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Classic Stories Summarized

Classic Stories Summarized

By: Steven C. Shaffer
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About this listen

7-10 minute audio summaries of classic literature you didn't have the time or attention span to read :-)

© 2026 Shaffer Media Enterprises, LLC
Art Literary History & Criticism
Episodes
  • (8 min summary) Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
    Jan 13 2026

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    Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, commonly known as Alice in Wonderland, is a beloved 1865 children's novel written by Lewis Carroll, the pseudonym of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, an Oxford mathematics lecturer and Anglican deacon. The story originated on July 4, 1862, during a boating trip on the River Isis when Dodgson entertained the three young daughters of his friend Henry Liddell — Lorina, Alice, and Edith — by improvising a fantastical tale about a girl named Alice who tumbles down a rabbit hole into a nonsensical world of anthropomorphic creatures, absurd logic, and wordplay. Inspired particularly by ten-year-old Alice Pleasance Liddell, Dodgson later expanded the oral story into a manuscript titled Alice's Adventures Under Ground, which he refined and published in 1865 as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland with iconic illustrations by John Tenniel. Initially met with mixed reviews, the book quickly gained enduring popularity for its whimsical satire of Victorian society, playful exploration of identity and growing up, and groundbreaking use of nonsense literature, eventually becoming one of the most influential and widely translated works in English children's literature, spawning a sequel (Through the Looking-Glass in 1871) and countless adaptations across media.

    Hi everybody! I've decided to keep the podcast going on these platforms. Since I don't have any advertisers, if you'd like to support the show, please visit ShafferMediaProject.com and click on the Spotify or YouTube links to hear some of the great music that my company produces. Please like, subscribe, share and follow if you enjoy this content! Thanks.

    Hi everybody! I've decided to keep the podcast going on these platforms. Since I don't have any advertisers, if you'd like to support the show, please visit ShafferMediaProject.com and click on the Spotify or YouTube links to hear some of the great music that my company produces. Please like, subscribe, share and follow if you enjoy this content! Thanks.

    Please like, share, follow and subscribe!

    Also, check out all our great offerings at ShafferMediaEnterprises.com!

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    8 mins
  • (10 min summary) King Lear
    Jan 7 2026

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    King Lear is one of William Shakespeare's greatest tragedies, believed to have been written between 1605 and 1606 and first performed shortly thereafter. Drawing from the ancient legend of Leir of Britain—a mythical pre-Roman king found in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae (c. 1136)—Shakespeare transforms the story into a profound exploration of familial betrayal, ingratitude, madness, and the fragility of human nature. The play follows the aging King Lear as he impulsively divides his kingdom among his three daughters based on their flattery, disowning the honest Cordelia and unleashing a chain of deception, cruelty, and civil war involving parallel plots of filial treachery in the households of Lear and his nobleman Gloucester. Renowned for its raw emotional power, stormy imagery, and philosophical depth, King Lear probes themes of authority, justice, sight (both literal and metaphorical), and redemption amid suffering, cementing its place as one of the most harrowing and influential works in English literature.

    Hi everybody! I've decided to keep the podcast going on these platforms. Since I don't have any advertisers, if you'd like to support the show, please visit ShafferMediaProject.com and click on the Spotify or YouTube links to hear some of the great music that my company produces. Please like, subscribe, share and follow if you enjoy this content! Thanks.

    Hi everybody! I've decided to keep the podcast going on these platforms. Since I don't have any advertisers, if you'd like to support the show, please visit ShafferMediaProject.com and click on the Spotify or YouTube links to hear some of the great music that my company produces. Please like, subscribe, share and follow if you enjoy this content! Thanks.

    Please like, share, follow and subscribe!

    Also, check out all our great offerings at ShafferMediaEnterprises.com!

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    10 mins
  • (8 min summary) The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan
    Dec 20 2025

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    John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress from This World, to That Which Is to Come, a profound Christian allegory written in the form of a dream vision, was composed primarily during the author's imprisonment in Bedford jail from 1660 to 1672 (with possible completion in a later shorter stint around 1675) for refusing to cease unlicensed preaching under the restored monarchy's restrictions on nonconformist worship. First published in 1678, followed by a second part in 1684 focusing on the journey of Christian's wife Christiana and their children, the work follows the protagonist Christian's perilous pilgrimage from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City, encountering symbolic trials, temptations, and companions that vividly illustrate the Puritan understanding of the soul's path to salvation amid spiritual warfare and human frailty. Born in 1628 to a humble tinker family, Bunyan, a Baptist preacher deeply influenced by the Bible and his own intense conversion experience, crafted this enduring masterpiece in simple, vigorous prose accessible to common readers, making it one of the most widely read and translated books in English literature after the Bible, profoundly impacting generations of writers, theologians, and believers with its timeless depiction of faith's triumphs and struggles.

    Hi fans! This stream will be going off the air soon -- please go to Classic Stories Summarized dot com for links to our YouTube podcast. That's CLASSIC STORIES SUMMARIZED DOT COM - Thanks!

    Hi fans! This stream will be going off the air soon -- please go to Classic Stories Summarized dot com for links to our YouTube podcast. That's CLASSIC STORIES SUMMARIZED DOT COM - Thanks!

    Please like, share, follow and subscribe!

    Also, check out all our great offerings at ShafferMediaEnterprises.com!

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    9 mins
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