The Audiobooks Reviews

The Basic Writings of John Stuart Mill: On Liberty, the Subjection of Women and Utilitarianism by John Stuart Mill

I read this book for a graduate class in Philosophy. Dr. Dale Miller who was the editor for this book was my professor. He is excellent and an expert on J. S. Mill. Recommended reading for anyone interested in philosophy, political science, and history.

John Stuart Mill, 1806-73, worked for the East India Co. helped run Colonial India from England. Minister of Parliament 1865-68 he served one term. Maiden speech was a disaster his second was great success. He was first MP to propose that women should be given the vote on equal footing with the men who could vote. He got 1/3 support, England gives franchise to women after U.S. He was a great Feminist, his essay “Subjection of Women” is written with great passion and prose. It was a brave position for him to take he was ridiculed for it. He favored democracy, and letting more men from lower classes the right to vote, but believed that people that are more educated should have more votes then less educated because they would make better decisions about what government should do. He would have wanted to extend education to the masses, so that all may have gotten 2-3 votes and so on. He didn’t think it should be extended to where a small elite could carry the day on votes. The idea was that if the working class, and middle class, where divided on an issue, the people with more intelligence would have the power to tip the balance. Mill thought that people with more education would probably not only be better able to make political decisions, especially in terms of intellectually being able to see what would be best for the government to do, but that they would also be more concerned about the common good publicly then people in general. He was intensely educated by his father James. John could read Greek, and Latin at 6 yrs.; his Dad tutored him at home. Dad thought environment was everything. He was treated like an adult, never played games with kids; he had a very cerebral upbringing. He had a period of depression in his twenties, it changed his philosophy, and he recognized the importance of developing feelings along with the intellect, this is something that he stressed in his work. He read poetry to get out of depression; he became devoted to poetry and became a romantic. He fell in love with a married woman Harriet Taylor, was a platonic relationship, after her husband’s death they married 3 years later and probably never consummated the marriage maybe due to Harriet having syphilis. His dedication to “On Liberty” is to her, very devoted to each other. Both buried together in Avignon France where they used to vacation.

Mill as a moral theorist subscribed to a theory we call Utilitarianism. It means—In some way morality is about the maximization of happiness. Whether actions are right or wrong depends on how happiness can be most effectively maximized. I say in some way, because there are allot of different kinds of Utilitarians. Allot of different ways of saying exactly how it is the maximization of happiness comes into morality. Therefore, happiness is clearly an important idea for Utilitarians. Mill has a hedonistic view of happiness, he thinks that happiness can be defined in terms of “pleasure in the absence of pain.” What is distinctive about Mill in this area is that he believes that some kinds of pleasure are better than others are, and add more to a person’s happiness than other kinds of pleasures. He believes in what he calls, “higher quality pleasures.” These are pleasures, he says, that we get from the exercise of faculties that only human beings happen to have. So the intellect, imagination, the moral feelings, these are the sources of higher quality pleasures people use. His view seems to be that a certain quantity of intellectual pleasure just adds more to your happiness, and a given quantity of some lower pleasure like a kind we would share with the animals such as sensation, taste, sexual pleasure, etc. His “higher quality pleasures” in a way echo Aristotle’s ethics. The idea of those things that make us distinctly human that are the real key to our happiness, that is in Mill also. It is not as limited to reason and intellect as Aristotle thinks. Mill recognizes the importance of the appreciation of beauty, aesthetic pleasure, and moral pleasure. He frankly owes a debt to Aristotle that he never properly acknowledges, never gives him proper credit.

