithen chances upon a worldwide plan for domination. With his own life (and the lives of his friends) depending on the outcome of his struggle, he engages in combat with the anarchic brain behind The Power-House. The author, despite being very busy in public service, wrote over 50 books during his life, but his particular talent was for writing fast-moving adventure stories. The Power-House, a good example of this genre, was first published in 1916.

No woman shall succeed in Salique land. Louis X is dead, poisoned, murdered, by the hand of Mahaut d'Artois. Her plan is simple - to clear the path to the throne for her son-in-law, Philippe. However, there is the small matter of Queen Clemence and her unborn child. As the country is thrown into turmoil, Philippe of Poitiers must use any means necessary to save his country from anarchy. However, how far is he willing to go to clear his path to the throne and become King in his own right?

This is a sensible book. I want you to understand that. This is a book to improve your mind. In this book, I tell you all about Germany – at all events all I know about Germany – and the Ober-Ammorgau Passion Play. I also tell you about other things. I do not tell you all I know about all these other things because I do not want to swamp you with knowledge. I wish to teach you gradually. I should only be defeating my own object that I, by making you think too much at first, give you a perhaps lasting dislike to the exercise.

Over 100 years since it was first published Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow addresses subjects which are still relevant today – perhaps more so! Being hard up, being in the blues and being in love are just some aspects of the human condition on which Jerome K. Jerome reflects in his unique whimsical fashion. These insights are not given for the benefit of our education however, for as he says in his introduction, “This book would not elevate a cow.'

The aptly titled sequel to Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow which is also recorded by Assembled Stories and proved immensely popular.In this succeeding outburst of whimsy Jerome reflects on a variety of subjects such as 'the art of making up one's mind', 'the care and management of women' and 'the minding of other peoples business'.

Long recovered from the ravages of the Riftwar, the land and people of the kingdom of the Isles thrive. Nicholas, the youngest son of Prince Arutha, is intelligent and gifted but vastly inexperienced. In hopes of hardening him, his father sends him and his irreverent squire, Harry, to live at Rustic Castle Crydee to learn of life beyond the halls of privilege. But within weeks of Nicholas and Harry's arrival, Crydee is viciously attacked by unknown assailants, resulting in murder, massive destruction, and the abduction of two young noblewomen.

If there were two more impetuous and carefree men in the Kingdom of the Isles, they had yet to be found. Twins Borric and Erland wore that mantle proudly, much to the chagrin of their father, Prince Arutha of Krondor. But their blissful youth has come to an end. Their uncle, the king, has produced no male children. Bypassing himself, Arutha names Borric, the eldest twin by seconds, the royal heir. As his brother, Erland will have his own great responsibilities to shoulder.

In 1842, Charles Dickens visited America. His reception was somewhat colder than that which usually greeted him - already a successful author in both Britain and the United States. This lack of enthusiasm from the Americans was partly due to his criticism of the pirating of English books in that country and partly due to his outspoken distaste for the custom of slavery in the southern states.

"He was too imperious, too masterful, too much inclined to think that all things should be made to go as he would have them." Thus Trollope describes his hero Harry Heathcote, a settler and sheep farmer in the untamed bush of Australia in 1871. However, Harry has made enemies. In seeking always to act in the honourable fashion he cannot bend and embrace the weaknesses of others.

Written in 1926...and published posthumously [without the authors customary revision] in 1930, The Virgin and the Gypsy is a minor masterpiece in short story writing. It provides an excellent introduction to Lawrence’s work, being a succinct distillation of his ideas about sexuality and its ability to transcend class barriers. Yvette and her sister Lucille come back from finishing school in Lausanne with a much broader outlook on life than the inhabitants of the cloistered world to which they return.

Shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, Sir Edward Leithen is told that he has but one year left to live. He relinquishes his law practice and resigns from public office in order to make peace with himself and to reconcile himself with his maker. However, he also wants to die standing, not to creep into the 'bleak bag's end of life'. This will involve one last physical challenge.

On one level...Melville’s tale is an historical adventure telling the story of life aboard ship shortly after the mutiny at Spithead in 1797. Billy is taken from a homeward bound merchantman to serve on the ‘Seventy Four’ HMS Indomitable. He falls foul of Claggart, the ‘Master at Arms’, and the final confrontation results in death. Billy becomes an unwilling martyr - what passes for justice must be implemented because of the rebellious climate of the time.

The ‘sketches’ in this... volume are more the substance and length of short stories illustrating the development of the tools of the Masters trade: farce, parody, irony, black humour and wonderful one liners which unerringly hit the mark. The ensuing narrative, however, brings the listener bumpily back to earth with a reminder of the mean and often tragic lives that were being endured in the busy, uncaring metropolis.

The house at Richmond is finished at last, but Soames takes Bosinney to court for exceeding the budget. The final judgment of their case turns on ‘a very fine point’ in their correspondence.... The architect does not heed Young Jolyon’s warning and continues to pursue Irene - with fatal consequences.