Adriel Brandt has narrated 21 audiobooks on Listento.it by 15 authors, with an average listener rating of 4.7★ across 148 ratings. The most-rated is Animal Farm.
Animal Farm
Summary
Animal Farm is an allegorical novella by George Orwell, first published in the UK in 1945. It is the tale of farm animals that rebel against the farmer, intending to establish a society where the animals can be equal, free, and happy. With stirring slogans, they set out to create utopia. However, the rebellion is betrayed and the farm ends up in a state worse than it was before, under the dictatorship of a pig named Napoleon. This is the setting for one of the most revealing satiric fables of all time - an acerbic tale for adults that records the process from revolution against tyranny to a totalitarianism which is even worse. When Animal Farm was first published, Stalinist Russia was its target. Today it is quite clear that wherever and whenever freedom is suppressed, the message of George Orwell’s masterpiece is still relevant. Time Magazine chose the book as one of the 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005. It also features at number 31 on the Modern Library List of Best 20th-Century Novels.
Public Domain (P)2020 Museum Audiobooks
1984
Summary
1984 is a novel by the British author George Orwell in 1949. Considered a classic of dystopian fiction, the book has contributed many terms to common usage, including Big Brother, doublethink, newspeak, and thoughtcrime, while the adjective Orwellian in the context of government deception, surveillance, and misleading terminology has entered the English language. The narrative unfolds in an imagined future when most of the world has fallen prey to omnipresent government surveillance, propaganda, and endless war. Great Britain has become a province of the super state Oceania, which is ruled by the Party, whose leader is called Big Brother. The Party employs the Thought Police to persecute individuality and independent thinking. Winston Smith, the protagonist, is an ordinary worker who secretly despises the Party and dreams of rebellion. Time Magazine included the novel on its 100 best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005, and it is placed at number 13 on the editor’s list and at number six on the reader’s list of Modern Library's 100 Best Novels.
Public Domain (P)2020 Museum Audiobooks
The Very Best of George Orwell: 1984 and Animal Farm
Summary
George Orwell (1903-1950) was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic, best known for the allegorical novella Animal Farm (1945) and the dystopian novel 1984 (1949). Animal Farm is Orwell's classic satire of the Russian Revolution. The farm animals rise up against Farmer Jones and transform the Manor Farm into Animal Farm, an egalitarian society built on the credo that All Animals Are Created Equal. In 1984, the protagonist, Winston Smith ,wrestles with oppression in Oceania, a state where the Party scrutinizes every human action with Big Brother. Defying a ban on individualism, Winston expresses his thoughts in a diary and pursues a relationship with his colleague, Julia. These criminal acts bring Winston to the attention of Big Brother.
Public Domain (P)2020 Museum Audiobooks
The Ethics of Ambiguity
Summary
The Ethics of Ambiguity was Simone de Beauvoir's second major work of non-fiction. It consists of three parts and a short conclusion. Part I, titled "Ambiguity and Freedom", provides the philosophical underpinnings of de Beauvoir's ethics. Part II, "Personal Freedom and Others," looks at the ways in which people try to deny their freedom, and the type of person that misuse freedom, like the nihilist, the adventurer and the passionate man. In Part III, "The Positive Aspect of Ambiguity," the author examines the intricacies and nuances of genuinely free action in the world, in the sections "The Aesthetic Attitude," "Freedom and Liberation," "The Present and the Future," and "Ambiguity". In the conclusion, de Beauvoir gives a summary of her view of human freedom.
Public Domain (P)2020 Museum Audiobooks
The Life of John Wesley Hardin
Summary
Hardin was an average man - except for his above average gunlighting. A Texan sympathizer to slavery writes about his deeds during life. Some of these deeds are commendable, while some are downright deplorable - just like any other man.
Public Domain (P)2018 Museum Audiobooks
To Have or to Be?
Summary
To Have or to Be? is one of the seminal books of the second half of the 20th century. Nothing less than a manifesto for a new social and psychological revolution to save our threatened planet, this book is a summary of the penetrating thought of Erich Fromm. His thesis is that two modes of existence struggle for the spirit of humankind: the having mode, which concentrates on material possessions, power, and aggression, and is the basis of the universal evils of greed, envy, and violence; and the being mode, which is based on love, the pleasure of sharing, and in productive activity. To Have or to Be? is a brilliant program for socioeconomic change.