“On Liberty” is Mill’s is his most widely read and enduring work. It is an indispensable essay on political thought, which strenuously argues for individual liberty. He is defending what he calls the “liberty principle.” It is a principle that guarantees individuals quite a bit of personal freedom. “That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant.” These quoted sentences in John Stuart Mill’s book, “On Liberty,” embody the crux of his argument; that the power of the state must intrude as little as possible on the liberty of its citizenry. In essence, Mill was against using the power of the state through its lawmaking apparatus to compel citizens to conduct themselves in ways that society deems moral or appropriate. Mill thought that people had not only a right, but also a duty to develop their intellectual faculties, which is indispensable to maximize their happiness. He believed that society improved for all its citizens when they where left unfettered to the maximum extent possible, allowing them to use their imagination and intellect to improve themselves. Mill postulates a theory that societies usually institute laws based primarily on “personal preference” of its citizenry instead of established principles. This lack of clarity of opinion often leads to the government frequently interfering in the lives of its citizens unnecessarily. For Mill, there are very few times when the state can infringe on the personal liberty of others. Firstly, the state has the right to promulgate laws that prevent a person’s actions from harming others. Secondly, the state must protect those citizens who are not mature enough to protect themselves, such as children. Thirdly, he exempts, “… backward states of society in which the race itself may be considered as in its nonage.” In Mill’s view, immature societies need a benevolent leader to rule them until they have developed to a point where they, “… have attained the capacity of being guided to their own improvement by conviction or persuasion …” Mill said this third exemption did not apply to any of the countries in Europe. Mill believed that forced morality by the state on its citizen’s liberties was destructive to their inward development, and could even lead to a violent reaction by them against the government.

There are different parts of his defense of this, different arguments that he gives. He has a long chapter on freedom of speech and press. He has some very specific reasons why he thinks those freedoms are important. Always in the background for Mill is the idea of development, and making it possible for more people to enjoy these higher quality pleasures. How do we help people develop their distinctly human faculties, in ways that will help them enjoy their higher quality pleasures? Because for him that is the way, we maximize the total amount of happiness that is enjoyed in the world, and that is the object of morality as far as he is concerned. Utilitarianists believe that maximizing happiness is ultimately, what morality is all about. That does not mean maximizing your own happiness that means maximizing the total amount of happiness that is enjoyed, not only by yourself but also by everybody else as well.

Roger Kimball, in his book “Experiments Against Reality” wrote, “On Liberty” was published in 1859, coincidentally the same year as “On the Origin of Species.” Darwin’s book has been credited–and blamed–for all manner of moral and religious mischief. But in the long run “On Liberty” may have effected an even greater revolution in sentiment.

“… 6 - John Stuart Mill essarily disturbed by such temporary aberrations as those of the …”

Essays on Some Unsettled Questions of Political Economy by John Stuart Mill

If confronted with the question: “To what extent, if any, and probably for what purpose can society as a body, interfere with the liberty of the individual?” The answer is probably, never. Oh well, one clear answer to this infinitely incomprehensible question was provided in the 19th century by John Stuart Mill in this classic writing On Liberty. JSM is the grand papa of what is modern Liberalism. We may not agree with Mill, but if we are to agree or disagree, it is best to first go back to the source. In a sense, Mill comes from the position that restraints always tend to stifle individuality. Freedom is the default, to stifle the abberation. If there is a call to interfere, there had better be a real good reason. Mill, however, does not have his head in the clouds but he does have a blanket statement that could use some complexity. Mill is of the reasoning that society is in the right to interfere with individual liberty only if harm is done or threatened to others. This is, of course, an over simplification. Mill further elaborates with a sense of paternalism and what seems like a progressive attitude about the rights of all people and the disutility of unfair treatment. It is not an easy read but it is a lucid one. In Mill’s view, Harm, or the threat of harm, only brings conduct into public realm by (relating back to Plato) a prima facie condition to intervene. A foundational piece and a staple for the Humanities. To engage in the discourse of Mill is to step in the realm of Public contra Private.

Zip file of the entire book (158MB)

