An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals by David Hume
What are morals and where do they come from? Hume has an analysis of the morals people have and why they exist. Despite having some nice insights, I had trouble staying interested in the book. The librivox narration was not too bad.
Psmith, Journalist by P. G. Wodehouse
Psmith ends up in New York. There, he helps take over a small periodical and turns it into a "popular" muckraking periodical. This helps them gain circulation, but the original owner is upset when he returns. There is plenty of British humor, but it can be a bit slow going.
The Joyful Wisdom (The Gay Science) by Friedrich Nietzsche, translated by Thomas Common
This is an early brain dump of Nietzsche's thoughts. He brings up concepts such as "god is dead" and "Zarathustra spoke" for which he would be known. The thoughts are all over the place, with thoughts of disadvantages of men being like women. He even includes some of his poetry in there. Some parts aged well. A lot didn't.
Bracebridge Hall by Washington Irving
This is a collection of short stories about occupants of an English manor house. They have the "small town" quarrels and challenges in their life. It is hard to get really attached to them.
A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement Clarke Moore
The classic Christmas poem is often known by the first line "Twas the Night Before Christmas". Since it was first published anonymously, the authorship is sometimes disputed (and attributed to Henry Livingston Jr.) The poem is a classic and defines many of the established Christmas traditions and Santa Clause. The 8 reindeer (but not Rudolph) all make their appearance here. Together with Washington Irving's History of New York, they show the power of literature to define the holiday season.
Knickerbocker's History of New York by Washington Irving
This history of New York City is humorous "history" of New York City that alternates between pure commentary and biting social commentary. Manhattan was named after "Man Hat On". The land was claimed as unoccupied. What about the people that already lived there? Well, they stood on two feet, but their sounds were not distinguished. They also didn't have the negative foibles of the Europeans so they couldn't claim it. That part even breaks out to a discussion of the what would happen if aliens would try to claim it from the current inhabitants. The commentary seems remarkably current for something written over two centuries ago.
The second half of the book focuses primarily on New Amsterdam. There are many bits of biting commentary and jokes in with what is a straightforward history. Wampum currency has some matter of fact implications. A dutch leader ends up going by "Pig" as an honor. The book also provides details of the story of Santa Claus and St. Nicholas. This seems to be one of the first documented sources of many of the Christmas traditions. This all makes for a great early "history" of New York.
Confessions of an English Opium-Eater by Thomas De Quincey
The author was somewhat addicted to opium. His novel details some of the experiences, which include visiting many of the people of the streets. There was some novelty in the time. It was deemed as being somewhat bad, but not yet so negative as it is today.
Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Wilhelm Meister comes of age. He spends some time in the theater trying to find himself. There are also romances with women and a deep relationship with another man. The book did carry on for a long time.
An Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment by Immanuel Kant
In this very short essay, Kant defines enlightenment. To him it is the freedom and the willingness to challenge one's thoughts. It is the emergence from one's immaturity and the willing to think for oneself as opposed to having others tell you what should be thought.
I listened to the version from librivox which was from a translated source. However, I cannot seem to find who the original translator was.
The Blazing World by Margaret Cavendish
A royal from the normal world travels to the "blazing world". There she learns about the society and culture, along with scientific explanations for natural phenomena. Many of these explanations seem very wrong today, but it was a nice experiment at the time. This is a great forerunner of science fiction works and is a very entertaining read today.
The Alchemist by Ben Johnson
Johnson was a contemporary of Shakespeare. This play seems like it would be a fun comedy of con men. Alas, I had trouble getting past the language and grasping what was going on. I bet it would be better understood seeing it performed.
A Voyage to the Moon by Cyrano de Bergerac, translated by Archibald Lovell
This is alternatively titled Comical History of the States and Empires of the Moon. A Frenchman travels to the moon and has interesting experiences there. Similar to other "voyage" books, he identifies differences between their world and his world. They find it odd he treats their world as a "moon" of earth. The translation is somewhat difficult to follow. It was an early forerunner to modern science books.
