Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/296319 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Reparation Author: J. D. Beresford Narrator: Cathy Dobson Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 1 hour 0 minutes Release date: June 22, 2017 Genres: Classics Publisher's Summary:

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/295785 to listen full audiobooks. Title: The Golden Ass Author: David Timson Narrator: David Timson Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 9 hours 6 minutes Release date: June 9, 2017 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 4 of Total 1 Ratings of Narrator: 5 of Total 1 Genres: Classics Publisher's Summary: 'In this hapless state I looked myself over and saw that I was now no bird, but an ass...' In this ancient picaresque adventure, Lucius, an insatiably curious young man, finds himself transformed into a donkey after his fascination with black magic and witchcraft goes awry. While trapped in his new body, he becomes the property of thieves, farmers, cooks, soldiers and priests, and observes the hypocrisy and ineptitude of Imperial Roman society... The Golden Ass is considered the only novel to survive the Roman period, and the earliest novel to survive complete in the Western literary tradition. It is brimming with slapstick humor and sexual escapades, and foreshadows later works by Boccaccio, Rabelais, Cervantes and Chaucer, upon whom it was a direct influence. • David Timson has directed, produced and read a great number of Naxos AudioBooks recordings, and undertaken this task with meticulous preparation. He is well versed in the history of ancient Rome, having read the complete Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire for Naxos AudioBooks. Translator: E. J. Kenney

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/296344 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Frankenstein Author: Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Narrator: Christopher Lee Format: Abridged Audiobook Length: 2 hours 59 minutes Release date: May 4, 2017 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 2.33 of Total 3 Genres: Classics Publisher's Summary: The story of Victor Frankenstein, a Swiss scientist, starts and ends in the frozen wastes of the Arctic. There, he tells Robert Walton, his English rescuer, about his obsessive quest to create life and its disastrous results. He has attempted to make a superhuman and succeeded in producing a terrible monster instead. The being is physically repulsive and Frankenstein, terrified by what he has done, abandons him. Neglected and uncared for, the creature turns to evil. Many of the other characters, from the angelic Elizabeth to the faithful friend Henry Clerval, innocently face their violent dooms because of Frankenstein's quarrel with his creature.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/297000 to listen full audiobooks. Title: The Picture of Dorian Gray Author: Oscar Wilde Narrator: Martin Shaw Format: Abridged Audiobook Length: 2 hours 23 minutes Release date: May 4, 2017 Genres: Classics Publisher's Summary: The Picture Of Dorian Gray is the novel of the decadent 1890's. Wilde's only full length novel, it is a thrilling, melodramatic tale of love, murder, thwarted revenge and final justice. But in its pages Wilde also expressed his own distinctive views on art, life and beauty through Lord Henry Wotton, the immoral aristocrat who corrupts Dorian Gray. In some ways both Dorian and Lord Henry are self-portraits of Wilde - not as he was but as he would have liked to appear. This adds to the novel's power and poignancy. 1. A WISH UTTERED. The book opens on a scene of typical luxury. Lord Henry Wotton, lolling on a divan, teases his friend Basil Hallward about his infatuation with the young Dorian Gray. Hallward, who is painting Dorian's portrait, warns Lord Henry against corrupting the youth. But when Dorian appears, he is overwhelmed by Lord Henry's daring views. Hallward completes his picture and Dorian, gazing at it, wishes that the portrait might grow old and ugly while he himself remained untouched by the passing years. 2. YOUNG LOVERS. A month later Dorian, a close friend of Lord Henry and much under his influence, reveals to him that he has fallen in love with Sibyl Vane, a young actress at a minor theatre. Lord Henry wonders what she is like when she is not on stage, but he consents to come to see her act that evening. Meanwhile, Sibyl tells her own family - her mother, a disappointed actress, and her brother James, who is going to sea - that she is in love with a young man whom she knows only by the name Prince Charming. James Vane swears that if this man ever harms his sister, he will find him and kill him. 3. A BRIEF ENGAGEMENT. That evening, while waiting for Dorian, Lord Henry tells Basil of Dorian's engagement to Sibyl. When Dorian arrives aglow with love, he relates how they fell into each other's arms, and how Sibyl makes him forget Lord Henry's poisonous ideas. Lord Henry protests, but at the theatre he is charmed by his first sight of Sibyl. She, however, appals Dorian by acting very badly. After the show, he