Risultati Editore "Audio Sommelier" in Classici

Nyarlathotep: descendent of ancient Egyptian pharaohs and bringer of bad dreams. When the story’s namesake begins his travels to showcase his once dormant supernatural powers, he runs into a particularly tough crowd. When Nyarlathotep becomes angry, he sends the crowd in different directions - which brings a seeming horror about the city. By the end of it, the maddened crowd is the least of the world’s worries. Doom, it would seem, was here to stay with Nyarlathotep.

Revenge, death, and destruction abound in this early short story by H.P. Lovecraft. The story follows Antoine, a count who is last in line to die at the age of 32 due to a curse put on his family hundreds of years prior. His ancestor, being responsible for the death, brought about the curse, and Antoine was left to watch all his family, including his manservant, die an early death. But when his time comes and he is exploring the castle in wait, he manages to successfully end the curse by deflecting the fatal blow of Charles - the son of the man who was killed so many years ago.

Madame Mathilde Loisel is sure she was meant to be an aristocrat, but she was born into a middle-class family and married off to a middle-class clerk. When her husband procures them invitations to a high-society party, Loisel goes all out to impress. She borrows a diamond necklace from a wealthy acquaintance and has the time of her life - until the necklace goes missing. In “The Necklace”, de Maupassant showcases his signature twists of fate and social commentary in a story that will leave you speechless.

To those who believed that all the great electric discoveries had already been made, Tesla says, “What has been so far done by electricity is nothing as compared with what the future has in store.” In this fascinating article, he discusses the possibilities yet to be enacted using electricity. He successfully predicted current inventions, including common smartphone technologies of sending photos and using voice-to-text tools. Others are yet to be accomplished to his full vision....

Where does human energy come from, and where is it going? In this fascinating text, notable inventor Nikola Tesla examines these fundamental questions as he theorizes ways of maximizing human energy. While he thinks like a scientist, Tesla writes like a philosopher, making the text accessible for a wider audience. The Problem of Increasing Human Energy functions as both a valuable contribution to scientific thought and a self-help book for humanity.

The public mourns when a beloved magistrate dies, a man of upstanding character who had a reputation for bringing criminals to justice. Yet when our tale’s narrator stumbles upon the man’s diary, he discovers another side to this public servant. One entry reads: “It must be a pleasure, unique and full of zest, to kill.”

As humans, we often wonder about our heroes’ (and, perhaps, our enemies’) opinions on the most assorted of topics. Mark Twain’s speech “Cigars and Tobacco” serves to satiate such curiosities. In it, he details his storied history with those two substances and his search for the “worst cigar in the New York Market.” It’s a brief treat for anyone who’s ever wondered about Twain’s tobacco consumption, or simply wants to read some miscellaneous wit from this literary master.

Inventor and scientist Nikola Tesla believed in life on other planets. One night in his laboratory in the Colorado mountains, he began noting electronic signals that he deduced came from an intelligent life form on another planet. While over 100 years later we have still failed to prove the existence of alien life, Tesla’s short article provides a fascinating look at the possibility of interplanetary communication. To the visionary who invented wireless communication, sending a message to Mars was merely the logical next step.

A plague known as the Red Death has swept through the country, killing half the kingdom. Prince Prospero hides away in his castle with his favorite courtiers, unconcerned. One night, he throws a lavish masquerade ball, but the party goes south when a mysterious guest appears dressed as a plague victim.

Unlike many of Lovecraft’s stories, this story takes place in Greece, and more importantly, on a mountain that was supposedly watched over by Pan. Kalos and Musides, two friends, live here, and when Kalos falls ill and dies, Musides decides to use his sculpting powers to use. He erects a great monument to Kalos over his tomb, but an oak tree decides to overtake it, shaping into what looks like a deformed and monstrous human figure. Musides’ fears about the tree sapping the vital force from his friend’s grave are finally struck down by lightning - and with it the whole monument.

