William Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) is best known as the innovator of the English detective novel, whose sensational novels, plays, and short stories were hugely popular in the Victorian era. Today, readers enjoy Collins' intricate and suspenseful plots, and his penetrating social commentary on the plight of women and domestic issues of the time. Unfortunately Collins suffered from rheumatic gout, for which he took the opiate laudanum, and w ...
Lyman Frank Baum (1856-1919) was an American writer of children's books, best known for creating the marvelous Land of Oz in «The Wonderful Wizard of Oz». This fanciful kingdom was catalogued in a series of children's books beginning with the publication of «The Wonderful Wizard of Oz». Baum's Oz series compasses the first fully developed fantasy world created by an American author. In 1900, Baum and Denslow, famous illustrator wi ...
P. G. Wodehouse (1881-1975) was a beloved British humorist whose writing career spanned nearly every literary mode. His discerning wit and effortless prose gained him international praise. In «Uneasy Money» (1916) we encounter Lord Dawlish, a lover of golf who is unexpectedly given one million pounds by a gentleman he had assisted on the links. Upon discovering that his niece and nephew have received money too, twenty pounds, he sets out to bala ...
Begun while John Bunyan was in Bedfordshire county jail serving time for holding religious services outside the auspices of the Church of England, «Pilgrim's Progress» is considered one of the greatest works of the English language. «Pilgrim's Progress» is a Christian allegory that concerns the path of one's soul to Heaven. John Bunyan published the first part of the «Pilgrim's Progress» in 1678 with a second part to follow i ...
Begun while John Bunyan was in Bedfordshire county jail serving time for holding religious services outside the auspices of the Church of England, Pilgrim's Progress is considered one of the greatest works of the English language. «Pilgrim's Progress» is a Christian allegory that concerns the path of one's soul to Heaven. John Bunyan published the first part of the «Pilgrim's Progress» in 1678 with a second part to follow in ...
Fyodor Dostoyevsky's final novel, considered to be the culmination of his life's work, «The Brothers Karamazov» is the story of the murder of Father Karamazov, whose four sons are all to some degree complicit in the crime. Within the context of this crime story evolves a brilliant philosophical debate of religion, reason, liberty, and the nature of guilt in society. Considered by Sigmund Freud as «The most magnificent novel ever writte ...
First published in 1846, Fyodor Dostoyevsky's novella «The Double» is a classic doppelganger and the second major work published by the author. It is the story of Yakov Petrovich Golyadkin, a government clerk who believes that a fellow clerk has taken over his identity and is determined to bring about his ruin. Considered the most Gogolesque of Dostoyevsky's works, the novella brilliantly depicts Golyadkin's descent into madness i ...
Based on Melville's own experiences in the Society Islands of the South Pacific, «Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas» is the story of an unnamed narrator who ships aboard a whaling vessel which makes its way to Tahiti. Following a mutiny, most of the crew, along with the narrator, are imprisoned on the island of Tahiti. The book follows the narrator as he makes his way around the island remarking on the way of life and custom ...
"Villette", Charlotte Bronte's classic Victorian era novel which was originally published in 1853, is the story of Lucy Snowe, who following a family tragedy travels to the fictional town of Villette to teach at an all-girls school. There she finds herself unwillingly drawn into adventure and romantic entanglement. A must read for fans of the Bronte sisters, «Villette» is often praised for its exploration of repression and the role of ...