On Liberty and Other Essays by John Stuart Mill and John Gray

John Stuart Mill, 1806-73, worked for the East India Co. helped run Colonial India from England. Minister of Parliament 1865-68 he served one term. Maiden speech was a disaster his second was great success. He was first MP to propose that women should be given the vote on equal footing with the men who could vote. He got 1/3 support, England gives franchise to women after U.S. He was a great Feminist, his essay “Subjection of Women” is written with great passion and prose. It was a brave position for him to take he was ridiculed for it. He favored democracy, and letting more men from lower classes the right to vote, but believed that people that are more educated should have more votes then less educated because they would make better decisions about what government should do. He would have wanted to extend education to the masses, so that all may have gotten 2-3 votes and so on. He didn’t think it should be extended to where a small elite could carry the day on votes. The idea was that if the working class, and middle class, where divided on an issue, the people with more intelligence would have the power to tip the balance. Mill thought that people with more education would probably not only be better able to make political decisions, especially in terms of intellectually being able to see what would be best for the government to do, but that they would also be more concerned about the common good publicly then people in general. He was intensely educated by his father James. John could read Greek, and Latin at 6 yrs.; his Dad tutored him at home. Dad thought environment was everything. He was treated like an adult, never played games with kids; he had a very cerebral upbringing. He had a period of depression in his twenties, it changed his philosophy, and he recognized the importance of developing feelings along with the intellect, this is something that he stressed in his work. He read poetry to get out of depression; he became devoted to poetry and became a romantic. He fell in love with a married woman Harriet Taylor, was a platonic relationship, after her husband’s death they married 3 years later and probably never consummated the marriage maybe due to his having syphilis. His dedication to “On Liberty” is to her, very devoted to each other. Both buried together in Avignon France where they used to vacation.

Mill as a moral theorist subscribed to a theory we call Utilitarianism. It means—In some way morality is about the maximization of happiness. Whether actions are right or wrong depends on how happiness can be most effectively maximized. I say in some way, because there are allot of different kinds of Utilitarians. Allot of different ways of saying exactly how it is the maximization of happiness comes into morality. Therefore, happiness is clearly an important idea for Utilitarians. Mill has a hedonistic view of happiness, he thinks that happiness can be defined in terms of “pleasure in the absence of pain.” What is distinctive about Mill in this area is that he believes that some kinds of pleasure are better than others are, and add more to a person’s happiness than other kinds of pleasures. He believes in what he calls, “higher quality pleasures.” These are pleasures, he says, that we get from the exercise of faculties that only human beings happen to have. So the intellect, imagination, the moral feelings, these are the sources of higher quality pleasures people use. His view seems to be that a certain quantity of intellectual pleasure just adds more to your happiness, and a given quantity of some lower pleasure like a kind we would share with the animals such as sensation, taste, sexual pleasure, etc. His “higher quality pleasures” in a way echo Aristotle’s ethics. The idea of those things that make us distinctly human that are the real key to our happiness, that is in Mill also. It is not as limited to reason and intellect as Aristotle thinks. Mill recognizes the importance of the appreciation of beauty, aesthetic pleasure, and moral pleasure. He frankly owes a debt to Aristotle that he never properly acknowledges, never gives him proper credit.

“On Liberty” is Mill’s is his most widely read and enduring work. It is an indispensable essay on political thought, which strenuously argues for individual liberty. He is defending what he calls the “liberty principle.” It is a principle that guarantees individuals quite a bit of personal freedom. “That the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant.” These quoted sentences in John Stuart Mill’s book, “On Liberty,” embody the crux of his argument; that the power of the state must intrude as little as possible on the liberty of its citizenry. In essence, Mill was against using the power of the state through its lawmaking apparatus to compel citizens to conduct themselves in ways that society deems moral or appropriate. Mill thought that people had not only a right, but also a duty to develop their intellectual faculties, which is indispensable to maximize their happiness. He believed that society improved for all its citizens when they where left unfettered to the maximum extent possible, allowing them to use their imagination and intellect to improve themselves. Mill postulates a theory that societies usually institute laws based primarily on “personal preference” of its citizenry instead of established principles. This lack of clarity of opinion often leads to the government frequently interfering in the lives of its citizens unnecessarily. For Mill, there are very few times when the state can infringe on the personal liberty of others. Firstly, the state has the right to promulgate laws that prevent a person’s actions from harming others. Secondly, the state must protect those citizens who are not mature enough to protect themselves, such as children. Thirdly, he exempts, “… backward states of society in which the race itself may be considered as in its nonage.” In Mill’s view, immature societies need a benevolent leader to rule them until they have developed to a point where they, “… have attained the capacity of being guided to their own improvement by conviction or persuasion …” Mill said this third exemption did not apply to any of the countries in Europe. Mill believed that forced morality by the state on its citizen’s liberties was destructive to their inward development, and could even lead to a violent reaction by them against the government.

