Using his keen spirit of observation, Anton Chekhov depicts in his short stories the world as it is, focusing on the range of emotions one might feel throughout his life. From love to hatred, from exaltation to misery, from epiphany to utter confusion, every character has to experience all human emotions in order to understand life.
The book contains an accurate picture of Arctic life and of the Arctic geography known to the world of 1864 and describes the adventures of British expedition led by Captain John Hatteras to the North Pole.
The Fall of the House of Usher is a Gothic novel by Edgar Allan Poe. The story tells of a mysterious house and an unnamed narrator's horrific experience with it.
Mark Twain’s short stories aren’t about his religious beliefs. In fact, the Diaries of Adam and Eve should be taken with a grain of salt as they are humorous and witty and describe in a unique way the relationship between two human beings, man and woman who eventually end up falling in love with each other.
Using his outstanding imagination and his ahead-of-time world views, H. G. Wells makes an interesting experiment in the short story The Country of the Blind: he creates a world in which the minority becomes the majority. In his attempt to conquer a mountain crest, main character Nuñez discovers a society comprised only of blind people. He thinks he can conquer them just like a mountain crest using his sight, but will he be understood by those deprived of sight?
This is an extensive collection of Irish lore from old fairy tales to anecdotes and even essays that clearly depict the Irish culture. Before the Dawn of Human Kind, the Druids walked on our lands constantly trying to find the perfect balance with the forces of nature. Fairies, spirits and leprechauns were among those untamed forces.
The Celestial Omnibus and Other Stories is the title of a collection of short stories by English writer E. M. Forster, first published in 1911. It contains stories written over the previous ten years.
The Cave of Gold is an action and adventure story with a dash of humor set during the California gold rush of 1849. When two boys get their hands on a map to a mysterious cave said to be filled with gold, they set off in search of riches.
The Chimes novel focuses upon the pressing necessity for a middle-class change of heart and the development of a social consciousness as correctives for the "Condition of England."
The Custom of the Country tells the story of midwestern family's rise to riches and their daughter's attempts to survive New York City high society. The story tells of her scramble from one marriage to another in an attempt to "have it all" and find love at the same time.
After discovering the more unconventional ways of free and entertaining learning at Chautauqua, Ruth, Eureka, Flossy and Marion return home willing to share their knowledge to the community they live in. But will the people around the four girls listen? Will they have an open mind?
The Chronicles of Clovis is a collection of short stories all centered on the main character Clovis Sangrail. Clovis is not your average young rich kid, nonchalant and arrogant. He likes to surprise doing bizarre things that many would not even imagine. Witness his pranks with a grain of salt and be amazed at the reactions of the people tricked.
Rachel Innes is convinced by her niece and nephew to move outside the city into a country house for the summer. The first couple of nights in Sunnyside are troublesome, however, and Rachel needs to figure what is happening. Can she do it?
A Bostonian decides to spend the summer in a small seaport in Maine to finish her book. She doesn’t find the peace in Mrs. Todd’s house. So she goes to an abandoned schoolhouse where she can meditate and concentrate. There she discovers the unique beauty of the decaying seaport.
This is believed to be the first Gothic novel and essential reading for both fans and scholars of the genre. The story is about Manfred, the lord of the castle, and his family. The story merges medievalism and terror in a style that has endured ever since.
John Peerybingle and Dot are a happy couple despite their age difference. Their harmony however is disrupted when they meet toymaker Mr. Tackleton and his soon-to-be wife, young May. Tackleton tells Peerybingle his wife Dot is actually cheating on him. But what does all of this have to do with the cricket on the hearth and his chirps?
The Borgias by Alexandre Dumas is not necessarily a fiction novel but a history lesson with some fiction in it about the famous House of Borgia that ruled Renaissance Italy. Witness their corruption, the different plots to eliminate their opponents and climb the power ladder from bribery, simony and theft to incest and murder.
The Call of the Canyon is a western novel about a soldier returning from war who is nursed back to health by an Arizona girl. It was adapted into a 1923 silent film and remains an enjoyable tale for readers today.
In The Book of Five Rings, the author lays out the five elements of battle which are as applicable in the boardroom as on the battlefield.
The story is set in the Yukon during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush—a period when strong sled dogs were in high demand. The novel's central character is a dog named Buck, a domesticated dog living at a ranch in the Santa Clara Valley of California as the story opens. Stolen from his home and sold into service as sled dog in Alaska, he reverts to a wild state. Buck is forced to fight in order to dominate other dogs in a harsh climate. Eventually he sheds the veneer of civilization, relying on primordial instincts and learned experience to emerge as a leader in the wild.
Renowned as the author of such popular adventure stories as Kidnapped and Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson also wrote gripping tales of terror and the supernatural. Stevenson's considerable gifts as a teller of tales shine brightly in this choice collection of three of his best short stories.
A 19th century Boston woman named Olive Chancellor is committed to the suffrage movement. Olive convinces a young feminist named Verena to move in with her as preparation for Verena's career, but Olive's cousin, Basil, would prefer that the young woman become his wife, rather than a political activist.
This inspirational novel tells the story of a young boy who is responsible for the near-death of another child and how he learns to be a true patriot and right the wrongs of his ignorance.
Good guy Jim Cleve is hurt when he is rejected by the woman he loves. So he decides to leave and learn the ways of the Wild West. Joan tries to go after him but she ends up kidnapped by a gang of thieves. Can the new ‘Bad Guy’ Jim Cleve save her?
Miles Coverdale decides to live for a short time in the utopian community of Blithedale. There however, just like the author Nathaniel Hawthorne who joined Unitarian utopian Brook Farm in his early teens, he doesn’t find his answers he was searching for. Instead he gets ill and doubts the community philosophical views and way of life. He returns to the city as a changed man.
