Showing results for "Soldiers" in Classics

Brought to you by Penguin. This Penguin Classic is performed by Billy Howle, known for his roles in Dunkirk, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and On Chesil Beach. This definitive recording includes an introduction by David Bradshaw. The Dowells, a wealthy American couple, have been close friends...

In Three Soldiers, Dos Passos introduces listeners to a Harvard aesthete who joins the army out of idealism, and his two buddies. One by one, their illusions crumble under the tyranny, red tape, and boredom of the military. The soldiers' reactions range from bitterness to rage, and - for one - murder in this vivid portrayal of human spirit caught in the grip of war.

The Good Soldier Švejk, written shortly after the First World War, is one of the great antiwar satires - and one of the funniest books of the 20th (or any) century. In creating his eponymous hero, Jaroslav Hašek produced an unforgettable character who charms and infuriates and bamboozles his way through the conflagration that tore through the heart of Europe, upending empires and changing social history. It is the closing period of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The assassination at Sarajevo has just occurred and armies are on the march.

The Good Soldier was first published in 1915. The iconic novel might be characterized as a melodrama of English upper-class infidelities, cut into little pieces, then retold out of sequence by a narrator who occasionally appears to be half asleep. That is not wholly wrong, yet many have seen in this novel's beguiling voice, innovative narrative technique, and acute depiction of erotic repression a literary masterpiece. In 2015, the BBC ranked The Good Soldier 13th on its list of the 100 greatest British novels.

This timeless tale, set in the aftermath of World War I, explores the complexities of love, loss, and the human spirit. Follow the journey of Donald Mahon, a wounded aviator returning home, and the lives of those who surround him—each grappling with their own struggles and desires.

When John Dos Passos published this book in 1921, its explosive portrait of World War I shocked America. Instead of glorifying the Great War, he shows three men caught in a military machine that is as dangerous for them as the foreign terrain and the enemies they fight. Fuselli leaves San Francisco for the front lines in France, anxious to move up the military ladder of success. Chrisfield, a farm boy from Indiana, feels himself swept along as he marches in a sea of other soldiers.

Polish-born author and mariner Joseph Conrad is widely regarded as one of the greatest English novelists. His 16 years in the merchant navy profoundly shaped his fiction, giving him transformative experiences of adventure and exotic places, and a unique insight into the human psyche. Included here are adaptations of six of his best works, brought together for the first time and collected in chronological order, plus one fascinating bonus programmes exploring his life and art.

Handsome, wealthy, and a veteran of service in India, Captain Edward Ashburnham appears to be the ideal "good soldier" and the embodiment of English upper-class virtues. But for his creator, Ford Madox Ford, he also represents the corruption at society's core. Beneath Ashburnham's charming, polished exterior lurks a soul well-versed in the arts of deception, hypocrisy, and betrayal.

Set after the conclusion of World War I, Pulitzer Prize-winning author William Faulkner’s first novel explores the war’s emotional impact on weary veterans as they travel by train across the United States to their Georgia hometown. The condition of one soldier—scarred, blind, and nearly mute—inspires fellow travelers to see him home safely to a family that believes him dead—and a fiancée who has moved on.

What does it mean to be "just good people?" That is how the two couples—one British and one American—in this story are described. But what happens when you look deeper, peeling back the layers of politeness and civility? It is a tale of love, of disappointment, of miscommunication, and missed opportunities.

Two couples, two marriages; both seemingly perfect, both falling apart. Beneath the surface gentility of the American John Dowell with his wife Florence and the landed grace of Edward and Leonora lie fictions and deceit. There are secret desires, hidden power-games, suicides and madness. Everyone is hiding something; even the narrator can’t be trusted. Brilliantly inventive, tragic and ironic, The Good Soldier is one of the great novels of the 20th century.

The tragic story of two couples, one American and one English, traveling together through Europe for an extended amount of time told by a seemingly unreliable narrator John Dowell.

The rollicking humorous ribald story of soldiers in World War I carrying on and living and dying in war, worthy of Catch-22 fame. Translated from German into modern American English with a simplification of place names, as well as people's names, to not distract the American listener from unfamiliar names and places and stay focused on the story itself.

Set in the turbulent time right before World War I, this novel chronicles the tragedy of Edward Ashburnham, his seemingly perfect marriage, and his two American friends. Told through disjointed flashbacks, lies, infidelity, and acts of betrayal are revealed that eviscerate the ties that pull the friends and couples together.

Gamer PerfectQuestion fights for ColaCorp in WarWorld, an online combat sport arena where megacorporations field entire armies in the battle for real world global advertising-space dominance. Within the immense virtual battlefield, players and bots are high-tech grunts, using drop-ships and state-of-the-art weaponry to wipe each other out. But times are tough, and the rent is due, and when players need extra dough there's always the Black, an illegal open source tournament where the sick and twisted desires of the future are given free rein in the Wastehavens.

A soldier in the First World War who never actually sees any combat, Josef Svejk is the awkward protagonist - and none of the other characters can quite decide whether his bumbling efforts to get to the front are genuine or not. Often portrayed as one of the first anti-war novels, Hasek's classic satire is a tour-de-force of modernist writing, influencing later writers such as Hemingway, Faulkner and Joseph Heller.

In 1916, Chris returns home from a French hospital to his country estate just outside London. The nature of his injuries at the front has caused him to suffer from amnesia. Awaiting him at home are his devoted wife, whom he does not remember, and his cousin, Jenny, whom he remembers only as a childhood friend. For Chris, the last 15 years have not happened and he believes himself still in love with a woman named Margaret, the poor innkeeper's daughter he courted many years before.

Chris' "shell shock" blocks out fifteen years of his life as he returns home to his wife, only to remember and revisit Margaret, the earlier love of his life. The plot of this book takes place during World War I, but the consequences of battle are just as devastating today.

In this lyrical and poignant story of a wounded man and the three concerned women who seek to heal him, Rebecca West explores the complexity of the mind and its subtle strategies for coping with life's painful realities. Only when Chris has the courage to face one pivotal moment of truth in his married life will he be able to awaken from his boyish fantasy and become, indeed, "every inch a soldier".

In The Brave Tin Soldier, a beautifully touching tale often attributed to the Grimm tradition, a one-legged toy soldier embarks on an unexpected journey filled with danger, devotion, and quiet heroism. Separated from the delicate paper ballerina he admires from afar, the soldier is swept through dark gutters, stormy waters, and the jaws of hungry creatures—yet his steadfast spirit never falters. Every twist of fate tests his bravery, loyalty, and unbreakable heart as he faces trials far larger than himself.