©1976 The Estate of Erich Fromm (P)2020 Upfront Books
The Monroe Doctrine
Summary
With this address, US President James Monroe set a precedent for the nation’s foreign policy. In it, he stated that “The American continents...are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers.” Monroe established this doctrine in a time where most of Spain and Portugal’s colonies in Latin America had gained independence. From then on, the Old World and the New World would operate in separate political spheres, and any European interference in North or South America would be considered a threat against the US.
Public Domain (P)2018 Audio Sommelier
What Does It All Mean?
Summary
In this cogent and accessible introduction to philosophy, the distinguished author of Mortal Questions and The View from Nowhere sets forth the central problems of philosophical inquiry for the beginning student. Arguing that the best way to learn about philosophy is to think about its questions directly, Thomas Nagel considers possible solutions to nine problems - knowledge of the world beyond our minds, knowledge of other minds, the mind-body problem, free will, the basis of morality, right and wrong, the nature of death, the meaning of life, and the meaning of words. Although he states his own opinions clearly, Nagel leaves these fundamental questions open, allowing students to entertain other solutions and encouraging them to think for themselves.
©1987 Thomas Nagel (P)2021 Upfront Books
The Elements of Style
Summary
The Elements of Style is an American English writing style guide originally composed by William Strunk Jr. in 1918, and published by Harcourt in 1920, comprising eight elementary rules of usage, 10 elementary principles of composition, a few matters of form, a list of 49 words and expressions commonly misused, and a list of 57 words often misspelled. William Strunk concentrated on specific questions of usage, and the cultivation of good writing, with the recommendation "Make every word tell".
Public Domain (P)2019 Museum Audiobooks
The Terrible Old Man
Summary
A lot happens in this very short story by H.P. Lovecraft, but it begins as the title might lend itself to imagine - with a terrible old man. As three thieves find out about this old man’s treasures, they decide to visit with the man with the intent to steal his riches. Their plan goes horribly wrong when one of the three hears screaming from the getaway car. When he enters the house, he finds the hideous, yellow-eyed man staring evilly at him, waiting to usher in his doom.
Public Domain (P)2018 Audio Sommelier
The Science of Being Well
Summary
Wallace Delois Wattles (1860-1911) was a motivational author. The Science of Being Well is part of a trilogy of guides showing the way to a happy and prosperous life. It provides guidance toward attaining and maintaining sound health. The author uses the universal principle of life to explain the way to good health in a plain and simple fashion, avoiding technical, abstruse, or difficult concepts. The methods of thought and action that he proposes are based on the monistic theory of the universe - the theory that matter, mind, consciousness, and life are all manifestations of one substance.
Public Domain (P)2020 Museum Audiobooks
Captured by the Apaches, Forty Years with this Savage Band of Indians
Summary
On Sept. 28, 1870, the 4-year-old Thomas Stringfield was captured by a band of Comanches when they attacked the Stringfield family on their wagon in McMullen County. Thomas was given the name "Two Braids" and assimilated into the tribe of Comanches with whom he lived for 40 years. In 1911, he published Captured By the Apaches which covers his life as an Apache and his rediscovery of the white man’s world after four decades. Stringfield knew the famous Chiefs Geronimio and Quanah Parker, and wrote about religion, marriage, and other topics on Indian life.
Public Domain (P)2020 Museum Audiobooks
The Sociological Imagination
Summary
C. Wright Mills is best remembered for his highly acclaimed work The Sociological Imagination, in which he set forth his views on how social science should be pursued. Hailed upon publication as a cogent and hard-hitting critique, The Sociological Imagination took issue with the ascendant schools of sociology in the United States, calling for a humanist sociology connecting the social, personal, and historical dimensions of our lives. The sociological imagination Mills calls for is a sociological vision, a way of looking at the world that can see links between the apparently private problems of the individual and important social issues.
