Other books that might interest you

• 

  Thumbelina and Other Stories

  Hans Christian Andersen

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Thumbelina was first published in Danish in 1835 as "Tommelise" in the second instalment of "Fairy Tales Told for Children" by Hans Christian Andersen.  A woman, desperate for a daughter, goes to a fairy for help.  The fairy gives her a barleycorn to plant, which grows into a tulip from which a tiny girl, scarcely half as long as a thumb, is born.  Thumbelina soon attracts the attention of a Toad who wants the beautiful little girl as a bride for her son.  This collection also includes "In the Uttermost Parts of the Sea", "The Tinderbox" and "The Swan's Nest".

  Show book

• 

  The Pit and the Pendulum

  Edgar Allan Poe

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  "I was sick—sick unto death with that long agony"
  
  Imprisoned in a nightmarish dungeon by the Spanish Inquisition, a man awakens in darkness, knowing he is about to face a series of terrifying tortures designed to break his body, mind and spirit. Chained beneath the slowly descending blade of a pendulum, with the walls closing in and the yawning mouth of a deadly pit in the centre of the floor, he is forced to confront fear, madness, and the unknown.
  
  Edgar Allan Poe's classic short story is a masterclass in psychological terror, creating an atmosphere of fear and suspense not through the use of supernatural monsters, but through isolation, anticipation and the diabolical ingenuity of man. One of the author's most enduring tales, it has been adapted multiple times for film, television and radio, with notable adaptations including the 1961 film starring Vincent Price and the animated 2013 film Extraordinary Tales.
  Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) was an American writer, poet, editor and literary critic known for his dark, atmospheric tales and haunting poetry. Widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in American literature, Poe helped shape the horror and science-fiction genres and is widely credited with inventing detective fiction in his 1841 short story, Murders in the Rue Morgue. Despite a life marked by personal tragedy and financial hardship, Poe produced a number of enduring classics such as The Raven, The Tell-Tale Heart, and The Fall of the House of Usher, and since his somewhat mysterious death, he and his writings have had a wide-ranging influence in popular culture. In 1946, the Mystery Writers of America established the annual Edgar award, which honour the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction, and film.

  Show book

• 

  Superiority

  Arthur C. Clarke

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  "Superiority" is a science fiction short story by Arthur C. Clarke, first published in 1951. It depicts an arms race, and shows how the side which is more technologically advanced can be defeated, despite its apparent superiority, because of its own organizational flaws and its willingness to discard old technology without having fully perfected the new.

  Show book

• 

  The Adventures of Miss Anne de...

  Summer Hanford

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Please Note: This is a short story. 
  Miss Anne de Bourgh is the son her father always wanted, except for one rather large detail. Still, her being a girl doesn't stop her from hunting, shooting, riding, and fencing as well as her cousins, and when her older cousin Henry wrongs her, Anne ropes Darcy and Richard into a scheme to exact revenge. But Anne is about to learn that even her father, who has always encouraged her in all her pursuits, thinks she's gone too far this time, and his punishment will be dire indeed. 
  That's right, it's time for Anne to meet her greatest adversary . . . Mrs. Jenkinson. 
  The Adventures of Miss Anne de Bourgh of Rosings is a short story prequel to Mr. Darcy's Bookshop. Enjoy!

  Show book

• 

  Fanny and Annie

  D H Lawrence

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  The theme of the woman for whom the man is not 'good enough' is worked out fully in Lawrence's novel 'Sons and Lovers'. The story is beautifully observed as are the relationships in working families of the time. The suspense of 'will she, won't she marry him' is kept on the boil until the last line of the story. 'Fanny and Annie' is a small masterpiece of a short story.

  Show book

• 

  Russian Short Story The - Volume...

  Alexander Pushkin, Nikolai Gogol

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  The Russian novel has a reputation that is immense, both in narrative and in length.  Unquestionably though the ideas, themes and characters make many novels rightly revered as world class, as icons of literature. 
   
  Perhaps an easier way to enjoy a wider selection of the Russian heritage, with its varied and glorious literary talents, is with the short story.  These gems sparkle and beguile the mind with their characters and narrative, exploring facets of society and the human condition that more Western authors somehow find more difficult to navigate, or to explore, explain and relate to.   
   
  The Russian short story is, in many respects, in a genre of its own.  It is at its captivating best whether it’s an exploration of real-life experiences, through fantasy and fables and on to total absurdity. 
   
  In a land so vast it is unsurprising that it is a world almost unto itself. Cultures and landscapes of differing hues are packed together bound only by the wilful bonds and force of Empire. 
   
  The stories in this collection traverse the decades where one might be a serf under an absolute monarch, and the reality of that was pretty near to slavery, into an emancipation of sorts in the fields, or towns under the despotic will of landowners and the rich into the upheavals of Empire and then the overthrow of the ruling class and its replacement by the communists, who promised equality for all and delivered a society where the down-trodden remained the lowest yet vital cog of the state machine and its will.  
   
  Whilst Tolstoy, Gogol, Dostoevsky, Pushkin and Chekhov are a given in any Russian collection we also explore and include Andreyev, Korolenko, Turgenev, Blavatsky and many others to create a world rich and dense across a sprawling landscape of diverse people, riddled with the class and unfairness in perhaps some of the most turbulent times that Russia has ever experienced. 
   
  01 - The Russian Short Story - Volume 1 - An Introduction 
  02 - The Queen of Spades by Alexander Pushkin 
  03 - The Stationmaster by Alexander Pushkin 
  04 - The Blizzard by Alexander Pushkin 
  05 - The Coffin Maker by Alexander Pushkin 
  06 - The Shot by Alexander Pushkin 
  07 - St Johns Eve by Nikolai Gogol 
  08 - The Cloak by Nikolai Gogol also known as 'The Overcoat' 
  09 - Old Fashioned Landowners by Nikolai Gogol 
  10 - The Nose by Nikolai Gogol

  Show book