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The Philosophy of Composition
- Narrated by: Laura Eastwood
- Length: 29 mins
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The Philosophy of Composition
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Publisher's summary
Edgar Allan Poe’s essay, "The Philosophy of Composition", sets forth a theory on good writing. It first appeared in the April 1846 issue of Graham's Magazine, and Poe illustrates his theory on the composition of his poem, "The Raven". The three main elements of his philosophy of composition are length, logical method, and "unity of effect". Poe believed that literary works should be short, claimed that writing is methodical, not spontaneous, and asserted that a work of fiction ought to be written only after the author has decided on the conclusion and on the desired emotional response or effect. Once this effect has been established, the writer should proceed to other elements such as the characters, plot, setting, theme, and tone. Because of its logical rigidity, it has been suggested that this essay was meant as satire.
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-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 168
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 148
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 148
One of Nietzsche’s earliest works, The Birth of Tragedy (1872) is a remarkable source of inspiration. It is here that the philosopher expresses his frustration with the contemporary world and urges man to embrace Dionysian energy once more. He refutes European culture since the time of Socrates, arguing that it is one-sidedly Apollonian and prevents man from living in optimistic harmony with the sufferings of life.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The Apollonian vs The Dionysian
- By JCW on 02-05-18
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Plato's Phaedrus
- By: Plato
- Narrated by: Ray Childs
- Length: 2 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 108
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 94
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 94
Phaedrus lures Socrates outside the walls of Athens, where he seldom goes, by promising to share a new work by his friend and mentor, Lysias, a famous writer of speeches. This dialogue provides a powerful example of the dialectical writing that Plato uses to manifest ideas that are essential to human existence and to living a good life. Phaedrus shows how oral and written forms of language relate to each other and to philosophy.
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1 out of 5 stars
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six pages (Hackett Complete Works edition) missing
- By S. Lee on 01-17-19
By: Plato
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Plato's Phaedo
- By: Plato
- Narrated by: Ray Childs
- Length: 2 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 169
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 145
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Story5 out of 5 stars 146
Socrates is in prison, sentenced to die when the sun sets. In this final conversation, he asks what will become of him once he drinks the poison prescribed for his execution. Socrates and his friends examine several arguments designed to prove that the soul is immortal. This quest leads him to the broader topic of the nature of mind and its connection not only to human existence but also to the cosmos itself. What could be a better way to pass the time between now and the sunset?
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2 out of 5 stars
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The voice acting is horrible
- By Will Livingston on 03-25-21
By: Plato
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Letters to a Young Poet
- By: Rainer Maria Rilke, Stephen Mitchell - translator
- Narrated by: Stephen Mitchell
- Length: 1 hr and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 261
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 165
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 165
Ranier Maria Rilke challenges you, "...to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answers." Rilke's ability to combine the sensual and the spiritual into an inspired vision of the art of living is brought to vivid life in his letters. Through his eyes, the everyday difficulties of love, sex, solitude, sadness, and doubt are seen as the archetypal elements of the drama called life.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Priceless Recordings of Intense Feeling
- By David on 10-08-04
By: Rainer Maria Rilke, and others
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Six Memos for the Next Millennium
- By: Italo Calvino, Geoffrey Brock - translator
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 3 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 43
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 29
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Story5 out of 5 stars 29
At the time of his death, Italo Calvino was at work on six lectures setting forth the qualities in writing he most valued and which he believed would define literature in the century to come. Here, in Six Memos for the Next Millennium, are the five lectures he completed, forming not only a stirring defense of literature but also an indispensable guide to the writings of Calvino himself. He devotes one "memo" each to the concepts of lightness, quickness, exactitude, visibility, and multiplicity.
By: Italo Calvino, and others
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The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Other Tales of Terror
- By: Robert Louis Stevenson
- Narrated by: Michael Kitchen
- Length: 5 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 200
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 163
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 162
This dark psychological fantasy is more than a moral tale. It is also a product of its time, drawing on contemporary theories of class, evolution and criminality, and the secret lives behind Victorian propriety, to create a unique form of urban Gothic.
