Editorial: Project Gutenberg
Oliver Twist is notable for Dickens' unromantic portrayal of criminals and their sordid lives. The book exposed the cruel treatment of many a waif-child in London, which increased international concern in what is sometimes known as "The Great London Waif Crisis": the large number of orphans in London in the Dickens era.
"The Gift of the Magi" is a short Christmas-Story by O. Henry (William Sydney Porter): One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies. Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one's cheeks burned with the silent imputation of parsimony that such close dealing implied. Three times Della counted it. One dollar and eighty-seven cents. And the next day would be Christmas.Ver libro
Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and D'Artagnan— the four musketeers— find themselves caught between conflicting loyalties. Deep inside the Bastille, a young prisoner called merely "Philippe" has languished for eight long years, completely unaware of his real name or the nature of his crime. But Aramis knows his secret— a secret so dangerous that it could change the face of the French monarchy and topple the King from his throne! Will Aramis' cause divide the once indivisible band of musketeers? A tale of mystery, adventure, and political intrigue, this conclusion to the musketeer saga is based on the true story of a masked prisoner who dwelled in the Bastille during Louis XIV' s reign.Ver libro
A collection of twenty-five tales, including “The Gift of the Magi,” from one of America’s most successful writers of popular short stories. At the turn of the twentieth century, one man captured America’s imagination in his works of short fiction. O. Henry’s clever and engaging stories, often with surprise endings, had mass appeal. The title of this book, the author’s second collection, references the population of New York City, where many of the stories are set, at the time of publication. It features some of his best-known works, including “The Gift of the Magi,” The Cop and the Anthem,” and “The Furnished Room.” “The tale, a simply structured, exquisitely told story of self-sacrifice, generosity, and love, closed with the O. Henry signature: an ironic twist . . . It’s a reminder of the way we should be living, with love first, giving second, and possession below all.” —The Atlantic on “The Gift of the Magi”Ver libro
When Humphrey Van Weyden finds himself struggling in the freezing waters of San Francisco Bay, he thinks the worst that can happen to him is drowning. After he is rescued by the Ghost and its captain, Wolf Larson, Humphrey discovers that there are fates far worse than death. On Larsen's hell-ship, the dilettante hero is forced to slave as cabin boy and humble seaman. Over the seven months' voyage to the sealing grounds off Siberia, he engages in an epic duel with his ruthlessly Nietzschean skipper, a conflict that must end with the death of one of them.In Humphrey's story Jack London recalls his own adventures on a sealing vessel at the age of seventeen. And in the vivid dialogs between Larsen and Van Weyden he gives the clearest definition of his savage philosophy of life.Ver libro
By his own admission, Thomas Frost found it hard to make a living from his writing, and no doubt he used the name of Dickens in the title of this book to boost sales. Frost tells a good tale, and the book is not only of interest to enthusiasts of Dickens and the county of Kent. He includes some of Dickens' own descriptions of locations, as well as regaling us with anecdotes about towns and villages which he visits, including an account of the last armed rising on British soil - the Battle of Bossenden Wood. As well as accounts of his travels through the highways and byways of Kent in the footsteps of Dickens and his characters, he also wanders into the lanes of myth and legend, sometimes making up his own stories along the way.Charles John Huffam Dickens FRSA was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era.Ver libro
"The Turn of the Screw" is a classic novella written by Henry James, first published in 1898. It is a Gothic horror story that revolves around a young governess who is hired to care for two orphaned children at an English country estate called Bly. As she begins her duties, the governess becomes convinced that the children are being haunted and influenced by malevolent spirits, particularly the ghosts of the former valet, Peter Quint, and the previous governess, Miss Jessel.Ver libro
