Bill Homewood
1) Tom Jones
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"Chronicles the romantic adventures of mysterious orphan Tom Jones, a reckless yet personable young man, as he falls in love with the unattainable Sophia Western, the beautiful daughter of a neighboring squire"--NoveList.
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Father Goriot (1835) is a novel by French author Honoré de Balzac. An early work in his La Comédie humaine sequence, Father Goriot has since become one of Balzac's most critically and commercially successful novels. It contains several characters who appear throughout his other books and is considered to be the first novel in which he perfected his hallmark realist style.
The novel, set in Paris, follows Eugène de Rastignac, a young law student...
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The intrepid Professor Lindenbrock embarks upon the strangest expedition of the nineteenth century: a journey down an extinct Icelandic volcano to the Earth's very core. In his quest to penetrate the planet's primordial secrets, the geologist--together with his quaking nephew Axel and their devoted guide, Hans--discovers an astonishing subterranean menagerie of prehistoric proportions. Verne's imaginative tale is at once the ultimate science fiction...
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Idylls of the King (1859-1885) is a cycle of narrative poems by British poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Written while Tennyson was serving as Poet Laureate, Idylls of the King reworks the medieval Arthurian legend in blank verse and with an elegiac tone. Based on Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur and the early British Mabinogion manuscripts, Tennyson's work connects an ancient tradition to the reign and ideals of Queen Victoria.
"The Coming of Arthur"...
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The Four Just Men (1905) is a political thriller by Edgar Wallace. The book that launched Wallace's career as one of England's leading popular fiction writers, The Four Just Men was released in conjunction with a newspaper competition allowing readers to guess the truth behind the unsolved mystery at the end of the novel. Like many of Wallace's stories and novels, The Four Just Men was adapted into a silent film in 1921 before being made into a popular...
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After Napoleon's defeat, the French aristocracy tried to reassert its power in a government known as the Restoration. Venal and corrupt, the Restoration fell in 1830. Later that year, Stendhal published his scathing satire of Restoration society, The Red and the Black . Its title refers to the military and the clergy, the two career paths open to young men of intelligence and ambition but no social standing. Stendha's hero, Julien Sorel, is such a...
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"Immortalized in popular culture through stage and film adaptations, Victor Hugo's sprawling 1862 novel chronicles the struggles of former convict Jean Valjean and his relentless pursuit by Inspector Javert. A thrilling tale of narrow escapes, romance in the midst of a revolution, and heroism at Waterloo, the story forms a parable of a morally empty state that values retribution rather than justice"--
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And now it appeared that there was a mysterious Queen clothed by rumor with dread and wonderful attributes, and commonly known by the impersonal but, to my mind, rather awesome title of She.With She, H. Rider Haggard polished the literary "lost world" odyssey. Coming upon an underground civilization more ancient than the world of pharaohs, a group of adventurers catch the attention of Ayesha, the sorceress queen.Gothic grotesqueries, penny dreadfuls,...
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In Spain, the Just Men stalk a mysterious English doctor The beggar limps toward the outdoor café looking for a familiar face. He finds Manfred sitting alone and tells the gentleman to follow. Only when the beggar leans close and speaks in his true voice does Manfred recognize him as Gonsalez, master of disguise and an ally in the fight against crime. When they are joined by the rakish Poiccart, the Three Just Men are together at last. Feared throughout...
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In their second explosive adventure, the Four Just Men must sacrifice one of their own Her rise through the ranks of the Red Hundred was swift and inexorable. From scraps of conversation overheard in her father's kitchen, she crafted speeches that brought men to tears. When the time came for bloodshed, she did not hesitate-generals and princes died by her hand. As her beauty grew, so did her influence. Now the Woman of Gratz and the anarchist horde...
12) Allan Quatermain
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After the tragic death of his son, Allan Quatermain's grief is inconsolable. Feeling that the only possible way to ease his pain is through an expedition, Quatermain seeks out Captain Good, Sir Henry Curtis, and the Zulu chief Umslopogaas, who all previously journeyed with him to King Solomon's Mine. After explaining his predicament, Quatermain persuades them to accompany him on one last journey-a search mission to find a lost city. Together they...
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Here are 35 of the greatest poems in the French language, carefully selected and read in French by Bill Homewood, the bilingual English classical actor who has spent half his life in France. To help those English speakers with just a little French to appreciate the glories of these poems, he provides his own clear English translations.
The poems range from the earliest medieval and renaissance masterpieces - François Villon, Joachim de Bellay, Pierre...
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The story begins when renowned safari hunter Allan Quatermain agrees to help Sir Henry Curtis and Captain John Good search for King Solomon's legendary cache of diamonds. Eager to find out what is tru, whit is myth, and what is really buried in the darkness of the mines, the tireless adventurers delve into the Sahara's treacherous Veil of Sand, where they stumble upon a mysterious lost tribe of African warriors. Finding themselves in deadly peril...
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Most noble and illustrious drinkers, thus begins Gargantua and Panatgruel, a grotesque and carnivalesque collection of exuberant, fantastical stories that take us from the ancient world through to the European Renaissance. At the heart of these tall tales are the giant Gargantua and his equally seismic son Pantagruel. Magical adventures, maniacal punning, slapstick humor, erudite allusions and just about any bodily function one can think of, here...
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Zorro Rides Again is the third novella featuring Zorro, the Robin Hood of Old California. Reina de los Angeles is being terrorized by a masked swordsman who marks the faces of his victims with Zorro's trademark Z. But is this the real Zorro? The Governor of California offers a reward for the capture of Don Diego Vega (who is known to have previously been Zorro) dead or alive, while an army - led by the ruthless Captain Rocha - is in hot pursuit of...
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The swashbuckling sequel to The Mark of Zorro (The Curse of Capistrano), The Further Adventures of Zorro sees the daring hero out for revenge once more. After Captain Ramon kidnaps the beautiful Lolita Pulido, Zorro takes to the seas and battles pirates in a bid to win her back. Swordfights, death traps and disastrously tight corners await him. But it is never much more than a challenge as the gallant caballero laughs in the face of danger - nothing...
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Once again, the intrepid Zorro fights for justice! In the fourth of Naxos AudioBooks' Zorro titles, our hero's assistance is sought when the devious Pedro Morelos threatens the fortune of a wealthy heir, Vicente Canchola. Morelos hatches a plot to kidnap the Governor of California and extort profitable trade concessions from him. Zorro overhears this, but will he be able to foil their evil scheme, and stop the Canchola estate from falling into the...
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At the height of the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror, a mysterious daredevil rescues French aristocrats from execution and smuggles them out of France. This secretive escape artist is known to the French authorities only by the drawings of a flower, the scarlet pimpernel, that he leaves as his calling card.
Marguerite St. Just has avoided the worst of the revolutionary turmoil. Her recent marriage to the English baronet
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Of all the legends of Western civilisation, perhaps the glorious adventures of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table are the best known. The Quest for the Holy Grail, and the undying illicit love between Sir Launcelot and Queen Guenever, have provided inspiration for storytellers and poets down the ages, and sparked so many films and books of our own time. 15th-century knight Sir Thomas Malory penned the book with relish, packing his story...