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4 out of 5 stars
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The Dark Human Heart
- By Jefferson on 01-30-11
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The Bondwoman's Narrative
- By: Hannah Crafts, edited by Henry Louis Gates Jr.
- Narrated by: Anna Deavere Smith
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 188
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 104
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 105
An unprecedented historical and literary event, this tale written in the 1850s is the only known novel by a female African American slave, and quite possibly the first novel written by a black woman anywhere. A work recently uncovered by renowned scholar and professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., it is a stirring tale of "passing" and the adventures of a young slave as she makes her way to freedom.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Poor reading of an important book
- By Hilary on 11-15-04
By: Hannah Crafts, and others
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The Scarlet Letter
- By: Nathaniel Hawthorne
- Narrated by: Kate Petrie
- Length: 6 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,436
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,246
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,244
One of the most important novels in classic literature, Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter tackles the subject of adultery, with the notorious Hester Prynne at the forefront of the scandal in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In the beginning of the novel, Hester is serving time in prison for having a child out of wedlock and is forced to wear a scarlet A on her clothing at all times, so she cannot run from her sin no matter where she goes.
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3 out of 5 stars
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missing the introductory???
- By Savannah on 05-20-20
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Letters to a Young Poet
- By: Rainer Maria Rilke
- Narrated by: Marc Allen
- Length: 1 hr and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 70
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 58
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 57
These have been called the most famous and beloved letters of the past century. Rainer Maria Rilke himself said that much of his creative expression went into his correspondence, and here he touches upon a wide range of subjects that will interest writers, artists, and thinkers. This luminous translation of Rainer Maria Rilke's classic offers brilliant inspiration to all people who seek to know and express their inner truth.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Absolutely amazing writing, great reader.
- By Matt on 09-10-15
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Spring and All: Facsimile Edition
- New Directions Pearls
- By: William Carlos Williams
- Narrated by: Sean Slater
- Length: 1 hr and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 37
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 30
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 30
A beautiful facsimile of the 1923 original edition which is considered "one of the greatest poems of the twentieth century" by The New York Times. Spring and All is a manifesto of the imagination - a hybrid of alternating sections of prose and free verse that coalesce in dramatic, energetic, and beautifully cryptic statements of how language re-creates the world. Spring and All contains some of Williams' best-known poetry.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Classic!
- By Amazon Customer on 01-25-18
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The Medieval Mind of C.S. Lewis
- How Great Books Shaped a Great Mind
- By: Jason M Baxter
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 5 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 89
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 77
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Story5 out of 5 stars 77
C. S. Lewis had one of the great minds of the 20th century. Many know Lewis as an author of fiction and fantasy literature, including the Chronicles of Narnia and the Space Trilogy. Others know him for his books in apologetics, including Mere Christianity and The Problem of Pain. But few know him for his scholarly work as a professor of medieval and Renaissance literature. What shaped the mind of this great thinker?
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent
- By andrew wilson smith on 03-08-22
By: Jason M Baxter
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The Varieties of Religious Experience
- By: William James
- Narrated by: Jim Killavey
- Length: 18 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 105
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Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 76
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Story4 out of 5 stars 78
The Varieties of Religious Experience is considered to be the classic work in the field. To quote Wikipedia, "James was most interested in understanding personal religious experience. The importance of James to the psychology of religion - and to psychology more generally - is difficult to overstate. He discussed many essential issues that remain of vital concern today. What makes James writing so special is that he could take a very complex subject and, without watering it down, make it understandable to 'the rest of us.'"
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5 out of 5 stars
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Profound stuff
- By Empowerment on 09-05-09
By: William James
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Nature
- By: Ralph Waldo Emerson
- Narrated by: Phil Paonessa
- Length: 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 102
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 86
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 85
This version of Nature is an 1843 revision to the popular essay written and published in 1836. In the original essay, Emerson put forth the foundation of transcendentalism and suggested that reality can be understood by studying nature. Within the essay, Emerson divides nature into four usages: commodity, beauty, language and discipline. These distinctions define how humans use nature for their basic needs, their desire for delight, their communication with one another, and their understanding of the world.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Beautiful Classic, rushed reading
- By Chris C. on 01-07-21