検索キーワード： ナレーター "Seth Thompson" すべてのカテゴリー

Jack London is primarily known for his novels and short stories that center around the natural world. The Road is a more personal story and takes listeners through London’s experiences in poverty in the late 1800s, which was the time of the largest economic depression in the US to that day. London writes about his experiences begging, sneaking onto trains, taking on many odd jobs, and evading the police who are out to arrest any vagrants.

In an ancient Indian kingdom, a man named Siddhartha embarks on a journey from his home and family to seek spiritual enlightenment. Siddhartha gives up all belongings and wealth, becomes a homeless beggar, and focuses on meditating on the teachings of Buddha. Siddhartha’s travels take him all around the country, meeting new people and living a life of contemplation, until he meets Kamala, the most beautiful woman he has ever seen.

Jack London’s White Fang is an impactful examination of the harsh realities of nature and the damage humans can cause, but also of the will to survive that is common between humans and wild animals alike. The story follows White Fang, a feisty wolf pup that becomes a vicious wolf due to his interactions with harsh human masters. He is shuffled between masters throughout his life and taught to be destructive but is eventually shown love and compassion by a human and learns gentleness as an adult wolf.

In one of the most well-known works of satire, Jonathan Swift puts forth a “modest proposal”. Swift begins by outlining the suffering that the starving beggars in Ireland experience daily. He paints a grim picture of the plight these people face to help the listener relate to the situation before turning the tables and suggesting that to alleviate the economic troubles of the poor, their children could be sold as food to the upper class. The shock from this sudden change is expounded by Swift’s continued explanation of the proposal.

An instant best-seller when it was released in 1885, King Solomon’s Mines is regarded as one of the earliest works of “lost world” fiction in which explorers discover an unknown world full of adventure and mystery. In King Solomon’s Mines, adventurer Allan Quatermain sets out on an expedition to find a friend’s brother who was lost while searching for the mines of the biblical King Solomon. The mines are said to hold the riches and treasures of Solomon’s kingdom, a temptation that Quatermain cannot deny.

In 1789, the people of France decided to overtake the monarchy of their country in favor of a republic. The French Revolution played out like an echo of the American Revolution of the decade prior, with people rising against their governing bodies. Like the American Revolution, the French Revolution had its dissidents and supporters. Thomas Paine was one such supporter, and Rights of Man was his manifesto in support of people fighting for liberty.

In The Prince, it is asserted that a good ruler is one who works for the benefit of the state at all times, even when this requires acting immorally or unethically. Basically, the ends justify the means, even if the means are killing innocent people, blackmailing, and being deceitful. This idea was contentious then and now - many people believe that rulers should act with kindness and lawfulness above all, rather than bending ethics to achieve the ends they want.