LISTEN TO Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Charlie Bucket, the unsuspecting hero of the book, defies all odds in claiming the fifth and final ticket. A poor but virtuous boy, Charlie lives in a tiny house with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Bucket, and all four of his grandparents. His grandparents share the only bed in the house, located in the only bedroom, and Charlie and his parents sleep on mattresses on the floor. Charlie gets three sparse meals a day, which is hardly enough to nourish a growing boy, As a result, he is almost sickly thin. Once a year, on his birthday, Charlie gets one bar of Wonka chocolate, which he savors over many months. The Bucket family’s circumstances become all the more dire when Mr. Bucket loses his job. But a tremendous stroke of luck befalls Charlie when he spots a raggedy dollar bill buried in the snow. He decides to use a little of the money to buy himself some chocolate before turning the rest over to his mother. After inhaling the first bar of chocolate, Charlie decides to buy just one more and within the wrapping finds the fifth golden ticket. He is not a moment too soon: the next day is the date Mr. Wonka has set for his guests to enter the factory.

Neither Mr. nor Mrs. Bucket can accompany Charlie to the factory. Mr. Bucket must search for work to put food on the table and Mrs. Bucket must care for the invalided grandparents. Magically, Charlie’s oldest and most beloved grandparent, Grandpa Joe, springs out of bed for the first time in decades. Charlie’s lucky find has transformed him into an energetic and almost childlike being. Grandpa Joe and Charlie set out on their adventure.

In the factory, Charlie and Grandpa Joe marvel at the unbelievable sights, sounds, and especially smells of the factory. Whereas they are grateful toward and respectful of Mr. Wonka and his factory, the other four children succumb to their own character flaws. Accordingly, they are ejected from the factory in mysterious and painful fashions. Augustus Gloop falls into the hot chocolate river—while attempting to drink it—and is sucked up by one of the many pipes. Veruca Salt is determined to be a “bad nut” by nut-judging squirrels who throw her out with the trash. Violet Beauregarde impetuously grabs an experimental piece of gum and chews herself into a giant blueberry. She is consequently removed from the factory. With the hope of being on his beloved television, Mike Teavee shrinks himself, and his father has to carry him out in his breast pocket. During each child’s fiasco, Mr. Wonka alienates the parents with his nonchalant reaction to the child’s seeming demise. He remains steadfast in his belief that everything will work out in the end.

After each child’s trial, the Oompa-Loompas beat drums and sing a moralizing song about the downfalls of greedy, spoiled children. When only Charlie remains, Willy Wonka turns to him and congratulates him for winning. The entire day has been another contest, the prize for which is the entire chocolate factory, which Charlie has just won. Charlie, Grandpa Joe, and Mr. Wonka enter the great glass elevator, which explodes through the roof of the factory and crashes down through the roof of Charlie’s house, where they collect the rest of the Bucket family.

A prolific writer, he was also a populariser of philosophy and a commentator on a large variety of topics. Continuing a family tradition in political affairs, he was a prominent anti-war activist, championing free trade between nations and anti-imperialism.

Russell was born at the height of Britain’s economic and political ascendancy. When he died almost a century later, the British Empire had all but vanished, its power had been dissipated by two world wars and its imperial system had been brought to an end. Among his post Second World War political activities, Russell was a vigorous proponent of nuclear disarmament, antagonist to communist totalitarianism and an outspoken critic of the Vietnam War.Previously he had achieved notoriety as a “conscientious objector” during the First World War, visited the emerging Soviet Union which subsequently met with his disapproval and campaigned vigorously against Adolf Hitler in the 1930s as well as being an accomplished mathematician.

Study Guides | Sparks Notes | Classic Notes

In 1950, Russell was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, “in recognition of his varied and significant writings in which he champions humanitarian ideals and freedom of thought”

Listen Now to this PLAYLIST
01 Touch and Sight Earth and the Heavens.mp3
02 What Happens and What Is Observed.mp3
03 The Velocity of Light.mp3
04 Clocks and Foot-Rules.mp3
05 SpaceTime.mp3
06 The Special Theory of Relativity.mp3
07 Intervals in SpaceTime.mp3
08 Einsteins Theory of Gravitation.mp3
09 Proofs of Einsteins Theory of Gravitation.mp3
10 Mass Momentum Energy and Action.mp3
11 The Expanding Universe.mp3
12 Conventions and Natural Laws.mp3
13 The Abolition of Force.mp3
14 What Is Matter.mp3
15 Philosophical Consequences.mp3

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Book: ABC of Relativity
Author: Bertrand Russell

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens,
a time-honoured classic, follows Ebenezer Scrooge’s transformation from a selfish and bitter man to a generous benefactor after he is visited by a series of ghosts.
Scrooge, having gone to sleep, is first visited in his sleep by the Ghost of Christmas Past, a phantom who enkindles in him regret of his former lack of compassion. The Ghost of Christmas Present shows Scrooge Christmas as it would unfold the next day, and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come leads Scrooge through a series of scenes involving an unsympathetic creditor who turns out to be Scrooge himself. A changed man, Scrooge shares his new-found Christmas spirit, much to the wonder of others, and in the years that follow he honours Christmas with all his heart.

Stave 1 [audio:http://www.audiobooks.org/Books/ChristmasCarol/Stave%201.mp3]

Stave 2 [audio:http://www.audiobooks.org/Books/ChristmasCarol/Stave%202.mp3]

Stave 3 [audio:http://www.audiobooks.org/Books/ChristmasCarol/Stave%203.mp3]

Stave 4 [audio:http://www.audiobooks.org/Books/ChristmasCarol/Stave%204.mp3]

Stave 5 [audio:http://www.audiobooks.org/Books/ChristmasCarol/Stave%205.mp3]

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Book: D Christmas Carol
Author: Charles Dickens

Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, who first appeared in publication in 1887. He is the creation of Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. A brilliant London-based detective, Holmes is famous for his intellectual prowess, and is renowned for his skilful use of “deductive reasoning” while using abductive reasoning (inference to the best explanation) and astute observation to solve difficult cases.

Conan Doyle wrote four novels and fifty-six short stories that featured Holmes. All but four stories are narrated by Holmes’ friend and biographer, Dr. John H. Watson; two are narrated by Holmes himself, and two others are written in the third person. The first two stories, short novels, appeared in Beeton’s Christmas Annual for 1887 and Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine in 1890. The character grew tremendously in popularity with the beginning of the first series of short stories in The Strand Magazine in 1891; further series of short stories and two serialised novels appeared almost right up to Conan Doyle’s death in 1930. The stories cover a period from around 1878 up to 1903, with a final case in 1914.

The word Sherlock has since entered the English language as to mean someone who is both highly intelligent and observant. It is also used sarcastically to mean someone who states the obvious.

The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton, part 1 show

The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton, part 2 show

The Adventure of the Six Napoleons, part 1 show

The Adventure of the Six Napoleons, part 2 show

The Adventure of the Three Students, part 1 show

The Adventure of the Three Students, part 2 show

Knee Deep in June by James Wickham Riley show

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Book: The Return of Sherlock Holmes
Author: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Spark Notes: Lit | Poetry | Classic Notes: Lit

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson – 10 Chapters
Total running time:03:08:25 Read by David Barnes

Chapter 01 to 03 – 00:43:03 show

Chapter 04 to 07 – 00:38:51 show

Chapter 08 to 09 – 00:52:33 show

Chapter 10 – 00:53:58 show