• Literature

    Work vs Play

    Tom said to himself that it was not such a hollow world, after all. He had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it – namely, that in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain. If he had been a great and wise philosopher, like the writer of this book, he would now have comprehended that Work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do, and that Play consists of whatever a body is not obliged to do. And this would help him to understand why constructing artificial flowers or performing on…

  • Books Read

    The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

    The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain Published: 1876 Narrated by: Patrick Fraley Apart from an abridged version of his Mediterranean travel memoir, I hadn’t read anything by Mark Twain before this. He wasn’t part of the curriculum in my high school, which is a bit of a shame as it would be a great novel to encourage kids to read. Although my book is intended mainly for the entertainment of boys and girls, I hope it will not be shunned by men and women on that account, for part of my plan has been to try to pleasantly remind adults of what they once were themselves, and of…

  • Books Read

    The Postman

    The Postman by David Brin Published: 1985 Narrated By: David LeDoux I know most people seem to have hated Kevin Costner’s adaptation of The Postman, but I remember really loving that film. I hadn’t realized it was based on a novel by David Brin. The setting and the main characters are similar, but the stories turned out to be quite different. The story takes place in our world, but after it’s been ruined by nuclear war. This left all technology disabled and all society scrambling. Gordon Krantz is just trying to survive, traveling from town to town and acting out scenes from Shakespeare for food and supplies. He stumbles across…