is unimpressed by her explanation that she no longer feels that the theatre is worthwhile compared to the passion she feels for Dorian. Claiming that she has killed his love, he contemptuously abandons her. 4. THE PORTRAIT STARTS TO SNEER. After a night roaming the streets, Dorian returns to find something strange in his portrait: it now has a trace of cruelty not visible in his own face. Deeply shaken, he decides the next day to make amends to Sibyl. Lord Henry turns up to offer sympathy unaware that Dorian does not know of Sybil's suicide. When he does, he is grief-stricken for a moment but accepts Lord Henry's explanation that Sibyl never really lived as a person - only as an actress. The next day Basil is shocked to find that Dorian has spent the previous night at the opera and now dismisses the whole affair. Reluctantly accepting Dorian's conduct, Basil asks to see the portrait which is hidden by a screen. Dorian, terrified that Basil will notice the change, refuses him. 5. A PICTURE IS HIDDEN. Dorian asks Basil why he never exhibited the picture. Basil confesses that there is something extraordinary about his portrait. After he has gone, Dorian hides the picture in disused room. He then becomes entranced by a fantastic yellow book, which Lord Henry has sent him. 6. THE ROAD TO RUIN. Influenced by the yellow book, Dorian starts to live a life of secret debauchery, corrupting other young men and women. Soon, evil rumours start circulating about him but he still appears as fresh and pure as day his portrait was painted. That, however, grows steadily more menacing. One night, he meets Basil Hallward near his home and shows him the portrait. The shocked painter urges Dorian to repent but he refuses and, in a sudden fit of anger, kills Basil. The next day, Dorian summons Alan Campbell, a scientist and blackmails him into helping dispose of Basil Hallward's body. 7. THE COILS OF CRIME. Once the body and other evidences are destroyed, Dorian visits an opium den in the slum of the East End of London. There, his nickname. Prince Charming is overhead by James Vane, now back in England and intent on avenging his sister. Dorian saves himself by showing that he is far too young to have committed a crime 18 years old. Stunned, Vane lets him go. But women whom Dorian has ruined years before tells Vane the truth and he resumes his quest. 8. THE PICTURE RESTORED. Entertaining guests at his country house, Selby Royal, Dorian suddenly faints when he sees James Vane's face pressed against a window; he has been followed. But the next day Vane is killed in a shooting accident and Dorian can breathe easily again. He also seems to have escaped blame for the death of Basil Hallward. Back in London he started to finds his own ageless beauty intolerable and decides at last to give up his evil ways. Eagerly, he rushes upstairs and searches his own monstrous portrait for the first signs of his repentance. All he sees is look of cunning hypocrisy. Enraged by this, he picked up a knife to slash the picture - and a terrible cry is heard across London. When the room is finally forced open, his servants find on the wall a portrait of Dorian in his perfect youth - and a hideous old man stabbed to death on the floor, recognisable only by his rings.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/296933 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Dracula Author: Bram Stoker Narrator: Anthony Valentine Format: Abridged Audiobook Length: 2 hours 23 minutes Release date: May 4, 2017 Genres: Classics Publisher's Summary: Fast paced and nightmarishly vivid, this greatest of Gothic tales propels the reader into the heart of darkness from its opening pages. Stoker increases the tension and mystery of his masterpiece by setting it in the form of different journal entries and letters by various characters. Only gradually does the full horrifying picture emerge: Dracula, far from being merely an eccentric foreigner, is a threat to all mankind. But this is not discovered until it is too late for some. Storms and wolves, shipwrecks and gypsies, haunted castles and graveyards: the horrors pile up until the final moment of triumph seconds before sunset.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/300424 to listen full audiobooks. Title: James Joyce - Ulysses Author: James Joyce Narrator: EG Marshall, Siobahn McKenna Format: Abridged Audiobook Length: 0 hours 54 minutes Release date: May 4, 2017 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 3 of Total 1 Genres: Classics Publisher's Summary: Ulysses is a seminal novel by the Irish writer James Joyce that has had a great impact on the modernist movement. Indeed, for many critics, the novel has established most of the conventions of modern fiction and has become one of its fundamental references. After being serialized in magazines, Ulysses was first collected and published in 1922. The narrative, which is set in the Irish capital Dublin, follows the two principal characters of Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dedalus. Different issues are discussed and reflected upon ranging from Irish history and nationalism to anti-Semitism, art, literature, sexual desire, marital infidelity, death, religion and theology. In each episode, Joyce draws parallels between his own story and Homer's classic epic poem The Odyssey, often borrowing the names of its heroes and places and invoking its main themes. Joyce's novel is marked by experimentation, the extensive use of symbolism, figures of speech, allusive language, metaphorical language and parody. It is also in Ulysses that Joyce develops his now famous narratorial technique known as "the stream of consciousness" where the character's thoughts are naturally presented without any attempt at interrupting them or rearranging them.