Past Programs
Books - Authors - 2008
The Rose and the Ring - a Fireside Pantomine by William Makepeace Thackeray
29/12/2008
A delightful comedy of pride, gluttony, anger, sloth, greed, envy, lust and mistaken identity which works as fun for children and a sharp political satire for the grown ups.
In 1853 the English novelist and author of Vanity Fair spent Christmas with his two daughters in Rome staying at a boarding house, which catered for English visitors. Also staying there were a number of other small children and their governess. In his prelude to the Rose and the Ring, Thackeray says that his story began as a series of character drawings he made to amuse the children. Then he and the governess, a Miss Bunch, made up the story between them about the adventures of the characters he had drawn. Chief amongst them Giglio, Bulbo, Rosalba and Angelica who lived in the kingdom of Paflagonia and Crim Tartary.
Reader: Edgar Metcalfe
Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
01/12/2008
This is the final of our series of books published in 1948—the same year the ABC broadcast its first Book Reading—books that brought a new perspective on some world-changing social issues: in this case, race.
It is a powerful indictment of a social system that drives the native races into resentment and crime; it is a story of inevitable and relentless fate. Beautifully wrought with high poetic compassion, Cry, the Beloved Country is more than just a story, it is a profound experience of the human spirit. And beyond the intense and insoluble personal tragedy, it is the story of the beautiful and tragic land of South Africa: its landscape, its people, its bitter racial ferment and unrest.
The Stolen Bacillus by H.G. Wells
31/10/2008
He was a famous English novelist, historian, science writer and science fiction writer. His training as a scientist is reflected in his imaginative stories, The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds, and described as a fictional utopia in The Shape of Things to Come. Wells died in 1946.
Reader: Neil Fitzpatrick
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
23/10/2008
For copyright reasons this reading is not available as audio on demand.
The haunting and sinister Victorian mystery about a good man and his terrifying alter ego. When an angry fiend assaults a small girl an inquisitive lawyer begins to question the erratic behaviour of his friend, the well-respected Dr Jekyll. The lawyer's investigations reveal a story so frightening, so horrific that he can scarcely believe it.
Reader: Joss Ackland
A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon
19/05/2008
For copyright reasons this reading is not available as audio on demand.
Mark Haddon, author of international best seller The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, returns with a wry comedy about the Halls, a normal, dysfunctional, modern family.
Reader: Nathaniel Parker