There are different parts of his defense of this, different arguments that he gives. He has a long chapter on freedom of speech and press. He has some very specific reasons why he thinks those freedoms are important. Always in the background for Mill is the idea of development, and making it possible for more people to enjoy these higher quality pleasures. How do we help people develop their distinctly human faculties, in ways that will help them enjoy their higher quality pleasures? Because for him that is the way, we maximize the total amount of happiness that is enjoyed in the world, and that is the object of morality as far as he is concerned. Utilitarianists believe that maximizing happiness is ultimately, what morality is all about. That does not mean maximizing your own happiness that means maximizing the total amount of happiness that is enjoyed, not only by yourself but also by everybody else as well.

Roger Kimball, in his book “Experiments Against Reality” wrote, “On Liberty” was published in 1859, coincidentally the same year as “On the Origin of Species.” Darwin’s book has been credited–and blamed–for all manner of moral and religious mischief. But in the long run “On Liberty” may have effected an even greater revolution in sentiment.

I read this book for a graduate class in Philosophy. Recommended reading for anyone interested in philosophy, political science, and history.

“… 1 N’l'IZO1)U(.’l'ION ON the received and conventional view, John Stuart Mill is an eclectic and transitional thinker, who is never able …”

The Autobiography of John Stuart Mill by John Stuart Mill

John Stuart Mill was raised by his father to be his intellectual heir, and a great genius. There is something moving about the care taken by the father to teach his wunderkind son all that he knew. The father was with Jeremy Bentham the guiding spirit of the philosophical movement Utilitarianism. Utilitarianism was a mechanical kind of philosophy which thought it possible to measure the goodness of action by measuring the amount of pleasure against the amount of pain. Mill followed the path his father set out from him, adopted his father’s values and social conscience and was already by the tender age of twenty a distinguished intellectual figure. But then he asked himself the question if the realization of all his social schemes and all the grand social ideals would bring him happiness. And he understood that it would not. He understood in other words that all this focus on outward good and action, on mechanical measures for human life was missing some vital component in life and in himself. Mill went into a great depression. What brought him out was the reading of the poetry of Wordsworth and the understanding that there is a dimension of feeling, a dimension of the inner life which is somehow more important than all the social thought. This did not mean that Mill abandoned the path of social reform but rather that he changed its direction. Part of this change had to do with his meeting his relationship with Harriet Taylor, his embracing in a certain sense of liberal ideas on the role of women in society. Mill found himself and continued on his intellectual path, a path which would lead him to produce one of the masterpieces of modern political thought, “On Liberty “.

On Liberty by John Stuart Mill

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Few works argue as forcefully and eloquently for individual liberty as this one book. Written by one of England’s greatest humanitarians, philosophers, and social scientists, this is one of the great classics in Western political philosophy. This book uses plain reason, clear logic, and objective reasoning to argue that the freedom of speech and its related freedoms such as freedom of assembly, press, petition, and religion, are ultimately beneficial to not only the individual, but to society as well. The latter argument goes as such; society is composed of individuals. Hence the knowledge and wisdom of a society is composed of the contributions of every individual. In order for a society to determine the truth, or best opinions on any particular topic, it must be allowed to see/hear all the opinions possible, which is only possible if everyone is allowed to voice their opinion.

This reviewer read this book in high school, and was quite impressed with it back then. It is understandable by most high school seniors. This book should be required reading for all human beings.

Utilitarianism by John, Stuart Mill

Zip file of the entire book 100.1 MB

If someone would like to know what Utilitarianism is, this is the book.
But if someone thinks to find in the Utilitarianism a moral standard to follow, this is just one of the books.
According to the Mill’ theory, we should always act in a manner that will maximize overal happines and in this essay John Stuart Mill wrote which are the effects of each possible action we may perform.
The Speech on Capital Punishment tells one of this possible action.

Principles of Political Economy by John Stuart Mill

This is a very good and very pertinent book. If the people of the time had paid more attention to Mill as opposed to Ricardo and then Marks our world would definitely have been a safer and more peaceful place. Mill has some very sound economic ideas. His ideas are not only reasonable and rational they are possible, compassionate and much more sensible that what we have today; ideas that should be revived and reviewed today. He has a number of interesting answer to basic economic problems. If economics is your passion don’t miss this one. This man is no dummy.