©1959, 2000 Oxford University Press, Inc. (P)2021 Upfront Books
The Silver Chair
Summary
The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis was the fourth published of the seven novels that make up The Chronicles of Narnia (1950-1956), but is marked volume six in those editions that are sequenced according to the Narnian chronology. The story takes place decades after The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, when Aslan summons Eustace Scrubb and his classmate Jill Pole to help in the quest of finding the missing Prince Rillian, son and heir of King Caspian. After a journey filled with many dangers, they confront the witch who must be defeated in order to save Prince Rillian’s life.
Public Domain (P)2021 Museum Audiobooks
Brave New World
Summary
Set in 2540 CE, Brave New World is a dystopian novel by Aldous Huxley that was published in 1932. The novel takes place in a futuristic society called The World State, where life revolves around science and efficiency. Emotions and individuality are conditioned out of children, and citizens are socially engineered into an intelligence-based hierarchy. People are kept in a passive state through their consumption of a soothing drug called soma, and trouble-makers are exiled to various islands. The characters include Bernard Marx, a sleep-learning specialist, Helmholtz Watson, a lecturer, Lenina Crowne, a fetus technician, and John, also known as “Mr. Savage”. Brave New World was ranked at number five on the Modern Library’s 1999 list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century.
Public Domain (P)2020 Museum Audiobooks
The Horse and His Boy
Summary
The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis, was the fifth to be published in The Chronicles of Narnia series. The story is set in the period covered by the last chapter of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe during the reign of the four children as monarchs of Narnia. The main characters are two children and two talking horses who escape from Calormen and travel north into Narnia. On their journey, they learn of the Prince of Calormen's plan to invade Archenland, and warn the King of Archenland of the impending attack. The lion Aslan appears in the story to demonstrate the idea of divine providence.
Public Domain (P)2021 Museum Audiobooks
Prince Caspian
Summary
Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis is the fourth book in the series The Chronicles of Narnia. The old Narnia is gone, and the land is ruled by the tyrant Miraz. The Pevensie children become involved with the fate of a young man known as Prince Caspian, who is fleeing from his uncle, the evil Miraz. Wild adventure follow while a host of new characters appear, like the mouse Reepicheep. With the assistance and guidance of the lion Aslan, Narnia is saved from the clutches of Miraz, and the rightful king, Caspian, takes the throne. This is an inspiring tale of adventure, righteousness, and justice.
Public Domain (P)2021 Museum Audiobooks
The Battle for Leyte Gulf
Summary
The Battle of Leyte Gulf was the greatest naval battle of World War II and the largest ever engagement of battleships. The battle was fought near the Philippine islands of Leyte, Samar, and Luzon, from October 23-26, 1944. This engaging work gives a comprehensive account of the composition, strategies, and actions of the Japanese and the US Navy in October 1944. The Japanese sent virtually every fighting ship of the Imperial Navy into battle against the combined American and Australian forces. The battle comprised four main engagements, in the Sibuyan Sea, Surigao Strait, off Cape Engaño, and off Samar. The Pulitzer Prize winner C. Vann Woodward provides a splendid account of this great victory by the US Navy that concluded the naval war in the Pacific.
Public Domain (P)2020 Museum Audiobooks
Discourse on the Origin of Inequality
Summary
Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men by the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau was originally written for an essay competition run by the Dijon Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1754. The question was, "What is the origin of inequality among men, and is it authorized by the natural law?" Rousseau's text is divided into four main parts: a dedication, preface, an extended inquiry into the nature of the individual, and another inquiry into the evolution of the human species within society. Rousseau discusses two types of inequality: natural inequality and moral inequality. Concerned with moral inequality, Rousseau contends that it is unique to civil society, is established by convention and is seen in differences in "wealth, nobility or rank, power and personal merit". Rousseau takes a cynical view of civil society, claiming that man has strayed from his "natural state" of individual independence and freedom to satisfy his individual needs and desires.
Public Domain (P)2020 Museum Audiobooks
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Summary
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis is a fantasy novel for children, first published in 1950. It is the best known of the seven novels that comprise The Chronicles of Narnia (1950-1956). Most of the story is set in Narnia, a land of talking animals and mythical creatures ruled by the wicked White Witch. The narrative starts with four English siblings being relocated to a large country house following a wartime evacuation. They visit Narnia through a wardrobe and become involved in its affairs and its history.
Public Domain (P)2021 Museum Audiobooks