Editorial: JH
In this classic tale from Jerome K. Jerome, the lives of a ragtag group of residents living in squalor in a ramshackle boardinghouse are transformed forever with the arrival of a mysterious stranger. By providing an outsider's perspective, he helps them realize the errors of their ways.
The story of Villette is told in flashback by Lucy Snowe, who tells of the trials of her young self first in England, and then in Belgium. Charlotte Bronte does not paint a romantic picture of an unsupported woman's life ? her heroine has to endure straitened circumstances, insecurity and humiliation. However, despite everything that happens to her, Lucy is a warm and courageous character who makes the most of the opportunities that occur. The love and fulfilment which are readily available to her younger, prettier and richer charges are not quite outside her reach, but it is clear to the reader that for her to achieve them cannot be easy.Ver libro
Victor-Marie Hugo (26 February 1802 - 22 May 1885) was a French poet, novelist, essayist, playwright, and dramatist of the Romantic movement. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote abundantly in an exceptional variety of genres: lyrics, satires, epics, philosophical poems, epigrams, novels, history, critical essays, political speeches, funeral orations, diaries, and letters public and private, as well as dramas in verse and prose.BOOK 2: THE INTESTINE OF THE LEVIATHAN: Paris casts twenty-five millions yearly into the water. And this without metaphor. How, and in what manner? Day and night. With what object? With no object. With what intention? With no intention. Why? For no reason. By means of what organ? By means of its intestine. What is its intestine? The sewer.Ver libro
O. Henry was the pen name of William Sydney Porter (1862-1910), an American writer of outstanding short stories known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization, and surprise endings.In this story two old friends had promised to meet up exactly 20 years to the day since their last meeting in New York. One of the friends has travelled a thousand miles to be there...and is now waiting for his childhood companion. Will he turn up?Ver libro
Hector Hugh Munro (1870-1916) is better known by the pen name Saki. He remains hugely popular as a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirized Edwardian society and culture.The Penance is an edgy and at times horrifying tale about a normally amiable man who has killed the cat belonging to his neighbour's children, on the grounds that he suspected it of attacking his chickens. His efforts to make up for this awful deed are met with hostility, and the children take the opportunity to plan a dire revenge.Ver libro
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. Some of our earliest thrills – and fears – dwell within us because of a ghost story heard in childhood. Whether fearful or giggling in delight it carries through with us till adult times. These dark, foreboding works may raise many a goosebump, an unexpected laugh, or, a tinge or two of real fear but then, in these authors hands that may be just the beginning. 01 - The Top 10 - The Ghost Story 2 - The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe 3 - The Body Snatcher by Robert Louis Stevenson 4 - The Signalman by Charles Dickens 5 - The Phantom Rickshaw by Rudyard Kipling 6 - The Horla by Guy de Maupassant 7 - Strange Event in the Life of Schalken the Painter by Sheridan Le Fanu 8 - The Empty House by Algernon Blackwood 9 - Oh Whistle and I'll Come to You My Lad by M R James 10 - The Eyes by Edith Wharton 11 - The Case of Vincent Pyrwhit by Barry PainVer libro
Science, better diet, advanced medicines are all part of a process that in the modern age keep most of us going to a ripe old age. In previous times some diseases could only be slowed and not defeated. There toil of relentless attack on our physical forms brought misery and decay. Add to this that within our number some will self-destruct, demons will pursue their inner thoughts and life will be too painful to bear. Some may shuffle off the mortal coil for no discernible reason, but life will end early, they will not take up their three-score year and ten. In this collection of short stories some of our most popular and well-known authors are grouped together with an unfortunate tag: dead at 44. These authors are not run-of-the-mill or ten a penny; they are literary leviathans who left enduring works of literature and sadly may have left us many more had they lived. We will never know. Death for these authors was usually due to many health issues but primarily: — Anton Chekhov - Tuberculosis D H Lawrence – Tuberculosis F Scott Fitzgerald – Heart attack Robert Louis Stevenson - Cerebral hemorrhage Henry Harland – Tuberculosis 01 - Dead at 44 - An Introduction 02 - The Lady with the Dog by Anton Chekhov 03 - Odour of Chrysanthemums by D H Lawrence 04 - Bernice Bobs Her Hair by F Scott Fitzgerald 05 - Markheim by Robert Louis Stevenson 06 - A Responsibility by Henry HarlandVer libro