I’ve just finished rereading this novel within the last hour. Again, I’m not disappointed.

The story involves a young adventurer named David Innes who decides to accompany an elderly professor on a test drive of an “iron mole.” This drilling machine is intended to penetrate the earth in search of minerals. However, something goes wrong. The controls break, and the iron mole plummets straight down for hundreds of miles, to break through into an “inner earth.”

This world is inhabited by dinosaurs, primitive tribes, and a race of evil bat-like creatures called Mayars. David must rescue a stunningly beautiful young woman, who’s completely stolen his heart. But more, he must somehow end the dominance and exploitation the Mayars exert over the primitive humans in this world.

At the time this book was written, before 1920, there were serious treatises being written about the possibility that our earth was hollow, with an inner world to be discovered. Burroughs apparently just capitalized on this now out-of-date scientific notion.

The Mayars are terrifying, the girls are fantastic, and there’s a nonstop series of action scenes. The friendships David makes with various prehistoric warriors are well drawn. For an episodic adventure novel, the characters are made real enough that the reader really CARES what happens to them.

This is the first of the Pellucidar novels. There were at least six, I believe. Pellucidar is what Burroughs called the inner world within the heart of the earth.

The language is clean– the book could be recommended to young people with no concerns at all. In fact, teens — or the young at heart — are the prime audience for these fine adventure books.

Zip file of the entire book (107MB)

I usually like Carla Neggers books, but this one was really a disappointment.
When Quinn Harlowe’s friend Alicia Miller comes to her to talk, she makes no sense. Thinking she is having a breakdown, Quinn is worried when Alicia runs away and disappears.
Returning to Breakwater and to her cottage that Quinn lets Alicia use for the weekends, she finds Alicia dead.
Enter Huck McCabe, undercover agent working for Breakwater Securities, he hears Quinn scream and goes to her to find her standing over her dead friend.
Thinking Huck is a decent guy she lets him help her, but then she finds out is working for a security company that may be Violent vigilantes.
Trying to find the reason her friend is dead and also not caring that she is insulting the people at Breakwater securities, her life becomes in danger.
I read 300 pages in this book before anything really exciting starts to happen, and there are only 376 pages in the book.
I found myself skipping paragraphs, skimming pages just to get through the book.
There were too many references to Breakwater may be doing something illegal, what could it be. What happened to her friend, and why.
It took the author until the end of the book to even bring out any action, and then the story was over.
The cover of the book was really deceiving, after you read the contents.
I am glad I did not pay full price for this book, it was boring and drug out too much.

http://rapidshare.com/files/143392236/Bre__akw_-_ater.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/143400604/Bre__akw_-_ater.part2.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/143409160/Bre__akw_-_ater.part3.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/143417942/Bre__akw_-_ater.part4.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/143426500/Bre__akw_-_ater.part5.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/143435322/Bre__akw_-_ater.part6.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/143435779/Bre__akw_-_ater.part7.rar

Password:MJAG23

Genocide has recently become an issue again in current events. The Yugoslavians are having at the Albanians. Africans have and are decimating Africans. Germans have reduced Jewish and Roman Catholic numbers efficiently and effectively. Spanish, French, Scandanavian and English swacked the native Americans and their cultures from Alaska to the southern most end of South America. It’s an old story. The English are not alone in their chapters. In fact, they still pompously and righteously perpetuate their own form of genocide at the hands of the native Irish, as they have with South Africans and Indians.

Seumas MacManus allows this to be perfectly clear, not as a biased self appointed judge, but as a historian making available in print information previously unavailable to me and others of Irish descent who have lost their roots because they’ve been hacked away from them by shame.

It seems once again unjust that a work which salutes the dignity, power and grace of a people is left to die its own death and is no longer published. I was looking for a copy to purchase so I could leave it for my children and their children. I know of no shenachies to continue the tales. Another positive cultural influence destroyed by the insecure British. Just think of what could have been if the British weren’t so afraid of the people they didn’t understand and therefor massacred and worked with them toward their mutual benefit. We’ll never know.

