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Audiobooks Narrated by Simon Hester
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H.G Wells takes us on a fascinating and frightening journey forwards in time to find that the Human Race has divided into two distinct types. One, devoid of all obstacles to progress has become saturated in pleasure and leisure to the point of feebleness. The other, dwelling underground has become so acclimatised to its subterranean existence that only at night is it able to venture above ground. The Time Traveller slowly becomes aware of the horrific connection between these two races.
John Bunyan's classic allegory of the Christian journey of pilgrimage has never lost its power to teach the important truths of Faith. We may prefer our allegories to be a little more sophisticated these days, and feel that characters such as Mr Worldy Wise, Mr Talkative, Giant Despair , Mercy and Great Heart are far from subtle.
Yet Bunyan never wanted us in any doubt as to the thrust of his story, and if we can lay aside our 21st Century tendency to equate plain speaking with naivety then 'A Pilgrim's Progress' speaks to us as plainly as it has to generations before about the simple yet profound truths of the Christian Faith.
Narrated by Simon Hester. With original music.
Perhaps the most famous and most accessible of Dickens' stories which can be enjoyed every year afresh at Christmas time, as we never tire of the inspirational story of Scrooge's redemption and transformation. Here performed with warmth and compelling narrative skill by Simon Hester
Books often suffer when over taken by the notoriety of the adaptations which they inspire. This was never truer than of Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
Yet in his novella Robert Louis Stevenson cleverly takes a primal human fantasy, in this case that of freeing oneself from all moral responsibility with impunity and explores the possibility of separating human nature into the diabolical and the virtuous.
Stevenson’s work stands as a work of philosophy, and indeed its narrative characteristics are slight with the final letter of confession from Jekyll providing us with much of the stories dark heart.
The tragedy of Dr Jekyll emerges in the truth that the two sides are really one nature that needs not separation but redemption
Although accepted to be a classic of children's literature, Kenneth Grahame's tale of Mole, Ratty, Badger and Toad is layered with the universal themes of nature, longing, belonging, awe and friendship; all woven around the exciting adventures of the incorrigible Mr Toad and his faithful companion's attempts to tame his wayward spirit.
John Buchan himself stated that he set out to write a book in the style of the ubiquitous American “Dime Novel”. What he actually succeeded in creating was a relatively unique and new genre for British literature, the Spy Novel. Those thrilling elements of the fleeing innocent man hunted through the wilds by sinister and undefined dark forces have been explored countless times in books and on screen ever since.
Set against the context of the Late Victorian period H.G Wells narrative of a Martian invasion of earth creates a powerful and frightening
juxtaposition of the past and the future.Ultimately the story leaves us pondering the place of the human race in the universe amidst an exciting tale of adventure which never loses its capacity to shock.
Here is a selection of chilling tales only to be enjoyed of a dark evening when safely by the warmth of the fire.
The Monkey's Paw
In The Penal Colony
O Whistle and I'll Come to You my Lad
A Warning to the Curious
Afterwards
The Haunted and the Haunter
The Red Room
Tell Tale Heart
The Signal Man
August Heat
The Bus Conductor
In the Dark
Stories by E.Nesbit, Charles Dickens, Franz Kafka, Edgar Alan Poe, E.F Benson, H.G Wells, M.R James and others; narrated with perfect intensity by Simon Hester. Each with specially composed atmospheric music.
The Picture of Dorian Gray is a novel which shocks us still. The sensibilities of its original Victorian readership may have blanched at the exoticism and barely disguised eroticism which drip from Wilde’s prose, but for us today who barely look twice at such things, we find something much more horrific at the heart of the book.
Once again Alice enters into an imaginary world full of nonsense, colour and paradox. This time she enters through a mirror and, as one might expect, everything becomes back to front. She is on a quest to become a Queen in a fantastical game of chess meeting both help and hinderance in a cast of unforgettable characters such as Humpty Dumpty and the White Knight.
The imperturbable Englishman Phileas Fogg attempts to makes an exciting journey around the World in 80 Days. By his side is the ever resourceful and faithful Passpartout and on his heels is the determined Detective Fix.
Jules Verne's classic story brims with colour and adventure as we follow Mr Fogg around the globe through all the travails of Victorian transportation, death defying escapes and ferocious weather. Will he return to London in time to win his wager? Will he return home with more than he anticipated?
Simon Hester narrates this classic adventure story for Head Stories Audio. With original music.
Here are 12 specially selected tales by one of the masters of this miniature art, Saki (H.H Munro). They range from the comic deception of 'The Schartz Metterklume Method' to 'The Cobweb', a subtle meditation on life, change and death. Also included is Munro's short essay 'Birds on the Western Front', a poignant description of some of Nature's response to the devastation of war: written in the very place where Munro would tragically lose his life to a sniper's bullet in 1916.
Beautifully narrated by Simon Hester, with specially composed music.
