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LitReading - Short Stories and Timeless Tales
Based on Podcast App listening data
LitReading - Short Stories and Timeless Tales episodes
- The End of Something by Ernest Hemingway — A Fishing Trip Ends with a Young Couple’s LoveThis story is part of a series of tales written by a young Earnest Hemingway. It’s a “slice of life” story about the conflicting emotions in a relationship between a young couple.
“The End of Something” was written when Hemingway was in his early 20s and features a recurring semi-autobiographical character, Nick Adams. The story had its roots in an early romance that began when Hemingway was in his late teens. Nick became a regular part of Hemingway’s early works and is featured in our next tale which follows chronologically, “The Three Day Blow.”If you enjoyed this story, buy me an e-book!
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11 min - The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans by Arthur Conan Doyle — A Dead Spy and Ten Missing Submarine PlansWhen the plans for a top-secret British defense project are stolen and the apparent thief is found dead, the government turns to legendary detective Sherlock Holmes to solve the mystery and find the documents.
If you enjoyed this story, buy me an e-book!
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or click FOLLOW
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1 hr - That’s Marriage by Edna Ferber — A Husband and Wife Discover What Marriage Really MeansMarriage takes the simple concept of procreation and turns it into a lifelong commitment that can, at times, lead to unexpected anger and resentment. As Mark Twain once said, "God's great cosmic joke on the human race was requiring that men and women live together in marriage.” Anyone who has ever been married will see parallels to their own partnerships.
Despite the fact that Edna Ferber never married, she was an astute observer of people. That led her to great success as a writer. Her 1925 novel, "So Big," was a best-seller and won Ferber a Pulitzer Prize. The book was made into three movies. Her subsequent book, "Show Boat" was turned into a popular musical and her 1952 book "Giant" was the seed for the popular move of the same name starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, and James Dean.If you enjoyed this story, buy me an e-book!
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/donmcdonald
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57 min - Hermann the Irascible by Saki — A Politician’s War on Women BackfiresHow times have changed. Just over a century ago, women were still fighting for the right to vote and the prevailing belief among men was that they were too emotional and fragile to do so. Our next story takes place, ironically, in a fictional Britain in the wake of a great plague. Join me as we travel back to a very different world in Hermann the Irascible by Saki
Saki was the nome de plume of British author, H.H. Munro who was a prolific short story writer around the turn of the twentieth century. His wit, insight and style are unmistakable and incredibly enjoyable, even if the subject is a bit dated.If you enjoyed this story, buy me an e-book!
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/donmcdonald
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8 min - The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman — A Woman’s Rest Cure Becomes a PrisonWomen’s health issues have long been explained away as emotional issues due to their role as the “weaker sex.” Serious illnesses were diagnosed as nothing more than hysteria and rest was prescribed. This ignorance of women’s real health problems is brilliantly portrayed in this haunting tale of a woman driven to the brink.
The author, Charlotte Perkins Gilman actually suffered a horrible case of post partum depression for which she was treated in a similar condescending manner.If you enjoyed this story, buy me an e-book!
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/donmcdonald
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37 min - A Slice of Life–A Classic Short Story by P. G. WodehouseThis witty tale is about a veritable snake-oil salesman who uses his wares to help win the love of a beautiful young ward of an English Baronet.
British author P. G. Woodhouse was one of the mid-20th century’s most popular humorists – on both side of the Atlantic. He was also a lyricist and screenwriter. While living in France a the beginning of World War II, he was imprisoned by Germany, for whom he made some controversial broadcasts. After the war he and his wife Edith moved to the United States.We are so honored to have been featured by Apple Podcasts as a great source for summer stories. If you don't want to miss our future stories, please Follow or Subscribe. Also, we have over 100 stories in our back catalog. Enough stories to keep you entertained for weeks.
Looking for even more stories? Check out all out narrative podcasts at shortstoryverses.com
If you enjoyed this story, buy me an e-book!