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/297507 to listen full audiobooks. Title: The Dubliners Author: James Joyce Narrator: Jim Norton Format: Abridged Audiobook Length: 2 hours 59 minutes Release date: May 4, 2017 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 3.67 of Total 6 Ratings of Narrator: 3 of Total 1 Genres: Classics Publisher's Summary: Set against the background of Dublin at the turn of the century, Joyce's celebrated collection of short stories recount a series of unremarkable incidents in the lives of ordinary men and women. Stylistically straightforward, it is Joyce's eye for detail, matched only by his interest in the habits and patterns of daily life and celebration of the unique wit and landscape of the Irish that makes these stories so enchanting.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/296944 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Mary Barton Author: Elizabeth Gaskell Narrator: Maggie Ollerenshaw Format: Abridged Audiobook Length: 2 hours 23 minutes Release date: May 4, 2017 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 5 of Total 1 Genres: Classics Publisher's Summary: There are stark differences between rich and poor in the Manchester of Elizabeth Gaskell's novel, Mary Barton. Factory owners such as Mr Carson, do not understand the anger of their poverty stricken workers, and care little for their welfare. For the mill-workers, employment means food on the table and being one step away from starvation, but trying to gain any political power means risking a loss of livelihood. The author does not depict the owners as intrinsically wicked, but shows through her writing that it is characters like The Barton's who deserve the reader's sympathy. By the end of the novel, Mrs Gaskell proves that the rich need not be heartless.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/296371 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Pride & Prejudice Author: Jane Austen Narrator: Neil Conrich Format: Abridged Audiobook Length: 2 hours 44 minutes Release date: May 4, 2017 Genres: Classics Publisher's Summary: Pride and Prejudice is a masterpiece of wit and perception, ridiculing the superficial manners of Jane Austen's time. But it is more than just social satire. Notice, in particular, how the author's close attention to detail makes the events and characters so true to life. Above all, enjoy the story - its sheer narrative force and humour - and enter a world of snobbery, romance and uncertainty, in which people behave casually, indifferently or even cruelly - in short just like people behave everywhere in the world today.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/296993 to listen full audiobooks. Title: War & Peace - Part 1 Author: Leo Tolstoy Narrator: Edward Petherbridge Format: Abridged Audiobook Length: 2 hours 25 minutes Release date: May 4, 2017 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 1 of Total 1 Genres: Classics Publisher's Summary: Tolstoy's epic novel, War and Peace, deals with some of the most momentous events of 19th-century Europe, reaching a climax in the French invasion of Russia. However, although war and rumours of it cast a shadow over all the characters' lives, the chief concern of the author was the private emotions and actions of the Russian nobility. In the early part of the story, Pierre Bezuhov, the self-tormenting hero, searches for a meaning to life but finds it empty, whilst for Natasha Rostov, life and love hold endless promise. 1. ANNA'S SOIREE. Anna Pavlovna Scherer, a lady at court, greets Prince Vassily Kuragin with a tirade against Napoleon. Prince Vassily, however, is more interested in finding a post for his son Ippolit. Anna suggests marrying Anatole, Prince Vassily's other son, to Princess Marya Bolkonsky, an heiress. Soon after, Anna holds a soirée, at which Pierre Bezuhov, illegitimate son of a wealthy count, arrives from Europe. Pierre makes a bad impression with his defence of Napoleon, but Prince Andrey Bolkonsky comes to his rescue. 2. SINGLE MEN. Pierre tells Andrey that he does not know what to do with his life. He is not drawn to the usual professions, but is increasingly disgusted by his dissolute life in the company of Anatole Kuragin, with whom he is staying. Andrey warns him against marriage. Pierre is tempted into another night of debauchery. Princess Anna Mihalovna Drubetskoy visits the family of Count Rostov in Moscow, and they gossip about old Count Bezuhov and the shameless escapades of Pierre. 