Zip file of the entire book (88 MB)

It is however a rather interesting story of the dual coming of age of a woman and a society in a time of dramatic social change. This book provides the missing link between Jane Austen’s era where the notion of an independent woman encompassed little more than a woman who did not automatically marry the first man of means who proposed to her and our modern era where we fully accept the notion of a “man-equal” female character like Heinlein’s Friday. And the transformation is a most interesting, exciting, and at times enlightening one. As Ann Veronica wanders through the political and social landscape of Victorian England we are exposed to the rather startling sentiments of the time and the rather harrowing and bold adventures she undertakes in her journey to freedom, as well as to a panoply of interesting characters (like the man hating Mrs. Miniver and the absolute cad Mr. Ramage).

This book is not for everyone, but it is a very worthwhile and entertaining read if you can get into it.

Zip file of the entire book - 298MB

The novel is set in a fishing village in Dorset during the mid 18th century. The story concerns a 15 year old orphan boy, John Trenchard, who becomes friends with an older man who turns out to be the leader of a gang of smugglers.
One night John chances on the smugglers’ store in the crypt beneath the church. He explores but hides behind a coffin when he hears voices. He finds a locket which contains a parchment, in the coffin belonging to Colonel Mohune. Unfortunately after the visitors leave, he finds himself trapped inside, and is only rescued two days later when two of the smugglers, Ratsey, the sexton and Elzevir Block, the innkeeper of the Why Not?, the local pub, investigate his disappearance. His aunt insists he leaves her house and Elzevir Block takes him in to live at the pub. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonfleet )

• Gutenberg e-text
• Wikipedia - J. Meade Falkner
• Wikipedia - Moonfleet
• LibriVox’s Moonfleet Internet Archive page
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A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder is the most popular of James De Mille’s works. It was serialized posthumously in Harper’s Weekly, and published in book form by Harper and Brothers of New York City in 1888. This satirical romance is the story of Adam More, a British sailor. Shipwrecked in Antarctica, he stumbles upon a tropical lost world of prehistoric animals, plants, and a cult of death-worshipping primitives. He also finds a highly developed human society which has reversed the values of Victorian society. Wealth is scorned and poverty revered; death and darkness are preferrable to life and light. Rather than accumulating wealth, the natives seek to divest themselves of it as quickly as possible. At the beginning of each year, the government imposes wealth (the burden of ‘reverse taxation’) upon its unfortunate subjects as a form of punishment. A secondary plot about the four yachtsmen who find the manuscript forms a frame for the central narrative.

(Summary adapted from Wikipedia)

• Gutenberg e-text
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In the tiny village of Lyulyakovo fiercely clash human greed, hate and lust for power. However, the souls of the adversaries are still open to the light of Jesus: the light which transfigures through the miracle of His Icon: who is the Reaper, Who blesses the harvesting of good grains in the souls and uproots the tares of evil from there: this is what the master of the Bulgarian literature, Yordan Yovkov, relates with words of golden wheat and azure skies, taking the reader beyond the passions and mundane dust, through the suffering of the awaken conscience to the final victory of truth and good. (Summary by Euthymius)

• e-text
• Wikipedia - Yordan Yovkov (in Bulgarian)
• Wikipedia - Yordan Yovkov (in English)
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Roger Mifflin is the somewhat eccentric proprietor of The Haunted Bookshop, a second-hand bookstore in Brooklyn that is ‘haunted by the ghosts of all great literature.’ Beginning with the arrival of a young advertising man and the mysterious disappearance of a certain volume from the shelves of the bookshop, a lively and often humorous tale of intrigue unfolds, generously sprinkled with liberal doses of Roger’s unique philosophy on literature and book selling. (Summary by J. M. Smallheer)

• Gutenberg e-text
• Wikipedia - Christopher Morley
• Wikipedia - The Haunted Bookshop
• LibriVox’s The Haunted Bookshop Internet Archive page
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Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (1803-1873) was an English novelist, poet, playright, and politician. Lord Lytton was a florid, popular writer of his day, who coined such phrases as ‘the great unwashed’, ‘pursuit of the almighty dollar’, ‘the pen is mightier than the sword’, and the infamous incipit ‘It was a dark and stormy night.’ Despite his popularity in his heyday, today his name is known as a byword for bad writing. San Jose State University holds an annual Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest for bad writing in which contestants have to supply terrible openings of imaginary novels, inspired by his novel Paul Clifford, which opens with the famous words: ‘It was a dark and stormy night’.