The Complete Poetical Works of Edgar Allan Poe by Edgar Allan Poe
There is a biography at the start. (Poe lived an interesting life with a morbid death.) There are also essays and dramas included. Poe was not a fan of long poems. He was a great, imaginative writer.
Annabel Lee (1849) - a somewhat morbid love poem, unfortunately read with a robotic voice
The Bells (1848) - the repetition of bells makes this one good
The Raven (1845) - Poe's famous poem. Captures his style well
To Helen (1831) - a poem of beauty with Helen of troy and others
A Dream (1827) - a dream, short and sweet
Alone (1829) - a loner in childhood
Fiaryland (1829) - imagery of a land of fairies
Reflections on the Revolution in France by Edmund Burke
Burke was not a fan of the French Revolution. He pointed out many of the problems and did a good job foreshadowing what would eventually become significant issues with the way it was carried out. The French used the guise of a corrupt ruler to overflow the entire system. And in its place, they established "equality" and more corruption. The ended up getting Napoleon (but that was well after Burke's writing.) There was a great deal of arbitrariness on the French side. The church was particularly attacked. There were various excuses given, but in the end it was more a robbery than great morals.
The French Revolution fell the fate of many other revolutions in that one form of known tyranny was replaced with another form. It is hard to get rid of the bad without also hurting the good.
Astoria; Or, Anecdotes of an Enterprise Beyond the Rocky Mountains by Washington Irving
This is a history of the west and more particularly, the Pacific Northwest. These areas were the frontier at the time. Astor financed expeditions to explore and help support his fur business as well as the United State's needs. This fairly long history captures the events and the times. The book is a narrative that reads well, rather than a well-documented history.
The Old English Baron by Clara Reeve
There is a death and an inheritor of the estate of the deceased. Somebody comes in and decides there must have been wrong-doing. After a duel, it is determined that the inheritor ordered the killing of the deceased. The victor spares his life but orders penance. There is also a marriage involved with some of the parties. This is fairly fresh and modern for a book more than two-centuries old. It keeps grounded well in realistic situations.
Narrative of The Life of David Crockett of The State of Tennessee by Davy Crockett
In his autobiography, Davy Crockett paints himself as a barely-educated country kid with strong morals who happens to get thrown into politics. He barely has an education and tries to skip school and avoid corporal punishment. He gets married eventually after being rejected a few times earlier. He ended up in politics somewhat by accident, with people putting him on the ballot without his approval. Once there, he tried to make the best of it and won. He tells of many bear killings. It starts with a few small killings, and then he is killing a hundred in a year. Is this really true or just an exaggeration? His autobiography paints the portrait of an interesting character. It is easy to see how a legend would spin up about his life.
Tom Brown's School Days by Thomas Hughes
This is a pretty well done Librivox book. Tom Brown is a boy going to Rugby school. He plays sports like football and cricket and help boys work together. He is asked to help a young boy who is starting the school. He finds himself defending the boy when he is praying. He does more to work with him and grows as a person. He gains more empathy and appreciation for others. It is a well done and accessible today. It feels like a predecessor of the many "boarding school" stories that have come out since then.
Max Havelaar; or, The Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company by Multatuli (the pen name of Eduard Douwes Dekker), translated by Alphonse Nahuys
The book is written from the point of view of a coffee broker from canal street. He deals with the Dutch Indonesian colonies. He realizes there is widespread mistreatment going on there. He appeals to authorities, but gets nowhere. The book has a fairly tearse style as if written by a businessman trying to express his points rather than a novel writer. (There seem to be a few different "writers") It is a bit "man against the system" and a bit "exposé of the evils of colonialism. With the reputation of the dutch, it seems odd that they were the ones that were so cruel.
Eugene Onéguine (Eugene Onegin) by Alexander Pushkin, translated by Henry Spalding
Eugene Onegin is told in strict verse form and would probably be more appreciated in the original Russian. The protagonist is a rich youth who thinks of himself better than others. Alas, his life does not go as well as he would like for it to go.
