Claude tries to escapes from his family firm grasp who want him pious and working at their family farm in Nebraska. He marries in his attempt to escape only to realize that his wife is not interested at all in him. That’s when another opportunity arises: going overseas and fight for the American army in World War One.
Published in 1888, Looking Backward is the story of a young 19th-century American who wakes up in the eve of the 21st century, in the year 2000. Guided by Dr. Leete, Julian finds out all there is to know about this new utopian society marveling at the invention of credit cards and ‘cable telephone.’
Plato's last and longest dialogue, Plato's Laws is an exploration and explanation a number of basic issues in political and ethical philosophy as well as theology.
Life in the Iron Mills is one of the first American novels that depicts the precarious state of the impoverished working class. Molly Wolfe is a member of this class working 12 hours a day, six days a week to earn a living. Because of his condition, he cannot develop his innate artistic talent. His cousin, Deborah tries to help him but the consequences are devastating.
Read the stoic wisdom collected in one eBook. These letters illustrate the ideals admired by the Stoics and reveal how far in advance of his time were many of Seneca's ideas.
This existential novel by Norwegian author, Knut Hamsun, is often compared to works by Dostoevsky or Émile Zola, two of his main influences. Hunger has been called the "literary opening of the 20th century" and is a psychological narrative of a man whose interior is in a state of decay. Knut Hamsun won the Nobel Prize for literature and Hunger is one of his finest novels.
Friedrich Nietzsche viewed science as key to undercutting traditional metaphysics. In Human, All Too Human, the philosopher describes science as a crucial step in the emergence of free spirits who will be the avant-garde of culture.
Gorgias is dialogue written by Plato, based on a conversation between Socrates and a small group of sophists at a dinner gathering, where Socrates debates with the sophist seeking the true definition of rhetoric. It is a study of virtue founded upon an inquiry into the nature of rhetoric, art, power, temperance, justice, and good versus evil.
When a husband is stricken with grief over his wife's death, he kidnaps the twin children of the man he believes responsible. From the Valley of the Missing by Grace Miller White is a suspenseful and chilling story about the power of resentment and two children's drive to survive.
A collection of essays, lectures, poetry, reviews, private correspondence and aphorisms by Oscar Wilde.
Ralph Waldo Emerson's Essays are an American classic. These essays explore Emerson's thoughts about transcendentalism and romanticism. Some of the most famous essays in this collection are Self-Reliance, Compensation, The Over-Soul, Circles, The Poet, Experience, and Politics.
In this historical romance, a young woman flees a marriage she never wanted and a life she wished she had never lived. Dawn of the Morning tells the story of Dawn Rensselaer's journey to find love on her own terms.
Don Juan is an epic poem by Lord Byron about a womanizing Spaniard who is sent away for dishonoring his family. His adventures lead him through slave markets and royal courts until he grows into a man who can be admired.
Civil Disobedience was Thoreau's first published book and continues to transform American discourse. It is unusual for its symbolism and structure, its criticism of Christian institutions, and its many-layered storytelling.
Mistreated by her selfish sister and in danger of becoming a mere servant, Julia Cloud is saved by her niece and nephew. Both are in college and both are in need of a guiding mother. Julia succeeds in undertaking this role and soon becomes known as ‘Cloudy Jewel.’
A collection of short stories from prominent Russian author A. S. Pushkin.
Although it was first published in 1922, Babbitt reveals the flaws of our modern society. Are money going to make us happy? Is social status such an important aspect in our lives? Can’t we just live in the moment? Asked some 90 odd years ago, these same questions haunt the Western society to this day. Can George F. Babbitt find the answer?
What are you thinking right now? Is it moving you forward or holding you back? In James Allen's classic text, As a Man Thinketh, you'll learn the skills needed to change the way you think, and in doing so change the direction of your life. Read the book that has inspired millions to take control of destructive thought patterns and revolutionize the way they think. This self-improvement book is a must-read and is filled with insights into the human mind.
One of the most influential books of the 20th century, this is Nietzsche's provocative and thought-provoking work of philosophy questioning centuries of Western tradition, thought and morality. Building on Nietzsche's, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Beyond Good and Evil is a critical response to religion and other systems of moral conventions.
Candide is a French satire by Voltaire, a philosopher of the Age of Enlightenment. It begins with a young man, Candide, who is living a sheltered life in an Edenic paradise and being indoctrinated with Leibnizian optimism (or simply Optimism) by his mentor, Pangloss. The work describes the abrupt cessation of this lifestyle, followed by Candide's slow, painful disillusionment as he witnesses and experiences great hardships in the world. Voltaire concludes with Candide, if not rejecting optimism outright, advocating a deeply practical precept, "we must cultivate our garden", in lieu of the Leibnizian mantra of Pangloss, "all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds".
When the young Montgomery Brewster inherits one million dollars from his grandfather, his luck is only about to get better. His rich and eccentric uncle dies just a short time later, and Brewster finds some very interesting conditions in his uncle's will. He stands to inherit seven million dollars as long as he spends every dime of his grandfather's money in the course of a year. Originally written in 1902, Brewster's Millions is a charming story of wealth and responsibility.
Ian McLaren's Beside the Bonnie Brier Bush became a manifesto of non-violent protest used by Gandhi and Martin Luther King about how the individuals shouldn't permit governments to revoke their consciences.
An original account of the speech Socrates makes at the trial in which he is charged with not recognizing the gods recognized by the state, inventing new deities, and corrupting the youth of Athens.
Dutch Kaspar Almayer, a trader married to a native Malayan and father of one daughter Nina, is obsessed with wealth. He seeks in vain the lost treasure of Borneo and waits for the British conquerors in his unfinished house named by a fellow seaman ‘Almayer’s Folly.’ A local prince in love with Nina swears to help the Dutch find the gold but can he be trusted?
This second novel from Conrad details the undoing of Peter Willems, a disreputable, immoral man who, on the run from a scandal in Makassar, finds refuge in a hidden native village, only to betray his benefactors over lust for the tribal chief's daughter.
