Essays of Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson
Read by Martin Geeson
“Extreme busyness…is a symptom of deficient vitality; and a faculty for idleness implies a catholic appetite and a strong sense of personal identity.”
What comforting words for the idle among us! Like many of the best essayists, Stevenson is very much the genial fireside companion: opinionated, but never malicious; a marvellous practitioner of the inclusive monologue.
In this collection of nine pieces he discusses the art of appreciating unattractive scenery, traces the complex social life of dogs, and meditates in several essays upon the experience of reading literature and writing it. Perhaps his most personal passages concern death and mortality. Here we meet him at his most undogmatically optimistic, as he affirms a wholesome faith in “the liveableness of Life”.
(Summary by Martin Geeson) (5 hr 32 min)
Chapters
| 01 - On the Enjoyment of Unpleasant Places | 27:02 | Read by Martin Geeson |
| 02 - An Apology for Idlers | 34:04 | Read by Martin Geeson |
| 03 - Aes Triplex | 31:25 | Read by Martin Geeson |
| 04 - Talk and Talkers, part one | 41:29 | Read by Martin Geeson |
| 05 - Talk and Talkers, part two | 35:04 | Read by Martin Geeson |
| 06 - A Gossip on Romance | 45:43 | Read by Martin Geeson |
| 07 - The Character of Dogs | 36:20 | Read by Martin Geeson |
| 08 - A College Magazine | 32:00 | Read by Martin Geeson |
| 09 - Books Which Have Influenced Me | 24:23 | Read by Martin Geeson |
| 10 - Pulvis et Umbra | 25:14 | Read by Martin Geeson |
Reviews
Sublime Essays
Janet
Listening to these essays is like eating dark chocolate (or drinking dark coffee or beer), something to enjoy as a reward. Stevenson is a brilliant writer and Geeson is always a great reader.
these are wonderful
adam
What a gift to get to hang out with this great mind outside of his fictions! I recommend this!
HCampbell
Great essays at perfect length. I didn't much take to the reader, I'm afraid to say, who puts emphases in strange places.