The Coming Race drew heavily on his interest in the occult and contributed to the birth of the science fiction genre. Unquestionably, its story of a subterranean race of men waiting to reclaim the surface is one of the first science fiction novels. The novel centres on a young, independently wealthy traveler (the narrator), who accidentally finds his way into a subterranean world occupied by beings who seem to resemble angels, who call themselves Vril-ya. The hero soon discovers that they are descendants of an antediluvian civilisation who live in networks of subterranean caverns linked by tunnels. The narrator suggests that in time, the Vril-ya will run out of habitable spaces underground and will start claiming the surface of the earth, destroying mankind in the process, if necessary. (Summary compiled from Wikipedia)

• Gutenberg e-text 1951
• Wikipedia - Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Barron Lytton
• Wikipedia - The Coming Race
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H. C. Andersen opfattes af de fleste mennesker først og fremmest som en børnebogsforfatter. Det er samtidig meget typisk for hans eventyr, at fortællingerne også rummer passager, der taler til den voksne læsers forståelse. Derfor kan såvel børn som voksne have glæde af at opleve - eller genopleve - historierne.

Samlingen her indeholder både kendte og mindre kendte eventyr og rummer et lille udsnit af H. C. Andersens mangfoldige forfatterskab.

Summary by Kristoffer Hunsdahl

• Wikipedia - Hans Christian Andersen
• Wikipedia - Eventyr
• LibriVox’s Udvalgte Danske Eventyr 001 Internet Archive page
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Renowned poet Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1886) wrote many many poems. This collection, ‘Poems: Series One’, presents the first installment of the complete poetic works of Miss Emily Dickinson. It is broken into four parts: Life, Love, Nature, and Time and Eternity.

The verses of Emily Dickinson belong emphatically to what Emerson long since called ‘the Poetry of the Portfolio,’-something produced absolutely without the thought of publication, and solely by way of expression of the writer’s own mind. The poetry found here is then entirely honest, and indicative of the authors true feelings. (Summary by Shurtagal and Thomas Wentworth Higginson)

• Gutenberg e-text
• Wikipedia - Emily Dickinson
• LibriVox’s Poems: Series One Internet Archive page
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Anna Katharine Green (November 11, 1846 - April 11, 1935) was an American poet and novelist. She was one of the first writers of detective fiction in America and distinguished herself by writing well plotted, legally accurate stories (no doubt assisted by her lawyer father).

• Gutenberg e-text
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Source: New Yorker Fiction Podcast
Length: 28 min
Reader: Mary Gaitskill

The story: My favorite high school English teacher often admonished her class to “revel in ambiguity.” By this, she meant that when the meaning of a story or poem was unclear, we shouldn’t despair, but instead enjoy the possibilities of holding a variety of interpretations. Reveling in ambiguity is a great approach not only to literature, but also to all of life’s mysteries (well, maybe not all - I’m not reveling in the ambiguity of where I misplaced my keys).

In this story, also published as “Signs and Symbols,” an old Russian immigrant couple go to visit their adult son in an insane asylum. The son has a mental delusion in which he sees symbolism in everything around him. As the elderly couple travel, Nabokov drops a number of details which might be considered symbolic, though of what is unclear. In this way, the story is similar to Pulp Fiction or The Crying of Lot 49; it’s a story that overtly hints of deeper meaning while denying there is any meaning to be found. As the extended discussion after the story suggests, Nabokov has created a playground for reveling in ambiguity.

Rating: 7/10

The reader: Mary Gaitskill displays a wide range of emotions in her reading: sadness, anger, paranoia, resignation, and nostalgia. This is a difficult piece to read, as the interpertations are so wide open, but Gaitskill performs it well. This is also a difficult story for listening, as it demands rewinding to catch additional meanings in details not noticed the first time around. The discussion is magnificent. Host Deborah Treisman and Gaitskill open the story up with an engaging discussion about why its such an work of art.

