Publisher: Sovereign
The Open Boat, one of the seventeen stories featured in this volume is based on Crane's experience of surviving a shipwreck off the coast of Florida earlier that year while travelling to Cuba to work as a newspaper correspondent. Crane was stranded at sea for thirty hours when his ship, the SS Commodore, sank after hitting a sandbar.
'The Treasure in the Forest' is the tale of two treasure hunters, Evans and Hooker, who have murdered a Chinese man to steal his map, which locates a buried stash of gold ingots. The Chinese man had boasted that he had ensured the safety of his secret hoard. But what can he have meant by this? When Evans and Hooker arrive at the location of the hoard, the first thing they find is a dead body of another Chinese man. But how did he die? And why did he fail to get away with the gold?Show book
Richard Barham Middleton (1882-1911) was an English poet and author who is remembered mostly for his short ghost stories, of which 'The Ghost Ship' is the most famous. It is one of the few stories in literature which combines a ghostly theme with lightening humour.Middleton suffered from severe depression for much of his life (then known as melancholia) and committed suicide by poisoning himself with chloroform at the age of 29.Show book
A shy young woman discovers her true power in this poignant love story from one of the world’s most cherished authors The eldest of nine children born to a naval lieutenant with a meager pension, Fanny Price is sent to live with wealthy relatives at Mansfield Park. Only ten years old, she is nervous around her rich cousins and uncomfortable in their grand house. And as the years pass, Fanny comes to believe that she will never truly feel at home. Only Edmund Bertram makes life worth living. He is the only one of her cousins who is kind to her, a gentle soul whom she has loved since childhood. But when the worldly and charismatic Crawford siblings, Henry and Mary, arrive from London and ensnare the Bertram family in a complicated web of romance and intrigue, Fanny worries that her relationship with Edmund will never be the same. To win his heart, she must keep her head—a task that becomes all the more difficult when her family pressures her to accept Henry Crawford’s unexpected marriage proposal. Widely regarded to be Jane Austen’s first mature novel, Mansfield Park subtly critiques the snobbery of English society by celebrating the virtues of its unassuming yet profoundly compelling heroine. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.Show book
"For sheer storytelling delight and pure adventure, Treasure Island has never been surpassed. From the moment young Jim Hawkins first encounters the sinister Blind Pew at the Admiral Benbow Inn until the climactic battle for treasure on a tropic isle, the novel creates scenes and characters that have fired the imaginations of generations of readers. Written by a superb prose stylist, a master of both action and atmosphere, the story centers upon the conflict between good and evil - but in this case a particularly engaging form of evil. It is the villainy of that most ambiguous rogue Long John Silver that sets the tempo of this tale of treachery, greed, and daring. Designed to forever kindle a dream of high romance and distant horizons, Treasure Island is, in the words of G. K. Chesterton, 'the realization of an ideal, that which is promised in its provocative and beckoning map; a vision not only of white skeletons but also green palm trees and sapphire seas.' G. S. Fraser terms it 'an utterly original book' and goes on to write: 'There will always be a place for stories like Treasure Island that can keep boys and old men happy.'Show book
Written by the author of The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Old Man in the Corner is a series of short detective stories centered in england. ""Mysteries!" he commented. "There is no such thing as a mystery in connection with any crime, provided intelligence is brought to bear upon its investigation."" and so begin Polly Burtons encounters with the mysterious old man in the corner of the ABC Cafe in Norfolk Street, who talks of murders and mysteries with such insight and always with admiration for the clever criminal. First published in 1908, these short stories, originally published seperately for Royal Magazine, are collected into a single anthology here. Narrated by Michael Ward.Show book
"Oedipus Rex" (Ancient Greek: ???????? ????????, Oidipous Tyrannos), also known as "Oedipus the King" or "Oedipus the Tyrant," is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed about 429 BC (noted classicist Gilbert Murray, translator of this version of the play, rendered the title as "Oedipus, King of Thebes"). It was the second in order of Sophocles's composition of his three plays dealing with Oedipus. Thematically, however, it was the first in the trilogy's historical chronology, followed by Oedipus at Colonus and then Antigone. "Oedipus the King" tells the story of Oedipus, a man who becomes the king of Thebes, whilst in the process unwittingly fulfilling a prophecy that he would kill his father Laius and marry his mother Jocasta. The play is an example of classic tragedy, notably containing an emphasis upon how Oedipus's own faults contribute to his downfall (as opposed to making fate the sole cause). Over the centuries, "Oedipus Rex" has come to be regarded by many as the Greek tragedy par excellence.Show book