3. DEATH AND MARRIAGE. Pierre attends the Rostovs' ball and dances with their 13-year-old daughter, Natasha, who is childishly thrilled by the whole event. Count Bezuhov dies from a stroke and leaves Pierre his fortune. Everyone now discovers how charming Pierre is and Anna Pavlovna invites him to meet Ellen Kuragin. This alarms him, but he eventually finds himself marrying her. Prince Vassily takes Anatole to propose to Princess Marya. 4. THWARTED PLANS. When Anatole sees plain Princess Marya, he regards engagement to her as a joke, but he is attracted to Mademoiselle Bourienne, Marya's French companion. While walking in the garden, pondering the outcome of a union with Anatole, Marya sees him embracing her friend Amélie Bourienne. Stunned, she later declares to her father and to Prince Vassily that she never wants to marry, delighting her father who saw straight through Anatole's shallow nature, and disappointing the Prince. 5. LOVE AND DESPAIR. Young Nikolay Rostov, with his friend Denisov, returns home from his regiment to a hero's welcome. Sonya, Nikolay's impoverished 16-year-old cousin, is in love with him and he is flattered. Natasha tells her brother Nikolay that Sonya wants him to consider himself free of any ties to her, but he prevaricates. His father gives a dinner at the English Club, at which Pierre is present. Pierre is depressed, having heard rumours of his wife's infidelity with Dolohov a dashing officer. Dolohov insults Pierre and is challenged to a duel. Next morning, they fight with pistols and Pierre wounds Dolohov, who misses with his shot. 6. SEPARATION. Pierre returns home in confusion and passes a terrible night in his study. The next morning, when his wife berates him for fighting Dolohov, his temper snaps and he smashes a slab of marble onto the floor. Ellen flees, screaming. A week later, accepting that his marriage is over, Pierre makes over most of his property to Ellen and leaves for Petersburg. At the Bolkonskys' estate, news comes that Prince Andrey is missing, perhaps dead, after the Battle of Austerlitz. The old prince is cast into despair and fears for the worst but Princess Marya persuades him not to tell Liza, Andrey's wife, who is heavily pregnant. Liza goes into a long and difficult labour and, that same evening, Andrey returns unexpectedly at the same time as the doctor. 7. A MEETING. Liza dies giving birth to a son. Meanwhile, Pierre, on the road to Petersburg, stops at a resting station. He is oppressed by the futility of his life but can see no way out. While he is brooding, another traveller approaches him. The stranger recognizes that Pierre is troubled and offers to help him. Realizing that the man, Osip Alexyevitch, is a Mason, Pierre is sceptical, but is impressed by his fellowship. The old man gives him a contact in Petersburg and warns him not to return to his old ways. 8. LOVE'S ROUGH PATHS. Natasha, a debutante, goes to a ball in Petersburg where her beauty impresses everybody. She sees Pierre Bezuhov speaking to Prince Andrey, a handsome officer. She dances repeatedly with Andrey and they rapidly fall in love. They become engaged, although old Prince Bolkonsky insists on Andrey waiting a year before he can marry. Andrey goes abroad for his health, leaving Natasha depressed at home. Nikolay loves the penniless Sonya and wants to marry her, but his parents, now also impoverished, want him to marry an heiress. Nikolay returns to his regiment, leaving Sonya alone to face the hostility, and the Rostovs go to Moscow.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/296368 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Emma Author: Jane Austen Narrator: Anna-Juliana Clare Format: Abridged Audiobook Length: 2 hours 25 minutes Release date: May 4, 2017 Genres: Classics Publisher's Summary: Emma is one of the most delightful but also one of the most domineering of Jane Austen's heroines. Her attempts at manipulating other people's lives start in fun and end in hurt feelings and embarrassment for all concerned. The frothiness of the novel gives way to a deeper moral message, and all ends well - better than Emma could have imagined. Throughout the story Jane Austen loses no opportunity to describe with ironic wittiness the society of Highbury and the conventions of the day. The many characters are clearly and finely drawn to create a tiny world in which interest is sustained to the final matching of couples for wedding vows.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/296986 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Sense & Sensibility Author: Jane Austen Narrator: Anna Massey Format: Abridged Audiobook Length: 2 hours 14 minutes Release date: May 4, 2017 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 5 of Total 1 Genres: Classics Publisher's Summary: In Sense and Sensibility Jane Austen comments on the financial situation of women. Elinor and Marianne are virtually penniless in a world where the 'marriage market' is largely governed by money. They lose their home on their father's death ? as did the author herself ? and receive more kindness from strangers than they do from their own brother. This means they are forced to accept the hospitality and company of those they would rather avoid, but despite such 'hardships', they maintain their dignity throughout. 