Archiv der Kategorie: Classics of Fiction (English)

Rob Roy

Rob Roy – Sir Walter Scott

Rob Roy MacGregor was a historical figure—an outlaw who “owed his fame in a great measure to his residing on the very verge of the Highlands, and playing such pranks in the beginning of the eighteenth century as are usually ascribed to Robin Hood in the Middle Ages,—and that within forty miles of Glasgow.” He was implicated in the Jacobite rebellion of 1715 —which is the period of this story—but from motives of self-interest. Francis Osbaldistone, the ostensible narrator of this tale, is a young Londoner whose father is a successful merchant and naturally wishes his son to succeed him in the business. But Francis has other ideas, and a quarrel results, in which Read more.../Mehr lesen ...

Veröffentlicht unter Classics of Fiction (English), Scott, Sir Walter | Schreib einen Kommentar

Waverley

Waverley – Sir Walter Scott

“Waverley” is noteworthy not only in being the author’s first novel, but also because it gives a fine panorama of an important historic period. The story is written around the Jacobite insurrection of 1745, led by Prince Charles Edward Stuart in the endeavor to place his exiled father upon the English throne. It deals closely with Scotch people and customs. Edward Waverley, the hero, is a young English gentleman, prospective heir to his uncle’s large estate. As a means of completing his education, he is sent with a captain’s commission to join the regiment of Colonel Gardiner, stationed in Scotland. Affairs in camp not being of warlike nature at this time, he obtains an extended Read more.../Mehr lesen ...

Veröffentlicht unter Classics of Fiction (English), Scott, Sir Walter | Schreib einen Kommentar

The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer

The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer – Mark Twain

Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a book for readers of all ages. Most readers pick it up young and enjoy it, but too few come back to it later on, when its dark shadings and affectionate satire of small-town life might hit closer to home. The book sold slowly at first but has since become the archetypal comic novel of American childhood. It begins with several chapters of scene-setting episodic skylarking by Tom and his gang. All the grown-ups in the book fret about Tom’s future, fussing at him about his clothes and his manners, but also about his future, and whether this orphaned boy can ever grow up Read more.../Mehr lesen ...

Veröffentlicht unter Classics of Fiction (English), Twain, Mark | Schreib einen Kommentar

Roughing It

Roughing It – Mark Twain

“Roughing It” is another one of Mark Twain’s chronicles of his wandering years, this one being the prequel to “Innocents Abroad.” His adventures take place in the Wild West, Salt Lake City and even in Hawaii – among other places. He even enlists as a Confederate cavalryman for some time. The book is also a prolific example for Twain’s excellent sense of humour.

Roughing It

Roughing It

Format: Paperback

Roughing It.

ISBN: 9783849675301.

Available at amazon.com and other venues.

 

Biography of Mark Twain (from Wikipedia):

Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. Among his novels are … Read more.../Mehr lesen ...

Veröffentlicht unter Classics of Fiction (English), Twain, Mark | Schreib einen Kommentar

The Innocents Abroad

The Innocents Abroad – Mark Twain

The character of American humor, and its want of resemblance to the humor of Kamtschatka and Patagonia,—will the reader forgive us if we fail to set down here the thoughts suggested by these fresh and apposite topics? Will he credit us with a self-denial proportioned to the vastness of Mr. Clements’s very amusing book, if we spare to state why he is so droll, or—which is as much to the purpose—why we do not know? This reticence will leave us very little to say by way of analysis; and, indeed, there is very little to say of “The Innocents Abroad” which is not of the most obvious and easy description. The idea of a Read more.../Mehr lesen ...

Veröffentlicht unter Classics of Fiction (English), Twain, Mark | Schreib einen Kommentar

The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County (and other sketches)

The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County (and other sketches) – Mark Twain

James Russell Lowell had already pronounced the “Frog” story “the finest piece of humorous writing yet produced in America.” We are sure he would also have bestowed this word of praise upon the remaining stories that make up this small volume, though the title sketch is definitely the redeeming feature of the collection.

The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County (and other sketches)

The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County (and other sketches)

Format: Paperback

The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County (and other sketches).

ISBN: 9783849675288.

Available at amazon.com and other venues.

 

Biography of Mark Twain (from Wikipedia):

Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), better known by his pen name Mark … Read more.../Mehr lesen ...

Veröffentlicht unter Classics of Fiction (English), Twain, Mark | Schreib einen Kommentar

Sketches, New and Old

Sketches, New and Old – Mark Twain

The long-delayed book of Sketches, contracted for five years before its release, was issued in 1875. “The Jumping Frog” is included in the volume, also the French translation which Madame Blanc (Th. Bentzon) had made for the Revue des deux mondes, with Mark Twain’s retranslation back into English, a most astonishing performance in its literal rendition of the French idiom. He included a number of sketches originally published with the Frog, also a selection from the ” Memoranda” and Buffalo Express contributions,” and he put in the story of Auntie Cord, with some matter which had never hitherto appeared. Among the new matter in the book were “Some Fables for Good Old Boys Read more.../Mehr lesen ...

Veröffentlicht unter Classics of Fiction (English), Twain, Mark | Schreib einen Kommentar

Outline of History

Outline of History – H. G. Wells

No book is provoking a more animated discussion among students of the social sciences at the present time than H. G. Wells’ Outline of History. The author’s task, as he himself sets it, is to tell, “truly and clearly, in one continuous narrative, the whole story of life and mankind so far as it is known today.” But while these two volumes are plainly for the general reader rather than for the special student of history, it does not follow that they contain nothing beyond an endless parade of names and dates. Their chief value, indeed, is in the author’s interpretation of what he writes about. Events are appraised and men are weighed Read more.../Mehr lesen ...

Veröffentlicht unter Classics of Fiction (English), Wells, H.G. | Schreib einen Kommentar

The Brown Fairy Book

The Brown Fairy Book – Andrew Lang

Fairy tales and stories of the ‘Arabian Nights’ order are not often attempted by modern imaginations, but collections of the old legends are perennially popular. Mr. Andrew Lang has not yet exhausted the supply of these last, although he has to go to countries more and more remote for every new year’s gleanings. For the material in his latest volume, ‘The Brown Fairy Book’, he has searched the folk lore of the red Indians, the black Australians, the African Kaffirs, and the natives of Brazil and New Caledonia. Besides these, there are some tales of moment from the French and Persian, some of them being specially translated for this work.

The Brown Fairy Book

The Brown Fairy

Read more.../Mehr lesen ...
Veröffentlicht unter Classics of Fiction (English), Lang, Andrew | Schreib einen Kommentar

Mother Goose Stories

Mother Goose Stories – L. Frank Baum

This was the first of Baum’s books for children; it is a collection of very short stories, each based upon one of the familiar rhymes of Mother Goose. In the introduction, Baum explains that many of the rhymes “are but bare suggestions, leaving the imagination to weave in the details of the story. . .1 have thought the children might like to have the stories told at greater length.. . [and] for that reason I have written this book.” Although he tells us that he has “followed mainly the suggestions of the rhymes”, actually the tales are original inventions of the author rather than (as one might suppose from the title) merely expansions Read more.../Mehr lesen ...

Veröffentlicht unter Baum, L. Frank, Classics of Fiction (English) | Schreib einen Kommentar