Other books that might interest you

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  Top 10 Short Stories The - Barry...

  Barry Pain

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  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. 
   
  Most people will shrug at the name of ‘Barry Pain’, if you are one of them you are in for a treat.  Pain was a brilliant storyteller who took on difficult issues and situations and handled each with aplomb and a knowing way that only true talent can. 
   
  01 - The Top 10 - Barry Pain - An Introduction 
  02 - The Diary of a God by Barry Pain 
  03 - The Act of Heroism by Barry Pain 
  04 - The Case of Vincent Pyrwhit by Barry Pain 
  05 - The Green Light by Barry Pain 
  06 - The Magnet by Barry Pain 
  07 - The End of a Show by Barry Pain 
  08 - A Complete Recovery by Barry Pain 
  09 - The Extermination by Barry Pain 
  10 - Murder, from The Memoirs of Constantine Dix by Barry Pain 
  11 - Post Mortem by Barry Pain

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  Jane Eyre

  Charlotte Brontë

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  Jane Eyre originally published as Jane Eyre: An Autobiography) is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The first American edition was published the following year by Harper & Brothers of New York. Jane Eyre is a Bildungsroman that follows the experiences of its eponymous heroine, including her growth to adulthood and her love for Mr Rochester, the brooding master of Thornfield Hall.The novel revolutionized prose fiction by being the first to focus on its protagonist's moral and spiritual development through an intimate first-person narrative, where actions and events are coloured by psychological intensity. Charlotte Brontë has been called the "first historian of the private consciousness", and the literary ancestor of writers like Marcel Proust and James Joyce.

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  Out Of The Cradle Endlessly...

  Arthur C. Clarke

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  "Out of the Cradle, Endlessly Orbiting…" is a short story by Arthur C. Clarke, originally published in Dude magazine in 1959. It's a science fiction narrative that, like Clarke's other works, explores the intersection of science, technology, and humanity. The story's title also serves as a fitting tribute to Clarke himself, as it was his idea to put a communications satellite into geosynchronous orbit, a concept that has been instrumental in modern communications. The story follows a group of people who have settled on the moon. They are the first generation to have lived there, and they are in constant communication with the Earth through the satellite, which is endlessly orbiting above. The story explores the themes of human connection, the evolution of technology, and the challenges of living in a new environment.

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  Death in the Woods - From their...

  Sherwood Anderson

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  Sherwood Anderson was born on 13th September 1876 in Camden, Ohio. 
  When his father’s business failed the family was forced to move on a regular basis before finally settling in Clyde, Ohio.   
  Anderson, one of 7 children, left school at 14 to take a number of jobs to help with the family finances. These were difficult years. 
  He moved to Chicago in search of opportunities before joining the Army for the US-Spanish War of 1898.  He then entered Wittenberg Academy in Springfield, Ohio to complete his education before moving back to Chicago to take up a writing job. 
  In 1904 he married Cornelia Lane, her family had resources and Anderson was keen, with this family backing, to run a business. 
  The early years of their marriage produced 3 children but a nervous breakdown in 1907 and another in 1912, despite his success as a business entrepreneur, resulted in him abandoning his family and deciding that a literary career would be best for him.   
  A move back to Chicago resulted in a job in advertising, a divorce from Cornelia and marriage to Tennessee Mitchell.  
  That same year his first book ‘Windy McPherson’s Son’ was released and in 1919, his most famous book, ‘Winesburg, Ohio’, a collection of short stories about life in an Ohio town was released. 
  Anderson continued to write short stories, novels and non-fiction but his only true bestseller came with ‘Dark Laughter’.  His influence on writers that followed, from Faulkner to Hemingway, was immense. He also married a further two times.   
  Sherwood Anderson died in in Colón, Panama, on the 8th March, 1941. He was 64. An autopsy revealed that a swallowed toothpick had resulted in peritonitis. 
  His headstone epitaph reads ‘Life, Not Death is the Great Adventure.’

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  Lilith

  George MacDonald

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  First published in 1895, Lilith stands as one of George MacDonald’s most enigmatic and haunting works, a blend of fantasy, theology, and metaphysical speculation. Revered by literary giants such as C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, MacDonald’s fiction does not merely tell stories—it beckons readers into a deeper reality where moral and spiritual truths are woven into the very fabric of narrative. 
  Lilith is not a conventional fantasy. Instead, it is a dreamlike descent into questions of life, death, identity, and salvation. The protagonist, Mr. Vane, a reserved scholar, stumbles into a surreal realm beyond the physical world, where he encounters spectral beings, timeless landscapes, and the mysterious figure of Lilith—a being of both terrible beauty and tragic consequence. The novel explores the path from self-will to self-surrender, drawing heavily on Christian mysticism, Platonism, and a deep reverence for divine grace.

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  Mr Britling Sees It Through -...

  H. G. Wells

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  Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 - 13 August 1946) was an English writer. Prolific in many genres, he wrote dozens of novels, short stories, and works of social commentary, history, satire, biography and autobiography. His work also included two books on recreational war games. Wells is now best remembered for his science fiction novels and is often called the "father of science fiction", along with Jules Verne and the publisher Hugo Gernsback.
  MATCHING'S EASY AT EASE: It was the sixth day of Mr. Direck's first visit to England, and he was at his acutest perception of differences. He found England in every way gratifying and satisfactory, and more of a contrast with things American than he had ever dared to hope.

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