Editora: Bu Classics Books
This triad of stories showcases the breadth of human experience, from the sainthood of a medieval hunter to the tragedy of a servant. Each tale is a distinct jewel, polished to perfection, exploring themes of faith, obsession, and history. A compact demonstration of literary mastery that spans different eras and styles.
Enchanting, tragic, and hilarious fairy tales for adults and children grace these pages. An initial glance might lead you to assume that these are satirical versions of classic Christmas ghost stories. However, beneath the humorous stories involving ghosts, repentant sinners, miracles, and good peasants who find well-deserved happiness, lies a psychological undercurrent that sharpens the sense of intrigue and plot movement. Often this is aided by the unrelenting social exposure of the authors who always understood how intangible the "bourgeois paradise" truly was. Even today, idyllic dreams of tolerance, equality, and the triumph of justice have failed to materialize. Perhaps that is why people continue to read these classic stories while the snow falls outside and the lights glow on the Christmas tree. Contents: Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol The Chimes G.K. Chesterton A Christmas Carol L.M. Montgomery The Red Room A Christmas Mistake A Christmas Inspiration The Josephs' Christmas Aunt Cyrilla's Christmas Basket The Osbornes' Christmas Bertie's New Year Ida's New Year Cake The Christmas Surprise at Enderly Road Clorinda's Gifts The Falsoms' Christmas Dinner The Unforgotten One Christmas at Red Butte Uncle Richard's New Year's Dinner L. Frank Baum A Kidnapped Santa Claus Little Bun Rabbit Mark Twain A Letter from Santa Claus Louisa May Alcott A Merry Christmas Leo Tolstoy A Russian Christmas Party Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Christmas Bells The Three Kings Nikolay Gogol Christmas Eve William Dean Howells Christmas Everyday The Pony Engine and the Pacific Express Joseph Rudyard Kipling Christmas in India Elizabeth Harrison Little Gretchen and the Wooden Shoe John Milton On the Morning of Christ's Nativity Hans Christian Andersen The Fir Tree Selma Lagerlof The Holy Night Hans Christian Andersen The Little Match Girl Clement Moore The Night Before Christmas Henry van Dyke The Other Wise Man Beatrix Potter The Tailor of Gloucester Anton Chehov VankaVer livro
If you like historically accurate depictions of various topics that might take you all over the world and through different periods of time, this book is for you. There is no intended relation between the subjects chosen other than that the author herself wondered about another explanation for what had actually occurred: a supernatural one. This is historical fiction with a supernatural twist, with the exception of the first story. The first story is dedicated to one of my older sisters, Iris Lynne, who always wanted me to write scary stories that would hold one's attention when learning factual history, especially if one's mind tended to wander off into the fictional areas of the supernatural. She loved my purely non-historical fictional story. The other stories, which move around the globe and through time to discuss such things as Cleopatra's little sister, Harriet Tubman's Underground Railroad, Balboa, Percy Shelley, President William Henry Harrison, and the Pendle Witches of England, should be fascinating!Ver livro
Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev was born on 9th November 1818 in Oryol, Russia to parents from the nobility. He and his two brothers were raised by their mother on the family estate. Surrounded by foreign governesses he became fluent in French, German, and English. Their father spent little time with them and this undoubtedly had an effect on him and his brothers. When he was nine the family moved to Moscow to give their children a proper education. Turgenev studied for a year at the University of Moscow and then at the University of St Petersburg to study Classics, Russian literature, and philology. During that time his father died from kidney stone disease. In 1838 Turgenev studied philosophy and history at the University of Berlin for 3 years before returning to St Petersburg for his master's. He started his career with the Russian Civil Service and it was only in 1852 that he made his name with his short story collection, ‘A Sportsman's Sketches’, based on his observations of peasant life and nature. That same year he wrote an obituary for Nikolai Gogol: "Gogol is dead!... What Russian heart is not shaken by those three words?... He is gone, that man whom we now have the right (the bitter right, given to us by death) to call great." The St Petersburg censor banned publication but the Moscow censor allowed it. He was dismissed but Turgenev was held responsible and imprisoned for a month, and then exiled to his country estate. Along with many other Russian intellectuals Turgenev left and settled in Paris in 1854. During this period he wrote his finest stories and four novels. Alexander II ascended the Russian throne in 1855, and the political climate became more relaxed, Turgenev returned home. ‘Fathers and Sons’, Turgenev's most famous and enduring novel, appeared in 1862. Its leading character is considered the first ‘Bolshevik’ in Russian literature. But the hostile reaction prompted Turgenev's decision to again leave Russia. His health declined during his later years. In January 1883, an aggressive malignant tumor was removed but by then it had metastasized in his upper spinal cord, causing him intense pain in his final few months of life. Ivan Turgenev died on 3rd September 1883 of a spinal abscess, a complication of the metastatic liposarcoma, in his house near Paris. He was buried in St Petersburg.Ver livro
