Showing results by author "Valerio Di Stefano" in All Categories

Collection of children’s stories written in 1888, dealing primarily with love and selfishness. These stories are generally sad, with a moralistic message. The collection includes: The Happy Prince, The Nightingale and the Rose, The Selfish Giant, The Devoted Friend, and The Remarkable Rocket. (Summary written by Joy Chan)

The first memoir by the poet Lord Alfred “Bosie” Douglas was written 14 years after the death of Oscar Wilde and in the aftermath of Douglas's failed prosecution of Arthur Ransome for libel. Ransome, in his "Oscar Wilde, a Critical Study," had quoted from the expurgated portions of Wilde's prison letter to Douglas, "De Profundis", which was highly critical of his former friend and lover. Having failed to convince a jury that he had been libelled, Douglas appealed instead to posterity by writing his memoir. In "Oscar Wilde and Myself" Douglas refutes Wilde's version of the events that led ...

Publication of The Kreutzer Sonata in 1889 was a significant intellectual event worldwide. Censored in Russia, it set off an explosive debate in Europe, America, and Asia on matters relating to sexual abstinence and the hypocrisy of marriage. The novella emphasizes Tolstoy's controversial view on sexuality, which asserts that physical desire is an obstacle to relations between men and women and may result in tragedy. The Kreutzer Sonata has been recognized as among the best examples of Tolstoy's art of storytelling.(Introduction by Dorlene Kaplan)

The story involves a German professor (Otto Lidenbrock in the original French, Professor Von Hardwigg in the most common English translation) who believes there are volcanic tubes going toward the center of the Earth. He, his nephew Axel (Harry), and their guide Hans encounter many adventures, including prehistoric animals and natural hazards, eventually coming to the surface again in southern Italy. (Summary by Wikipedia)

Edgar Allan Poe's telling of Arthur Pym's narrative is shown to be true as events come together that bring out clues that help Captain Len Guy trace the fate of his brother's ship the Jane; the very ship that Arthur Pym was on board at the time of his disappearance. Through the efforts of Mr. Joerling, the crew of the Halbrane is enticed to make the trip to Antarctica to search for any survivors of the Jane. (Summary from Wikipedia)

Il Canzoniere di Francesco Petrarca è stata una grande "rivoluzione" nella letteratura europea in volgare: è il primo caso di canzoniere stricto sensu, cioè una raccolta organica di liriche "costruita" dall'autore in una prospettiva di unitarietà. E in effetti Petrarca, nonostante la intitolasse Rerum vulgarium fragmenta ("Frammenti di cose volgari"; il titolo "Canzoniere" verrà attribuito solo nel XVI sec.), ha scrupolosamente curato per tutta la vita la realizzazione di quest'opera, selezionando, limando, cambiando la disposizione dei componimenti, di cui persino il numero (366) ha un ...

Lord et Lady Glenarvan font une excursion au large de Glasgow à bord de leur yacht. L'équipage pêche un requin dans le ventre duquel on découvre une bouteille de Veuve Clicquot qui contient un message de détresse en trois langues différentes. Une expédition est mise en place pour tenter de retrouver les survivants.

Novelle per un anno è una raccolta di 241 novelle scritte da Luigi Pirandello. Originariamente sono state pubblicate sul Corriere della Sera, successivamente ripubblicate in 15 raccolte. Inizialmente erano previste 24 raccolte contenenti 365 novelle, tuttavia la prematura morte dell'autore ha impedito il raggiungimento del traguardo. Postume sono state pubblicate altre novelle scritte dall'autore. Le raccolte sono state pubblicate tra il 1922 e il 1938. (Riassunto di Filippo Gioachin) Questo libro è stato promosso dal gruppo Volontari del Libro di aNobii.

Non una storia, ma una serie di storie della letteratura spagnola. Falsi, libri anonimi, tragedie, romanzi, amore, tradimenti, vendette, pugnali, coltelli, santi e navigatori illustri in una serie di aneddoti, leggende, curiosità e approfondimenti sulla letteratura più originale e ricca d'Europa. L'autore sviscera l'essenza di opere tanto immortali quanto sconosciute in Italia..

The book of Genesis is the first book of the Bible. It is divided into two main parts, with chapters 1-11 telling the story of God and the whole world, and chapters 12-50 focusing in on the story of God, a man, and his family. These two parts are connected by a sort of "hinge" story in the beginning of chapter 12. This literary design gives us a clue as to how to understand the message of the book as a whole, as well as how the entire story of the Bible comes together.

It is a sign of the speed at which events are moving that Hurst and Blackett’s unexpurgated edition of Mein Kampf, published only a year ago, is edited from a pro-Hitler angle. The obvious intention of the translator’s preface and notes is to tone down the book’s ferocity and present Hitler in as kindly a light as possible. For at that date Hitler was still respectable. He had crushed the German labour movement, and for that the property-owning classes were willing to forgive him almost anything. Both Left and Right concurred in the very shallow notion that National Socialism was merely ...

The greatest Anthology of Short Story Audiobooks. All episodes are taken from Librivox.org. All Librivox.org Recordings are in the Public Domain.

What is the "good life" for us mortal beings? Two months spent recovering from a severe injury allowed Tolstoy to develop and organise his thoughts on the subject. On Life is his philosophical answer where love, religion, and morality come together to ground us in reality. - Summary by Cao Yuqing

A Study in Madness.

An Appendix to George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Despite its optimistic title, Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well has often been considered a "problem play." Ostensibly a comedy, the play also has fairy tale elements, as it focuses on Helena, a virtuous orphan, who loves Bertram, the haughty son of her protectress, the Countess of Rousillon. When Bertram, desperate for adventure, leaves Rousillon to serve in the King's army, Helena pursues him. (Summary by Elizabeth Klett)

This Edition of the Holy Bible, in the King James Version includes Introduction, Preface and an Appendix with Apocrypha and non-canonical Books. There are 66 books in modern printings of the King James Bible; 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament. Originally, when published in 1611, the King James Bible also contained 14 Books of the Apocrypha but these were gradually omitted from the early 1800s. The Catholic Bible contains 73 books; seven, called the deuterocanonical books taken from the 14 books of the Apocrypha . These seven are considered canonical by the Catholic Church, ...

Audiolibri, letture e lezioni-conferenza di Valerio Di Stefano

Tratto dal volume: "Silvio Berlusconi: per non dimenticare. Frasi e discorsi di un Presidente del Consiglio". Citazioni, frasi, discorsi parlamentari, interventi, interviste, atti del Parlamento Europeo, resoconti stenografici, barzellette, boutades, motti di presunto spirito, reazioni carpite dalle telecamere della televisione o dai microfoni della radio, esternazioni, testimonianze processuali, atti di procedimenti penali archiviati o risoltisi con una sentenza di assoluzione, prescrizione, intervenuta amnistia o addirittura (in un caso) di condanna, si tratti del Milan, delle donne, della ...

L'essenza dell'Abruzzo è declinata in questa novella nei suoi peculiari aspetti culturali. Lo sguardo attento e compiaciuto di Valerio Di Stefano ci accompagna attraverso le viuzze di un paesino dove la vita scorre ancora lenta, tra i profumi e i sapori di una terra "forte e gentile" come i suoi abitanti. "Lo schiaffatone" si differenzia completamente dalle precedenti narrazioni, mantenendo però il solito marchio di fabbrica: un'ironia inconfondibile e sottile che, in queste pagine, diventa bonaria ed empatica.