The Nameless City, now defunct in part of the Arabian Peninsula, tells the tale of a civilization run by reptilian creatures long before the dawn of humanity. It describes how they lived, worked, and ran until the ocean receded. Desertlike conditions bring about the downfall of the civilization, and this is documented by the author of the Necronomicon. Despite this downfall, their hieroglyphs remain, and it is rumored that deep beneath the surface, some reptilian creatures remain, too.

Ever want to blame the worst thing you’ve ever done on someone (or something) else? Edgar Allan Poe believes you don’t have to, and that each time someone does something that is against their best interest, they are being visited by the Imp of the Perverse. The narrator of this story, in fact, is visited by this imp after he murders a man via poisonous candle. After thinking he got away with it, he gets a visit from the imp on the streets of his town - and begins to question whether he can hold his secret in any longer.

One of the first things that Grover Cleveland addressed after a whole term away from office was the financial crisis that America seemed to be heading toward. In this message regarding the financial crisis, President Cleveland addressed the concerns of the nation, but focused especially on the American people. He addresses that the looming depression would impact every person in the country, and that he was going to find a way to turn the country around. Throwing around many ideas, including the reintroduction of gold and other precious minerals, President Cleveland eased fears and called to action his fellow Americans in this address.

Hippocrates revolutionized the study of medicine in Ancient Greece, but some of his ideas still influence the medical field today. In his book On Ulcers, Hippocrates details the recommended treatment for this ailment. While modern medicine has moved beyond using honey, boiled leaves, and white wine to treat ulcers, Hippocrates’ advice on diet and rest hold true. This text is fascinating for anyone interested in the historical development of medical practices.

In 1882, Congress passed a law that criminalized polygamy. Emmeline Wells, a staunch defender of plural marriage, gave this speech in 1883. In it, she addresses the popular opinion that polygamy is an act that keeps ignorant Mormon women “in bondage.” She provides a counter argument, describing how Mormon women consider their choices carefully, and that those who do agree to a polygamous marriage “are like other good, pure, virtuous women, industrially, morally and intellectually.”

Cato the Younger was one of the many biographies documented by Plutarch in his series called Parallel Lives. Related to Cato the Elder, Cato the Younger was also a student of philosophy as well as a Roman Statesman. After his father died and he gained his inheritance, Cato the Younger began his life as philosopher, warrior, and political leader. His life ended, as so many Roman lives did back then, in tragedy.

Theodore Roosevelt began this 1899 speech with his thesis: “I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life.” He discusses how the many hardships of his life shaped him for the better. Roosevelt believed that if Americans wished to succeed in the world, they would need to embrace the virtue of hard work. He applied this same belief to foreign affairs, stating that America must establish itself as a powerful military force and exert this power when necessary.

One of Edgar Allen Poe’s more lighthearted stories, this details the investigation of a mummy named Allamistakeo. After finding the body of the mummy in good condition, the mummy researchers use electricity to bring him back to life. Allamistakeo then proceeds to have a conversation with the crew - from what ancient Egypt was like to what religion was like. The conversation ends abruptly when the researchers ask him a question about the beginning of the universe, calling to play the reigning religion at the time.

In this story, the narrator showcases his friend, Toby Dammit, who is a man of low morals and often makes bets against the devil. One day, while on a bridge, Dammit sees a turnstile and bets the devil his head he can make it that far. An old man goads Dammit into making the leap - and the cost is about what you might expect.

One of the many documented lives in Plutarch’s Parallel Lives series, The Life of Coriolanus looks into the controversial life of one of Rome’s most famous generals. When the town of Corioli was under siege, Coriolanus gathered a group of men together to fight for freedom. Always loyal to his town, he advocated during the Roman grain shortage that any grain stocks be divvied out based on loyalty. Because of his harsh views, he was eventually exiled - but he never stopped fighting for what he believed to be right.