Throughout the long centuries of human history is the want, and the need, to share information, to exchange ideas and for that knowledge and experience, for curiosity and learning, to be the basis of a civil society. In literature the ambition is much narrower. In order to be known, to be popular, you had to be published. And for that people had to know you existed and your ideas worth reading. Obviously for most of humanity’s time people couldn’t read and texts couldn’t be published in any great number. In the 15th Century Gutenberg’s printing press began the revolution to address the second and by the 19th century had gathered pace with startling speed and mass distribution. Education for the many was brought in to help people understand more of their world and, with new skills, how to have a better place within it. Now, if the powers that owned the presses and means of distribution agreed an audience would now be able to avail themselves of your ideas, your printed words. All too often the talents of women have been scorned, mocked and laughed at. In reality that was more usually by those who’s own talents were hardly fit to even grace their shadows. But society in general still connived and set women to one side in almost everything that men considered their rightful territory. And literature was one such territory. Remarkably resilient as well as talented these women strove to be published, to show themselves as equals. The results more often than not proved that they were. Sadly, in the thirst for the new, the recent and the past fell from sight, relegated to dark corners and dusty shelves. But the printed word is rarely without someone, somewhere busying themselves through piles of papers and books rediscovering what a good story is, whatever its age. In this volume we offer up a small selection of talents whose time has now come again.Ver livro
Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce was born on 24th June 1842 at Horse Cave Creek in Meigs County, Ohio. His parents were poor but they introduced him to literature at an early age, instilling in him a deep appreciation of books, the written word and the elegance of language. Growing up in Koscuisko County, Indiana poverty and religion were defining features of his childhood, and he would later describe his parents as “unwashed savages” and fanatically religious, showing him little affection but always quick to punish. He came to resent religion, and his introduction to literature appears to be their only positive effect. At age 15 Bierce left home to become a printer’s devil, mixing ink and fetching type at The Northern Indian, a small Ohio paper. Falsely accused of theft he returned to his farm and spent time sending out work in the hopes of being published. His Uncle Lucius advised he be sent to the Kentucky Military Institute. A year later he was commissioned as an Officer. As the Civil War started Bierce enlisted in the 9th Indiana Infantry Regiment. In April 1862 Bierce fought at the Battle of Shiloh, an experience which, though terrifying, became the source of several short stories. Two years later he sustained a serious head wound and was off duty for several months. He was discharged in early 1865. A later expedition to inspect military outposts across the Great Plains took him all the way to San Francisco. He remained there to become involved with publishing and editing and to marry, Mary Ellen on Christmas Day 1871. They had a child, Day, the following year. In 1872 the family moved to England for 3 years where he wrote for Fun magazine. His son, Leigh, was born, and first book, ‘The Fiend’s Delight’, was published. They returned to San Francisco and to work for a number of papers where he gained admiration for his crime reporting. In 1887 he began a column at the William Randolph Hearst’s San Francisco Examiner. Bierce’s marriage fell apart when he discovered compromising letters to his wife from a secret admirer. The following year, 1889 his son Day committed suicide, depressed by romantic rejection. In 1891 Bierce wrote and published the collection of 26 short stories which included ‘An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge’. Success and further works including poetry followed. Bierce with Hearst’s resources helped uncover a financial plot by a railroad to turn 130 million dollars of loans into a handout. Confronted by the railroad and asked to name his price Bierce answered “my price is $130 million dollars. If, when you are ready to pay, I happen to be out of town, you may hand it over to my friend, the Treasurer of the United States”. He now began his first foray as a fabulist, publishing ‘Fantastic Fables’ in 1899. But tragedy again struck two years later when his second son Leigh died of pneumonia relating to his alcoholism. He continued to write short stories and poetry and also published ‘The Devil’s Dictionary’. At the age of 71, in 1913 Bierce departed from Washington, D.C., for a tour of the battlefields where he had fought during the civil war. At the city of Chihuahua he wrote his last known communication, a letter to a friend. It’s closing words were “as to me, I leave here tomorrow for an unknown destination,” Ambrose Bierce then vanished without trace.Ver livro
Be careful what you wish for… The Monkey’s Paw by W.W. Jacobs is one of the most chilling and enduring tales of supernatural horror ever written. First published in 1902, this short story explores the terrifying consequences of tampering with fate. When an old family receives a magical monkey’s paw—an object that grants its owner three wishes—they soon learn that every gift comes at a dreadful cost. As suspense builds and wishes are made, Jacobs masterfully draws listeners into a dark atmosphere of dread and inevitability. With gothic overtones, sharp dialogue, and a slow-building sense of terror, The Monkey’s Paw remains a classic of macabre fiction and moral consequence. This full audiobook brings the haunting tale to life with rich, atmospheric narration that will captivate fans of horror, gothic fiction, and classic short stories. Ideal for listeners who enjoy unsettling narratives with a psychological edge.Ver livro
