Maison d'édition: BookRix
The diary of an ageless man, reveals his abundant life-experiences throughout the ages. Delve into a world, that has seen the Middle Ages, the French Revolution, the American Civil War and much more. Please review the book, if you liked it!
In "The Red-Headed League", the legendary Sherlock Holmes catches one of London's most daring criminals while investigating the strange business of the League, a suspicious organization that gives its members money for "nominal work".Voir livre
The bookshelves of British literature are incredible collections that have gathered together centuries of very talented authors. From these Isles their fame spread and whilst among their number many are now forgotten or neglected their talents endure. Among them is the Suffragette Sarah Grand.Voir livre
William Sydney Porter was born on 11th September 1862 in Greensboro, North Carolina. At age 3 his mother died from tuberculosis. From an early age it was clear Porter had a large appetite for reading as he absorbed the world around him. He first attended at a school run by his aunt before enrolling at the Lindsey Street High School and then worked at his uncle’s drugstore and gained a pharmacists’ license in 1881. A persistent cough took him to Texas in the hope that a change of climate would help his symptoms. He took on various types of work, initially from ranch hand and cook and then as varied as pharmacist, draftsman, bank teller and journalist. He also began to write, though for now, purely as a hobby. He was a member of several singing and dramatic groups when he met 17 year old Athol Estes, daughter of a wealthy Austin family. Despite her mother’s objection owing to Athol’s tuberculosis, they began courting and in July 1887, they eloped and soon married. Athol, impressed by his writing, encouraged him to get them published. A job as a draftsman at the Texas General Land Office paid a healthy $100 dollars per month and life was good. But then life turned cruel. His son died a few hours after birth although a daughter, Margaret, came the following year. His job had to be vacated but another was found at the First National Bank of Austin. The bank operated informally and Porter was careless in keeping the books. He lost that job but began writing for the humourous weekly The Rolling Stone and the Houston Post. Some time later the federal Bank auditors went through his former accounts and he was arrested on charges of embezzlement. Porter fled the day before his trial to Honduras. Holed up for several months he began to write. Athol had become too ill to travel to meet him and learning that her health was deteriorating he surrendered to the court in February 1897. Bail was obtained so that he could stay with Athol during her final days. Porter was sentenced to five years at the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus. His pharmacy qualifications got him the job of night druggist. His sentence also gave him time to write and publish fourteen short stories. In December 1899 in McClure’s Magazine he published a short story as O Henry. He was released two years early in July 1901, and reunited with Margaret, now 11, in Pittsburgh. He now began his most prolific period of writing; a short story per week for the New York World, while also publishing works in other magazines. Eventually over 600 of his short stories were published. Porter was a heavy drinker and in 1908 his health, which had deteriorated for several years, took a dramatic turn for the worse, as did his writing. O Henry died of cirrhosis of the liver complicated by diabetes and an enlarged heart on 5th June 1910.<Voir livre
A collection of ten speculative fiction stories that explore worlds that don't exist. (Or at least that we hope will never exist.) Includes both fantasy and science fiction stories.Voir livre
"Beyond the Door" is a short story by Philip K. Dick, first published in the January 1954 issue of *Fantastic Universe*. The narrative centers on Larry Thomas, who purchases a German-made cuckoo clock for his wife, Doris, reminiscent of one her mother owned. Doris becomes enamored with the clock, believing the cuckoo favors her while disliking Larry. Unbeknownst to Larry, Doris is involved with Bob Chambers, an antique enthusiast. One day, Larry unexpectedly discovers Doris and Bob together at their home, leading him to expel them both but retain the clock, asserting his ownership. In the ensuing solitude, Larry becomes fixated on the clock, particularly irritated by the cuckoo's inconsistent appearances. His frustration culminates in a confrontation where, upon threatening the clock with a hammer, the cuckoo emerges, striking him in the eye. This causes Larry to fall and break his neck, resulting in his death. While a doctor rules the death accidental, Bob suspects there might be more to the story. This tale delves into themes of jealousy, infidelity, and the uncanny, illustrating how an ordinary object can become central to human emotions and relationships. Dick's narrative invites readers to ponder the boundaries between the animate and inanimate, as well as the unforeseen consequences of personal actions.Voir livre
John Griffith Chaney was born on January 12th, 1876 in San Francisco. His father, William Chaney, was living with Flora Wellman when she became pregnant. Chaney insisted she have an abortion. Flora's response was to turn a gun on herself. Although her wounds were not severe the trauma made her temporarily deranged. In late 1876 his mother married John London and the young child was brought to live with them as they moved around the Bay area, eventually settling in Oakland where now, calling himself Jack, he completed grade school. Jack worked hard at several jobs, sometimes 12-18 hours a day, but his dream was university. He studied hard and borrowed the money to enrol in the summer of 1896 at the University of California in Berkeley. In 1897, at 21, Jack searched out newspaper accounts of his mother's suicide attempt and for the name of his biological father. He wrote to Chaney, then living in Chicago, who claimed he could not be Jack’s father because he was impotent and casually asserted that London's mother had relations with other men. Jack, devastated by the response, quit Berkeley and went to the Klondike. Other accounts suggest that his dire finances presented Jack with the excuse he needed to leave. In the Klondike Jack began to gather material for his writing but also accumulated many health problems, including scurvy, which together with hip and leg problems he would carry for the rest of his life. During the late 1890's Jack was regularly publishing short stories and by the turn of the century full blown novels. By 1904 Jack had married, fathered two children and was now in the process of divorcing. A stint as a reporter on the Russo-Japanese war of 1904 was equal amounts trouble and experience. But that experience was always put to good use in a continuing and remarkable output of work. In 1905 he married Charmian Kittredge who at last was a soul and companion who brought him some semblance of peace despite his advancing alcoholism and his incurable wanderlust. Twelve years later Jack had amassed both wealth and a literary reputation through such classics as ‘The Call of the Wild’, ‘White Fang’ and many others. He had a reputation as a social activist and was a tireless friend of the workers. Jack London died suffering from dysentery, late-stage alcoholism and uremia, aged only 40, on November 22nd 1916 at his property in Glen Elen in California.Voir livre
