A House-Boat on the Styx
John Kendrick Bangs
Read by LibriVox Volunteers
The premise of the book is that everyone who has ever died (up until the time in which the book is set, which seems to be about the time of its publication) has gone to Styx. This does not appear to be the conventional Hell described by Dante in The Inferno, but rather the Hades described in Greek myth (both of which had Styxes): a universal collecting pot for dead souls, regardless of their deeds in life.
The book begins with Charon, ferryman of the Styx (in The Inferno, he was the ferryman of the river Acheron) being startled—and annoyed—by the arrival of a house boat on the Styx. At first afraid that the boat will put him out of business, he later finds out that he is actually to be appointed the boat's janitor.
What follows are eleven more stories (for a total of twelve) which are set on the house boat. There is no central theme, and the purpose of the book appears to be as a literary thought experiment to see what would happen if various famous dead people were put in the same room with each other. Each chapter is a short story featuring various souls from history and mythology. (Wikipedia) (2 hr 54 min)
Chapters
| 01 - Charon Makes a Discovery | 13:25 | Read by Zachary Brewster-Geisz |
| 02 - A Disputed Authorship | 11:59 | Read by Zachary Brewster-Geisz |
| 03 - Washington Gives a Dinner | 16:11 | Read by Zachary Brewster-Geisz |
| 04 - Hamlet Makes a Suggestion | 13:11 | Read by Zachary Brewster-Geisz |
| 05 - The House Committee Discuss the Poets | 12:51 | Read by Zachary Brewster-Geisz |
| 06 - Some Theories, Darwinian and Otherwise | 14:15 | Read by Zachary Brewster-Geisz |
| 07 - A Discussion as to Ladies' Day | 13:15 | Read by Zachary Brewster-Geisz |
| 08 - A Discontented Shade | 16:57 | Read by David Federman |
| 09 - As to Cookery and Sculpture | 15:18 | Read by GerryR |
| 10 - Story-tellers' Night | 16:09 | Read by Philippa |
| 11 - As to Saurians and Others | 17:01 | Read by Ruth Golding |
| 12 - The House-Boat Disappears | 13:45 | Read by James Christopher |
Reviews
A sequel to the enchanted typewriter.. excellent read.
Vickyc
This book expands on the characters and themes first introduced by Boswell in The Enchanted Typewriter. Hilariously funny and well written. The characters are entirely realistic, and feature some historical celebrities. A very amusing read for anybody who enjoys a bit of farce, and can inhabit the authors world of imagination. Once again the reader has done a wonderful job of bringing this text to life with an expressive voice.
A House-Boat on the Styx
Horror Lover
Wonderfully Entertaining!!! Great Readings by all Volunteers. Thoroughly Enjoyable.
splendid
Daphne
What a witty set of stories. It has aged very well.
One of the best
PCSmith
Witty and well written. Excellent reading.
Love It!
sarahm
This is basically a series of humorous sketches or cartoons drawn with words. Personally, I found it delightful, and as I was listening on headphones while cleaning house, more than once my husband asked why I was laughing so hard. The more you enjoy a broad spectrum of literature, the more you will appreciate the concept. No question this work influenced Farmer's Riverworld series.
A House-Boat on the Styx
David R. Smith
Well read. Fun story with histories who's who in a tongue and cheek plot(s). Very enjoyable!!! Thanks
wow guys!
joe hurley
What a fantastic and fun book. So many characters so many pieces of history. Such fantastic narrator!
Weird premise but it works
Mark Burchard
Pip pip Tallyho to a set of fine short stories!