The Celestial Omnibus and other Stories
E. M. Forster
Publisher: Andura Publishing
Summary
An essential classic from beloved English author, E. M. Forster.
Publisher: Andura Publishing
An essential classic from beloved English author, E. M. Forster.
The Sign of the Four (1890), also called The Sign of Four, is the second novel featuring Sherlock Holmes written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Doyle wrote four novels and 56 stories starring the fictional detective. The story is set in 1888. The Sign of the Four has a complex plot involving service in East India Company, India, the Indian Rebellion of 1857, a stolen treasure, and a secret pact among four convicts ("the Four" of the title) and two corrupt prison guards. It presents the detective's drug habit and humanizes him in a way that had not been done in the preceding novel, A Study in Scarlet (1887). It also introduces Doctor Watson's future wife, Mary MorstanShow book
The Last Man is a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel by Mary Shelley, which was first published in 1826. The book tells of a future world that has been ravaged by a plague. The novel was harshly reviewed at the time, and, except for a 1924 silent film based on it, was virtually unknown - having been eclipsed by Shelley's more popular works - until a scholarly revival in the 1960s. It contains semi-biographical portraits of Romantic figures in Shelley's circle, particularly Shelley's late husband Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron.Show book
Willa Sibert Cather had Welsh ancestry but like her parents Charles and Mary, was born in Virginia, on 7th December 1873. Despite strong roots in the community, Willa was 9, when the family moved to Nebraska, to work the rich soil and avoid TB of which there were numerous outbreaks in Virginia. The vastness and drama of the Nebraska prairie and its’ extreme weather conditions as well as the many diverse cultures of the local families proved to be a major influence on her and can be evidenced in much of her later writing. Her first writing was for the local journal when she was at the University of Nebraska and later became the managing editor of the student newspaper. In 1896 she obtained work for a woman’s magazine in Pittsburgh and soon after became a regular contributor to the Pittsburgh Leader and wrote poetry and short stories for the Library, another local publication. Her first collection of short stories, ‘The Troll Garden’, was published in 1905 and contains several of her most famous including ‘A Wagner Matinee’ and ‘Paul's Case.’ As a writer Cather was now taking immense strides forward. Between 1913 and 1918 Cather wrote her Prairie Trilogy: ‘O Pioneers!’, ‘The Song of the Lark’, and ‘My Ántonia’ and in 1922 the Pulitizer Prize was hers for her novel ‘One of Ours’ set during WWI. Acknowledged as one of America's greatest writers’ further honours flowed. In 1943 she was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The following year Cather received the gold medal for fiction from the National Institute of Arts and Letters. A determinedly private person, Cather destroyed many old drafts, personal papers, and letters. Her will would also restrict the ability of scholars to quote from personal papers that remained. On 24th April 1947, Willa Siebert Cather died of a cerebral haemorrhage at her Manhattan home. She was 73.Show book
The Cockney Novelists flourished towards the end of the nineteenth century and spilled over into the next. They included Arthur Morrison, Edwin Pugh, William Pett Ridge and Clarence Rook. Authors being authors they, of course, dealt with their subject matter in different ways. As a group they moved away from treating the London working classes as comedy cameos or social stereotypes. Now they were depicted as layered three dimensional characters. Some were brutal, some were criminal, some were devious but the many were decent hard-working people trying to make ends meet and like all of us – trying to make life more joy than burden.Show book
The year is 1866 and the Pacific Ocean is being terrorized by a deadly sea monster. The U.S. government dispatches marine life expert Professor Aronnax on an extended voyage to investigate this new threat. He discovers not a monster, but a marvelous submarine vessel piloted by a deadly captain with a secret agenda.Heralded as the father of modern science fiction, Jules Verne demonstrates his powers of predictive intuition in this classic underwater adventure.Show book
A collection of six Edgar Allan Poe short stories. Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer, poet, and literary critic of the early 19th century. He is widely regarded as a central figure in the development of the American Romantic movement and is known for his dark, macabre tales and poems, including "The Raven," "The Tell-Tale Heart," and "The Black Cat." Poe's works have had a lasting impact on American literature and popular culture, and his writing style, which often features atmospheric suspense and the supernatural, continues to be imitated and referenced today.Show book