Audiobooks narrated by Adrian Praetzellis

Thomas Hardy (Author), Adrian Praetzellis (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Complete Alice in Wonderland Collection: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking-G

"The Complete Alice in Wonderland Collection includes the four original stories about Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (commonly shortened to Alice in Wonderland) is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a young girl named Alice falling through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures. The tale plays with logic, giving the story lasting popularity with adults as well as with children. It is considered to be one of the best examples of the literary nonsense genre. Its narrative course, structure, characters, and imagery have been enormously influential in both popular culture and literature, especially in the fantasy genre. Included in this collection: 1. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) 2. Through the Looking-Glass (1871) 3. The Hunting of the Snark (1876) 4. Alice's Adventures Under Ground (1886)"

Lewis Carroll (Author), Adrian Praetzellis, Eric Leach, Phil Chenevert (Narrator)

Audiobook

Siddhartha

"Siddhartha is a 1922 novel by Hermann Hesse that deals with the spiritual journey of self-discovery of a man named Siddhartha during the time of the Gautam Buddha. The book, Hesse's ninth novel, was written in German, in a simple, lyrical style. It was published in the U.S. in 1951 and became influential during the 1960s. Hesse dedicated the first part of it to Romain Rolland and the second part to Wilhelm Gundert, his cousin. The word Siddhartha is made up of two words in Sanskrit language, siddha (achieved) + artha (what was searched for), which together means 'he who has found meaning (of existence)' or 'he who has attained his goals'. In fact, the Buddha's own name, before his renunciation, was Siddhartha Gautam, Prince of Kapilavastu. In this book, the Buddha is referred to as 'Gotama'."

Herman Hesse (Author), Adrian Praetzellis (Narrator)

Audiobook

A Jewish State

"Der Judenstaat (German, literally The Jews' State, commonly rendered as The Jewish State) is a pamphlet written by Theodor Herzl and published in February 1896 in Leipzig and Vienna by M. Breitenstein's Verlags-Buchhandlung. It is subtitled with Versuch einer modernen Lösung der Judenfrage (Proposal of a modern solution for the Jewish question) and was originally called Address to the Rothschilds, referring to the Rothschild family banking dynasty, as Herzl planned to deliver it as a speech to the Rothschild family. Baron Edmond de Rothschild rejected Herzl's plan, feeling that it threatened Jews in the Diaspora. He also thought it would put his own settlements at risk. It is considered one of the most important texts of early Zionism. As expressed in this book, Herzl envisioned the founding of a future independent Jewish state during the 20th century. He argued that the best way to avoid antisemitism in Europe was to create this independent Jewish state. The book encouraged Jews to purchase land in Palestine, although the possibility of a Jewish state in Argentina is also considered. Herzl popularized the term Zionism, which was coined by Nathan Birnbaum. The nationalist movement culminated in the birth of the State of Israel in 1948, but Zionism continues to be connected with political support of Israel."

Theodor Herzl (Author), Adrian Praetzellis (Narrator)

Audiobook

Tess of the d'Urbervilles

"Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented is a novel by Thomas Hardy. It initially appeared in a censored and serialised version, published by the British illustrated newspaper The Graphic in 1891, then in book form in three volumes in 1891, and as a single volume in 1892. Though now considered a major 19th-century English novel, even Hardy's fictional masterpiece, Tess of the d'Urbervilles received mixed reviews when it first appeared, in part because it challenged the sexual morals of late Victorian England."

Thomas Hardy (Author), Adrian Praetzellis (Narrator)

Audiobook

Treasure Island

"'For sheer storytelling delight and pure adventure, Treasure Island has never been surpassed. From the moment young Jim Hawkins first encounters the sinister Blind Pew at the Admiral Benbow Inn until the climactic battle for treasure on a tropic isle, the novel creates scenes and characters that have fired the imaginations of generations of readers. Written by a superb prose stylist, a master of both action and atmosphere, the story centers upon the conflict between good and evil - but in this case a particularly engaging form of evil. It is the villainy of that most ambiguous rogue Long John Silver that sets the tempo of this tale of treachery, greed, and daring. Designed to forever kindle a dream of high romance and distant horizons, Treasure Island is, in the words of G. K. Chesterton, 'the realization of an ideal, that which is promised in its provocative and beckoning map; a vision not only of white skeletons but also green palm trees and sapphire seas.' G. S. Fraser terms it 'an utterly original book' and goes on to write: 'There will always be a place for stories like Treasure Island that can keep boys and old men happy.'"

Robert Louis Stevenson (Author), Adrian Praetzellis (Narrator)