Ähnlich Jules Verne in seinem Roman ‘Reise zum Mittelpunkt der Erde’, so führt uns auch Ernst Constantin (richtiger Name: Ernst Constantin Schumann) in die Urtümliche Welt der Dinosaurier zurück. Als Handlungsort hat Ernst Constantin die damals noch unerforschte Polarregion gewählt. Sicherlich mit ein Grund, warum der Roman heute in Vergessenheit geraten ist. (Summary by Wassermann)

• Gutenberg.de e-text
• LibriVox’s Das Warme Polarland Internet Archive page
• Zip file of the entire book (139.8MB)

Yvain, the Knight of the Lion is a romance by Chrétien de Troyes. It was probably written in the 1170s simultaneously with Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart, and includes several references to the action in that poem. In the poem, Yvain seeks to avenge his cousin Calogrenant who had been defeated by an otherworldly knight beside a magical storm-making fountain in the forest of Broceliande.

(Summary from Wikipedia)

• Gutenberg e-text
• Wikipedia - Chretien de Troyes
• Wikipedia - Yvain, or the Knight with the Lion
• LibriVox’s Yvain, or the Knight with the Lion Internet Archive page
• Zip file of the entire book (128.2MB)

The Time Machine is a novel by H. G. Wells, first published in 1895, later made into two films of the same title. This novel is generally credited with the popularization of the concept of time travel using a vehicle that allows an operator to travel purposefully and selectively. (Summary from wikipedia.org)

• Gutenberg e-text
• Wikipedia - H.G. Wells
• Wikipedia - The Time Machine
• LibriVox’s The Time Machine Internet Archive page
• Zip file of the entire book(120Mb)

The Blackfeet were hunters, travelling from place to place on foot. They used implements of stone, wood, or bone, wore clothing made of skins, and lived in tents covered by hides. Dogs, their only tame animals, were used as beasts of burden to carry small packs and drag light loads.

The stories here told come down to us from very ancient times. Grandfathers have told them to their grandchildren, and these again to their grandchildren, and so from mouth to mouth, through many generations, they have reached our time. (Sibella Denton)

• Gutenberg e-text
• Wikipedia - George B. Grinnell
• LibriVox’s Blackfeet Indian Stories Internet Archive page
• Zip file of the entire book (125.0M)

Some years ago, the editor of an English magazine sent a communication to ‘the hundred greatest men in Great Britain’ asking them this question: ‘If for any reason you were to spend a year absolutely alone, in a prison for instance, and could select from your library three volumes to be taken with you as companions in your period of retirement please to inform us what those three books would be.’ The inquiry was sent to peers of the realm, prominent leaders in politics, judges, authors, manufacturers, merchants, gentlemen of leisure-men who would represent every aspect of successful life. In the answers it was found that ninety-eight of the hundred men named ‘The Bible’ first on the list of the three books to be chosen. (From Book introduction)

• e-text
• Wikipedia - Jesse Lyman Hurlbut
• Wikipedia - Hurlbut’s Story of the Bible
• LibriVox’s Hurlbut’s Story of the Bible Part Five Internet Archive page
• Zip file of the entire book 83.8MB

Practically nothing is known about Habakkuk’s personal history, except for what can be inferred from the text of his book, which consists of five oracles about the Chaldeans (Babylonians) and a song of praise to God. Since the Chaldean rise to power is dated c. 612 BC, it is assumed he was active about that time, making him an early contemporary of Jeremiah and Zephaniah. Jewish sources, however, do not group him with those two prophets, who are often placed together, so it is possible that he was slightly earlier than they. Because the final chapter of his book is a song, it is sometimes assumed in Jewish tradition that he was a member of the tribe of Levi, which served as musicians in Solomon’s Temple. According to the Zohar (Volume 1, page 8b) Habakkuk is the boy born to the Shunamite woman through Elisha’s blessing. Habakkuk is unique among the prophets in that he openly questions the wisdom of God.[citation needed] In the first part of the first chapter, the Prophet sees the injustice among his people and asks why God does not take action: ‘1:2 Yahweh, how long will I cry, and you will not hear? I cry out to you ‘Violence!’ and will you not save?’ - (World English Bible).
(Summary by Wikipedia)

• E-text
• Wikipedia - American Standard Version
• Wikipedia - Book of Habakkuk
• Wikipedia - Habakkuk
• LibriVox’s The Book of Habakkuk Internet Archive page
• Zip file of the entire book (5.3MB)