1.Displacement - Chivalry and romance. Following Henry Dashwood's death, his widow and daughters Elinor, Marianne and Margaret lose their home to John, the son from his first marriage. John's wife Fanny persuades him not to assist the women financially, thus forcing them to move to Barton Cottage in Devonshire, which is offered to them by Sir John Middleton, a distant relative. Here, they meet Colonel Brandon, a friend of the family. Out walking one day, Marianne sprains her ankle and is carried home by a stranger, John Willoughby. He courts her, and her family await their engagement. 2. A Secret Engagement - Perplexing behaviour - A favour asked. Marianne indecorously visits Willoughby's home, giving rise to gossip. However, he is suddenly called away, much to her distress. Edward Ferrars, Fanny's brother and Elinor's friend, visits the Dashwoods, but he is cool towards Elinor. A few weeks later, the Middletons introduce Marianne and Elinor to the Misses Steele. Lucy Steele tells Elinor that she has long been engaged to Edward, but that his financial dependence on his mother prevents their marriage. Lucy entreats Elinor to influence her brother into granting Edward, who wants to be a clergyman, the living of Norland Church. Elinor hides her true feelings for Edward. 3. Shocking News - An evasive lover - Broken hearts. Mrs Jennings, Lady Middleton's mother, asks Elinor, Marianne and Lucy to stay with her in London. There, Marianne sends several letters to Willoughby and expects him to call on them at any moment. Only Colonel Brandon comes, telling Elinor that Marianne's engagement is generally acknowledged and that he hopes Willoughby may deserve her. Later, when the sisters meet Willoughby at a party, Marianne reacts with wild emotion, but he ignores her. Next day, he sends a note to apologize for misleading Marianne, and announces that he will soon be engaged. Marianne is devastated. 4. Confusion Abounds - Wickedness revealed - Hints of another engagement. Colonel Brandon calls on Elinor and tells her of the tragic loss of his first love, and of her daughter's seduction by Willoughby. Shortly after, Willoughby is married to a wealthy woman. John Dashwood calls on his sisters and informs Elinor that it is hoped Edward Ferrars will marry an heiress, the Honourable Miss Morton. At a dinner given by John and Fanny, Lucy meets Mrs Ferrars and believes she has made a good impression on her potential mother-in-law. Next day, Edward calls on Elinor and is embarrassed to find her with Lucy. 5. Family Feud - Marriage forbidden - A living for a clergyman. At a musical evening, Elinor is introduced to Edward's brother Robert. Fanny resolves to invite the Misses Steele to come to stay in preference to her sisters-in-law, and during their visit, Edward's engagement to Lucy is discovered by his mother. Furious, Mrs Ferrars settles her estate on Robert and cuts out Edward. Elinor and Marianne are invited to go to Somerset with Mrs Jennings' daughter and family, the Palmers, and Colonel Brandon. Elinor is asked by the Colonel to tell Edward that he wishes to present him with the living of the parish of Delaford. Edward is delighted by the news. 6. Fever Strikes - Pride and contempt. Calling on Fanny in London, Elinor meets Robert Ferrars, who is contemptuous of Edward's lot in life and choice of bride. In Somerset Elinor rejoices to be free of Lucy's false friendship. Unfortunately, Marianne falls ill with a fever and her life is believed to be in danger. Elinor nurses her tirelessly while the Colonel breaks the news to Mrs Dashwood. 7. The Truth about Two Lovers - Repenting at leisure - Message from a false friend. Elinor is shocked when Willoughby arrives unannounced. Believing Marianne to be close to death, he has come to ask forgiveness. He gives his side of the story, saying that he did not realize how much he loved Marianne until it was too late. When Mrs Dashwood arrives, she is delighted to hear that her daughter is out of danger. She also tells Elinor that Colonel Brandon has spoken of his love for Marianne. Back at Barton, Marianne shows great resolve in recovering from her illness. She also overcomes her love for Willoughby, although she is relieved when Elinor reveals that he is less wicked than they had feared. Soon afterwards, Lucy sends word via the Dashwood's serving man that she is married. Elinor is, therefore, amazed when Edward arrives out of the blue and tells her that Lucy is, in fact, married to his brother. 8. Wedding Days - Reconciliation - Respect turns to love. Elinor is delighted to accept Edward's proposal of marriage. They realize that Lucy must have schemed to win Robert's hand, and that the message she gave was an act of malice. Eventually, Edward wins back his mother's favour, as well as her grudging consent to his marriage. After the wedding, Edward and Elinor are visited by Lucy, who has wormed her way into Mrs Ferrars' affection. Finally, Marianne marries Colonel Brandon out of regard for him. In time, however, she becomes wholly devoted.

