Editorial: Charles River Editors
Victor Hugo was a great French writer during the Romantic Movement in the nineteenth century. Hugo was also an esteemed poet and his classic novels Les Miserables and The Hunchback of Notre Dame are still among the most widely read books throughout the world. This edition of Toilers of the Sea includes a table of contents.
Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert of Green Gables had no intention of adopting the talkative, mischievous, red-headed girl the orphanage in Nova Scotia sent by mistake. What they wanted was a sturdy, sensible boy to help with the chores. Instead, they got eleven year-old Anne Shirley, whose capacity for adventure was only matched by her bright spirit and love of life. Still, there was something about the little girl that gave them second thoughts. She was keen of wit with a scintillating effervescence that was purely captivating. Just perhaps...Ver libro
Henry James’ stories are classic gems of subtle wit and irony. Set in the exacting social landscape of New York City at the turn of the century, Washington Square is the tale of a wealthy but shy young woman caught between conflicting family expectations. John McDonough’s warm narration traces her remarkable inner journey.Ver libro
William Hope Hodgson (1877-1918) was an English author. He produced a large body of work including horror, fantastic fiction, and science fiction stories.'The Baumoff Explosive' (sometimes known as 'Eloi, Eloi, Lama Sabachthani') was first published in 1919. This story is one of Hodgson's most powerful and disturbing and is especially relevant to modern times because of its themes of blasphemy, religious mania, obsession with the crucifixion of Jesus, and suicide bombing.A group of friends is discussing the rumour that a strange new explosive has been invented by a man named Baumoff, which has the effect of creating a temporary area of darkness. One of those present describes his last meeting with Baumoff - a scientist who is also profoundly Christian and obsessed with the crucifixion.Baumoff believes that aspects of the crucifixion story - in particular the sky turning black between the sixth and ninth hour - have a rational, scientific basis. He believes the human psyche can affect the aether and impede the transmission of light.Baumoff demonstrates how a tiny quantity of a chemical compound, when crushed and burned, creates a region of temporary darkness. Baumoff then goes on to demonstrate what happens when the substance is 'burned' (metabolised) within his own body. While his friend watches in horror, Baumoff's heart rate and respiration increase dangerously, and he begins driving metal spikes into his hands and feet to simulate the pain of Christ's crucifixion.The narrator begs him to stop his demonstration, but Baumoff insists that the narrator only observe and take careful note. But as the experiment continues, things become increasingly sinister...and it becomes clear that Baumoff has unleashed forces which he cannot control.Ver libro
Patricio Lafcadio Tessima Carlos Hearn (1850-1904) was the son of a British father and Greek mother. He spent his early life in England, Ireland, France and America before moving in 1890 to Japan, where he married and settled. His most famous works are retellings of Japanese and Chinese folktales, in particular those of a ghostly or macabre nature.'The Story of Chugoro' is the tale of a young man who is enticed into the clutches of a vampiric frog.Ver libro
Rickshaw Boy is the story of Xiangzi, an honest and serious country boy who works as a rickshaw puller in Beiping (Beijing). A man of simple needs whose greatest ambition is to one day own his own rickshaw, Xiangzi is nonetheless thwarted, time and again, in his attempts to improve his lot in life. A popular and influential work of 20th-century Chinese literature, Rickshaw Boy presents an unflinchingly honest portrait of life on the margins of society, intertwining dark comedy and tragedy.Ver libro
Charles Dickens was a writer and social critic who created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the twentieth century critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories enjoy lasting popularity.BOOK THE THIRD: A LONG LANE: It was a foggy day in London, and the fog was heavy and dark. Animate London, with smarting eyes and irritated lungs, was blinking, wheezing, and choking; inanimate London was a sooty spectre, divided in purpose between being visible and invisible, and so being wholly neither.Ver libro