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/donmcdonald
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36 min - An Idle Fellow by Kate Chopin — A Woman Tests the Patience of an Unrepentant Idler
How can we best learn life’s secrets during our short lives? Is the best student the one with eyes fixed on the words in a book or focused on the world around them? That is the fundamental question of this profound short tale.
Often, it is the shortest stories that impart the most profound notions. This tale is one of many thoughtful, brief short stories penned by late 19th-century American feminist author Kate Chopin. Chopin was a prolific writer, who published more than 100 short stories and novels before her death in 1904.
If you enjoyed this story, buy me an e-book!
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/donmcdonald
or click FOLLOW
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5 min - The Aged Mother by Matsuo Basho — A Son Defies a Cruel Law to Save His MotherLife in the ancient world was often brutal and cruel. Resources were often limited leading to leaders ruthless edicts. In this old Japanese folktale, a young peasant is faced with an impossible decision.
Matsuo Basho, one of Japan’s most famous poets, was born 1644 and is known for creating the poetic style that eventually evolved into what are now known as haikus.If you enjoyed this story, buy me an e-book!
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/donmcdonald
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8 min - Coco by Guy de Maupassant — A Stable Boy Torments an Old HorseHuman cruelty is nothing new. It has been a demon we have had to battle since the dawn of our kind. Yet, we also have the capacity to defeat our callousness and inhumanity (a term that drips with irony). This short powerful short story illustrates the depth our inner evil.
Note: while this story shares a name with a Disney animated movie they are in no way related.
One of the true masters of the short story, Guy de Maupassant was born in France in 1850. After serving in the Franco-Prussian War de Maupassant was taken in by well-known French author Gustav Flaubert where he was exposed to some of the greatest writers of the era. His stories were (and still are) so popular that the only Shakespeare has had more stories adapted into movies.If you enjoyed this story, buy me an e-book!
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/donmcdonald
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12 min - A White Heron by Sarah Orne Jewett — A Girl Must Choose Between Money and a Rare Bird
This tale flips the traditional "boy meets girl" fairy-tale narrative by introducing a strong-willed nature loving girl who puts her own desires and beliefs ahead of those of a young man she meets in the woods.
The child of a rural family doctor in Maine, Sarah Orne Jewett was writing short stories professionally from age 18. Most of her work was purchased by The Atlantic magazine, with the glaring exception of "The White Heron." The story went of the become the title piece of her first book and her most popular story.
If you enjoyed this story, buy me an e-book!
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/donmcdonald
or click FOLLOW
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28 min
About LitReading - Short Stories and Timeless Tales
From the publisher's feed
LitReading: Great Short Stories Read Aloud
Great stories deserve to be heard.
LitReading brings you a complete short stories, unabridged and narrated by veteran…
broadcaster and voice actor Don McDonald. Hear the masters of the form, including Edgar Allan Poe, Mark Twain, O. Henry, Edith Wharton, Anton Chekhov, Kate Chopin, William Faulkner, Katherine Mansfield, Stephen Crane, Saki, Bret Harte and Virginia Woolf. Along with them come overlooked gems from the golden age of American, British and Russian literature that deserve a second hearing.
Each episode is one full story, from a few minutes to a deeply immersive hour. Think of it as a free audiobook of short fiction, performed with warmth and clarity and just enough character to bring every voice to life. Play it on a commute, a walk or a quiet evening. It also makes good bedtime listening for grown-ups.
Come for a story. Leave with a world.
Help a good story travel. If LitReading has kept you company, tap Follow in Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite podcast app. It's free, and new stories arrive automatically. A quick 5-star rating or a one-line review helps more than you'd guess, because that's how new listeners find us. And if a story stayed with you, send this episode to one friend who loves to read. That's how this show grows.
LitReading is part of Short Storyverses (shortstoryverses.com), a family of podcasts for people who love great storytelling:
- New Tales Told: original stories in the spirit of the classics
- FRIGHTLY!: tales of terror and the uncanny
- Sci-Finds: science fiction and speculative stories
- HumorUs: comic fiction
- Season's Readings: holiday stories for any time of year
- Readastorus: stories for younger listeners
Search for any of them wherever you get your podcasts.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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