Publisher: 책보요여
“Experience is merely the name men gave to their mistakes.”The Picture of Dorian Gray is a Gothic novel by Oscar Wilde in 1890. Dorian Gray is the subject of a portrait in oil by Basil Hallward, an artist fascinated and obsessed by Dorian's charm; he feels that the beauty of Dorian is suitable for the new mood in his art as a painter.
An eccentric geology professor acquires an old book and finds an ancient parchment hidden within its pages. On it is a coded message that reveals directions to a secret passageway that leads deep within the earth's interior. The professor immediately sets off on a daring journey to Iceland, where he and his companions enter into an extinct volcano and make their way to the center of the earth. They soon find a strange underground world where the laws of science are turned upside down. They discover huge caverns, luminous rocks, a subterranean sea, primitive forests, and fearsome prehistoric creatures that time had forgot. The travelers encounter one stirring adventure after another as they explore deep within the bowels of the earth.Show book
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 - December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, short story writer and screenwriter. He was best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age a term he popularized. During his lifetime, he published four novels, four story collections, and 164 short stories. Although he achieved temporary popular success and fortune in the 1920s, Fitzgerald received critical acclaim only after his death and is now widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century.BOOK 2: In the spring of 1917, when Doctor Richard Diver first arrived in Zurich, he was twenty-six years old, a fine age for a man, indeed the very acme of bachelorhood. Even in war-time days, it was a fine age for Dick, who was already too valuable, too much of a capital investment to be shot off in a gun.Show book
While riding his bicycle in the Miskatonic Valley of rural New England, a genealogist seeks shelter from an approaching storm. He enters an apparently abandoned house, only to find it occupied by a "loathsome old, white-bearded, and ragged man", speaking in "an extreme form of Yankee dialect... thought long extinct." The narrator notices that the house is full of antique books, exotic artifacts, and furniture predating the American Revolution. At first, the old man appears harmless and ignorant towards his guest. However, he shows a disquieting fascination for an engraving in a rare old book, Regnum Congo, and admits to the narrator how it made him hunger for "victuals I couldn't raise nor buy"- presumably human flesh. It's suggested that the old man was murdering travelers who stumbled upon the house to satisfy his "craving", and has extended his own life preternaturally through cannibalism.[4] Soon, a now frightened narrator realizes the old man has been alive for over a century. Still, the old man denies he ever acted upon such a desire. Suddenly, a drop of blood falls from the ceiling, clearly coming from the floor above, and splashes a page in the book. The narrator then looks up to see a spreading red stain on the ceiling; this belies the old man's statement. At that moment, a bolt of lightning destroys the house. Fortunately, the narrator survives to tell of his ordeal.Show book
A. J. Alan was the pseudonym of Leslie Harrison Lambert (1883-1941), an English magician, intelligence officer, short-story writer, and radio broadcaster. He was hugely popular in the '20s and '30s for his radio broadcasts, wherein he performed his own humorous and often macabre short stories, which he always delivered wearing full evening dress.In An Impromptu Dance A. J. Alan is in his pyjamas and bathrobe in an hotel, where he is staying in London, when he inadvertently gets mixed up in a fancy-dress ball which is going on. Nobody realises he isn't in fancy dress, and he ends up dancing and drinking champagne with a delightful, scantily dressed lady. When he does finally get to bed, the adventures continue and get significantly weirder...until eventually he has to flee the city.Show book
In the first of all the Sherlock Holmes stories, Dr. John Watson, discharged from military service after suffering severe wounds, is at a loose end until a chance encounter leads him to take rooms with a remarkable young man. The arrogant, irascible Sherlock Holmes is a master chemist, a talented musician, and an expert on all aspects of crime. And when Watson is drawn into the investigation of a bizarre murder in which Holmes is involved, he is unaware that it is the beginning of the most famous partnership in the history of criminal detection.The mystery begins when a body turns up in an abandoned building. A baffled Scotland Yard calls in the world's first "consulting detective," Mr. Sherlock Holmes. Through observation, subterfuge, and tenacity, he is soon able to discover the identity of the assassin, but that is only the beginning of the bizarre mystery.This audiobook includes the bonus Sherlock Holmes story "The Adventure of the Speckled Band."Show book
"Hunger" by Knut Hamsun Explore the human psyche's extremes in Knut Hamsun's renowned novel, "Hunger." Set in 19th-century Oslo, this modernist masterpiece follows a starving artist's struggle for survival and self-expression. The novel intricately portrays the protagonist's inner turmoil, balancing between sanity and madness, as he wanders through the city's streets, battling hunger and pursuing his artistic vision. Hamsun's sharp, introspective writing vividly captures the ebb and flow of the narrator's mental state, making "Hunger" a profound exploration of isolation, existential angst, and human resilience. This influential work marked a significant shift in literary narrative, introducing psychological depth that paved the way for future writers. "Hunger" is an unforgettable journey into the depths of human nature and a testament to the indomitable human spirit. It remains a vital read for understanding the complexities of artistic pursuit and human condition. See moreShow book
