The Sense of the Past - A Time Travel Classic

Henry James

Summary

The novel is an eerie account of time travel and a bittersweet comedy of manners. A young American trades places with a remote ancestor in early 19th century England, and encounters many complications in his new surroundings. Young Ralph Pendrel of New York City has written a fine essay on the reading of history. The essay so impresses a distant English relative that he bequeaths an 18th-century London house to Ralph. Pendrel goes to London and explores the house thoroughly. He feels himself going back in time as soon as he crosses the threshold. He finds a portrait of a remote ancestor, also named Ralph Pendrel. The portrait comes alive and the two men meet.

Available since: 06/17/2021.

Other books that might interest you

The Analects of Confucius

Confucius

The Analects, or Lunyu, also known as the Analects of Confucius, are considered a record of the words and acts of the central Chinese thinker and philosopher Confucius and his disciples, as well as the discussions they held. Written during the Spring and Autumn Period through the Warring States Period (ca. 475 BC - 221 BC), the Analects is the representative work of Confucianism and continues to have a substantial influence on Chinese and East Asian thought and values today. William Jennings was a rector of Grasmere, and late colonial chaplain. He served at St. John's Cathedral in Hong Kong. (Summary by Wikipedia and Jing Li)

Show book

Shannon - A Poem of the Lewis...

Campbell McGrath

“An unexpected story and a gem of a book.”—Pittsburgh Post-GazetteThe incomparable Campbell McGrath, whom Outside magazine calls, “A writer who could help save poetry from academia and get the rest of us reading it again,” delivers an astounding work: Shannon, an epic poem that traces the remarkable journey of the youngest member of the Lewis and Clark expedition. The Kansas City Star praises Shannon as, “A luminescent narrative…a myth of American character before its corruption,” and Campbell McGrath—Poet Laureate, Guggenheim Fellowship, Pushcart Prize, and three-time Academy of American Poets Prize winner—proves once again to be truly an “everyman poet” who channels the spirit of Walt Whitman in this lyrical adventure.

Show book

50 Great Russian Short Stories -...

Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Leo Tolstoy,...

The collection includes the best works of famous Russian writers:
Fyodor Dostoevsky
NOTES FROM THE UNDERGROUND
THE DREAM OF A RIDICULOUS MAN
THE BEGGAR BOY AT CHRIST'S CHRISTMAS TREE
 
Leo Tolstoy
THE DEATH OF IVAN ILYICH
A LETTER TO A HINDU
A CONFESSION
GOD SEES THE TRUTH, BUT WAITS
A RUSSIAN CHRISTMAS PARTY
 
Anton Chekhov
THE LADY WITH THE DOG
A SLANDER
THE HORSE-STEALERS
THE PETCHENYEG
A DEAD BODY
A HAPPY ENDING
THE LOOKING-GLASS
OLD AGE
DARKNESS
THE BEGGAR
IN TROUBLE
FROST
MINDS IN FERMENT
GONE ASTRAY
AN AVENGER
THE JEUNE PREMIER
A DEFENCELESS CREATURE
AN ENIGMATIC NATURE
A HAPPY MAN
A TROUBLESOME VISITOR
AN ACTOR'S END
A STORY WITHOUT A TITLE
VANKA
 
Ivan Turgenev
FIRST LOVE
THE DISTRICT DOCTOR
MUMU
 
Nikolay Gogol
THE MANTLE
MEMOIRS OF A MADMAN
THE NOSE
A MAY NIGHT
THE CLOAK
THE VIY
CHRISTMAS EVE
THE VIY
 
Alexsandr Pushkin
THE QUEEN OF SPADES
 
Maxim Gorky
ONE AUTUMN NIGHT
HER LOVER
 
Leonid Andreyev
LAZARUS
THE LITTLE ANGEL
 
Aleksandr Kuprin
THE OUTRAGE
 
Mikhail Bulgakov
THE EMBROIDERED TOWEL
 
Ivan Bunin
THE GENTLEMAN FROM SAN FRANCISCO
 
Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin
HOW A MUZHIK FED TWO OFFICIALS

Show book

Sign of the Broken Sword The...

G. K. Chesterton

The Sign of the Broken Sword features Chesterton's famous characters Father Brown, and former criminal Flambeau. The story revolves around the mysterious death of General Sir Arthur St. Clare; hanged on a tree with his broken sword hung round his neck... How will Father Brown go about trying to solve this case? Wonderfully intelligent and exciting!

Show book

Top 10 Short Stories The -...

Oscar Wilde, Anthony Trollope,...

Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart. A few pages can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere.

In this series we try to offer up tried and trusted ‘Top Tens’ across many different themes and authors. But any anthology will immediately throw up the questions – Why that story? Why that author?

The theme itself will form the boundaries for our stories which range from well-known classics, newly told, to stories that modern times have overlooked but perfectly exemplify the theme. Throughout the volume our authors whether of instant recognition or new to you are all leviathans of literature.

Some you may disagree with but they will get you thinking; about our choices and about those you would have made. If this volume takes you on a path to discover more of these miniature masterpieces then we have all gained something.

In this volume we explore and enjoy the stories of authors who attended one of the great seats of learning. Amongst their storied number are Anthony Trollope, Radclyffe Hall, Lewis Carroll and a host of others.

01 - The Top 10 - Oxford - An Introduction
02 - Lord Arthur Savile's Crime - Part 1 by Oscar Wilde
03 - Lord Arthur Savile's Crime - Part 2 by Oscar Wilde
04 - Malachi's Cove by Anthony Trollope
05 - The Blank Cheque by Lewis Carroll
06 - Miss Ogilivy Finds Herself by Radclyffe Hall
07 - Lucifera by Anthony Hope
08 - Couching at the Door by D K Broster
09 - The Spectre of Tappington - Part 1 by Richard Harris Barham
10 - The Spectre of Tappington - Part 2 by Richard Harris Barham
10 - Thurnley Abbey by Perceval Landon
11 - The Omnibus by Arthur Quiller-Couch
12 - The Beast With Five Fingers by W F Harvey

Show book

Madame Bovary

Gustave Flaubert

Gustave Flaubert’s intimate portrait of Emma Bovary’s passionate yearnings for love and excitement, and his scrutiny of the dull provincial world in which she is trapped, create one of the finest French novels of the 19th century. His deep exploration of Emma’s emotions and motivations takes the reader inside her mind to long and suffer with her. The detailed descriptions of day to day life in Yonville-L’Abbaye provide a strong sense of authenticity – hence Madame Bovary is often termed the first ‘realist’ novel.

Show book