Satire audiobooks page 2

Satiren

Satiren (Sermones) von Horaz, Veröffentlichung dieser Ausgabe 1893.

Horaz, eigentlich Quintus Horatius Flaccus, ist neben Vergil einer der bedeutendsten römischen Dichter der „Augusteischen Zeit“, das heißt der Zeit zwischen 43 v. Chr. und 14 n. Chr., also vom Tod Ciceros bis zum Tod des Augustus.

Die zwei Bücher der Satiren bestehen aus zehn beziehungsweise acht teilweise recht umfangreichen Einzelgedichten in Hexametern. Horaz selbst nannte sie Sermones („Gespräche“). Er spricht darin mit Maecenas, mit dem Leser, mit sich selbst, und führt die Personen im Dialog vor. Ziel dieser nicht unbedingt harmlosen Plaudereien ist, dem Leser mit Humor die unangenehme Wahrheit aufzu...

Acharnians (Billson Translation)
Loaded with cryptic, nearly indecipherable inside jokes and double entendres, this early comedy of Aristophanes has a simple, anti-war premise that resounds down the centuries. On flimsy pretexts, greedy politicians have embroiled the nation of Athens in war after war after war. Dicæopolis is Everyman, an ordinary, plain-speaking citizen fed up with the bumbling, belligerence, and insincerity of the professional leaders. He decides on a whim to make a separate peace with Sparta all by himself, returning with a treaty good for thirty years. Envious of the good deal he has made and of the profit he sees from it, other Athenians try to buy packets of his peace from him, with no success. Puff...
Will and No Will or a Bone for the Lawyers
This "Afterpiece" - a short play to follow a main production - was first produced in 1746. It was based on Regnard's five-act comedy le Legetaire Universel (1707), which is itself a composite of Italian comedy with echoes of Molière, moving from scene to scene with little effort at logical consistency or structure but treating each scene autonomously for its own comic value. The rather long Prologue to A WILL AND NO WILL (11 pages of manuscript) makes fun of the convention of the eighteenth century prologues by the familiar dodge of having actors chatting as though they were in the Pit waiting for the actors in the preceding main play to dress for the afterpiece.
Love and Mr Lewisham
The teaching profession, science and politics in late 19th century England. H.G.Wells’ humorous early novel, drawing on his own life, shows how these – as well as involvement in spiritualism – have to compete with love.

Verteidigung des Unsinns, der Demut, des Schundromans und anderer mißachteter Dinge
Verschiedene Essays, in denen Dinge wie Schundromane, Planeten, Posse, Demut und unüberlegte Gelübde verteidigt werden. Ein hochvergnügliches Augenzwinkern ist unüberseh- bzw. unüberhörbar. ( Zusammenfassung von Bernd Ungerer)

Van Aardappel-mes tot Officiersdegen
Tijdens de Eerste Wereldoorlog was Nederland neutraal, maar het dreigende oorlogsgeweld in de ons omringende landen kwam heel dichtbij. In maart 1916 werd ook Herman Salomons opgeroepen voor militaire dienst. Onder zijn pseudoniem Melis Stoke publiceerde hij later zijn militaire memoires 'Van Aardappel-mes tot Officiersdegen, uit het Dagboek van een Landstormplichtige'. Hierin biedt hij ons een humoristische en soms cynische kijk op het militaire leven van die tijd. (Samenvatting door Bart de Leeuw)

Knickerbocker's History of New York, Vol. 1

Washington Irving, an author, biographer, historian, and diplomat, completed his first major work, a satire of contemporary local history and politics entitled A History of New-York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty, by Diedrich Knickerbocker in 1809. Prior to its publication, Irving started a promotional hoax (not unlike some modern-day publicity stunts?) by placing fake missing persons advertisements in local newspapers asking for help in locating Diedrich Knickerbocker. As a continuation of the hoax, Irving also published a notice purported to be written by the proprietor of the hotel where Knickbocker was staying, in which he threatened to publish a ...

Myszeis
"Myszeis" (znany także jako "Myszeidos pieśni X") to chronologicznie pierwszy z trzech poematów heroikomicznych Ignacego Krasickiego. Poeta wyśmiewa w nim niektóre współczesne sobie zjawiska za pomocą opowieści o wielkiej wojnie między myszami i szczurami po jednej stronie, a kotami i ludźmi po drugiej.

Król Popiel, po krótkim okresie faworyzowania myszy, zmienia zdanie i czyni swoim faworytem kota. Wkrótce nastaje wielkie prześladowanie myszy i szczurów, a te postanawiają odpowiedzieć kontratakiem. Wybucha wojna...

Wzorując poemat na "Iliadzie" poeta nadał uczestniczącym postaciom zwierzęcym imiona mające pasować swoją rangą do epickiego charakteru opowieści. Odbiorca znajd...
To a Faded Rose
LibriVox readers bring you 16 recordings of "To a Faded Rose" by Maurice Switzer. This was the Weekly Poetry selection for June 16, 2013.
Ward No. 6
The line between sanity and insanity is blurred in this classic novella by Anton Chekhov. The disillusioned idealist Dr. Rabin is in charge of a provincial lunatic asylum, overseeing with weary, dubious policies a motley group of patients, a group that mirrors in microcosm all of human and especially Russian society. Seeking answers to profound questions, Dr. Rabin enters into dialogues with both staff members and patients, trying to make sense out of what has become of his life, until it becomes less and less clear who is the doctor and who is the patient. Written with obvious reformist concerns about the dehumanization of "lunatics," the story is also a harrowing parable about the me...