The war is over. Troy has fallen. Everyone else is heading home.

Everyone except one man.

Odysseus just wants to get back to his wife, his son, and his little rocky island of Ithaca. It should be a few weeks' sailing. Instead, it takes him ten years.

Along the way there are monsters, witches, storms, shipwrecks, and gods who really can't decide whether they're helping him or ruining him. And back home in Ithaca, things aren't going well either — a house full of uninvited guests is eating him out of his kingdom, and they're all waiting for his wife to give up on him.

Can he make it home? And if he does, will there be anything left worth coming home to?

This is *The Odyssey* by Homer.

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I'm Roger Braveheart, and welcome along to *TWIG 74* — grab a cuppa, get comfy, and think of this as a free audiobook you can polish off in about an hour.

Here's the idea behind the channel. We take the great classics — the ones everybody's heard of but hardly anyone's actually read — and retell them properly, so you get the story, the drama and the feel of the original without wading through hundreds of pages.

So what you're about to hear is a summarised version. Homer's poem is enormous, and reading or listening to the whole thing would eat up many, many hours of your life. This one comes in at around sixty minutes, give or take — it depends on how long and how tangled the original book is. But don't worry, I've kept all the bits that matter. None of the good stuff gets left behind.

One more thing worth mentioning: this version comes straight from Homer's original poem. Not the movies, not the TV shows, not the tidied-up retellings floating about out there. A lot of those shuffle events around, smooth off Odysseus's rough edges, or quietly change big chunks of what actually happens — including the newest one, Christopher Nolan's film with Matt Damon. So if you've only ever seen a screen version, you might be in for a few surprises.

New episodes land at least once a week, on Sundays, so there's always something fresh waiting for you before the working week kicks in.

And if you fancy dropping me a line, the show's email is **twig74@mailo.com**. I genuinely love hearing from you — feedback, thoughts, or better still, suggestions for classics you'd like me to read on a future episode. Chances are, if you want to hear it, so does somebody else.

Right then. Get comfortable, picture a ship on a wide dark sea a very long way from home, and let's begin.

Picture a man so precise, so utterly ruled by the clock, that his servants can set their watches by his breakfast.

Then, one evening at his London club, Phileas Fogg makes an outrageous claim: a person could travel right around the world in eighty days.

His friends laugh. So he bets them twenty thousand pounds that he can do it — and walks out that very night with a carpet bag, a wad of banknotes, and a brand-new French manservant called Passepartout.

Trains, steamers, and anything else that moves. Missed connections, wild weather, and a detective who's convinced Fogg isn't a gentleman on a wager at all, but a thief on the run.

Eighty days. Not a minute more.

Can he possibly make it?

This is *Around the World in Eighty Days* by Jules Verne.

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I'm Roger Braveheart, and it's lovely to have you along on the *TWIG 74* podcast — think of it as a free audiobook, just a much shorter one.

Here's the deal. I take big, much-loved classic novels and retell them, start to finish, in about an hour. Same story, same twists, same characters — just without the long way round. The full book would keep you going for many hours, so consider this the express train version. How long each episode runs depends a bit on how long and how tangled the original is, but sixty minutes is usually about right.

I did try squeezing them into half an hour, but honestly? Too many good bits ended up on the cutting room floor. Nobody wants that.

One thing worth mentioning: everything you'll hear comes straight from Verne's actual novel — not the films, not the TV shows, not the little cut-down school editions. A lot of those move things about, smooth over the awkward parts, or change the ending altogether. Not us. This is the real thing, just trimmed.

New episode every week, at least, and I aim to get them out on a Sunday so you've got something ready for the week ahead.

And if you fancy dropping me a line, the email's **twig74@mailo.com**. I genuinely love hearing from you — tell me what you thought, or better still, tell me which classic I should tackle next. Some of the best suggestions have come from listeners.

Right then. Make yourself comfortable, imagine a station clock ticking away somewhere in the distance, and off we go.

A boy is born in a workhouse, orphaned before he even knows his own name, and raised on watery gruel and cruelty.

Then, one day, he does something unthinkable. He asks for more.

That small act of defiance gets him thrown out into the world alone — and the world he stumbles into is far darker than anything he could have imagined. There are pickpockets, thieves, a sinister old man who collects lost boys, and a secret about his past that certain people would kill to keep buried.

Will he find the kindness he's been searching for? Or will London swallow him whole?

This is *Oliver Twist* by Charles Dickens.

I'm Roger Braveheart, and welcome to *TWIG 74* — grab a cuppa, settle in, and think of this as a free audiobook, on me.

Here's the deal. I take brilliant classic novels and retell them, trimmed down but with all the drama and atmosphere still intact. So what you're getting today is a summarised version of *Oliver Twist* — about 60 minutes, give or take, depending on how long and how complicated the original book is. And believe me, the full thing would take you many, many hours to get through. My job is to take Dickens's big, sprawling story and squeeze it into something you can enjoy in one sitting, keeping the important bits and the moments that really hit you.

I did try 30-minute versions for a while, but honestly? I was cutting out far too much good stuff.

Oh, and one more thing — this comes straight from what Dickens actually wrote. Not the films, not the telly adaptations, not the abridged versions knocking about, which love to shuffle events around, tidy things up, or change whole chunks of the story.

I try to get a new episode out at least once a week, on Sundays, so it's ready and waiting for you when the working week kicks off.

If you fancy dropping me a line, the show's email is twig74@mailo.com. I genuinely love hearing your feedback, and if you've got a favourite classic you'd like me to read on a future episode, send it my way.

Right then — make yourself comfortable, picture the fog rolling through the dark streets of Victorian London, and let's get started.