Rainer

7 books read for LibriVox

filter sort genre era audiobooks

Beyond Good and Evil Friedrich Nietzsche, translated by Helen Zimmern, L. A. Magnus
Nietzsche in full aphorism mode, which means half the book reads like a friend picking fights at 2am, funny and mean and weirdly quotable. You'll argue with him constantly, and that's the point; if you want a tidy argument laid out politely, this will drive you nuts.
Effi Briest Theodor Fontane Deutsch
Faust: Der Tragödie erster Teil Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Deutsch
Philosophical Works René Descartes, translated by John Veitch
You get to watch Descartes sit alone by his fire, doubting the fire itself, his own hands, everything, then rebuild the world from one stubborn certainty. The Meditations especially read like a thriller of pure thought, though you'll want patience for the geometry-flavored proofs of God.
Richard II William Shakespeare
Richard is unbearable while he's winning and mesmerizing once he starts to lose, talking himself into and out of kingship in some of the most musical verse Shakespeare wrote. It's all poetry and no sword fights, so come for the language or not at all.
The Origin of Species Charles Darwin non-fiction
You get a patient, surprisingly companionable argument built from pigeons, barnacles, fossils, and the awkward facts natural selection has to explain. The prose is dense and sometimes repetitive, but reading Darwin think his way through objections makes the living world look less fixed and more wonderfully negotiable.
The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus Christopher Marlowe
You get why people still quote it once Mephistopheles calmly admits he's in hell right now, standing there. The middle sags into slapstick with popes and horse traders, honestly, but Faustus watching his last hour tick away is worth the whole slim thing.

tale.fyi

Rainer

7 books read for LibriVox

filter sort genre era audiobooks

Beyond Good and Evil Friedrich Nietzsche, translated by Helen Zimmern, L. A. Magnus
Nietzsche in full aphorism mode, which means half the book reads like a friend picking fights at 2am, funny and mean and weirdly quotable. You'll argue with him constantly, and that's the point; if you want a tidy argument laid out politely, this will drive you nuts.
Effi Briest Theodor Fontane Deutsch
Faust: Der Tragödie erster Teil Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Deutsch
Philosophical Works René Descartes, translated by John Veitch
You get to watch Descartes sit alone by his fire, doubting the fire itself, his own hands, everything, then rebuild the world from one stubborn certainty. The Meditations especially read like a thriller of pure thought, though you'll want patience for the geometry-flavored proofs of God.
Richard II William Shakespeare
Richard is unbearable while he's winning and mesmerizing once he starts to lose, talking himself into and out of kingship in some of the most musical verse Shakespeare wrote. It's all poetry and no sword fights, so come for the language or not at all.
The Origin of Species Charles Darwin non-fiction
You get a patient, surprisingly companionable argument built from pigeons, barnacles, fossils, and the awkward facts natural selection has to explain. The prose is dense and sometimes repetitive, but reading Darwin think his way through objections makes the living world look less fixed and more wonderfully negotiable.
The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus Christopher Marlowe
You get why people still quote it once Mephistopheles calmly admits he's in hell right now, standing there. The middle sags into slapstick with popes and horse traders, honestly, but Faustus watching his last hour tick away is worth the whole slim thing.