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/291775 to listen full audiobooks. Title: The Book of Good Counsels - From the Sanskrit of the Hitopadesa Author: Sir Edwin Arnold Narrator: Jothi Tharavant Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 4 hours 57 minutes Release date: January 1, 2017 Genres: Classics Publisher's Summary: The term ‘Hitopadesha’ is a combination of two Sanskrit terms, ‘Hita’ (welfare/ benefit) and ‘Upadesha’ (counsel). As the term suggests, The Hitopadesha is a collection of tales that gives good counsel. Hitopadesa was presumably written by Narayan Pandit and is an independent treatment of the Vishnu Sarman's Panchatantra (3rd century BC) which it resembles in form. In Hitopadesha, Vishnu Sarman is depicted as a Sage who undertakes to give good counsel to the sons of Sudarsana, the king of Pataliputra, through stories within stories involving talking animals. The dating of Hitopadesha is problematic as no other work by Narayan Pandit is known. The earliest manuscript of Hitopadesha dates from 1373; it could be of East Indian origin during the Pala Empire (8th-12th centuries). This book is a condensed but faithful transcript of Hitopadesha in sense and manner rendered in English by Sir Edwin Arnold. Sir Edwin says in the Preface that the Hitopadesa may be styled 'The father of all Fables'; for "from its numerous translations come Esop and Piplay and in latter days, 'Reineke Fuchs'." Summary by Jothi

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/292108 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Heart of Darkness (Version 2) Author: Joseph Conrad Narrator: Bob Neufeld Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 4 hours 39 minutes Release date: January 1, 2016 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 3.95 of Total 37 Ratings of Narrator: 4.54 of Total 13 Genres: Classics Publisher's Summary: Heart of Darkness is a novella written by Joseph Conrad. Before its 1903 publication, it appeared as a three-part series (1899) in Blackwood's Magazine. It was classified by the Modern Library website editors as one of the "100 best novels" and part of the Western canon. The story centres on Charles Marlow, who narrates most of the book. He is an Englishman who takes a foreign assignment from a Belgian trading company as a river-boat captain in Africa. Heart of Darkness exposes the dark side of European colonization while exploring the three levels of darkness that the protagonist, Marlow, encounters: the darkness of the Congo wilderness, the darkness of the Europeans' cruel treatment of the African natives, and the unfathomable darkness within every human being for committing heinous acts of evil. Although Conrad does not give the name of the river, at the time of writing the Congo Free State, the location of the large and important Congo River, was a private colony of Belgium's King Leopold II. In the story, Marlow is employed to transport ivory downriver. However, his more pressing assignment is to return Kurtz, another ivory trader, to civilization, in a cover-up. Kurtz has a reputation throughout the region. (Summary by Wikipedia)

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/292111 to listen full audiobooks. Title: Call to Arms Author: Xun Lu Narrator: Jing Li Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 4 hours 38 minutes Release date: January 1, 2016 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 3 of Total 1 Genres: Classics Publisher's Summary: "Call to Arms" is a collection of short stories Lu Xun published during 1918-1922. It includes "A Madman's Diary," the first novel written in vernacular Chinese, and other representative fictional works by Lu Xun, such as "Kong Yiji" and "The True Story of Ah-Q". (Summary by Jing Li)

Please visit https://thebookvoice.com/podcasts/1/audiobook/295195 to listen full audiobooks. Title: The Monk Author: Matthew Lewis Narrator: Nigel Carrington Format: Unabridged Audiobook Length: 15 hours 30 minutes Release date: September 1, 2013 Ratings: Ratings of Book: 4 of Total 1 Genres: Classics Publisher's Summary: The Monk is a violent tale of ambition, murder, and incest. The great struggle between maintaining monastic vows and fulfilling personal ambitions leads the monk Ambrosio, into temptation and the breaking of his vows, then to sexual obsession and rape, and finally to murder in order to conceal his guilt. Written when Matthew Lewis was only 19, The Monk was criticised when first published in 1796 for its lewdness and impiety, but this criticism only added to its popularity