Snoozecast: Stories for Sleep

Tonight, we’ll read an excerpt titled "A Micronesian Fish Drive", from a book of short stories called "Ridan the Devil", by Louis Becke, published in 1899. Becke was an Australian Pacific trader, short-story writer and novelist. -- 'V'Support the show

Tonight, by listener request, we’ll be reading the next section of the classic children’s story "Heidi", published in 1881 by Swiss author Johanna Spyri. It is a novel about the life of a young girl in her grandfather's care in the Swiss Alps. "Heidi" is one of the best-selling books ever written and is among the best-known works of Swiss literature. We will pick up where we left off towards the end of chapter 3, with Heidi coming back to her grandfather after an amazing first day of wonderful experiences on the mountain with Peter and his goat herd. -- 'V'Support the show

Tonight, we’ll read the opening stories of "Sinbad the Sailor and His Seven Voyages", taken from "The Arabian Nights", edited by Andrew Lang and published in 1898. Sinbad is a fictional mariner and the hero of a story-cycle of Middle Eastern origin. He is described as hailing from Baghdad during the 9th century. In the course of seven voyages, he has fantastic adventures in magical realms, encountering monsters and witnessing supernatural phenomena. -- 'V'Support the show

Tonight, we’ll read a chapter from "Three Hundred Things a Bright Boy Can Do", titled "Ventriloquism and Polyphony", written by “Many Hands” and published in 1914. Ventriloquy, an act of stagecraft in which a person changes their voice so that it appears that the voice is coming from elsewhere, usually a puppet, known as a “dummy". Originally, ventriloquism was a religious practice among the ancient Greeks. The noises produced by the stomach, for example were thought to be the voices of the unliving, who took up residence in the stomach of the ventriloquist. The ventriloquist would then interpret the sounds, as they were thought to be able to speak to the dead, as well as foretell the future. -- 'M'Support the show

Tonight, we’ll be reading the opening chapters of “New Amazonia: A Foretaste of the Future”, written by Elizabeth Burgoyne Corbett under the pen name “Mrs. James Corbett” and first published in 1889. Categorized as “feminist utopian”, it was one element in the wave of utopian and dystopian literature that marked the later nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In her novel, Corbett envisions a successful suffragette movement eventually giving rise to a breed of highly evolved "Amazonians" who turn Ireland into a utopian society. -- 'V'Support the show

Tonight, we’ll read the story "The Princess of Babylon", taken from "The Strange Storybook" by Mrs. Lang, published in 1913. The story is taken from a lesser known philosophical tale by Voltaire, written in 1768. The story focuses on Amazan, a handsome, unknown shepherd, and Formosanta, the Princess of Babylon, whose love and jealousy drive them to travel the world. Through their travels they encounter the basic values of the Enlightenment. -- 'V'Support the show

Tonight, we’ll read the opening chapters to "Mazes and Labyrinths: A General Account of their History and Development", written by W. H. Matthews and published in 1922. The history of the maze is paradoxically explored as both a tool for spiritual inquiry and as a vexing trap. Apparently he wrote the heavy tome in less than three years — and it may have been a way for Matthews to deal with the aftermath of his time as a soldier in the labyrinthine trenches of World War I. -- 'N'Support the show

Tonight, we’ll read the third chapter of “Little Women”, by American author Louisa May Alcott, published in 1868, titled “The Laurence Boy”. Following the lives of the four March sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy—the novel details their passage from childhood to womanhood and is loosely based on the author and her sisters.In the previous chapter, on Christmas morning, the girls wake to find books under their pillows. They find their mother has gone to aid poor neighbors. When she returns, she asks her daughters to give their delicious Christmas breakfast to the starving family. That evening, they perform their play, in which Jo gets to play male roles. After the performance, the girls come downstairs to find a feast laid out on the table, provided by another neighbor, who has a grandson that Jo would like to meet. -- 'V'Support the show

Tonight, we’ll read the story of "Sleeping Beauty", from the Lang’s "Blue Fairy Book" published in 1889. It is a classic fairy talea bout a princess who is cursed to sleep for a hundred years by an evil fairy, where she would be awakened by a handsome prince. The earliest known version of the story is found in the narrative “Perceforest”, composed in the 14th century. "Perceforest" provides an original Genesis of the Arthurian World. -- 'M'Support the show