Audiobook

My First Summer in the Sierra

"'My First Summer in the Sierra' (1911) takes inspiration from Muir’s journals of the months he spent between June and September 1869 as a shepherd in the Sierras. Muir went on to built a cabin along Yosemite Creek, where he lived for two years. He designed it in such a way that a portion of the stream flowed through it, as he wanted to enjoy its music. From French Bar to Mono Lake and the Yosemite Valley, he was awestruck by everything he saw. The antics of the smallest 'insect people' amazed him as much as stunted thousand-year old Juniper trees growing with inconceivable tenacity from tiny cracks in the stone. In this novel, he tells of the nature in the Sierra, and of his ascension of Mt. Hoffman and other local peaks. - John Muir (1838-1914) was a Scottish-American author and naturalist, who is traditionally considered to be the 'Father of the National Parks'. Born in Dunbar (East Lothian), he spent his childhood exploring the area, and that is where his love of nature first bloomed. In 1849, his family emigrated to Portage, Wisconsin for religious reasons. At 22, he joined the University of Wisconsin-Madison, from which he never graduated, as he preferred to take a multitude of different classes in the variety of subjects he was interested him, such as chemistry, botany and geology. In 1866, whilst working at an Indianapolis wagon wheel factory, he got into a serious accident and almost lost his sight. When he recovered, he decided to follow his dreams and explore nature. In September 1867, he walked from Kentucky to Florida, later describing the trip in his 'A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf.' In 1868, he boarded a ship to Cuba, then later on sailed to New York City, from whence he travelled to California. From there, he decided to visit Yosemite, which he had long read about. He was one of the first to infer that the landscape there must have been formed by glaciers, a widely disputed theory at the time. Muir wrote countless essays, books and letters recounting his adventures out in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada, which have been read by millions. He played a vital role in the preservation of natural areas, and the creations of Yosemite and Sequoia National Park, amongst many others."

John Muir (Author), Adrian Praetzellis (Narrator)

Audiobook

Kim

"'Kim' is a fabulous adventure story set in India during the British Empire, around the time of the Second Afghan War. It tells the story of the street-wise orphan Kimball O'Hara, a highly moral Irish-Indian boy who becomes enmeshed in the 'Great Game' (a term coined by Kipling himself) — the competition between Britain and Russia for the control over Asia. Taking time off from his role as the traveling companion of an aged Tibetan lama, the boy is trained as a spy, and matches wits with various evildoers. With this novel, Kipling takes us on a journey through the India of the early 1880s, painting a vivid picture of it, as well as of the tense political backdrop. - Joseph Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) was an India-born British author, journalist, poet, and novelist. His most famous work is 'The Jungle Book' (1894), which has inspired two Disney adaptations: the 1967 animated feature and the 2016 live-action film starring Scarlett Johansson, Bill Murray, and Lupita Nyong’o. In 1941, he became the first English-language writer to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature."

Rudyard Kipling (Author), Adrian Praetzellis (Narrator)

Audiobook

Kari the Elephant

Dhan Gopal Mukerji (Author), Adrian Praetzellis (Narrator)

Audiobook

Nonsense Songs, Stories, Botany and Alphabets

"A selection of nonsense poems, songs (not sung!), stories, and miscellaneous strangeness. The work includes the "Owl and the Pussycat" and a recipe for Amblongus Pie, which begins "Take 4 pounds (say 4½ pounds) of fresh ablongusses and put them in a small pipkin." Edward Lear was an English writer, poet, cat-lover, and illustrator (his watercolours are beautiful). This recording celebrates the 200th anniversary of Lear's birth. (Summary by Adrian Praetzellis)"

Edward Lear (Author), Adrian Praetzellis (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Thirty-Nine Steps

"'I returned to the City about three o’clock on that Monday afternoon pretty well disgusted with life. I had been three months in the Old Country, and was fed up with it.' So opens John Buchan´s The Thirty-Nine Steps and with it he creates a whole new genre: the adventure novel. Richard Hannay, the protagonist, finds himself reluctantly drawn into a chain of events that drags him away from the civilisation of London and into the Scottish wilderness, where he is chased both by villains and by policemen. This book has been adapted countless times, the most famous one certainly being Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 version. Full of excitement and good humour, The Thirty-Nine Steps is a modern classic you’ll never want to put down. - John Buchan (1875-1940) was a Scottish writer, historian and unionist. Born in Perth, he grew up in Fife where he developed the keen love for the Scottish nature that can be found in his work. After graduating from Oxford with a degree in Classics, he became the personal secretary of Alfred Milner, the Secretary of State of War and for the Colonies. Later he wrote for the British War Propaganda Bureau and was a correspondent in France for The Times. In 1935, he became viceregal representative in Canada, where he passed away five years later. He wrote throughout his life, leaving behind him hundreds of works, including novels, short shorties, and biographies of famous men such as Walter Scott and Oliver Cromwell, and he was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1928. Yet Buchan remains most famous for his spy thriller adventures, which have delighted readers for generations."

John Buchan (Author), Adrian Praetzellis (Narrator)

Audiobook

Treasure Island

"When an old sea captain dies mysteriously in his parent’s inn, young Jim Hawkins finds a treasure map in the captain’s possessions that will spark a wild and adventures treasure hunt. Joined by a handful of untrustworthy pirates, he meets the antagonistic Long John Silver, a character whose fame transcends the tale. With Treasure Island (1883), author Robert Louis Stevenson invented the modern image of the pirate, without which we likely wouldn’t have experienced Johnny Depp as the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean. For more than a hundred years, Treasure Island has been finding its way to the screen. The first non-silent movie adaptation was directed by Victor Fleming, the director of The Wizard of Oz (1939). - Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) was a Scottish writer of novels, poems, essays, and travel books. Due to poor health, he spent much of his time abroad, where he became part of important literary circles. Though his writing has often been considered entertainment, author Henry James aligned Stevenson’s works to his own. His most famous novels are Treasure Island (1883) and the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886)."

Robert Louis Stevenson (Author), Adrian Praetzellis (Narrator)

Audiobook

Audiobooks Narrated by Adrian Praetzellis