Classici Stranieri

LibriVox is turning 18, and we’ve just got another year older better! In the last year, our volunteers have created over 1200 new audiobooks, so let’s celebrate our anniversary with 10 of the latest gems from our catalog.

The most exciting thing of last year was the addition of another language to our catalog: Indonesian. The new book in Indonesian is Mengelilingi Doenia Dalam 80 Hari, a translation of Jules Verne’s ever popular “In 80 Days Around the World”.

Not quite that far was the trip of Three Gringos in Venezuela and Central America. However, the list of countries Richard Harding Davisand his friends visited in still impressive. Even more so since this was the 1890s andhe travelled with steamships and horses.

Animals would’ve shied away from the works of Alan St. Hill Brock. After all, he was a pyrotechnist of the 8th generation. His book Pyrotechnics: The History and Art of Firework Making tells you all you need to know to get started in the business.

Letty’s business as a shop assistant is going very well. But she doesn’t want to do this job forever and looks for better opportunities. Marrying her boss may just do the trick, but this is where things get complicated in the drama by Arthur Wing Pinero.

A tragedy is having to deal with a dragon of a mother-in-law, even more so if she decides to move inwith her beloved sonand his family. And the brunt of all this is usually borne by The Mother of the family. See how this particular one deals with the problem in the novel by Pearl Buck.

A whole string of problems arise when Victor Ballau is found dead. The police shrug it off as suicide. Ballau’s daughterand her fiancé believe it’s murder. But if so: Who would have a motive? Help with sleuthing inBen Hecht’s crime novel The Florentine Dagger.

Avtandil and Tauriel need plenty of help on their quest to find fair maiden Nestan-Darejan. The setting of this epic poem is the Golden Age of Queen Tamar of Georgia. Find out if there is a happy ending for The Man in the Panther’s Skin by Shota Rustaveli.

When Claire, The Mistress of Court Regna, finds Gerald, all seems to point to a happily ever after. Except that Gerald is poor. Not able to deal with her rejection, he disappears – will love conquer even the class difference here in the romance by Charles Garvice?

Heart, mind, and body – Buddhism strives for balance in all things of life. Among the most important Buddhist texts are the Diamond Sutra and the Heart Sutra, presented here in two 19th-century translations.

A different type of analysis of the human psyche is the book Totenmesse by Stanislaw Przybyszewki. This short, interesting novella inspired Edvard Munch to his famous painting “The Scream”.

Enjoy – and a big THANK YOU to all our LibriVox volunteers! Want to give it a try yourself? See you in the forums!