Tonight, we’ll be reading another chapter from the book "Bird Watching" published in 1901 by Edmund Selous, titled "Watching Birds at a Straw Stack". If you enjoy this episode, be sure to listen to the "Blackbirds and Nightingales" episode from this book as well. The author started as a conventional naturalist, but Selous developed a hatred of the common practice at the time of killing animals for scientific study and was a pioneer of bird-watching as a method of scientific study. The author was a solitary man and was not well known in ornithological circles. He avoided both the company of ornithologists and reading their observations so as to base his conclusions entirely on his own observations. And to be clear, Straw Stacks are similar to Hay Stacks in that both are field crops, although hay is the remains of grasses and straw is made from the stalks of wheat. -- 'V'Support the show

Tonight, we’ll read the second chapter titled “A Merry Christmas” to “Little Women” by American author Louisa May Alcott, published in 1868. Following the lives of the four March sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy—the novel details their passage from childhood to womanhood and is loosely based on the author and her sisters.In Chapter 1, the March sisters lament that they won’t receive Christmas presents as their family has fallen into poverty. They discuss a Christmas play they are going to put forth, and their mother arrives with a letter from their father who is away in the Civil War. They resolve to practice  their Christian faith’s values in their daily lives in order to rise above their material complaints. -- 'V'Support the show

Tonight, we’ll read “Balsam Fir”, a Snoozecast original. Experience tromping through an evergreen tree farm to pick the perfect tree to bring home. -- 'N'Support the show

Tonight, we’ll read an excerpt about traveling to a high alpine winter resort, from a book called Winter Sports in Switzerland, written by E. F. Benson in 1913. Benson was an English novelist, biographer, memoirist, archaeologist and short story writer. -- 'V'Support the show

Tonight, we’ll read the opening chapter to “Little Women” by American author Louisa May Alcott, published in 1868. Following the lives of the four March sisters—Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy—the novel details their passage from childhood to womanhood and is loosely based on the author and her sisters.Alcott wrote the books over several months at the request of her publisher. She later recalled that she did not think she could write a successful book for girls and did not enjoy writing it. "I plod away," she wrote in her diary, "although I don't enjoy this sort of things.” The book's immediate success surprised both her and her publisher. -- 'V'Support the show

Tonight, we’ll be reading a story called "The Blue Parrot", taken from The Olive Fairy Book by Andrew Lang and H. J. Ford, and published in 1907. The story originated from a French book of tales titled Contes de Fée from the late 1700s. -- 'M'Support the show

Tonight, we’ll read the opening to "Afloat and Ashore" a nautical fiction novel by James Fenimore Cooper, published in 1844. Set at the turn of the 19th century, the novel follows the maritime adventures of Miles Wallingford Jr., the son of wealthy New York landowners who chooses to go to sea after the death of his parents. The novel is partially autobiographical, in part by Cooper's own experiences as a sailor. Throughout his career, Cooper wrote profusely with the objective of countering European prejudices and nurturing an original American art and culture. -- 'V'Support the show

Tonight, by listener request, we’ll read the opening to "The Woman in White", written in 1859 by Wilkie Collins. It is considered to be among the first mystery novels, and an early example of detective fiction. Modern critics and readers regard it as Collins's best novel, although at the time of publication, critics were generally hostile. The novel opens with Walter Hartright, a young art teacher, who encounters a mysterious and distressed woman dressed entirely in white, lost in London; he is later informed by policemen that she has escaped from an asylum. -- 'V'Support the show

Tonight, we’ll read the second and final part to the classic tale "Beauty and the Beast", taken from the Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang, published in 1889. When we left off, the merchant and father to Beauty was caught picking a rose from the Beast’s garden as a gift to Beauty. In punishment, the Beast demanded that the father bring back one of his daughters. The catch was that she must choose to come willingly. Of course, the kind-hearted Beauty offers to go despite the sacrifice it entailed.  Father and daughter arrive at the Beast’s castle and are about to meet him. -- 'V'Support the show

Tonight, we bring you “Sunday Dinner” a Snoozecast Original. In this story, experience visiting an old friend’s cozy farm home and the comforting meal prepared and enjoyed inside. -- 'V'Support the show

Tonight, by listener request, we’ll be reading the third part to the 1813 romantic novel of manners "Pride and Prejudice", written by Jane Austen. The novel follows Elizabeth Bennet, the dynamic protagonist, who learns about the repercussions of hasty judgments and eventually comes to appreciate the difference between superficial goodness and actual goodness. In the last episode, discussion of the ball continues when the daughters of the Bennets' neighbor visit. The oldest daughter, Charlotte, is Elizabeth's close friend, and commiserates with Elizabeth over Mr. Darcy's snub. Charlotte acknowledges, however, that Mr. Darcy's family and wealth give him the right to be proud. Elizabeth agrees, noting that her resentment of his proud nature stems from his wounding her own pride. We will pick up at the start of chapter 6. -- 'V'Support the show